About Time Del Negro Got the Ax

On Monday, word leaked out that Chicago Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro would be fired. Believe me, this is not shocking to Bulls fans. They have been on “Vinny Watch” counting down the seconds until the time they could finally say good riddance to him.

Will firing Vinny be good for the Bulls? Amazingly, they made the playoffs the two years that he coached them, even though they probably shouldn’t have. And his players believe that they have become better under his coaching. Joakim Noah is one of the players who feels he benefited from Del Negro’s coaching:

It’s always a tough decision when someone gets fired. I learned a lot from him and I got two great playoff appearances with him. Coaching the Bulls is a tough job; there are a lot of demands and expectations. I wish him the best. He’s a good guy. With the way he developed the players here I’m sure he won’t have too hard of a time finding another coaching job.”

So, was Vinny as terrible as a coach as everyone said he was? Or was it just a matter of not having the key pieces on his roster to be successful? Earlier in the season, the Bulls cleared some room on their payroll to make room for a superstar. Obviously, the Bulls would love to have LeBron James or Dwyane Wade make the move to Chicago, but it’s unlikely that will happen. Now that the fans have gotten their way and Del Negro is out the door, it’s up to VP John Paxson to prove that he can actually do something other than select a consensus number one guy in the draft like Derrick Rose. If not, I think we will be seeing some more people packing their bags in the Bulls’ front office next year.

Sources:
Coach Del Negro fired from Bulls [ESPN Chicago]