Or one of the reasons at least. The last time the basketball world saw Doug Collins on the sidelines, it was a disaster. He was “coaching” MJ’s Wizards and the overwhelming perception was that he was basically Mike’s puppet. It was an arrangement that fostered bad feelings within the organization and made for a pretty lousy team.
Today Blog-A-Bull brought back this post from its 2005 archive:
If Jordan was the main problem behind the Wiz’s inability to make the playoffs in each of the comeback seasons, than Doug Collins is 1-A. he was the anti-Phil Jackson, a Jordan enabler, not forcing Jordan to rest his tendanitis-riddled knees despite doctor’s orders to the contrary. Worse was Collins’ insistence of his team to play in a slowed-down offense revolving around Jordan’s array of fallaway jumpers. When Jordan’s shot was falling, the team was average-to-good. However when they weren’t, blame went from Collins’ lips to the ears of the young Wizards for failing to set up Michael properly. Soon players like Rip Hamilton began to question the direction of the team, and we all know what happened to him. While the book doesn’t spend as much time covering the second season of the comeback, by then veterans like Jerry Stackhouse and Byron Russell feuded with Collins to the point where the team completely disintegrated right in front of him.
The players on the Bulls’ roster are all old enough to remember this Wizards mess and probably none of Collins’ success as a coach or player prior to coaching that Wizards team. What kind of tone does this set for the Bulls heading into a hugely important offfseason?
Related posts:
May 30th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
doc says:
Good for them.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
who cares. the bulls suck and have peaked. they need to make player changes before coaching changes.
kirk hinrich, ben gordon, larry hughes, chris duhon, stefalosa
…is this the guard core of the future? good job pax.
tyrus thomas, joakim noah, drew gooden, aaron gray, luol deng, mike sweetney
…is this the frontline of the future? good job pax.
the roster needs changes…not the sidelines
May 30th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Big Freeze says:
Take a look at Doug’s record with teams during his first season. With the Bulls he coached +10 wins from the previous season. His first season w the Pistons: +18. His first season w the Wizards: +18 win improvement. The point is Collins will bring an immediate improvement to the organization. He is going to be a quick fix and make them a contender in the weak Eastern Conference. Quit hating and give the guy a chance.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
Ditto to Big Freeze!!!
May 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Celts Fan says:
YAll, I like some of the Bulls core, they just need to improve the starters.
who cares. the bulls suck and have peaked. they need to make player changes before coaching changes.
kirk hinrich (solid starter. Last year has to be more a fluke than his first 4 years, right? maybe…) ben gordon (good energy guy off the bench, if he’s still looking for $10M/yr, get rid of his ass), larry hughes (sucks), chris duhon (alright backup) stefalosa (versatile backup. for a guy that’s like the 11th man on the roster, he’s solid.)
tyrus thomas (good hustle, still has potential, the jumper’s coming, but not looking like a great starter), joakim noah (good to great defender. I see him being like Marcus Camby if he can get stronger/put on about 15 pound more of muscle), drew gooden (solid bench scorer), aaron gray (has some potential as a backup 5. their best low post scorer right now, and that’s not a compliment to him!) luol deng (versatile enough, I’d keep him), mike sweetney (thought he ate his way out of the league already?)
They need to add Beasley (I’d take Rose over Beasley if I was starting a franchise from scratch, but they DESPERATELY need a low post scorer) and grab the best guard available in the 2nd round. There are still a lot of changes they need to make, but they’re not in as bad of shape as people think. The shadow of a potential Kobe trade and the extensions for Deng and Gordon really ruined their season before it ever started last year. They’re not contending next year, but they’ve got a better roster than some think IMO…
May 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Coach T-sun says:
hahaha yallalreadyknow you are a funny guy couldn’t lay it out any better, well at least they’ll pick up a superstar talent in rose or beasley the rest of the roster are a bunch of role players 2nd option at best.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Washington the Frog says:
This is wack. Collins is a brilliant, underapreciated coach who should’ve stayed away from the Wizards job and should also stay away from here. He’s only going to get blamed for the inevitable disaster that will be the 08-09 season, when it’s really the sucky lineup pieced together by Pax.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
evan says:
Word to Big Freeze. Also, Detroit was prah’lee the only stop where he didn’t have a meddlesome front office/GM.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
DaPro says:
Big Freeze could point fam
@ Yall
We still got the #1 pick homie
May 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Chuck...Haters come in all fashions and forms so bear arms says:
@Celts fan
Larry hughes doesn’t suck? He’s injury prone (there is a difference).
