Bulls officially hire Bickerstaff and Ociepka

[From the FanShots. I don't know much about these guys' assistant coach credentials besides 'not being Bob Hill' -ed.]

"Bernie Bickerstaff and Bob Ociepka have agreed to terms to be assistant coaches on Vinny Del Negro's first staff, sources said.

Negotiations with Del Harris hit some snags but are ongoing, meaning neither side would be surprised if talks concluded successfully or broke off.

Bob Hill is no longer under consideration, sources said, and Paul Westphal's status is unclear. Hill, Westphal, Harris and Bickerstaff all are veteran head coaches who were sought to assist Del Negro's transition."

about 1 year ago Illini15 Comment 26 comments 0 recs |

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Also of note from the article...

Besides veteran coaches, the Bulls will hire younger, development-type assistant coaches. Mike Brown served in that capacity last season.

I approve of all of this. Pax is making all the right moves here IMO.

When I watch NBA games I often call the fouls before the referees do. Sometimes it’s a gift. Most of the time it's troublesome. - NBA Observer

by Illini15 on Jun 30, 2008 9:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Kinda hard not to

since he has a step by step road map of what not to do from last year. I am glad to hear they are going to try to actually, y’know, work with the players and make things better.

Everything I post is speculation. I have no insider information nor ideas deemed concrete enough by those who are self-elected to regulate post content.

by cranscape on Jun 30, 2008 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully we'll get

a former past-first PG to mentor Rose. If the Magic can bring in Ewing to coach Howard, we should be able to get a former star too.

by YaoPau on Jul 1, 2008 1:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah but was Ewing effective?

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jul 1, 2008 9:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think so

Dwight Howard played about the same minutes as the year before, but his stats jumped from 17.6 – 12.3 to 20.7 – 14.2. He got to the line almost three more times a game, and committed less turnovers.

It’s hard to say how much of that was due to Ewing and not to other factors (Howard’s youth, Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis), but there was an improvement.

by YaoPau on Jul 1, 2008 2:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think at least half of his improvement was the change n

offensive system and personnel. Van Gundy went to the Olajuwon offense with 4 shooters beyond the arc, which opened up the lane. That helped him cut down on turnovers and gave him more 1 on 1 situations and more shots and FTAs. There was some skill improvement as well and he probably got even stronger, but I’m not sure how much Ewing had to with it.

by Scotter on Jul 1, 2008 3:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Bickerstaff Bulls

I may be in the minority here, but if you’re going to get a rookie coach who’s so inexperienced he has to be tutored in the rookie league, I want to see two ex-head coaches on the bench.

by ziffle on Jul 1, 2008 2:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

stop spamming

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jul 1, 2008 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

forgot to add: 'please'

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jul 1, 2008 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thank God for no Bob Hill

I don’t think it’s necessary to go assistant crazy. As long as there’s enough people to determine offensive gameplan and to watch tape with that don’t just categorically agree with whatever the head coach says (B$, Jim).

by Ozzie Montana on Jun 30, 2008 9:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

And enough young guys who will pay attention to the Noahs and Thomases of the world

Wasn’t Noah complaining (completely valid) about not enough personal attention as far as development/teaching went? Hopefully his concerns were heard and will be appeased.

When I watch NBA games I often call the fouls before the referees do. Sometimes it’s a gift. Most of the time it's troublesome. - NBA Observer

by Illini15 on Jun 30, 2008 9:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember Pete Myers last year

was the official Big Man Coach, and tried teaching Noah, Tyrus, and Gray post moves and whatnot. When Gray pointed out that Pete Myers was in fact a 6’4” shooting guard, Skiles and Boylan both said “You don’t need to be a big man to know how to play like a big man.” Which in some ways makes a little sense, except that when you remember this is the Bulls and not JV high school basketball, in a lot more ways it makes no sense at all.

Noah had a right to be pissed.

by YaoPau on Jul 1, 2008 1:36 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

solution

Aaron Gray retires and becomes big man coach.

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jul 1, 2008 9:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hah

I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE

by CONOR6 on Jul 1, 2008 2:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Isn't that the truth

by hlac on Jun 30, 2008 11:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Amen, Brother! WOOHOOO! No Bob Hill...!

