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Wm. B. Sullivan Realty & Co.

Wm. B. Sullivan Realty & Co.

Wm. B. Sullivan Realty & Co.

Wm. B. Sullivan Realty & Co.

Wm. B. Sullivan Realty & Co.

Dan Peters Sports Editor
Oak Park Journal

© Suburban Journals of Chicago File Photo by Mark Rotor

It's Official, Del Negro Fired... Bulls' Coach Search Begins ...Paxson's Apology
By Mark Rotor

May 4th 2010

Gar Forman & John Paxson Meet Media

Much has happened in the two year period since the hiring of the Bull's head coach Vinny Del Negro. Reports of Del Negro's struggles with Bulls' upper management both figuratively and literally, ran rapid during the season with an expectation that Del Negro would not survive to coach Chicago for a third season. Today, General Manager Gar Forman made Del Negro's departure official.

Forman announced the firing of Del Negro, the 14th Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls. VP of Basketball Operations, John Paxson also spoke following Forman's press conference regarding the March 30th incident with Del Negro and his current role in the organization. In addition, Del Negro made a statement following the press conference.

It's Official:

"This past week after meeting with all of our players and our coaching staff I had a chance to evaluate where we are today and where we want to go," said Forman. The decision that I came up with, is to improve we need to make a coaching change. Last night, I informed Vinny that we were going to relived him of his duties as the head basketball coach of the Chicago Bulls.”

Del Negro joined the Bulls on June 11th, 2008 coaching the team for two years, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. He originally signed a guarantied 3-year contract for approximately 2 million a year and the team is obligated to pay Del Negro for the remaining year on the contract.

The Rough Waters:

Since late December, it has been widely speculated by the media that the team was considering the removal of Del Negro during the season. At the time, Chicago was experiencing a shaky 11-16 start to the season including an embarrassing, 35-point come from behind loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings on December 22nd.

On December 29th, Foreman responded to reports of Del Negro impending departure with an apparent "no vote of confidence". “Vinny is our coach,” said Forman. “Our goal is to get better each and every day. As a management team, we're exploring all options in order to get better.” It seemed clear that the organization was considering the removal of Del Negro if a suitable replacement was available.

Bull's Decision Dilemma:
It’s been reported that the relationship between management (Foreman and Paxson) and Del Negro further deteriorated as the season went on. The March 30th scuffle between Del Negro and VP John Paxson obviously didn’t help Vinny’s chances of remaining as coach. However, in a bottom line business of sports Del Negro delivered, with a respectable .500 record (82-82) and two consecutive trips to the playoffs. Ironically, by seasons end the Bulls' management found them selves in a position to remove their Head Coach who produced tangible results even without the benefit of the team's (2008-2009 season) two most prolific scorers Ben Gordon (20.7 ppg) and John Salmons (18.3 ppg).

Time For A Change:

Perhaps the best answer might have been Vinny has brought the franchise from point "A" to point "B" but the phrase was already taken by former Bull’s GM Jerry Krause to relieve Doug Collins of his duties. Forman responded, "In order to bring the team to another level, a change was necessary."

Why Fired Del Negro?

"Nothing specific," said Forman, "It's my opinion that in order to continue to improve and grow that a change, a new leadership would be of value to our team." It's clear that Forman had no inclination to share the exact reasons are for Vinny's demise. "As with any type of personnel decisions, we aren’t going into any specific details.”

The Next Coach:

Two years ago the Bulls went through a lengthy seven week interviewing process meeting with multiple candidates and in the end, unable to secure their top choice Coach Mike D'Antoni, they were relegated to choose a candidate devoid of any coaching experience. “There is not going to be a time table to hire a new coach," said Forman. When asked further he responded, "I hope we have something done before free agency period (July) comes around but I don't want to be put in a box about that because I’ve spent little time thinking about that. With competition from at least five other NBA teams looking to replace their Coach, this time, Bulls fans are hoping that a top level coach can be hired in a timely manor.

We'll be looking for the best possible coach, leader, teacher that fits this team and our personnel,” said Forman. “The main qualities I'm looking for in a coach are accountability and leadership.” Regarding the question of coaching experience Foreman said, “A thorough knowledge of the NBA and players will be factored in.”

Free-Agency & Trades:

Chicago is positioned to offer one top line free agent such as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh or Joe Johnson the maximum compensation permitted by the NBA's salary cap. “I believe that the biggest commodity you can have building a basketball team is Cap (space) and finance flexibility," said Forman. They give you a chance to get better. We feel that we our in that position and have a chance to get better. We know we got to improve and this is a big summer for us to get better.”