@Washington the frog
If collins is so brilliant, how could he NOT take virtually the same team Phil Jackson had, and get them a ring? Matter fact he got that same team 3 rings. The furthest Collins got em was the eastern conference finals in which Detroit smashed em. Dude is not a brilliant coach, he is a brilliant analyst, and that’s where he needs to stay.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
fallinup says:
I truly believe Collins will be there to show the #1 draft pick the ropes, and groom a well known assistant to take over in a couple of years…like Hornacek or even Mark Jackson. This will be a teaching experience that will revolve around developing the core and either Beasley or Rose. Pax may make a few moves, but I don’t think Chi-Town is looking to win right now.
Collins is a good teacher. Expect him to have a good young coaching squad with him to teach as well.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Joe Cozi says:
Who has the top highlight reel of all time??
1)Jordan
2)Vince
3)Jason Williams
4)Dominique
May 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Joe Cozi says:
Thats the top 4 right there…
May 30th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Celts Fan says:
No Chuck, Larry Hughes sucks AND he’s injury prone. He’s a shooting guard that can’t shoot. He’s alright if he’s coming off the bench, but if he’s your starting 2, you know you’ll be gearing up for the lottery come May…
May 30th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Chuck...Haters come in all fashions and forms so bear arms says:
@Celts
I was scathing over the hughes statement until I realized how much I yell at the screen while watching dude. LOL!!!
I don’t know why for the love of me, dude won’t work on his jumper!
Cleveland never should have given him all of that money. Just like Chi town shouldn’t have given Wallace all that money.
Dudes work hard when they are just good players when they want that contract money!
May 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
BxBaller says:
Once again, can someone tell me why the Bulls passed on Avery Johnson and picked LOL DOUG COLLINS LOL.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Three Stacks says:
I mentioned this the other day, but Avery Johnson is pretty much the same coach as Scott Skiles. I doubt management wanted to go down that path again.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Big V says:
Perhaps, but who’s the “Jordan” on the current Bulls roster. Exactly. There isn’t one. Also, coaching a team with Michael Jordan on it is quite different than your average team. I don’t think it’s fair to judge his future success based on the success (or lack thereof) of that Wizards team. It’s not like he hasn’t learned anything since then. All I’m saying is give the guy a chance before you throw him under the bus.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
evan says:
@Three Stacks : I’m on board with that, too. This team has a good defensive mentality and needs a coach to unlock them as a “team.” They need a motivator, someone that can actually grow them as a player and Avery is not that guy.
Hell, it’s not like Joakim forgot all the things he did to excel in college, but the strategy needs to focus on their strengths, not what the coach wants them to be to fit into a premade system.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Willis says:
They could trade for a low post scorer. Hinrich for Brad Miller, straight up. They take Rose, all is good.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Lee says:
Wade over jason williams. What about magic, iverson, nash, soudamire, kemp ….
May 30th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
JCUB says:
Jason Williams??? He had 2 or 3 seasons of highlights in Sactown, but disappeared after that…
I agree with Lee’s list - they all had better highlights than Jason Williams. Also Kobe, TMac, Maravich, Hakeem could be added to the list above Williams. These guys had more “how’d he do that” moments.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Joe Cozi says:
Yea definitely thought about stodemire and forgot about kemp he was a beast too…but J-will did it all handles, dimes…35 foot pull up threes the dude was an animal…the crossover on the glove when nobody could get around him…off the elbow pass and lamar odom’s oooh face during was priceless..dude was a maniac out there playing street ball with millions on the line…
May 30th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Celts Fan says:
Chuck, unfortunately, the answer is something that’s both tragic and speaks volumes of Larry’s character. He hasn’t worked much on his jumper cuz of his brother (RIP.) He went to St. Louis over UNC and other top-notch programs to be near his little brother who had a bad heart or something debilitating like that. He spent A TON of time with him and helping with his charities for the cause during the off seasons. When his brother passed away last Playoffs, he missed the ECF and some of the Finals I think. His jumper is BROKE, but that’s a completely understandable reason. That guy is all class…