Im not a huge John Hollinger fan, but he might have a point here. It's kinda what I was saying with how he didnt develop Kwame at all, but much more in depth. It talks about his potential weaknesses as a coach, while saying hes not a bad coach, just a bad fit for Chicago.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/s ... d=tab2pos1
Quote:
Problem No. 2: Youth
Collins' history is that he gets an immediate jump from his team -- then things level off in subsequent seasons.
There's a reason for that. Few coaches in recent history have trusted young players less than Collins has. Obviously, there's the infamous Kwame Brown saga, but his obvious discomfort with any young player who isn't an immediate star goes well beyond that.
Collins was particularly over the top in this respect in his most recent tenure, in Washington, and not just with Brown. While 22-year-old Bobby Simmons sat at the end of the bench for two years, 32-year-old Bryon Russell played and was horribly ineffective. While 25-year-old Brian Cardinal sat, 39-year-old Charles Oakley got plenty of time to prove how washed up he was. While 22-year-old Brendan Haywood sat, 32-year-old Popeye Jones played. You get the picture.
Although Detroit and Chicago weren't exactly awash in young talent with Collins as coach, he didn't get much out of the young 'uns there, either. In Detroit, rookies Aaron McKie and Theo Ratliff were two of his most effective players in 1996-97, but they came off the bench behind the veterans; a third productive rookie, Jerome Williams, hardly played at all. In Chicago, he played 23-year-old rookie Will Perdue 190 minutes in 1988-89 … or 99 minutes fewer than he played future towel-waver Jack Haley.
Obviously, if you look at Chicago's current roster, this portends a serious problem. Rose or Beasley will play no matter what, presumably, but what of younger players with less impressive pedigrees? Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas need to get experience and play though their mistakes, but one worries Collins will pull the plug on them after the first miscue and put in whatever decrepit 32-year-old veteran the Bulls sign for the minimum this summer. Ditto for Thabo Sefolosha and Aaron Gray.
In short, for a young team to hire a coach so suspicious of youth is a head-scratcher.