The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that  

The Doug Collins watch is winding down: Barring any last-minute hiccups, the Bulls are expected to introduce Collins as their next coach at a midweek news conference.

An announcement of Collins' hiring could come as early as Tuesday, a source said, with a formal introduction Wednesday. Sources told the Sun-Times last Thursday that Collins, who coached the Bulls from 1986-89, had agreed to return.

The Sun-Times also states

Speculation is that Paxson will want Collins to give a spot on his coaching staff to one of the candidates the Bulls have interviewed over the past six weeks. Collins could groom that person to succeed him as coach. Utah Jazz assistants Tyrone Corbin and Jeff Hornacek, former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey, and Sacramento Kings assistant Chuck Person interviewed with Paxson. The GM also met with Los Angeles Lakers assistants Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw and former New York Knicks guard Mark Jackson, currently an analyst for ESPN. Collins, whom Paxson regards as a ''brilliant'' basketball mind, is said to be excited to get back to coaching, particularly with the Bulls, the youngest team in the league. The fact the Bulls own the No. 1 pick in the June 26 draft and will select either former Memphis guard and Simeon star Derrick Rose or former Kansas State forward Michael Beasley also attracted Collins to the job. The Bulls are expected to bring both prospects to the Berto Center for two-day visits the week of June 16.

It appears we not only will see a new coach but his successor.

 

Peter Vescey is reporting that Rick Carlisle has agreed to be the Dallas Maverick's coach.

Sources told The Post last night that the former Pacer and Piston coach, who interviewed with Walsh for the Knick coaching job Wednesday, has agreed to terms with the Mavericks to replace Avery Johnson.

I have no idea who our coach may be but it doesn't look like one of the retreads.  I have a feeling this search is going well into June.

[ed. note: Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview. -Matt]

A loss tonight ties us with Charlotte and puts us two games behind Jersey with two games left.  Tie breakers are broken by drawings so we will not be penalized by having won the series with Charlotte 3-1.  The 8th pick is possible.  

We have a disease.  Noah discusses how it can spread. You gotta love this guy.  

"It's a disease, and it spreads throughout the whole team," Noah said calmly. "It's just really, really hard right now because regardless what we do, there's no light at the end of the tunnel, especially for this season.

"We're not really playing with a lot of pride and respect for the jersey. It's just hard because you can't point at anybody individually. It's just our togetherness as a team is just bad. You can talk about Florida. But if you're a Bulls fan, I'm not a champion anymore. We're losers. We lose. That's all we do. That's all there is to say."

My recurring nightmare - the disease spreads to next season. We need infectious disease control.

RANDOM TOUGHTS as we enter the most important part of next season:

Continue reading this post »

[Thanks to chgobr for tonight's game preview. -Matt]

The Thursday Cleveland game exposed my emotional fragility.  Of course I know losing solidifies our chances for the 9th pick as well as maintains hope that Charlotte makes up 1½ games and we get the 8th pick. However, I couldn't control myself. I rooted for the Bulls to win and enjoyed it when they won.  I am ashamed of myself. I wonder if this problem will persist tonight.  I'm also worried New Jersey's ineptitude may overcome ours.  

Bullshooter, despite overwhelming odds, in his Cleveland game preview attempted to convince us to watch.  The game thread received almost 300 comments so I guess he succeeded (or was it the rare Bulls win?).  Let me try to excite you about tonight's game.

Here is what I'm looking at tonight:
1.    Despite disdain for our dead-man-walking coach we seem to be playing better.  The "Czar" Fratello repeatedly pointed out how well he thought the Bulls were playing, particularly in the first quarter.  My head is splitting trying to figure out how to improve this team.
2.    Larry Hughes is an enigma.  Poor shot selection, risky and/or matador defense that leads to easy points is interwoven with offensive bursts and periods of excellent defense that can carry a team.  His contract makes him difficult to move.  Can the right coach make him into consistent, valuable contributor?  He seems to have the talent, but does he have the brains?
3.    Eddie Jordan has done a terrific job with this team.  How did he get this team to buy into playing defense?   Riley thinks he has done a great job .

