ESPN's List of Candidates for Next Bulls Coach

[WearShades]

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=5151209

Doug Collins, Maurice Cheeks, Eric Musselman, Phil Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott, Sam Mitchell, Tom Thibodeau, Lawrence Frank, Dwane Casey, Avery Johnson and John Calipari are the candidates listed as potential successors to VDN. To me, this reads as a list of a few well talked about possibilities combined with names put there purely to drive web traffic (Calipari and Jackson being the prime examples).

Might as well make this the next Bull's coach discussion thread.

 

[theCHI_Life84]

i wonder how Phil would do with this bulls team...

 

[NealKleren]

If he could win with this and if they get a free agent(who would probably would definitely want to come here more because of him) and do good,it would show PJ is an actual good coach and not just all luck with who he has......even though he has had some luck lol.

 

[Kush77]

I would love to see Phil come back but that would never happen.

Out of the realistic choices, I would want Byron Scott. He's won as a coach and has coached two great PGs.

 

[NealKleren]

Agreed. Hes my top choice right now as well. The only thing that bothers me is idk if he would be too offensive minded (like most west coaches are) and forget about defense. But hes my number one right now but idk if the Bulls will hire him,they'll probably end up going the cheap route.

 

[multipass]

Fact of the matter is, at this point, if I were the Bulls management, my priority is to pick a coach who will make a favorable impression on free agents. We're a lot better off with a pretty bad coach coaching this team with Chris Bosh than with a pretty good coach coaching this team without Chris Bosh. That doesn't mean that I want to give free agents the impression they can name their own coach, but it does mean I want somebody with a good reputation and who seems like he would be fun to play for. I don't know who that means in practice yet.

 

[Diddy1122]

NealKleren wrote:

Agreed. Hes my top choice right now as well. The only thing that bothers me is idk if he would be too offensive minded (like most west coaches are) and forget about defense. But hes my number one right now but idk if the Bulls will hire him,they'll probably end up going the cheap route.

I like Byron Scott, but yes, defense is an after thought in his system, which would not sit well with GarPax, who stressed defense as a priority last offseason, & that was probably the 1 thing Vinny actually got right in his whole time here.

I like Collins, should've hired him 2 years ago, & I think Cheeks would be great too. He's the real reason Scott Brooks won Coach of the Year this season. Stay away from Mussellman, Frank, Calipari, Casey, & Van Gundy. I would go for Mitchell only for the fact that he coached Bosh & the Raptors to one of their best seasons in franchise history & it would possibly improve our chances of landing CB4. Phil will never come here, not as long as JR is the owner & Jeanine Buss still has a leash around his balls.

 

[Bullsman24]

man you just tell chris bosh, "who do you want" and roll with that. i think that could be just as good of a situation as having an established coach there because it's the FA's choice. and fred, d'antoni is extremely overrated. you always say that nyc has a great coach, that's not the case. if he hadn't coached for the suns before and didn't make this obscene amount of money, he would have been canned by now on any other team. i would much rather have byron scott or sam mitchell who IMO was unfairly let go by the raptors. there was no real reason for him to be fired.

 

[Bullsman24]

anyway the thread,

my choices are sam mitchell, lawrence frank, byron scott to go along with the obvious.

mitchell showed he is definitely a good coach in toronto. i think he was unfairly victimized.

frank has shown he is a coach who appeals to everyone. in nj, the players and execs loved him and hated to see him go. i think the bulls are good enough if they sign bosh that they could get away with a players coach if they play hard. also look at the emergence of harris under him.

scott has shown his track record leading both NO and NJ deep into the playoffs. as well, he was coach in the glory days of both CP3 and J-Kidd, two point guards such as the best player on this team...i think noah is enough of a great defensive force if we can retain him to be able to make up for the lessened emphasis on defense. plus i don't think it would be as bad as you say.

