Gordon, the soft-spoken and poker-faced scorer for the Bulls, was fined by Vinny DelNegro on Thursday for undisclosed reasons. According to 670thescore.com, Gordon was seen waving a piece of paper, shouting expletives.
This comes after DelNegro fined Tyrus Thomas and Larry Hughes for eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the locker room before a game.
I guess all those inspirational quotes are helping this under-accomplished team. Maybe a dash of Lou Holtz. Maybe not.
Players like Luol Deng were asked if they respected their first-time coach. Deng was generous by saying he did, but wasn't happy about the fine for his teammate.
DelNegro is beginning to paint the portrait of the overzealous teacher who comes into a failing school and passes out Shakespeare when the students are busily sending texts on their cell phones.
"Who is this guy?"
He's watched too many Morgan Freeman movies.
He's not quite a disciplinarian (Scott Skiles); nor is he a tactitician (Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich). He is without an identity, without creditibility, without a team that cares.
But what's more, this team has regressed on the defensive side of the ball. DelNegro has given his players or fans little confidence in any aspect, really. Where's the run-and-gun that was boasted? Sure, there's the ocassional fast break, but the Bulls aren't even good at it.
- Bottom line: I'd be surprised if DelNegro is not gone by season's end.
The scarier thought is: What does this do for Derrick Rose?
Rose is a marvelous talent, one that could redefine the point guard position as we know it with his off-the-charts athleticism. But he's young, malleable and dependent on some direction, particualry at his position.
Thankfully Rose is good enough to go through another coach. After all, he was only coached by John Calipari in Memphis for one year. But it's not an ideal scenario for a young star.
Rose has struggled on defense and part of that is experience, and the other part is coaching.
Obviously, it's the latter that can be changed.
2 comments:
Paxson where the F are you? your supposed to do something about Del Negro. i don't think you should make any trade (besides sending Hughes somewhere); yo have to see that there is no T E A M in there. IF Vinny it's trying anything, then it's not working with the players. Are they playing that way because they want to or because the "Coach" wants them to?
Either way, maybe the change it's CHANGING YOU PAXSON.
Agreed. I think Ben Gordon tends to get a bad-rap for his one-dimensional game, but the one-dimension--scoring--is pretty important.
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