"Eddie's done a great job obviously, I think, and he should be a [coach of the year] candidate along with [New Orleans Coach] Byron Scott and a lot of these coaches that have kept their teams abreast," Riley said. "Eddie's done a great job defensively. If you take a look at their numbers without Gilbert, they went to a more methodical approach even though they still run. They're not the kind of running team they were prior to Gilbert's injury. It's a game that's more suited to Jamison and Butler. And I think the one thing they've improved the most is defensively, they really clamp down on people. Big front line, the real deal when it comes to rebounding, second-chance points and stuff like that."
4.    We get to evaluate Arenas.  Arenas came back on Wednesday against Milwaukee at home and Washington lost.  He played 20 minutes, had 17 points, 4 TOs and 2 assists.  Last night against Miami he again played 20 minutes, had 13 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds and 1 TO.  Is he really better or will his knees deteriorate and someone will be stuck with a horrible, unmovable, contract?
5.    Attributing our Thursday win to James bad back minimizes the excellent job Thabo and Noah did defensively.  Thabo and Noah provide 2008-9 optimism.  
6.    With all our Ben Gordon grumblings who on our team can make big 4th quarter shots better than BG?  When he is hot he is fun to watch.  When Hughes is hot other teams cannot just focus on BG.  This makes BG more dangerous.  What-do-we-do with BG adds to my off-season confusion.
7.    Who on this blog didn't love the Corpse missing a key dunk Wednesday at crunch-time? The audible groan from the Cleveland crowd was music to my ears(as a smile emerges on my face)?

208 days until opening night.

BLOGGING WITH THE ENEMY:
Ready to Rule
Washington Wizard News
Bullets Forever

As the crescendo of rumors builds we hear Tom Thibodeau's name again.  Notice how Doc Rivers does not deny Thibodeau is being considered for the Bulls' job.  This is from The Boston Globe

Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau has been rumored as a candidate for the Bulls' coaching job. "I don't get into that," said Rivers. "It's the middle of the season. I'm not commenting or talking about that. I want [all my assistants] to get [head] jobs. And they all deserve them. But that's all I'm going to say on that."

Blog-a-Bull was the first to float Thibodeau's name on Saturday March 8th, 2008.  The following is copied from that diary.

Tom Thibodeau has been an NBA coach for nearly twenty years. For many of those years, he worked under Jeff Van Gundy, who has called him a strong prospect to be a head coach one day soon. When Boston's Doc Rivers looked for a new assistant this summer, Thibodeau is said to have been at the top of the list of coaches who could help Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce succeed together. His move from Houston to Boston was something of a homecoming for Thibodeau, too, who is from nearby New Britain, Connecticut, and once was an assitant coach at Harvard, and at Massacusetts' Salem State, where he both graduated and coached.

Thibodeau has been praised for everything from his tutelage of Yao Ming to making the Celtics a much-improved defensive team.

Thibodeau's background written when he was Jeff Van Gundy's Assistant in Houston.

Thibodeau entered the NBA in 1989 as an assistant coach with the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves under the late Bill Musselman. After two seasons with the Timberwolves, he joined the Seattle SuperSonics in 1991 as an advance scout. The following year, Thibodeau moved to San Antonio, where he worked with Jerry Tarkanian and John Lucas as a Spurs assistant coach for two seasons. He left San Antonio to become an assistant coach under Lucas with the Philadelphia 76ers. Thibodeau's stay in Philadelphia lasted two seasons, at which point he joined the Knicks. With the Knicks, Thibodeau worked with Van Gundy for five years and Don Chaney for two seasons.

In 14 NBA seasons, Thibodeau has helped his team finish in the NBA's Top Ten in team defense 11 times.

Blog-a-Bull, as always, first with Bulls information.

