Link. Third reported hiring's a charm, eh?

He's my favorite of the favorites.

F.U.C.K!

What the hell? Never coached? Well, I hope he works well with young guys.

I hope Pax knows what he's doing on this one. I guess I need to get to know more about this guy, maybe he turns out but I felt like Casey would have been the best choice. Oh well.. I'm wondering since Del Negro (Former Pg) means Rose..?

Well, not my first, second or third choice for that matter, but good luck vinny!

I have absolutely no problem with hiring a person who's never coached before if he's the right guy. I was pretty much thinking going for a guy who hasn't been in the big chair before was going to be the right call before this marathon began, and in the end I can't complain about that. An assistant might have worked better in theory, but without having met the guy, learned about him, went through the roster with him, etc., I have no way to say. But I have difficulty thinking that it's a terrible idea to pick up a first time head coach who played several years with the Spurs in the mid 90s.

i know absolutly nothing about this guy, never even heard of him till his name came up in the coaching search. if pax sees him as the best canidate i hope hes right. he oviously saw something in him, to put him over casey and person.

Well, this hire is pretty much going to define Paxson's stay here as our GM. If he doesn't get this one right and we suck, then he's gone. But, I hope Vinny is the right guy b/c we really need to take it to that next level. If he was too inexperienced for Kerr to hire, and he was Kerr's right-hand man in PHX, then that does somewhat worry me somewhat b/c you'd think Kerr would know him better than anyone. Then again, maybe he just didn't fit what Kerr wanted to do with the team...

I was listening to Sam Smith on CTL (and consider the source) he was saying that Del Negro was like Paxson which suggests smart basketball, tough defense and he thinks he may try to implement the Phoenix style of offense because he scouted players that would fit into their system. Sam then went on to say that he would look at only players that fit into the fast pace system so that would be a good reason to believe when we draft Rose, Del Negro may bring the offense with him. The fact is, nobody knows much about this guy because he's never coached before..

vinny del negro eh?

Bios and stuff will probably coming in the papers... is this guy a former point guard?

Right now, only thing I know for sure is that his name is pretty cool.

Sometimes its a good thing to bring in some fresh blood. But it worries me that he has no previous coaching experience... Supposely he works great with young guys, thats probably a good thing saying we currenrly have the youngest team in the NBA. It will be fun to say his name... COACH VINNY D! At least we can now focus on the up coming draft, free agency and trades.

I think Del Negro will do fine but I really would have liked to give Tom Thibbedeu a chance. I think Tom as Head Coach and Vinny as Assistant Coach would have been nice but I think Jerry was scared that the price for Tom would be too high especially if they won the title. Anyway, it is what it is.

As for Del Negro, his game reminded me somewhat of Manu Ginobili's except that Ginobili was a better scorer. Vinny had a similar hustle game without all the flopping. He was a good passer and a good outside shooter. He even somewhat looked like Ginobili but with more hair when he played. He was a player that made the most of his ability. He was more of a SG than a PG but he did pass the ball well.

Anyway, I think he can be successful. He's young (turning 42) and I think he'll be more relaxed and really try to teach our team instead of trying to beat them into submission like Skiles. I'm hoping his hiring means we are hiring Rose. I think he could really help our guards become better players. I'm really interested to see who we add as an our Assistant Coaches.

The clip below was from his playing days in Europe. He and Kukoc (I'm assuming Toni Kukoc) were on the same team and they won the championship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jVuVO-QXsk

Haaa, you were thinking that too? As soon as I saw him in a Spurs jersey I thought he looked alot like Manu. Thats pretty funny.

I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about the offensive system Del Negro will run. That will be a big part of how I end up viewing this signing for the time being. I think we have to assume he'll bring a strong defensive philosophy to the team, but if he also runs a style of offense like what D'Antoni did in Phoenix, I think that would be great for us.

