Paxson made this move in an attempt to save his job. As in, Reinsdorf said “win 50 games next year or you’re out”, and Paxson found a coach that’s a good bet to make that happen.

That’s really the only way the Collins hiring makes sense. Put him on the sidelines, the Bulls grab the #4 seed and win 50, the addition of Derrick Rose leads to another season of filled seats, and suddenly Paxson’s bought himself another two years to bring home a title. With that said, I expect Thabo and Tyrus to sit and wait for another year.

he has the vision to make the most out of this team. Unless Paxson was just shining us about wanting someone with a different perspective, he would have promoted a “yes-man” assistant to carry out Paxson’s own agendas. I would expect Collins to adapt what he has done well with past teams to fit the Bulls unflinching philosophies(defense, accountability, character, etc…). Paxson should have been aware of his coaching weaknesses and been impressed at how Collins will resolve those issues with the Bulls players.
As for playing veterans ahead of youth, there isn’t as big of a gap and no player has really stood out as a leader and earned more playing time by his accomplishments.

and lots of good information.
This slow offensive label is not so encouraging? I hope that changes?

but just because the guy says he’ll push the pace in Dallas does not mean he won’t be the same coach he has shown to be, either. If Carlisle gets the benefit of the doubt, the Collins should as well.

I apparently am one of the few who are not surprised by this hiring and sort of expected it, especially after seeing the names of the other candidates. I couldn’t tell if I was reading a list of coaching candidates or former 7th and 8th men.

Paxson played under Collins during the formative years of Scottie and Horace, so one should be able to assume Pax has some idea of the type of instruction and coaching at least a young Doug Collins was able to provide two up and coming youngsters. He at least has a frame of reference for this hire and one just hopes it’s not too tinted by rose colored glasses.

Who else would have sufficed as a hire and not be subject to the same 2-3 year window most people seem to label the shelf life of this hiring with? Even a guy like D”Antoni didn’t get past 4 years in Phoenix. Shelf life for a coach should not be a concern, there are only three coaches in this league with apparent absolute job security anyway.

The Collins years were the heyday of my fandom. One of those seasons I think I watched (or heard on the radio) all but 3 of the 82 games, as well as listened to Doug’s Sunday morning radio show with Jerry Kuc. Think it was Bobby Knight who was one of the first to push him into coaching, noticing Collins with players and seeing he was a “natural teacher”. From his TV gig you can see he analyzes the flow of a game really well; he’ll develop some solid plays to get the most out of this team. Other thoughts:

—catering to Jordan: yes he did. But remember how unique a player Jordan was. We’re talking one of the GOAT, and certainly the most insanely competitive at the time. Even many seasoned vet coaches would’ve been the same (how did Kevin Loughery handle Jordan? Or Stan Albeck? Collins was an improvement). Yes Phil handled Jordan better, and it really makes you appreciate Phil’s talents. But being an assistant under Collins for a couple of years helped. TrueHoop recently knocked Collin’s intensity over PJ’s Zen calmness, but ask Horace Grant if he preferred Phil’s mindgames over Doug’s teaching.

—Collins’ intensity: yes, he’ll probably be guilty on that one. He was emotional as a coach (positive & negative), and may burn out after a couple of years. Fine. Unless you all booked the championship parade for the next two years, a temp coach isn’t a disaster: we’ll see how many rising teams have the same coach in 2011. But Skiles recently claimed he got better (and mellower) with each successive team/job and I believe it. I think Collins will be similar. He had a lot more to prove years ago as he grew into the job.

-slowing the pace: that’s a worry, because yeah, he did slow things down. And while it’s somewhat less excuseable in recent years, the league was different then. And remember those early Bulls team had NO ONE besides Jordan to score (Gene Banks? Elston Turner? Brad Sellers?). And some of the blame lied with Jordan, who also didn’t trust his teammates-something even the Zenmaster couldn’t get Kobe to do well until recently). Doug has called a bunch of Phoenix Suns games, and though he’s lamented their droughts with his “fool’s gold” line, it’s not because he didn’t see the value in an uptempo style (if you’ve got the players). I want to see an uptempo style too, but I think the D’Antoni episode made us all a lot believe that’s the only solution for this team. This can work, and w/ a good PG it can still be dynamic.

I think I’d prefer Collins over Mark Jackson, Kurt Rambis, or other newbies right now. This can be good.

Am I the only one fed up with that concept?

Does this mean that Pax will eventually trade the 1st pick for Seattle´s 4th plus Adrian Griffin?

Daddy, hold me….

I wouldn’t assume Collins is going to be the coach yet. Listening to him on TNT last night, and looking at the somewhat angry Paxson press release yesterday, I think there’s a fair chance someone just blew the lid off this before it was a story. OK, I don’t know that I believe that, but I guess I’m hoping for it.

As far as Collins as coach, I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s as if Paxson has looked around and thrown his hands up in the air and given up on finding someone he really wants.

I can partially understand that since I was advocating, at this point, a guy like Van Gundy. The last thing we need is another inexperienced guy. Collins is at least experienced.

On the other hand, people might forget his history of sucking the joy out of life for his players. Ironically, I’ve been around for all his coaching stops. I was in Chicago for his first tour with the Bulls. In Michigan when he coached the Pistons. In DC when he coached the Wizards. The common denominator was that he put a pretty good team on the floor and is a good xs and os coach that will quickly turn his players against him. In none of the places I’ve seen him have I seen anyone upset he was gone.

My hope, and semi-theory, is that this is a short-term plan and Pax is also bringing in a protege (although any protege is going to come with the baggage of having to replace Collins from within the staff, which seems difficult to me). When I write it out, I can’t think of many instances of that being successful.

OK, I hope they botch this like they botched D’Antoni.