The Bulls clinched the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs tonight beating the Charlotte Jordan's 98-89, but that's not what the main news story is. In case you've been in a coma for the past 24 hours Yahoo Sports once again punked the Chicago Tribune's Bulls Beat Writer KC Johnson and broke the story of John Paxson shoving Vinny Del Negro on March 30 after Del Negro went over the allowable playing time minutes for Joakim Noah and his plantar fasciitis (aka "Carlos Quentin Disease"). Various sources have different takes on who initiated what and how often this sort of thing has happened. Gar Forman also did his perfunctory downplay statement, with a "Da Fiiiire and Da Passion" excuse, which anyone with a pulse knows that's B.S.
There's a million things about this story to be angry about, but I'll try to keep them as focused as I can. The first and most obvious to me, is how is Yahoo Sports breaking this story, and not the damn Chicago Tribune Bulls beat writer?! KC Johnson's official reason for not reporting it was "OUT OF RESPECT FOR VINNY". If I'm KC's boss at the Trib, my first reaction to that would be "WTF?!". My second reaction would be "YOU'RE FIRED!" That is so inexcusable it's almost sickening. "Respecting Vinny" is not KC's job description, it's reporting what he knows to be fact. He knew about it, yet chose to bury it for reasons that have nothing to do with journalism. If your respect for Vinny is too much for you to do your job, then go do something else KC.
As far as what actually happened, I'm of the opinion that John Paxson did in fact initiate the contact by putting his hands on Vinny. I was discussing this with a friend of mine today, John Paxson had already done enough to justify being fired before this incident ever took place. It's my contention that he ceased being able to do what's best for the franchise on December 24, 2007 when he fired Scott Skiles because Skiles was guilty of the crime of telling Paxson the truth - that this team couldn't win as currently constructed. Paxson disagreed and promptly fired him with a 9-16 record, and thus chased away one of the best young coaches in the NBA. Since Paxson's idiotic decision, Skiles has the Bucks in the playoffs this year after they were picked to finish dead last in the East and is being rumored as the Coach Of The Year winner.
Speaking of people who have done enough to be fired, the same thing can be applied to Vinny Del Negro. For people like Charles Barkley who look at the Bulls from 35,000 feet above, they see back to back playoff appearances with a largely mediocre team. For people who have actually paid attention to this team though, they see a team that lost to the Nets TWICE (2 of the Nets 12 wins), as well as a team that blew a 35 point lead and lost to the Kings this season. Why The Beard himself was calling for Vinny to be fired in December, yet it didn't happen. The initial rumor as to why that didn't happen was because the Bulls didn't want to get into a Jim Boylan Interim situation as they did in 2007-08, but the juiciest rumor I heard was that Paxson himself would have been named Head Coach, and he was unwilling to do that.
So factor all of these little things in, plus - according to one account- Paxson saying to Vinnie "I should have fired you a long time ago" and Vinny responding in kind with a "F*CK YOU! DO IT NOW THEN!" and it's pretty much academic that Paxson put his hands on him in my mind.
Bottom line, a house cleaning is order just on principle alone. Don't give me this excuse of "Well who do you hire then?" garbage. There are plenty of candidates that know not to let things escalate to that. Players putting their hands on each other is one thing. Management and front office employees - regardless of who started it - is a completely different issue altogether. It should never be tolerated by any organization worth it's salt, let alone an organization that is poised to make a run at the 2010 Free Agent Class I.E. LeBron James. It's already obvious Vinny is going to be launched after this season anyway. It would be best to launch Paxson too if you are trying to be taken seriously by the available free agents.
Let's hope that Jerry Reinsdorf feels the same way.
You got it right once again Beard. There is alot to me mad. This demonstrates how screwed up the bulls really are. Someone was reporting yesterday the players don't like playing for him. As for KC how about having some respect for yourself and do your job. Just a wiener excuse.
ReplyDeleteAnyway my judgment on Vinny was the playoff series against Boston. We should have won that f**king series. He could not draw up a out of bounds play to save his career at the end of the game. In close games coaches find little ways to win and Vinny could not do it plain and simple. As for Paxson man up and get the job done. Just like Vinny, Paxson should be reevaluated. Its not like he has made good decisions all the time. For example signing Deng for a long term contact. Hiring Vinny.
Absolutely right Rossi. Did you see KC's non-explaination Explaination today in the Trib? He cleared absolutely nothing up, and gave no apology or indication of regret! What a DOOOOSH...
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