So what of executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson then, you rightly ask?

I wish I had a satisfying answer for you. I have always felt that Paxson was as intelligent a basketball mind as I have encountered, from hearing him guest-host shows on 670 The Score and broadcast games on radio to my many conversations with him as he white-boarded the opponent’s playbook as an assistant coach.

That easygoing guy has since turned reclusive in the ensuing years, his public presence dwindling into an occasional appearance that features blandishments and generalities instead of the candor and detail we once appreciated. We want him to be in there somewhere, but this Paxson is now Prince Hamlet, wandering the cold and darkened ramparts of a wind-swept Castle Reinsdorf, seeing ghosts. He may emerge soon, and we hope he’ll answer for this year’s pitiful performance.

K.C. Johnson ‏@KCJHoop
Butler: "Everybody has to work hard and stay together and not get astray and start worrying about one self instead of the one team."

It's a pretty fair article. He properly addresses Paxson at the end.

I still can't believe the front office ran Thibs out of town. Getting players to try hard and play together is really half the battle in sports. The Bulls had so much talent this year and played so far below that talent level. But I have the Hawks/Blues and plenty of baseball to entertain myself. And it appears the Bears are close to becoming a professional organization again.

Disinfect it, now. Clean it out with bleach and sunlight or burn it.

I'm not sure if they publicly stated that they thought this would be a Championship level team

"I wouldn't have taken [the Iowa State] job if I wasn't confident that I could get it where we wanted and we accomplished some good things," Hoiberg said. "We didn't reach all of our goals but we were pretty darn close getting there. This is a similar situation. I wouldn't take this job if I wasn't confident that we could continue to play at a championship level."

"Obviously we've known Fred for a long, long time and felt very highly of Fred," Forman said. "We have great respect for who he is as a person, and we have great respect for the job that he has done. He's a talented, in-demand coach that has attracted significant interest throughout the league and was on top of our list as we began this process ... as we [visited with him] it became very apparent to us that he was the fit that we had talked about. A fit with our players, a fit with our team, and he was the right guy to maximize the potential of this basketball team."

Being a good "basketball mind" is probably 1/100 of the job of a successful GM or VP, so that's basically a moot point.

Additionally, call me skeptical if I don't automatically consider Paxson to be a great mind simply because Dan Bernstein thinks so. This is a guy who thinks a big vocabulary equates to intelligence and who has been the lapdog of every leadership group in Chicago sports for the last ten years (at least when they started). SYNERGY! YOU'RE GONNA LIKE THIS GUY!

I'll give it a read.

The Bulls deserve this. For people to complain that Thibs tried too hard and pushed players too much in the regular season, well this is what you get. And this is the more common NBA scenario. Most NBA coaches have a short tenure and cannot get players to try hard every night especially on defense.

I am on board with making a championship a priority. However, if you don't make it to the playoffs, well you're never going to win a championship.

Here's thinking that Pax is the primary problem with the organization. Maybe Reinsdorf could higher McDonough.

That Hawk clip is special. Can someone tell me how he isn't taking major heat for this? Is it because he's old and farty?

The real problem is the drafting of Rose and giving us the illusion this guy can lead the Bulls to a title.

I don't remember if I said it when the hire was made but I don't think Hoiberg was ever a serious candidate for any of the big college jobs. The Bulls infatuation with him was a little strange.

My favorite was the logic that the championship winning Warriors speaking with Hoiberg before hiring Kerr was sufficient evidence of his quality. No offers, no formal interviews, or anything, just the mere fact that they talked to each other proves how good he is.

You can't blame Pax for drafting Rose. That was maybe the best decision of his post playing career.

Are players from Latin American countries generally taught to swing or take certain pitches differently than players from North America or Asian countries?

If so, then I don't think there's anything wrong with what he said as it would be a commentary on a style of coaching/teaching. Or if that's just his opinion based on what he's observed after x amount of years of watching MLB I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that, either.

The real problem is the drafting of Rose and giving us the illusion this guy can lead the Bulls to a title.