This hire shouldn't shock you

Sure Vinny Del Negro is an odd choice to be the Bulls head coach.

You expected any less -- or more -- from club chairman Jerry Reinsdorf?

The obvious first reaction to Del Negro is, you mean the Bulls needed since Christmas Eve to settle on this guy as Scott Skiles' successor?

But the second reaction makes more sense: It's remarkable the Bulls found somebody so obscure in less than six months.

Reinsdorf and general manager John Paxson might have had to employ Indiana Jones to excavate Del Negro.

Seriously, let's say the Bulls chiseled through the candidates in alphabetical order. Imagine how many Dougs, Dwanes and Mikes they had to dismiss before reaching the Vs for Vinny.

Or imagine how many Averys, Marks and Ricks --coaches who actually coached -- were passed before Del Negro surfaced.

Paxson and Reinsdorf or Reinsdorf and Paxson finally wound up at the backside of the alphabet and completely off the "coaching" charts.

Del Negro hasn't coached anywhere. Not in high school, college or the NBA. Not as an unpaid apprentice, full-blown assistant or head coach.

Maybe the Bulls proceeded too slowly on D'Antoni and decided against Collins because they had too much coaching experience.

No such problem with Del Negro, though he did play 12 NBA seasons as a Paxson-like guard despite looking more like a Reinsdorf-like lawyer.

Del Negro's lack of coaching experience compelled the Suns, who had him right there in their front office, to pass on him in favor of former Bucks head coach Terry Porter.

Tell me, would you have preferred an inexperienced Del Negro or an experienced Porter?

It's hard for even me to believe I'm saying this, but Del Negro might turn out to be a better choice than Porter.

Maybe I feel like I forfeited my right to criticize this hiring after writing that neither of the previous perceived frontrunners, Mike D'Antoni or Doug Collins, would have been a wrong pick.

Face it, Paxson appeared to have no idea what he wanted, and Reinsdorf is inclined toward quirky hires, so it was easy for them to converge at Del Negro.

Remember, NBA teams were reluctant to hire Phil Jackson before Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause did for the Bulls.

Ozzie Guillen might still be waiting to manage in Major League Baseball if Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams didn't hire him for the White Sox.

Now it's Del Negro, an odd hire of a conventional person.

This is the kind of choice that can make Reinsdorf the smartest guy in the room again.

NBA coaches come from a variety of places. Pat Riley was in broadcasting. Jackson emerged from being a hippie coach.

Del Negro's hiring won't excite anybody here. But what other remaining candidate would have? Dwane Casey? Chuck Person? Tom Thibodeau? Brian Shaw? Hillary Clinton now that she's available again?

Reinsdorf doesn't worry about exciting you anyway. He couldn't care less about public opinion while hiring a Bulls coach or Sox manager.

All Reinsdorf wants to pick or approve is somebody comfortable who might be the next Phil or Ozzie and not be to expensive.

Del Negro qualifies on all counts, and all anybody can hope is he doesn't become the next Tim Floyd or Terry Bevington.

If he does, Reinsdorf will just dig up another unlikely head coach who might make him look like a genius.