Chicago Bulls Coach Collins
(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)
It did not take long, as the Chicago Bulls have found a new coach a week after winning the #1 pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. GM John Paxson has brought in 1980's Bulls coach Doug Collins, pulling off a big name hire out of no where.
Reports were out a few weeks ago about Doug Collins when Mike D'Antoni left the Suns job. But he denied having any interest in coming back at all, saying "The work that has to be done and the headaches you have to put up with today, I'm not willing to pay that price. It's just too tough. I get a chance to see my children now and my grandchildren" to ESPN's Marc Stein.
Somewhere he must have decided this Chicago Bulls opportunity is right for him, and it must be especially enticing knowing they are getting the #1 pick in the NBA draft. Who wouldn't want to run a team that is led by Derrick Rose as the PG? There is still work to be done though.
There are some issues being brought up about the fit between Doug Collins and these Chicago Bulls. The Bulls had been coached by Scott Skiles for a number of years, and in Collins they are getting a similarly fiery coach. They tuned Skiles out so replacing him with another disciplinarian right away may not be the best idea for these young players. That said Collins has some good coaching principles if he can become a more laid back coach. Collins was known to ride his players and could explain why his coaching stints only lasted 3 years with each of his 3 teams.
Another problem with Collins' coaching style is that he instructs his teams to be slow. This would lead you to believe he would want Michael Beasley to slow the game down and be a dominant post player. Slowing the game down with a Derrick Rose type talent is not what you want to do, and Collins' teams in the past even with elite athletes like Michael Jordan have been slow moving offenses. Since the Bulls will be so dependent on this #1 pick to be their leader eventually, whoever they pick is going to determine the type of offense they'll need to focus on running.
One has to give Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson credit for recovering to at least land a coach that is a big name, especially after the Mike D'Antoni debacle. D'Antoni is just the type of gun slinging coach a young team of athletes like the Bulls need especially adding a Derrick Rose. There is a lot of young talent on this Bulls roster but it will be interesting to see how these young players respond to the style of new coach Doug Collins.