D'uh Toni...and let the Off-Season Begin

Bulls miss out on D'Antoni.

Reinsdorf is a cheapskate.

Paxson screws up.

Player morale is down.

but.............. I will be the first to acknowledge I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. No one knows how good D'Antoni could really fit with the Bulls. Sure, the idea is with his 7 Seconds or Less offense, accompanied by the Bulls athletes, there could definately be some 100 plus games in the United Center. He won in Phoenix, almost made it to the NBA Championship--thanks to Robert Horry hip check. He is a player's coach.

Remember, the Bulls came into last season as a jumpshooting team. We don't have an Amare Stoudemire--we have Tyrus Thomas, who as great as his upside maybe, simply isn't big enough to dominate the paint. We don't have a Shawn Marion type player, a 20/10 guy who doesn't need his number called, who can also guard four positions. No we have Deng, a jump shooting small forward, who does need plays run for him. There is no Steve Nash--as much as I do love Hinrich--he is obviously no Nash. Nor do we have one of the fastest players in Barbosa off the bench.

Having said all of that, I will concede that the Bulls would score more, D'Antoni's offense would just make it happen, he's a great coach, no qualms about that. But DEFENSE was what put us into the 2nd round two years ago, defense is what failed us this year. And for all of the Sun's success, their offense firepower, they never won anything. Defense wins championships, that's it.

D'Antoni could win a championship, even as an offensive minded coach--but the defense mindset needs to be there with the players. Look at the Lakers, Phil Jackson is not known for D, rather the triangle. But he won those championships because he had Jordan, Pippen, Kobe, Shaq, and so on. While great scorers and passers--all of them have made All Defensive Teams.

Look at the playoffs now. Nuggets--led the league in scoring, gone. Golden State, didn't even make the postseason. The favorites to win it all are the Lakers, Celtics, Pistons, Spurs, Utah, they all play defense. And of course they all have low post threats..but that's another post.

For what we have as a roster, right now, improvement on defense. B/c as much as a system might help, we'll still be a jump shooting team with limited shooting. Gordon is really our main 3pt threat, and Hinrich shot horribly this past year. Deng and Noc are mid range shooters, and Thomas often thinks he is. And usually they are all contested.

I don't know who we should hire, I truly don't. I do believe that we need an established name, bring credibility to the youngest team in the NBA. But the real tweaks should be with the roster.