A Look at the Chicago Bulls 2009……….Vinny Del Negro

Vinny Del Negro is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Vinny Del Negro will be entering his second season after the surprising hire by Joh Paxson before last season. Paxson tried to hire Doug Collins and then Mike D'Antoni. After missing out on both of them he turned to hire Vinny Del Negro who had no prior coaching experience at any level. Del Negro worked as a radio commentator for the Phoenix Suns before being promoted to director of player personnel for the Suns in 2006. In 2007, the Suns promoted him to assistant general manager. The same off-season as the Bulls hired Del Negro the Suns were looking for a new head coach and did not consider Vinny Del Negro who was their assistant general manager. The Bulls brought in two veteran coaches in Bernie Bickerstaff and Del Harris to help Del Negro coach and teach him the ropes.

I wasn’t impressed by Del Negro last season. He was brought in here by Paxson because he thought that Del Negro would do a good job being a “cheerleader” and getting along with the players. Del Negro seemed to bump heads with a few players that we heard reports about throughout the season. As expected for a coach with no previous experience, Del Negro was not good at calling plays, running the offense, or getting the Bulls back to good defense like they used to play. Great defense under Scott Skiles is how the Bulls got to the playoffs for a few years. The Bulls did make it to the playoffs and did play better defense, but we need to see it for an entire year. The Bulls played well last year and did make it to the first round of the playoffs. I think that was because of the development of Derrick Rose, the clutch shooting of Ben Gordon, and the young players developing. I don’t think Del Negro is hurting the team, but he defiantly isn’t helping. I think an experiences coach who could help mentor Derrick Rose, teach the young guys how to play, and be better and calling plays would make a big impact on the Bulls. That is just my opinion. I think the Bulls will have a good year though.