Whose Fault Is It In Chicago?

[PM5K]

I was reading an article on ESPN where the owner of the Bulls says it's not his GM's fault but falls short of saying it's not the coach's fault.

It certainly looks like they have enough talent to be better than 20-27, but at the same time they probably could stand to make a move or two.

Thoughts?

[timvp]

Vinny Del Negro was a joke of a coaching hire. That'd be even worse than someone eventually hiring Beno to be their coach.

[PM5K]

LOL, Beno....

Let's be serious here...

[lil_penny]

Its jordans fault. He set the standards to high for the bulls franchise. Shame on you mj

[Pelicans78]

It's the GM's fault. He's terrible. He had so many high draft picks to work with, but wasted it on bums like Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. Plus, the Grizzlies were willing to give them Gasol for Deng two seasons ago, but they overrated Deng's value. Paxon has totally screwed this team up and deserves to get fired.

[dirk4mvp]

It's Rose's fault for not being as good as Mayo.

[ploto]

I thought it was supposed to be Scott Skiles' fault?

[IronMexican]

Obama.

[Extra Stout]

Well, there's not much doubt that VDN is just an execrable coach, but that he would be so should have been plainly obvious to the most casual observer prior to his hire. That leads one to the conclusion that the front office in Chicago is just clueless, and the player moves bear that out as well.

[DANILO DRASKOVIC]

dont most commentators say the teams lacks good low post presence?
the coach doesnt put the roster together....

[bdubya]

It's the GM's fault. He's terrible. He had so many high draft picks to work with, but wasted it on bums like Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah....

...and wasted more picks on good players they let go cheap, like Elton Brand and Ron Artest....and paid way too much for Big Ben...

[baseline bum]

...and wasted more picks on good players they let go cheap, like Elton Brand and Ron Artest....and paid way too much for Big Ben...

Wallace was understandable. They were coming off a season and playoffs where everything clicked, and almost everyone thought Wallace would come in and turn their already good defense into one at the level of the 99 Spurs, 01 Lakers, or 04 Pistons. Everyone wanted Wallace at the time. Maybe they overpaid a few million, but there was no way Big Ben wasn't getting a huge contract that year.

[Red Hawk #21]

Vinny Del Negro was a joke of a coaching hire. That'd be even worse than someone eventually hiring Beno to be their coach.

:toast

[LakerHater]

I don't thinl it's Vinny's fault!
I mean how many coaches have they gone through there!!

[Chieflion]

It is the franchise's fault for not going for Dantoni (better than Vinny). This Bulls team is athletic, can run with the best of them, instead he goes to the Knicks and screws Marbury over.

[JoeTait75]

Chicago is 20-27 because they have 20-27 talent- a rookie point guard, no consistent scoring from the wing, and no low-post scoring presence. The problem is a lack of talent. That's on the GM.

[Austin_Toros]

the bulls have some nice pieces to work with: Rose, Gordon, Deng and other that have potential to be good players

i think what the bulls need is to trade either Hughes or Hinrich. if they get a decent big man in return (Jermaine?) they have a strong chance at being a solid playoff team.
a good big man will certainly make them much better.

so maybe a lack of a consistent, dominant big man is holding the bulls down at the moment? regardless, they should be winning more

oh, and they defeated the suns! wooo!

[Rogue]

It's the fault of the idiot who signed Ben wallace with that 60m/4yr contract.

[peskypesky]

Gm

[Pelicans78]

GM. He stinks. He's terrible. He had so much to work with, but he blew it. Dude needs to get fired and Bulls need to rebuild. Trade all their overrated parts like we did with Baron Davis, Mashburn (not overrated, just had bad knees), Magloire, etc. and get a good lottery pick like CP3 and build around that. I actually loved Mashburn. A pure scorer. Best scorer I've ever seen in a Hornets uniform, at least in New Orleans. I think Glen Rice was more of a shooter.

[JamStone]

Wallace was understandable. They were coming off a season and playoffs where everything clicked, and almost everyone thought Wallace would come in and turn their already good defense into one at the level of the 99 Spurs, 01 Lakers, or 04 Pistons. Everyone wanted Wallace at the time. Maybe they overpaid a few million, but there was no way Big Ben wasn't getting a huge contract that year.

Huge contract depending on what your definition is. The Pistons offered $48 million over 4 years, which is still a pretty nice penny. But there was no other team in the league other than Chicago that was going to pay him $15 million a year. With the Pistons' offer, at least you could understand it because of what he had already done there (whether or not you agree on paying a player for what he's done in the past) and considering his loyalty not to opt out early and the fact he had been underpaid by NBA standards for several years. The Chicago offer was not understandable. They offered $12 million more than Detroit when it was public that Dumars was unwilling to negotiate above that $48 million. It was a firm offer. Ben was going to get a big contract that year, but not that big, not from anyone else.

Now, it's even more inexcusable that the Bulls did that because they had a younger version of Wallace in Tyson Chandler, and one that was actually bigger, taller, and just as athletic. Hindsight is 20/20 obviously, but there were plenty of critics of what the Bulls did back in 2006 by trading away Chandler and signing Wallace.


Back to the thread topic, most of the blame does go to Paxson for several moves (I think were all him) from the Chandler/Wallace moves I just mentioned, the hiring of Del Negro, to trading LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas.

But I disagree with the notion that their talent is better than their record. Maybe they should have a couple more wins, but I think that's arguable at best. As some have already suggested, they have a rookie point guard and no low post presence. I think their current record reflects their talent pretty accurately.

[JamStone]

Front court of Luol Deng, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Tyson Chandler with Nocioni and Noah backing them up would be pretty nice.

[The Franchise]

Vinny Del Negro was a joke of a coaching hire. That'd be even worse than someone eventually hiring Beno to be their coach.

It's not Vinnies fault they suck. They were doing that before his arrival. It's all on Paxson.

[Pelicans78]

Yes!!! We all agree, it's Paxon!!! No further argument here. Thread cloooosed.

[tomtom]

yeah they royally f'd up their picks. Tyrus Thomas for Aldridge... ouch. Also I think Deng and Noicioni's really been underplaying. Sucks cause I was a huge Bulls fan that one breakout year

[FreeMason]

Chicago is full of fail when not being subsidized by MJ.

[Armando]

The whole team's fault from the players to the GM. Big fail all around

[mogrovejo]

It's not Vinnies fault they suck. They were doing that before his arrival. It's all on Paxson.

What was Scott Skiles record there?

ps. - Although I agree Paxson is the main culprit.