Should Paxson target Johnson, D'Antoni?

i think the bulls should go for johnson, D,Antoni would just get everyone thinking offense and take what little the bulls remember about defense completely out of their minds. Johnson would be a fresh perspective for the players with the same style of play that paxson wants, if avery isn't the answer then mark jackson would be my number 2

I agree totally with you Roman. Avery Johnson would be a great coach for the team we have now. He's a little guy but I think he will demand respect and not put up with the crap that went on this season. Mark Jackson would be my number 2 but his inexperience as a coach scares me a little.

I like Johnson a bit more than D'Antoni simply because D'Antoni isn't defensive minded at all, which is why the Suns have been eliminated. Johnson has gotten the Mav's to the post season every year he's coached them and if he did lose control of the team I have to believe it's because they started thinking they knew more than he does now and it would not surprise me if Jason Kidd had a lot to do with that.

i think Johnson is the right pick for the coaching vacancy, but i think D'Antoni would do a decent job as well.

the one thing that has to be remembered is the bulls not getting Rick Carlisle.

anyone but him please

I am a die hard bulls fan and I am getting fed up. What are we doing or lack their of. Hire somebody please I am loosing my patience. This is very frustrating

The Bulls need D'Antoni in the worst way. What blows is that he'll probably go to Toronto cause him and Colaneglo are tight, but Pax and Reinsdorf should throw the kitchen sink at him.

Avery Johnson is too much like Skiles. This team needs to stop being so defensive minded and start to push the ball, especially if the roster remains the same. It's impossible to have a lock down defensive club when Ben Gordon is either your best or second best player, because he can't defend anyone. If he stays, you need to run.

Also, who was Tyrus Thomas compared to when he was coming out in the 06 draft? Shawn Marion. Look what D'Antoni did for Marion. He was a nice player before, but in that system he was one of the league's best.

Of course, Marion can handle the ball and shoot the ball a lot better than Thomas but remember Marion is still below average at doing both. Marion jacked up a ton of threes which killed the Suns O at times. Tyrus will never be doing that.

In conclusion, go get D'Antoni.

I can't believe what I'm reading here. Avery Johnson got completely outcoached last year by Don Nelson, a hard feat in itself, and once again failed to make any adjustments in this past series against the Hornets. Please no Avery Johnson!

I am very excited about some intriguing options for new Bulls Coach. Love D'Antoni! Their doom was not so much D'Antoni as factors such as disasterous turnovers down the stretch, stacked up against the defending champs, and a controversial trade. Can't blame him for all that. I think Tyrus and Joakim would come alive with his spark. Would need a Steve Nash-type point guard to make it work. If TJ Ford available, it's a thought. How DOES a team take Tony Parker anyway; he's not even human! My 2nd choice is Avery. He was coach of the year but who wouldn't with Dirk. Careful if he has a meltdown tho. Jackson brings alot except experience. He certainly has a clear undersanding of the game and an undenial background as a player. Pax, make the right choice!!

Paul Silas!

RO'D the one flaw in your logic is that D'Antoni failed to get the Suns to the finals. You need defense to get there. Which brings me to Ben Gordon, as long as he continues to be a defensive liabilty he will never be any more than a good sixth man. Yes he's capable some nights of putting up 30+ points but so is Noce or Deng or even Larry Hughes. Gordon is a prime candidte for a sign and trade deal.

Johnson just finished his first go-round as an NBA head coach taking the Mav's to the post season each of his 4 yrs with a 73.5% winning average during those four regular seasons. D'Antoni's record with the Suns forbasically the same period is 60.8%. D'antoni's post season percentage is slightly better than Johnson's but he hasn't made it to the finals, Johnson has.

Is Johnson too much like Skiles? In some ways maybe but in total I don't think so.

Dirk is soft. Crybaby, and weak minded. He's seven feet, and drives to stop, pop, and get fouled(or cry if it's not called). He's got the crying part of ball down. What is Avery to do with the wuss? D'Antoni is very offensive minded and creative. I would take either of them over Jim Boylan. Anyday.

Ricky O, the Spurs are the prime example of a great team. You have Parker pushing it up, he doesn't play much D either, but he funnels the man to his help. Ben plays o'lay defense. Manu is a slasher, he locks down on D at times. And TD, then most of the role players are either great defenders and 3 pt shooters, or great defenders and slashers. Also great defenders and bangers.

Common denominator? Defense! Ben could stay on the floor if he just used his help D, TT could stay on the floor if he got stronger in the box. Don't give up great D for good O. Defense is all about hustle, and most offensive players like BG do not want to sacrifice on the defensive end.

Mainly, do not change 11 other players style to play to one player's strength.

i support johnson or D'Antoni but Paul Silas sounds good too!

Roman I truly believe either one would be a good choice, but the question is what direction is the team going? You can teach an athlete to play defense(Thomas), but you can't teach athletic ability(Deng). Is Gordon going to accept a 6th man role? He is clearly not a starter, but he could become the best 6th man ever. Maybe you trade Nocioni for a draft pick (Nicolas Batum). The talent in the cupboard (with a little tweaking)would be perfect for either. The bigger question is not who will coach, but what Pax does with the roster!

Roman responds: Yeah, i was talking with my NBA writer John Jackson about this. I told him I didn't think D'Antoni would be a good fit because of John Paxson's defensive mentality. But he pointed out the roster isn't really made up to suit a defensive-minded coach. And he's right. It seems weird, but the Bulls are more of an up-tempo type team with Deng, Thomas, Gordon and even Noah and Hinrich. Still, Pax's priority is on defense. So we'll see.

"Also, who was Tyrus Thomas compared to when he was coming out in the 06 draft? Shawn Marion. Look what D'Antoni did for Marion."

Uhhhh....what? In prior years, what % of Marion's points came from Nash alley-oops or on fast breaks? If D'Antoni somehow manages to bring along Chris Paul to help Thomas...sure, Tyrus will get better. Bulls don't have ANYONE at guard who can help Thomas progress like that.

Hey BC, you're not the only one who suggests thread topics around here. Only difference is Roman uses mine occasionally!

If you want us to only play 6 guys and never use the Bench, bring in D'Antoni'!

CAN WE MAKE A MOVE FOR TJ FORD???

Looks like...your Scoop is a dead lead.

Heres who we are really considering...

Chicago-Sun Times: Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson list of candidates also includes Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau and Detroit assistant Michael Curry, who is looking more like the Pistons' next head coach if Flip Saunders can't get the heavily favored team through its first-round series with Philadelphia.

I actually don't think either Avery or D'Antoni are good enough to take this current head case of a roster to the next level, but they'd certainly be an upgrade over Boylan and their coaching styles will definitely bring more excitement to the games than ever before. But winning Championships though? I don't see it. If I had to choose between the two though, Avery Johnson is the better fit. I just want Paxson to get this over with already so that he and the entire new coaching staff can properly plan out a new identity for the team, prepare for the the draft, for free agent acquisitions, for trades, making cuts, etc., if any. Look at all these other teams hiring coaches early. They already have a jumpstart in their offseason plans of roster changes while we're still interviewing coaching candidates! The funny thing is that the only CONFIRMED coaching interview so far has been with Rick Carlisle. Everything else, including this Mark Jackson reporting, are just rumors. This coaching search carousel should have been planned out by Pax a long time ago. Instead, he was probably hoping that Boylan would be successful in his interim role so that he would be able to sign him to a long term head coach contract cheap rather than spend the extra millions for an experienced NBA head coach. Obviously that didn't work out. In other words, Pax got burned again just like he did missing out on the Kobe trade talks, the Gasol trade talks, etc. Nowhere in the Bulls history has it shown the Bulls ever hiring a big time coach with a high salary, Phil Jackson included because he was an assistant when he finally took over the team and then by the time he wanted the $'s, the Bulls conveniently shipped him out along with MJ and the leftovers from the 6-year dynasty. This organization is so secretly conservative in paying out salaries, it's nauseating. Why do you think these Kobe/Gasol-type trade talks and big time free agent rumors never work out when it comes to the Bulls? It's always about the salary cap and luxury tax. That's the excuse they always give us. Call it conspiracy talk on my side, but I'm willing to bet that Pax ends up hiring another assistant-type coach when all is said and done. We shall see. I'm hoping I'm wrong and maybe this will finally be a start of a new era for this organization, but it doesn't look that way right now.

