By Sean Mackey
For the first CBKY post we make, I'd like the discuss the hiring of VDN. Now, granted most of us would have rather had Mr. Mike D'Antoni coaching the squad, this just didn't happen. As soon as D'Antoni's name got thrown into the coaching rumor mill, I think the majority of the Bulls roster and the millions of fans immediately were excited and full of hope for the 08-09 season. After our dreams were crushed by the dirty Knicks of New York, then Doug Collins' name got tossed into the mix.....even reports surfaced from the Chicago Tribune headlining "Doug Collins expected to be new Bulls coach" . A week later, that report was squashed after Collins decided to drop out of the coaching race. I wasn't a fan of Collins at all. The whole thought of it made me numb. Then a bunch of unexciting former assistants started to come out of the wood work.
Dwane Casey
Chuck Person
Vinny Del Negro
I thought, "how am I suppose to get excited by these names". As a Bulls fan, you just couldn't. After having your dreams of a run and gun D'Antoni offense including Tyrus (Free Money) Thomas slamming in amazing lob passes from Derrick Rose completely pissed on, how is a no-namer assistant suppose to make you excited for the future?
Then the announcement of the hiring of Vinny Del Negro happened.
Players on the Bulls roster along with the majority of the fans were either confused or pissed off. I was one of the confused ones since I was pretty numb still from the Knicks hiring of D'Antoni.
Maybe I'm a sucker, but I thought VDN did a great job at his first press conference. I totally see how Pax was sold on this guy, he's a great talker. Like D'Antoni, the man has played overseas and played at an uptempo pace.....but this guy stresses defense. Wow, it's like the best of both worlds right? Well I hope so.
All and all, I'm really excited about this next season. With the #1 draft pick (I don't care which one it is by the way) and a fresh young coach to guide them, I can see them picking up where they left off in 06-07. With all that being said, I wish VDN the best of luck this season. He's going to need it.