Attracting 2010 Free Agents?

The Bull’s talented young nuclease of All-Star Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson named to the NBA all rookie team provides Chicago with a young core of players for the future. “Almost all of them are in their early twenties and they give us a large window of opportunity to have success," said Forman. "I think this is what we can sell, and the players (free-agents) are going to find attractive. We will sell our fans who we think are the best in NBA, our great city, and our team's brand, known internationally."

Paxson's Act of Contrition:

After remaining silent since the March 30th dust-up with Del Negro, Paxson began his remarks by stating, "I had planned to speak about this earlier than today but with the team in the playoff hunt we determined it wasn't the right time. Today, I want to apologize to the Bulls' organization to the fans and Vinny for what happened on March 30th after the Phoenix game. I hold my self accountable and responsible. I'm not proud of how I handled the situation. I thought I was standing-up for a policy we put in place, I felt that way. There is no question I was wrong in the way I handled it."

"The Incident":

When Paxson was asked about the specifics of the March 30th confrontation with Del Negro he commented, "I think it would be gratuitous for me to go in to it and I doubt Vinny or I could even remember what happen." However, Pax did talk about his motivation for the incident. "I was trying to protect a player (Noah) and went about it the wrong way". Paxson was referring to Joakim Noah's medically limited minutes over-extended by Del Negro during a lopsided loss to the Phoenix Suns. "As a player and as a kid I was the type of player who had to claw, scrap and fight to protect myself and to get to where I was. It was a heat of the moment type of thing and it's something that I am not proud of. I care about the Bulls and I am embarrassed because I put the Bulls in a bad position with the way I handled it."

Paxson's Image-

Paxson kept a low profile after the March 30th argument and commented about it's impact. "I don't believe that an incident of losing my temper define who I am. I done a lot of good thing and it is, what it is. I tried to represent the organization well. In this instance I did not and I'm not proud of it. I do know that the people that I have worked with have respect for me because I have treated them the right way and in this instance I didn't treat Vinny the right way and I am sorry about that."

V.P.'s Role-

Since May of last year, VP John Paxson has taken more of a behind the scenes role yielding day to day responsibilities to Gar Forman named General Manager a year ago. "My role is now more of an extension of Jerry (Reinsdorf) to keep my eye on the organization and to make sure we are going about things the right way. I still enjoy evaluating players. In fact, I did a lot of that at the trading deadline and I did a lot of that this year. I will always have input but I don't have the ability to override Gar. I'm very happy to be in that role."

Vinny's Future:

Early in Del Negro's career there were many critics about how he handled game clock strategy and lack of set play execution on offense but Paxson took the high road in discussing Del Negro performance. "Vinny did a lot of good things. He really is a diligent hard worker. He did not short change us or himself in how he prepared. We know it the beginning that he had not coached before and we constructed a coaching staff to cope with that. He will be a better coach the second time around, everybody is. Vinny didn't fail, I don't think we did either. We got to believe that moving forward that this decision is best for us."

Burying The Hatchet:

"This morning I had a nice talk with Vinny in a lengthy conversation," Paxson said. "He's a good guy I think I am too, and sometimes in relationships you do butt heads and they don't go well. I thought we cleared some things up and I wish Vinny a lot of luck. He loves the game and he will work hard and I think he will do well. In the heat of the moment being competitive individuals some things are going to happen. I wish Vinny the best. He will find his way to be in the league a long time.

Parting Words From Vinny Del Negro:

After the Forman and Paxson press conference adjourned, Del Negro briefly spoke to the media outside of the Berto Center. “I want to say how grateful I am to Jerry Reinsdorf and the Chicago Bulls. They have a lot of great people in the organization.”

Del Negro took time to discuss the team’s accomplishments. “I’m grateful to the players for how hard they worked and developed, I feel strongly that the organization is in a much better place now that it was two years ago when I started. I am proud of the things we accomplished as a team, they put the work in and they will have a great future. I know how hard my assistant coaches worked to support me, and develop the players. I think there are a lot of positives about the development of the young core of guys that you have here, I’m pleased and proud of that."

"I want to tell Jerry and the organization how grateful I am for the last two years, now I will move forward and grow from experiences and I want to say thank you." Del Negro can now add to his resume, two years with a storied NBA franchise and two respectable post season appearances. His experience now includes the development of two potential perennial all-stars Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Not bad for a man who prior to the Bulls job has never coached a game in his life!

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