I said before that the Bulls are notorious for their slow pace in decision making (firing Scott Skiles in midseason doesn't count), whether it comes to trades or whatever and here's another example. I like the Paul Silas suggestion also earlier, but he might be too old school for this team. It seems to me that Avery Johnson is the best fit because at least he tries to install some defensive philosophy on his team but it never seemed to work out that way for that Mavs team. D'Antoni is just too enamored with creative offensive sets and too many holes on defense. Of course this bodes well for guys like Ty Thomas and Ben Gordon, but we can't have half the team saying that they want to get back to playing tough defense again and then the other half happy with just dunks and 3-point shootouts. That sells tickets and gets you to the first round of the playoffs though, but that's it and it doesn't win Championships. Pick your poison then, folks. Just get this over with and get on with the roster changes already I say. Play ball!

Yes, this current Bulls roster is an uptempo team and ideally, D'Antoni would fit in well with these players. The problem is, most of these guys THINK they can play like the Phoenix Suns, but they're not as good! That was one of the problems. Most of the players didn't want to expend as much hustle and energy on the defense side of the ball and that hurt the overall flow of the offensive scheme. Skiles preached defense. The players didn't want to play that way anymore and ultimately convinced Paxson to fire the gritty coach. Yes, Skiles may not be a people person and his communication skills didn't mesh with these guys, but great basketball players eventually overcome that. We don't have great players. We have very good complimentary players who think they're better than they really are (ahem, Ben Gordon) even though they have no clue how to lead. That's why I blamed the core the most for the terrible season because they thought they were good enough to even tune out their own coaching staff anymore. You want to call Skiles arrogant little punk, but these knuckleheads apparently were arrogant enough to think they can play the game their way without a coach! Talk about a disaster waiting to happen. Absolutely roster changes must be made, but you have to address the head coaching position first so that they (the GM AND head coach) can collectively map out a plan for the remaining offseason. You can't plan out roster changes first and then hire an offensive-minded head coach or whatever type of head coach Paxson wants and then tell that coach, "here you are, make it work!". They'll end up back in square one again with players complaining about their roles and playing time and so forth. It doesn't matter though... D'Antoni will either stay with Phoenix or go to Toronto. Call it family ties with the Colangelos. That then leaves Avery Johnson or someone else to finally coach the Bulls. My prediction still, another assistant-type coach. But whatever, at this point, it's almost like draft picks, a crapshoot, especially with this team full of head cases.

I like Mitchell from Toronto myself. Bright, articulate, solid. He will be fired in D'Antoni is fired. Still need to change the roster. It would be interesting to see if Dirk is available? Can the Bulls wait for Gordon to get with the defense(NOT) or Tyrus to mature(maybe). We need some veteran leadership and another TRUE point guard.

If you understand these Bulls players then you will choose D'Antoni over Avery. These are offensive minded guys. Only Noah thinks about defense first.

Run-and-gun is best suited for teams w youth & athleticism & the Bulls have plenty of that.

Defensively, the Bulls don't have any one who excels at steals or body blocks. The majority of their defensive stops result from vertical leaps leading to blocks. That's better suited to a zone-type defense. That's something Gordon can do beyond the paint.

Everyone needs to face reality: this Bulls team is pretty bad when it comes to man-2-man defense so hire a guy more likely to keep them out of those situations in a game.

D'Antoni is that guy.

