Chicago Bull****

There have been 20 head coaches for the Chicago Bulls since their maiden year in 1966. Three have won NBA Coach of the Year Honors in Johnny “Red” Kerr, Dick Motta, and Phil Jackson. Two are in the Hall of Fame (Jackson and Jerry Sloan). Of the 20, only Motta and Jackson have won Division Championships with PJ winning six Larry O’Brien trophies.

When the Bulls were the toast of pro basketball, their leadership was worried that the team was going the way of the Larry Bird’s Celtics – grow old with the pieces past their prime and nigh untradeable.

So they broke up the dynasty before it was even dead. In a moment of hubris, Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause wanted to recreate their success sans their major players thinking their financial flexibility would draw top free agents to their team.

As it is, they went nowhere. Twelve years after the Last Dance, the Bulls are still rebuilding.

I recall when the Bulls let go of Doug Collins for Jackson, it was clear that the former Philadelphia 76er had taken them as far they could go – in the Eastern Semis.

Interestingly, after all their success with Jackson, they ran him out of town and into the welcome arms of the Los Angeles Lakers where he’s won four titles in six tries.

In Jax’s wake, there have been eight coaches – Tim Floyd, Bill Berry, Bill Cartwright, Pete Myers, Scott Skiles, Jim Boylan, and now, the latest casualty, Vinny del Negro. So none of this madness makes sense.

Sure Vinny might not have come in with sterling credentials but you have to give him credit – he got the Bulls to the play-offs twice. He finished his two years at an even .500 (82-82). His problems with letting Joakim Noah play reminded me of the fate of Stan Albeck who had to watch Jordan’s minutes after he came back from a foot injury. He earned the ire of MJ but was only following orders.

But what gives? The three coaches who have guided the Bulls to the playoffs in the Modern Era have been given a modern-day running by the Bulls front office!

Scott Skiles, who began the Bulls’ revival and also led them to the playoffs including a memorable sweep of defending champion Miami in 2007.

This next part, I took from wikipedia:

“Skiles came to the Chicago Bulls as head coach where he focused on improving the young Bulls' defense and developing greater consistency in a talented but underachieving team. In the first full year under his direction, Chicago limited its opposition to an NBA-best .422 field goal percentage and held their opponents to a franchise record and NBA season-high 26 straight games below 100 points. Scott was named NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January 2005 after guiding the Bulls to an NBA best 13-3 mark in that month.

In 2006, Skiles led his Bulls to a 41-41 record (earning a 7th seed in the playoffs) and faced the Miami Heat (the 2nd seed) in the first round of the playoffs, losing in six games. However, in 2007, Skiles led the Bulls to a 49-33 record, and again faced the Heat, this time sweeping them in four games. However, the Bulls went on to lose the first three games of their second-round series against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, losing Game 3 at the United Center after holding a double-digit lead for much of the game. After winning two consecutive games to stave off elimination, the Pistons finally finished off Skiles and the Bulls in six games.

Scott Skiles was fired from the Bulls on December 24, 2007. At the time, the Bulls were last in the Central Division with a 9-16 record after having high expectations heading into the season. "This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time," Bulls general manager John Paxson said in a press release.”

It’s been hard to follow this team as they have constantly traded away players who have flourished elsewhere – Tyson Chandler, Thabo Sefolosha, Elton Brand, and Ron Artest are but a few. There is no longer pride in playing for this team. And this from a franchise that had a player who influenced everyone from Kobe Bryant to Manu Ginobili to LeBron James to Dwyane Wade.

When people ask me why I still root for the Bulls when Michael Jordan has long been gone, I answer – “It’s because I’m a fan of the team as well.”

As for this team, I have no clue what they are trying to do. Sometimes I wish teams could jettison stupid owners and executives as well.