A Letter From John Paxson...
Dear Big Fan,

By now you’ve heard about the hiring of Vinny Del Negro as head coach of the Chicago Bulls. His selection came after weeks of searching, interviewing, evaluating, and more interviewing. We are very pleased to have Vinny join the organization and I’d like to let you know a little more about our process and our selection. We are confident both the process and the choice were the right ways to go for the Bulls at this time.


Obviously, I was not satisfied with the performance of our team during the 2007-08 NBA regular season. Like many of you, I believed we had the talent to make the playoffs and compete in a vastly improved Eastern Conference. For a variety of reasons, despite having a very talented combination of veteran and younger players, we fell behind early in the season and never recovered. I was intent on finding a new coach who had the court knowledge, leadership and communication skills to drive this roster to perform at the levels we demand.


After the end of the season, I talked to players, coaches, trainers and others within the organization to find out what ingredients we may have been lacking and the characteristics we would like to see in a new head coach. I told the media, our fans, and everyone in the organization that I had no deadline for finding a new coach and I intended to leave no stone unturned.


For several weeks, I interviewed some current head coaches, former head coaches, NCAA coaches who may be prepared to graduate to the NBA, and a couple of intriguing, unconventional choices that made me realize that our selection did not have to fall within the usual parameters.


There were a couple of things that I learned during the process that I’d like to pass on to you. First, I was very pleased to find that there is a lot of NBA-quality coaching talent out there. That’s good for the NBA and that’s good for fans. I’m also pleased to report that there was a lot of interest and enthusiasm about coaching this team -- with its talent, its promise, and its history.


Though much was speculatively written about the search process, let me give you some of the facts that we never publicly mentioned. The process was thorough. There were no restrictions on how much we would be willing to pay, how much head coaching experience would be required, the level of name recognition a candidate had, or whether the new coach should be the one most popular with media analysts. What we did look for was someone who was willing to look at the Bulls differently, objectively, and creatively. Since I did not believe our problems last year were typical, I did not want to be bound by a typical search.


We did narrow the field and had more specific discussions with a couple of candidates, but regardless of what was reported, there were never any contract discussions nor conditions offered to any candidates until we decided to hire Vinny.



Let me share with you what sold me on Vinny. When he and I sat down to talk, I was impressed by his knowledge, his confidence, his strategic ideas for the Bulls, and his gift for communication. He also promised a desire and willingness to look at this team, its talent, and its promise with fresh eyes. His ability to draw from his experiences as a player, scout and executive, combined with his energetic and innovative approach, convinced us he was the man to lead our young players and turn this team into the winner that we have the talent to be. Everyone we talked to who had any previous professional relationship with Vinny, whether as a teammate, a coach, a colleague, or a friend, had nothing but superlatives to say about him.


I know you’ll want to join me in making Vinny feel welcome and in giving him your support as he strives to make the 2008-09 NBA season an exciting one for the Chicago Bulls. We look forward to seeing you at the United Center in October.


Sincerely,



John Paxson

Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Why do the Bulls patronize their season ticket holders with these Paxon letters?

Somebody else writes them. It's all bullshit. Just win. Everybody is skeptical no matter what the letter says. They either will play good or they won't. Tickets are already paid for. Don't bullshit people. The fans aren't stupid.

I'm skeptical about this letter myself. It seems like someone else wrote this letter just to satisfy the season ticket holders who continue to spend thousands of dollars on a mediocre at best NBA basketball team.

Did the letter really say, "Dear Big Fan"?

Yeah, I was wondering that too...

I don't understand the rush to name del Negro to the position. Did he have any other interviews this year? Why not wait two weeks to at least interview Thibodeau?

The reason why was because the Celtics refused to grant Thibodeau permission to talk to the Bulls or any other team looking for a head coach. I'm not so sure the Bulls wanted to wait much longer after the Doug Collins & Mike D'Antoni disasters exploded right in their face! Besides, the pool of candidates I didn't feel were that great if Jerry Reinsdorf didn't want to spend big money on Avery Johnson or any other veteran head coach available. He's already got $4 million going to Scott Skiles, who is now coaching the Milwaukee Bucks, IN THE BULLS' OWN DIVISION!!!

Right, but Thibodeau was on a one-year contract. As soon as the finals ended, he was free to interview. What was that, ten days from the day del Negro was hired?

As it turns out, the Boston Celtics' assistant is still on the Bulls' radar. Because Vinny Del Negro is new at this coaching thing, ChicagoSports.com reports that Thibodeau is said to be on the team's wish list for a defensive assistant to go with a veteran NBA head coach as Vinny's lead assistant on his new coaching staff. One name the Web site mentioned today is a guy you may have heard of, Paul Westphal, who was the head coach of the Phoenix Suns & I believe the Seattle Sonics in the '90s and compiled quite a winning record before resurfacing last season with the Dallas Mavericks and the fired Avery Johnson. While people everywhere are scratching their heads over the Del Negro hiring, the Bulls are trying to give the rookie head coach the right assistants to help him succeed. It remains to be seen if Vinny will be the next "Doc" Rivers or if he'll fail as miserably as Tim Floyd did right after the Bulls' breakup. It was so bad for Floyd here, that I remember many "experts" thought the Bulls would challenge the 1972 Philadelphia 76ers' 9-73 season record for futility...

I dont think Vinney finishes the season unless Pax finds away to move most of these quitters.

Vinny is going to run a fast break offense,push the ball push the ball!

_________________
""I am now done at the Score."
Mike North, June 24, 2008