The Bulls are 2-1 against the Pacers this season.  The Pacers have won three straight and are 1/2 games ahead of the Bulls. Gooden and Sefolosha missed practice yesterday but hopefully will play.  Hinrich hopes to play but is a game-time decision.  The still present, but dwindling playoff hopes are painfully transitioning to summer improvement, look-forward-to-next-year season.  Our lingering despair creates more Boylan bashing as well as new summer Bulls improvement strategies.  Boylan bashing may not be necessary since he is dead man walking.  The new coach name being thrown out is John Calipari. Indiana's version of Bull's coaching uncertainty is Walsh and Larry Bird uncertainty.  

I will watch tonight's game trying to answer the following questions:

1.    What is our basketball identity going to be?  I've posted my defensive vision thing.  Others do not believe our players are made for a defensive shut-down team.   With Skiles we were the NBA hustling defensive "we try harder" team.  Under Boylan we are the offensively better, defensively poor, weak-willed, no-heart, best 4th quarter collapsing NBA team.  What kind of team would we become with Calipari at helm?
2.    What should we do with Ben Gordon? I remain confused.  
3.    Is Deng an all-star or an also-ran?  Will he blossom into an NBA star or be an overpaid burden on our salary cap?  
4.    Can a new coach convert Hughes into a defensive specialist?  He is quick, likes to make steals, but can he be taught to play defense at a Bruce Bowen level?
5.    Will Thabo become an elite guard or should we trade him because we will never pay him?  
6.    Is this year an aberration for Hinrich or did we make an error and grossly over-pay him?   Should we consider trading him?
7.    Gooden looks like a legitimate inside presence.  Next year is the last year of his contract.  Would we resign him?  If not should we trade him?  What are we looking to get in a trade?

Enjoy - the game tonight can be viewed as a canvas for summer decision-making!  

BLOGGING WITH THE ENEMY:
SBNation Indiana Pacer blog, Indycornrows.com

[ed. note: Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview. -Matt]

Angles to today's Detroit game.

1- You cannot ignore the shocking possibility of the Bull's sweeping the 2007-08 Detroit series with a win tonight.  The Bulls have won 5 straight regular season games against a Detroit team that is 23-5 at home.
2- Motivational bounce-back from the ESPN tongue-lashing.  During the Boston game the ESPN announcers repetitively pointed out how we are a pathetic, defensively weak, lifeless, non-hustling, jump-shooting, shitty team.  Despite some of us agreeing it seemed a bit harsh.  
3- Our Boylan frustration is highlighted by his cliché coaching after the Boston game.  

We had some looks; they just weren't going down. We looked a little fatigued. We just didn't seem to have an answer for them.'
4- TT and Thabo should return today.
5- Watch Deng and Gordon play.  Are they playing poorly or just not as good as we thought?  Today's game contributes to the summer salary negotiations melodrama which heats up in July.
6- Will Noah continue his stellar play?  He may be the steal of the 2007 draft. Who now would take Ji, Hawes or Corey Brewer over Noah?
7- The half-full entry - Despite Boylan's ineptitude I am happier today after moving the Corpse for Hughes and Gooden.  
8- We are ½-game behind NJ and 1 behind Atlanta for the 8th spot

There isn't much we don't know about this Detroit team. Rasheed Wallace sat out the last game with a sore ankle. I think they just wanted to rest him against the pathetic Knicks and I expect him to play tonight. I do not know of any Detroit injuries that would keep them from playing tonight.  The only thing in the Detoit papers a bit interesting is McDyess's recent poor play

Pistons forward Antonio McDyess hasn't been quite the same steady factor over the last four games. After having eight double-digit rebounding performances in February, McDyess hasn't cracked six boards in four games. He also averaged just 3.25 points in that span.

As usual - I hope our Bulls play well and we can enjoy a rare surprise win.

BLOGGING WITH THE ENEMY:
DetroitNewsBlog
DetroitBadBoys
PistonsNationBlog
Need4Sheed

As we think about choosing a coach I suggest we build on our strengths.  We do not have a superstar and likely won't when we start the 2008-09 season.  What we do have is athletic players that like playing defense.  Noah, Hinrich, Hughes, TT, Thabo, Deng and even Noch have significant defensive talent and like playing defense. Good defense leads to fast break opportunities, a strength of our team.  What do you think about choosing our next coach with the goal to make us the 2008-09 top NBA defensive team?  