I'm not saying spiff until it comes from Paxson or Reisndorf that he is absolutely, 100% our coach.

all that. thats what im saying. i dont understand at all. but it looks like it is official because on bulls.com it says press conference at 2:00 wednesday. i would have been happier with casey, he had a bad record in minnesota but that was with a bad team.

I remember Vinny from his San Antonio days and he had kind of a cult following among my high school basketball team in Ireland. I guess they just thought he was gutsy on the floor and at the time the Spurs were pretty decent too. I remember a few practices with kids shouting "Vinny Del Negro" and firing up threes. That highlight reel from Italy was nuts. He was lighting them up from everywhere, inside, outside, dunking, cutting, hanging jumpers.... what an exhibition... if he can teach the Bulls to move like that on the floor we'll be a lot better next year. I think Vinny's biggest issue will be earning the respect of our players. If he can do that and succeed where both Skiles and Boylan ultimately failed he will be fine. Now all we have to do is draft Rose/Beasley and trade a package of a couple guards and a forward (or vice versa) for a true superstar to add to the mix. Go Bulls!!!!

Good praise for VDN from Steve Kerr and Bryan Colangelo...

i like that.

Tune into Comcast Sports Net at 2:00 to watch Vinny's press conference for all who want to know.

I like that a lot too. I've since warmed up to this pick. Why not?!? Let's see what he can do. From everything I've read he has a pretty good basketball mind as well as a good communicator. It's going to be on the players as to whether they buy into how he wants this team to play. I like this pick better than some burned out old retread. I'm hoping Vinny gets the benefit of the doubt and people/the media/and the team gives this guy an honest chance. The media has been BRUTAL with this hiring...but I know it's directed more at the organization than Vinny.

Rose with the first pick....and let's get up and down the court.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/

For the out of towners...

Very well spoken throughout the entire presser. I actually came away quite impressed with Vinny. Looking forward to see who he brings in on his staff. One reporter asked about bringing in Toni Kukoc.

I can see how Vinny blew away JP during his interview, he's a great speaker and he blew me away as well.

His philosophy: It starts with defense and on offense he wants to play uptempo but not out of control, create the unpredictable..

I like his statement about meeting with the players and the ability to be able to put his arm around them and just talk to them like a normal person, that struck me as a definite +! Skiles was far from that, communication was a big issue with this team. If he can sell the players than we will be better off as a team.

I also came away pretty impressed. He's obviously a great communicator with what we heard from Kerr/Colangelo as well as what we saw in the press conference. We've got a coach now, the draft can't some soon enough. I'd love to see Del Negro coach the Summer League team to try and get some more experience with X's and O's as well as with player interaction.

I don't believe a HC can do that.....

Again, I don't know if it will hold true when the hard parts hit, and I don't know if it will be effective...but if you asked me 4 months ago what I wanted our next head coach to be saying, that would pretty much be exactly it.

i thought he did really well with the press conference he presented himself well and i definently like his philosphy and that he is a good communicator, and also he wants to talk to all the players individually and see what they are all about. im exited to see what kind of staff he brings in, the draft cant come fast enough.

Are you kidding? The longer the draft takes to roll around the better. Our coaching staff and GM now have barely 2.5 weeks to get down to the business of working out Rose and Beasley and interviewing them and such, while at the same time trying to build a coaching staff and giving the coach a chance to get to know his players. VDN might as well not sleep for the next 2 weeks.

Skiles coached the Bulls in the Summer League Thabo and Tyrus's rookie year. I don't think he did this year.

i guess i worded it wrong .i meant im exited for the draft to come not that i want less time to work out the guys and search for assistants and stuff.

I know what you meant, I'm just giving you a hard time, while at the same time pointing out that yeah, VDN just agreed to not sleep for the next 3 weeks.

so now that we have a head coach, who do yo think the bulls will go after for the rest of the staff?

I hope some of the guys they brought in to interview for the head coaching job can come in and be assistants. And call me crazy, but I'd love to lure back Johnny Bach if he was up for it. He is one of the best defensive teachers alive IMO.