I say bring back Commander Pike... er... uh... Hubie Brown. (Commander Pike -- Star Trek character who rode around in a futuristic wheelchair/life support system -- burns on side of face). Put their respective pictures side by side and you'll see what I mean.

Doesn't matter who the Bulls bring in. Until they get a very good to great player, they aren't going anywhere. The Bulls have a bunch of Tier 2 players. After all the talk of getting a "star" Paxson could never pull the trigger. Skiles realized it and bagged the season. He was a convenient scapegoat for a GM that can't seem to trade for anyone, but consistently gets schooled by other GMs.

10-1 he hires his brother Jim.

Tommy | May 1, 2008 08:09 AM - I am going to have to agree with Tommy!

Culzie you are right on target! Bulls need a point guard! See what Bibby is doing for the 76rs. I told people that Iverson was going to fold because he is NOT a clutch performer. He went down and the Sixers went up. I said the SAME for the Lakers. If Kobe had left, they were going to be where they are ANYWAY. Its HIM and always have been. HE IS NOT CLUTCH, and will be tested by the Spurs.

Avery would be better than Skiles because I believe he gets it. Serveral Bulls players would blossom with Dantoni, but dont look for any trophies. I would rather see Dantoni, and after about 2 years we will be ready for Larry Brown.

listening to all u idiots makes me understand why chicago teams always loose u guys always settle for crap dallas with all that talent gets booted in the first round 2 years in a row and u want that coach pinela career record is barely over 500 and all u guys wanted him we get stuck with lousy GMs
and coaches all the time enough already doug collins would be a great teacher for these stubborn babies sandberg and stone 4 the cubs singeltary and fencik run the bears and we should be all right

TELL KEITH THAT BIBBY PLAYS FOR THE HAWKS!
THE BULLS SHOULD CONSIDER AVERY JOHNSON, HIS APPROACH TO THE
GAME IS WHAT THE BULLS NEED!
THE GUY FROM PHOENIX ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE!!
MARK CUBAN IS GOING TO REGRET LETTING JOHNSON GO, UNTIL THEY
GET BETTER BALL PLAYERS IN DALLAS, THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO DEFEAT
SAN ANTONIO!

Avery is NOT the coach for the Bulls. From what I know from the Dallas papers, the guy is incredibly intrusive and fastidious. He wouldn't let Devin Harris run the team; they then traded for Kidd and Avery wouldn't let HIM run the team!! Jason freakin Kidd! This alienates players and fosters discord. No thanks.

Edgar

You are being served an

OFFICIAL SKIM NOTICE!!!!

Abe...3 things

1. You don't "listen" to blogs you READ them
2. They're called "punctuation marks"
3. My fellow idiots and I just appointed you Chief Idiot...congrats

Edgar you first argue that Johnson is the best fit for the Bulls then in your next post you're making the arguement for D'Antoni and all along saying you just want the whole process over with and Paxson should have been interviewing candidates long ago. I can only say I'm glad you're not the Bulls GM because I'm afraid you'd be shooting from the hip everytime the wind direction changed.

D'Antoni says his system works, but it has yet to work in the post season where defense down the stretch wins games. Johnson made it to the finals where at the time his inexperience was exposed and he was out coached. Following that very little was changed in Dallas until the Jason Kidd trade and apparently they butted heads. Bottom line is D'Antoni's system doesn't work when it counts, if you want a team that is going to give you highlight reels all year and exit the post season in the first or second round he's the man. I'd rather have my disappointment come in the finals.

Nice try, Tiny Tim. But I said, "...IDEALLY, D'Antoni would fit in well..." I never said that he is/was the perfect fit. It was a response to Roman's comments to Soldier Boy early on. And no, I'm not a qualified NBA GM, but having been involved with my old high school and college basketball team administration offices (I am a U of Illinois grad class of 88, former talent scout of the Fighting Illini), I have a good sense of the politics that really goes on inside a sports organization. Obviously we're talking about the NBA here and is probably an unfair comparison based on my past experiences, but I think what I said makes some sense and obviously only an opinion. I think coaches get blasted by fans and the media unfairly all the time. Lord knows I've seen it when good ole Lou Henson used to run the show down there. Not that he was a great coach by any means, but still unfair criticism, though it all goes with the territory. I could tell you many stories, but obviously 95% of the bloggers here won't care so I leave that to the kids at home and in the neighborhood.