One name that comes to mind is Tom Thibodeau.

Tom Thibodeau has been an NBA coach for nearly twenty years. For many of those years, he worked under Jeff Van Gundy, who has called him a strong prospect to be a head coach one day soon. When Boston's Doc Rivers looked for a new assistant this summer, Thibodeau is said to have been at the top of the list of coaches who could help Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce succeed together. His move from Houston to Boston was something of a homecoming for Thibodeau, too, who is from nearby New Britain, Connecticut, and once was an assitant coach at Harvard, and at Massacusetts' Salem State, where he both graduated and coached.

Thibodeau has been praised for everything from his tutelage of Yao Ming to making the Celtics a much-improved defensive team.

Thibodeau's background written when he was Jeff Van Gundy's Assistant in Houston.

Thibodeau entered the NBA in 1989 as an assistant coach with the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves under the late Bill Musselman. After two seasons with the Timberwolves, he joined the Seattle SuperSonics in 1991 as an advance scout. The following year, Thibodeau moved to San Antonio, where he worked with Jerry Tarkanian and John Lucas as a Spurs assistant coach for two seasons. He left San Antonio to become an assistant coach under Lucas with the Philadelphia 76ers. Thibodeau's stay in Philadelphia lasted two seasons, at which point he joined the Knicks. With the Knicks, Thibodeau worked with Van Gundy for five years and Don Chaney for two seasons.

In 14 NBA seasons, Thibodeau has helped his team finish in the NBA's Top Ten in team defense 11 times.

What are your thoughts about Thibodeau?  Any other suggestions on who else can accomplish getting us to be the 2008-09 best defensive team?

[Thanks to chgobr for today's game preview. -Matt]

Tonight is another opportunity to digest the trade and the solve the Bulls puzzle. Can we find a combination that dazzled us against Denver? Can we better understand what is missing? Are all the pieces already here and nothing is missing? There is a great deal to like about this group of players. Our challenge is meshing, chemistry, synergy, finding a way for the sum to be greater than its parts and avoid redundancy (like I just did).

Tonight's game is between two struggling teams. The Bulls have lost 5 of 7 and the Pacers 12 of 15. Kirk Hinrich's 38 points led the Bulls to a 108-95 home victory Jan. 23. Kirk is salivating as he looks forward to facing Travis Diener again. Indiana, 22-35, a tad worse then our 22-34, have pieces (O'Neal, Murphy, Dunleavy, Tinsley, Foster, Marquis Daniels, Granger and Kareem Rush) and like us, are trying to solve the puzzle. Speculation about O'Neal and Tinsley's knees and their return abound. If you could guarantee O'Neal's health he would be in the mix for Bulls savior. O'Neal's knees and $19.7, $21.3, and $23 through 2009-10 make him almost impossible to move. Against Toronto Monday the Pacers came from 10 down and Kareem Rush almost tied it with a three. Expect the Pacers to play with energy as they did against Toronto.

" We really competed our hearts out in the second half," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "We played a good basketball team, never gave up ....."

Bulls - Pacers: opportunity to examine pieces and solve our puzzle.

Blogging with the enemy:
Indycornrows.com
PacerInsider.com - some Pacer draft ideas here

Johnny Ludden and Adrian Wojnarowski report

* The Orlando Magic have continued to shop for frontline help with Pat Garrity's expiring contract as bait.

The Corpse for Garrity, Reddick, Battie, and Maurice Evans is a proposal that works on multiple levels.  Orlando is giving up players stuck on the bench.  Reddick is unhappy.  The Bulls save, I believe around $16 mil and bury the Corpse. Orlando salaries are from HoopsHype.  The Corpse could actually help Orlando's defense. We would have to buy out Jameson, Battie, Garrity and Evans to have a roster spot for Battie and Reddick.  Reddick can be gone after this year or we could buy him out or trade him.  He has a team option for next year.