"It’d be ridiculous to hate someone for simply what they say in a sports blog. But I greatly dislike every syllable of your angst-filled, smarmy, nondescript, half-assed, elitist-garbage responses." –Rogerspark Kris

by bullhockey on Jul 1, 2008 8:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

cool

Im kinda happy we didn’t get that herb Del Harris…i hated him in LA. Complete incompetence

by Belize on Jul 1, 2008 4:07 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

As a head coach?

OK. But as an assistant coach?

Some people are destined to be best supporting actors.

by NBA Observer on Jul 1, 2008 9:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ding Ding Ding

i really like the Bickerstaff / Harris hire.

kind of like a three headed monster , which is so necessary w/ Vinny Del Buttcut holding the reigns.

Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.

-- Scottie Pippen

by Orlando Woolridge on Jul 16, 2008 11:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Paxson made the right coaching moves

when he brought in Skiles. we needed discipline/accountability and we weren’t one of the youngest teams in the NBA at that time. Paxon heard Noah and saw this team turn on Skiles last year. So he fired Skiles on christmas. He heard them (Noah is the clearest example as illini15 refers to up top). And chose to believe in the work ethic of his young players over the hard driving non communicating, demanding sarcastic Skiles.
Even with 3 years of playoff results!

It never really bothered me that he took his time finding a coach. We had time. Why rush? D’Antoni is STILL not going to play defense. (which works perfectly with the team he inherits). This way Pax tailor makes a coaching staff that he thinks fits.

For better or worse, keeping “what’s his face” as the interim coach got us a shot at another draft prospect. (who would have that it would be the No 1 : ) The worst part of that decision however was not willing to demand that his younger guys play (namely Thomas) more in order to develop them.

by gman2849 on Jul 1, 2008 9:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Skiles can get you so far

but there came a point where he was more interested in running his style rather than looking at who was on the roster and finding a way to work with their strengths. There is only so long you can stand jamming that square peg into the round hole before the game isn’t fun anymore. The small ball was killing us. His lack of communication with his players was killing us. Heck, how he handled the Piston’s playoff series killed us. The organizational indifference to developing our young guys was killing us. He did get us back to respectability (until that last year), but that was as far as he was going to get us and as far as he has gotten teams in the past. I expect the same scenario will happen in Milwaukee. They’ll improve, have a few good years, and implode. I am looking forward to new coaches. We already have guys with reputations of working hard. Now we will have coaches who will take a fresh look at what is on the roster and find a system that will work with what we actually have.

Everything I post is speculation. I have no insider information nor ideas deemed concrete enough by those who are self-elected to regulate post content.

by cranscape on Jul 2, 2008 5:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mike McGraw is

reporting:

It appears Pete Myers will return to the bench and Mike Wilhelm will continue in his role of advance scout.
Head coach Vinny Del Negro also plans to hire a couple of development coaches who will concentrate on working with the players away from practice.

Mike Brown, who spent the second half of last season with the Bulls, is among the candidates for one of those roles.

I thought KC said neither Myers nor Adams would be back on the bench?

If nothing else, taking Rose will at least piss off Pat Riley.

by wjb1492 on Jul 1, 2008 9:57 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think the reports always were that both would be with the organization

but not likely to return to the bench.

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look.
Ronald Reagan

by snley on Jul 1, 2008 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

KC writing about the Adams and Myers

every week didn’t help KC here. I’m sure he’s slipped with the pen and closed off any room for error in at least one of the umpteen stories he filed about where Adams and Myers would be working.

by NBA Observer on Jul 1, 2008 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's what I remember KC writing

This is the first indication I’ve seen that either would return as an assistant, but McGraw says “it appears” which isn’t exactly a confirmation. It just stood out to me given everything I’ve seen previously, and the fact that I (like I think most here) was hoping for a clean break (coaching-wise) from last year’s coaching staff.

If nothing else, taking Rose will at least piss off Pat Riley.

by wjb1492 on Jul 1, 2008 10:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

My trust level in Paxson has been immensely rebuilding the last couple weeks

It seems he’s primarily concerned with building an environment conductive to developing the players on this team for the next couple years. If either Adams or Meyers is back to the bench this coming season, I’m sure they’d have to express understanding and willingness to adhere to the change in culture.

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look.
Ronald Reagan

by snley on Jul 1, 2008 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs