Forget turnovers, road losses; Bulls must minimize needless drama
The Bulls occupy eighth place in the Eastern Conference but probably lead the league in needless drama.
The way things are going they might as well have tried signing former Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens (once MVP of an NBA celebrity all-star game) to a 10-day contract.
Another soap-opera character would hardly be noticed.
Whether these issues have a negative effect on the team's performance is debatable and probably depends on the incident. Here's a recap of some of the memorable conflicts:
• The team released a vaguely worded statement on Luol Deng's health Wednesday.
Even though Deng and the Bulls agreed that he's showing the early stages of a stress fracture in his right tibia, the news release led some to believe the Bulls don't think the injury is very serious.
It included lines about an expeditious return to play and evaluations being made on a day-to-day basis.
• General manager John Paxson casually mentioned that rookie Derrick Rose will be on the floor in the fourth quarter of games during an appearance on the "Monsters in the Morning" show.
That in itself was not controversial, but coach Vinny Del Negro sounded defensive when asked about the comment a day later.
• An entire day of sports radio was devoted to the end of Paxson's tenure as general manager after the New York Post suggested he would resign after the trade deadline and a local news source "confirmed" the story.
Paxson and the Bulls didn't immediately deny the report, which, of course, was not true.
• During another "Monsters in the Morning" interview, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf termed the season a "disaster" and declined to give an evaluation of Del Negro, a first-time coach.
A day later, Reinsdorf suggested he wasn't happy with the performance of veteran assistants Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff.
• Going back to last summer, the team's lengthy coaching search included false news of Doug Collins being hired for the position and Reinsdorf claiming the Bulls were misled by first choice Mike D'Antoni.
As mentioned above, the fallout from these incidents and potential solutions vary. In the case of Deng's injury, it's impossible to say whether the team's statement was taken the wrong way or if it was meant to encourage Deng to hurry back to action.
Deng didn't seem happy about it, but since he signed a long-term contract last summer he can't just jump to a new team like Ben Gordon could this summer.
Teammate Kirk Hinrich pointed out after scoring 31 points against Milwaukee that sometimes you play better when angry. So that one could go either way.
The exchange about Rose's fourth-quarter participation seemed out of place.
From everything I hear, Paxson and Del Negro are working well together, so there is no reason for Del Negro to get defensive about this issue.
Obviously, Rose needs late-game experience, something no one would argue, and Del Negro made a legitimate point about Rose being held accountable for his defense.
My suggestion is Del Negro should avoid any more "I make the decisions around here" declarations, because they make him sound insecure.
Reinsdorf's "disaster" comment was bizarre, since it makes no sense for a business owner to bad-mouth his own product - especially one as expensive as Bulls tickets.
Personally, I think it would help Reinsdorf to be more accessible to the media. When he speaks twice a year, his words are more heavily scrutinized.
When it comes to false reports such as Paxson's resignation or the hiring of Collins, those are not the team's fault, and I can't blame Paxson for refusing to comment on every false report or trade rumor.
But this is where the Bulls should give their media-relations people more authority.
Short, off-the-record phone calls emphasizing that these news reports were incorrect would go a long way toward squelching them, as long as the information could be trusted.
There are clearly times when millionaire athletes need to be shaken from their comfort zone. The Bulls played better after Reinsdorf called the season a disaster, for example, though that may have been a coincidence.
But Rose heading to the All-Star Game and getting blindsided by questions about Paxson's resignation is something the team should try harder to prevent.