 

[Diddy1122]

bullsman24 wrote:

man you just tell chris bosh, "who do you want" and roll with that. i think that could be just as good of a situation as having an established coach there because it's the FA's choice. and fred, d'antoni is extremely overrated. you always say that nyc has a great coach, that's not the case. if he hadn't coached for the suns before and didn't make this obscene amount of money, he would have been canned by now on any other team. i would much rather have byron scott or sam mitchell who IMO was unfairly let go by the raptors. there was no real reason for him to be fired.

Everyone likes to say that D'Antoni made Nash great but I think it's the other way around. Nash made D'Antoni look like a genius because he's one of the best PG's ever to play the game. Without a really good PG, his system is awful. Any team can just jack up shots. Nash got all his teammates great shots because, well, HE'S STEVE NASH.

I agree with you about Mitchell. It was an unfortunate case of new GM wanting his own guy as coach. Mitchell is a good coach.

 

[Hendu0520]

my favorites go in this order: Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Thibadou, and Mo Cheeks. But all of those coaches seem like good names except Musselman. I don't know if he can draw a free agent to Chicago. The last choice other than Mussels would be Calipari. I know that would be "cute" and all to have DRose's college coach come to the pros, but we would be going with uncertainty again. We don't know if he will be a good coach, he failed before in the NBA. I know Calipari is older now but we just wouldn't know. The other guys have atleast proven something in the NBA.

 

[Bullsman24]

JVG prob won't leave. thibadeau i think missed his payday. plus we don't want yet another first time head coach even if they have some coaching experience. cheeks i'm with you

 

[Kush77]

I like Mo Cheeks too. He did the best he could with those crazy ass Portland teams.

As for Scott. Were his teams bad defensively? I think it depends on the players. His teams in New Jersey were better defensively than his teams in N.O.. But he had better defensive players in Martin and Kidd.

 

[WearShades]

Byron Scott is currently my top choice, but it's not set in stone. I definitely see the merits to hiring Cheeks or Mitchell, especially if the latter could further convince Bosh to come to Chicago. I'm still fearful of the rumors from a few months ago that Bosh didn't want to end up in another cold weather city, so if Mitchell changes his mind, then by all means that should be the hire.

 

[Rerisen]

Kush77 wrote:

As for Scott. Were his teams bad defensively?

New Jersey was 1st in the league in defense twice under Scott, after starting at 23rd his first year. The last year they were 4th.

Then when he went to N.O, the team improved defensively for 3 years straight after he got there, getting as high as 7th. They slippped back to 9th his 5th year and then he was fired just 9 games into his 6th season.

I think his track record is superb on defense. Chris Paul also supported him till the end, and was so mad when he was fired, that he told friends he might walk in 2 years.

 

[Frank Breakfast Styleham]

There's absolutely no chance Phil Jackson comes back to coach the Bulls.

In order for Phil Jackson to coach a team he must have at least two of the following things in place. He must:

1. Go to a team which is ALREADY a contender before he arrives.

as well as,

2. Go to a team which has THE greatest, best, most premier player in the league.

Last time I checked the Bulls don't have any of those going for them at the moment so we may as well rule him out.

Phil Jackson is a tough guy who always has a gun. He's too scared to throw his piece down and let his fists do the talking.

Larry Brown isn't afraid to put the gun down and scrap. If Larry leaves Charlotte I would have him on the phone as soon as the news broke.

 

[NealKleren]

Where did you find this? Nba.com? Im too lazy to look this stuff up right now lol. But I mean I wouldnt say hes bad defensively but doesnt really focus on it as much as say some other coaches do is what I really meant.

 

[cpenno]

I would definitely go for Byron Scott with his excellent track record of getting the best out of team with less talent than we will have next season. The best part is Scott appears to be making all the right noises about his desires to coach and I consider his man management to be on par with his X`s and O`s which will be crucial with a young emerging team.

His hiring will most importantly allow us to attract quality free agents and keep our stars happy in the interim. Lets just hope we actually secure a top rung coach this time!!!