Anyway, I've followed the Bulls team religiously since I was 8 years old and I've endured many losing seasons, but this is one of the most disappointing and frustrating seasons I've ever seen from top to bottom. And I'm not usually this ouspoken in forums like this that much, but it's how much I love the team and the sport that gets me going. As a full season ticket holder of the Bulls , I've chatted with almost all the Bulls players at one point during the season before games and after games, including even the JamesOn Curry and the Drew Nichols, and you could see it in their eyes and body language in person. Most of them are lost right now and need a confident and seasoned coach to help lead them because there is no great player on this team. It's just frustrating. ... and I still stick to my prediction that the Bulls will end up hiring an assistant-type coach, but they gotta do this quick, not in June or July when the draft takes place and Summer leagues start!

Oh and Tiny Tim, I agree with your assessment between D'Antoni vs. Avery Johnson.

As for Culzie's skim notice, no problem. I expect that from you. Believe me, Culz, your antics on the boards are not new to me. There's always one knowledgeable smart a** in every crowd if you know what I mean... haha

PHIL SMITH JR | May 2, 2008 03:40 AM - my fault phil.

But Avery lost his job last year when he and the MVP got raided by the Red Barron. One of the best playoff series I ever saw.

WTF are we even discussing these old REtreads.

Phil was a no-name assistant when he took over...I think he is only the winningest coach of all time now.

Come on people, D'Antoni is a one trick Poney!

And Avery is a Nazi!

Well Edgar I have to say that for all the education you have you feel it necessary to pound your chest with all your experience with your former High School and College Basketball Administrations plus refering to me as Tiny Tim (something that grew old before you were born)reveals an insecure personality. But then what do I know I'm just a High School grad and retired steel worker from Indiana that's been a Bulls fan since '66 and some one that respects the other bloggers enough to address them by the name they use on their posts. You see one thing my father taught me was never to insult or poke fun at a person's name it only exposes your own ignorance and feeling of self importance.

your a good writer Edgar..no question about that. but ur stilll on skim notice pal..and don't think u are scoring any points by calling me knowledgable and smart. this I already knew.

Edgar sez: "I have a good sense of the politics that really goes on inside a sports organization. Obviously we're talking about the NBA here and is probably an unfair comparison based on my past experiences, but I think what I said makes some sense and obviously only an opinion."
________________________________________

Didn't you know that you aren't entitlted to your own opinion on this blog? What planet have you been living on?

There's only one person's opinion here that really matters, and he'll be more than happy to let you know about it.

The rest of us would be better off keeping our thoughts to ourselves; ... lest we offend him with ideas that run contrary to his own.

Uh wow, Mr. Little.. the "tiny Tim" reference was all in good fun. It wasn't even meant as an insult to you at all and I've been typing that for quite a while now since last year. I just want to talk Bulls when I get the chance, man. I'm not here to insult anybody so if you're offended by a simple nickname, then my sincere apologies. Looking forward to the next topic by Roman... this one is done.

Is someone talking about someone, when they said they werent going to anymore?

Can we say OBSESSED!!!???

Edgar, apology accepted. I am aware that you have used that nick name in the past and I was not insulted, just merely tired of something I've heard my entire life and have pointed out to those who persisted in it's use that a person's name is as much a point of personal pride as is one's heritage.

As far as discussing the Bulls, that is my first passion when it comes to Chicago sports and the Cubs are my inherited curse and the Bears fall somewhere inbetween. I'm looking forward to reading the comments here when Pax does announce the hiring of a new head coach and opinions after the draft.

Tim, Rule #1 of Posting Battles is, you cant start a fight and make up inside of the same thread. It takes at least 3 subsequent threads to patch things up...MINIMUM!!!

Come on dude...dont go soft on me now.

culz, my intention wasn't to start a Posting Battle, just merely pointing out an etiquette transgression which resulted in a positive response that was acknowledged.
Trust me region rats don't go soft with age, we become a bit more cunning and deceitful. As my father often said....age and deceit will overcome youth and ambition every time. Beware the old hound that appears to be asleep on the porch!

Tim....are you sure that was from a an old

"Bartles and James" commercial??

also...Tim..your dad should tell that to Hilary...cause...right now...Youth and Ambition is kicking her OLD LYING A**!!

culz...there is a difference between cunning deceit and flat out lying your arse off to make people think your good. Hillary hasn't figured out the difference and never will because she doesn't know there is more than one definition for "is". And I would love nothing better than for my dad to tell her that because in order for that to happen that would mean she was taking the big dirt nap!

oh by the way did I mention I don't like Hillary?

In a perfect world, we'd get both coaches. While I value D'Antoni's intelligence and offensive ideas, I also value Johnson's fire and defensive intensity. The bottom line is that you can criticize both coaches for not being willing to change when times got tough, and they ended up getting bumped for that. So at their next jobs, both will need to either get some different minded assistants to even them out, or change their styles up a bit.

I think at the end of the day though, D'Antoni is the way to go. Johnson will be too similar to Skiles and will lose the players from the start. I think D'Antoni will bring a fresh perspective and get whoever is still on the team next year to play harder.

Ok, so FINALLY the Bulls interviewed D'Antoni and now he reportedly wants the Bulls job. Glad to hear it. Too bad Pax is still taking his time on the coaching search carousel because he still has to interview Avery Johnson as well. When will that take place, next week? What about the following week? Will Pax have to wait for either Boston or Detroit to finish their playoffs before he interviews their asst. coaches for the head coaching job? All this posturing through the media is so obvious. Plus, even when Pax finishes the interviewing process, here comes the kicker... the financial negotiations! With over $6 million already owed to Skiles this year, it's likely going to take significantly much more than that to sign D'Antoni OR Avery Johnson.

The good thing I like is that the Bulls are basically being backed into a corner to open up their pocketbooks and hire an experienced and legitimate NBA coach because if they miss out on hiring either D'Antoni and Johnson, they will no doubtedly take a ton of heat for being cheap again. Therefore, it certainly looks like it will be either Avery Johnson or D'Antoni (although I won't believe it until I actually see it), but this is just taking way too long, especially if D'Antoni is the man. Not only does the entire coaching staff needs to be figured out, they still have to map out a plan of roster moves, the NBA draft, the Summer Leagues and D'Antoni also has commitments to the USA Basketball team in the Olympics! Will the new look Bulls even be ready for the start of the next NBA season? It looks like it will be a struggle early on. Thank goodness we're in the Eastern Conference.

Go Bulls! Hire a coach already!

Of the two....Dantoni. At least the players will be happy running and gunning. And that will open our offense which is...offensive (lol). Avery cant motivate Dirk and Kidd, there is no way he is going to coach here.

Somebody else please. SCOTTIE! Look, the bulls are going to struggle for a while until we get a Chris Paul caliber guard here. Might as well let a native son cut his teeth in the league. He's earned it, and will not be as expensive. Especially since Thabo is very much the kind of player Scottie was. What if Scottie can reach him????

Keith, I think it's been chronicled in the past that Scottie didn't get along with the current Bulls players when he was campaigning to Paxson about making a comeback, especially to your boy, Ben Gordon. If communication between player and coach is truly one of the keys to a Championship team, I'm not really sure that Scottie is that guy. As an assistant to start off? Perhaps. I'll take that. He'd be a sure upgrade to Mike Brown and Pete Myers, I'll tell you that much.

Avery made it to the NBA Finals a few years ago and Dirk was MVP of the league in 2006/2007. How much more motivation do these guys need??? :)