Pax interview on WSCR -11/29

by Hiryu on Nov 29, 2007 11:44 AM CST Comment 26 comments

[From the diaries. A pretty good interview (Pax rarely has bad ones), although it's always unfortunate when Mike North was involved. For a guy who has a huge undeserved contract himself, he's really up in arms about players' salaries. -Matt]

Pax talked with Mike North on the Score this morning:
http://www.670thescore.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=1144882

Here's a short summary of Pax's comments:

On trades

Says that Lakers were never really interested in trading Kobe. Said that the Lakers ultimately had control of everything despite talk of Kobe asserting his muscle on things.
Agrees that having a superstar is important but the deals are hard to make.
Bulls were in the mix for Garnett and he thought they had a chance but it didn't work out. Alludes to problem of giving up too much for 1 guy.
Dismisses talk of him being too in love with the team. Is not afraid to pull the trigger if he needs to.

On Skiles

He talked to Skiles personally about his harsh comments about TT and said he was right to apologize.
Hinted that his relationship with Skiles has been tested as the loosing has continued, but no indication that he could be fired anytime soon.

On players

Guys have to step up and play at a consistent level every game
North called Pax out about Hinrich and Wallace's poor play.
Wallace's standard has to be double digit rebounds every game.
Has no answer about Hinrich
says TT needs to play with the effort he had in 2nd half against ATL every night.

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Comments

Thanks for the highlights

What was Pax's general tone? Optimistic? Concerned? Frustrated?

by paxson43 on Nov 29, 2007 11:49 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Mike North doesn't give it away?

I think it's pretty obvious what kind of interview Paxson wanted considering it was done by Mike North. North is a soft Bulls fan at best, but he's hardly a tough interview.

by NBA Observer on Nov 29, 2007 12:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I thought North was pretty tough

I listened to the interview and thought that North asked all the questions that I as a fan wanted to put to Pax. I thought it was a pretty testy interview considering that Pax is pretty good at media relations. He was however not enjoying his time on the radio this morning. Sounds like he and Skiles are not on the same page this season. I think the tension between them is greater than just the Noah and Thomas "outings". As far as Kirk and Ben, reading between the lines, Pax is pissed and frustrated with them. Kirk is a headcase. Tough leaders don't get down like him. They may slump, but not play in a funk. Pax doesn't go for that.

by joemoses on Nov 29, 2007 1:20 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

No different than his usual

His tone was pretty light and laughed with North a lot. At the same time, he did show seriousness about the situation. He said all the right things as you would expect him to.

by Hiryu on Nov 29, 2007 12:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Excellent summary - thanks!

by chgobr on Nov 29, 2007 12:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

garnett

they were in the mix? I thought they never were. If that is true, I wouldnt have cared if it was too many players. The bulls are actually pretty deep. Trading hinrich and gordon or deng plus tyrus or noah and some other pieces wouldnt have been a problem with me. Instead we have to watch the celtics dominate the eastern conference with ease.

by Sambossanova on Nov 29, 2007 12:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

the thing is

considering what they got for Garnett, I feel like the Bulls could have made a much better offer without giving up TOO much, cause the Bulls are pretty deep as you say. The Wolves took on the likes of Telfair... I just think McHale was doing his buddy Ainge a favor.

by Jaina on Nov 29, 2007 12:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the summary

I can't listen to this stuff at work and will be on the road tonight and this weekend, so I would have missed this otherwise. I'm Glad Pax finally said something even if it wasn't too drastic (taking that from your summary of course)...

I wonder if Kirk's got some personal issues going on....it's weird that Paxson would call out Wallace and say his standard needs to be double digit boards and not say anything about Kirk.

I'm sorry Kirk's not been at all himself....I don't understand why, but the fact that Pax has said nothing about it is surprising...

by majoyenrac on Nov 29, 2007 12:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

About Kirk

When North asked him about Kirk's funk, Pax stumbled a bit looking for an answer, but then North cut him off saying, "He got married!" and the talk just led to laughter and no real answer.

by Hiryu on Nov 29, 2007 12:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

re: Wallace

Pax didn't single out Wallace unprovoked, it was in response to North railing on him.

And North did have a (rare) good point: Skiles is always quick to shit on guys like Tyrus or Noah but there's never a word about Wallace.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 29, 2007 12:30 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

you don't see an obvious difference

between Wallace and Noah and Tyrus?

Nocioni-Khryapa in '08

by bullshooter on Nov 29, 2007 1:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

No I don't, not in terms of lack of production

by joemoses on Nov 29, 2007 1:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

the question wasn't about lack of production

it was about how they get treated.

Nocioni-Khryapa in '08

by bullshooter on Nov 29, 2007 1:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

uh, yeah.

North said there's a difference in how they're treated by Skiles, and I agreed that it was a good point on his part.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 29, 2007 2:40 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Waking up to North

I set the alarm radio to the score because nothing wakes me up faster than turning off Mike North.

One thing that rang familiar after every Bulls game: Mike North blaming Ben Wallace for everything.

by NBA Observer on Nov 29, 2007 2:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks...

I can't hear the interview and only paraphrased my response from the highlights above.....

by majoyenrac on Nov 29, 2007 3:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

As much as it hurts to say this

Pax said nothing to cure my worries about this team

Everything he said is shit he always says.

Except that he talked to Skiles about pointing out players through media.

by Option27 on Nov 29, 2007 12:57 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

this summary is now

linked at true hoop. But still no Blog a bull link in his official link section!

by KT on Nov 29, 2007 3:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

heh

well, the reason Henry cut his blogroll in the first place was that it was a pain to maintain it. So I don't expect a lot of changes, whether it's adding this site or not.

And thanks to Hiryu for summarizing the interview. I would've likely just put a link up there, and it would've gotten far less attention.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Nov 29, 2007 3:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs