The Fire Vinny Roundup
By zoner
You just have to fire him now after that 118-83 loss to the Hawks. Not because fans are angry, but because we all know what’s coming: it’s only going to get worse, confidence will continually decrease and guys will start acting up. Nip it in the bud. Firing Del Negro may not change the team in terms of success this year. But it will prevent things from happening. And this type of season is unacceptable.
I already (somewhat sarcastically) called for the head of every Bulls employee, so let’s take a look around to see what everyone else is saying.
Not Qualified to Comment: “I’m too angry to get into it too much, but the Bulls are the worst team ever. I don’t mean that literally, but in terms of watchability they score a 0 on a scale of 1-10. The lackluster effort is frustrating, but what’s more frustrating is Vinny Del Negro’s complete lack of competency. While there is more than enough blame to go around, I don’t see how the situation could get worse without Vinny. The way the offense runs (or doesn’t run) leads me to believe things would probably get significantly better without him.”
John Hollinger, ESPN: “Even if the Bulls’ management had no intention of canning Del Negro heading into the Hawks game, Wednesday’s blowout has to give them pause. Yes, the Bulls are a bit short on offensive talent, especially with injuries to Hinrich and Tyrus Thomas, but they have enough quality players to avoid getting hammered every night.
“If we were losing close games, you could blame the injuries,” one Bull said. “But this?”
Del Negro has had more than a year to implement his system, and it’s one his players clearly don’t believe in. Whether he is removed Thursday morning or at some other point, the clock is ticking on his tenure in Chicago. Wednesday’s humiliating loss in Atlanta might just be the crack that sends him through the ice.”
Sam Smith, Bulls Blog: “Anyone who has watched this knows the level of disaster with nine losses in the last 10 games to fall to 7-13, a half dozen games in that stretch in which the Bulls have trailed by at least an inexcusable 24 points during the game and a loss to the then 1-19 Nets. Even worse, the Bulls have become something of an object of league wide ridicule.”
By the Horns: “Vinny might be feeling pretty chill — or so he claims — but it’s become pretty obvious that losing has gotten to the players. You can see it in their eyes, in the way their shoulders slump after a missed shot or turnover. Basketball, especially on the professional level, is a game of split seconds. In most cases, players have a split second to get their shot off or make the right pass, a split second to make the defensive move that will prevent an easy bucket.”
Chicago Bulls Confidential: “What’s worse than anything else is that the absolute tank the team has fallen into will destroy any chance of getting a meaningful free agent this off season. The argument for Chicago was always “They have cap space and are better than new jersey or new york”, well we’re probably not better than New Jersey or New York the way we’re playing.
There is no argument for Chicago if they can’t boost talent and cap space, because the ownership has a well earned poor reputation when it comes to paying for talent to surround it’s players with.”
More to come as they roll in, so bookmark this page.