Sixers coach says son would be great fit for Illini
Maybe he’s not the most unbiased reference around, but Sixers coach Doug Collins gave his son Chris a strong endorsement for the vacant Illinois job.
The younger Collins, 37, played at Duke from 1992-96 and has been an assistant there under Mike Krzyzewski since 2000.
“He would be very interested in that,” Doug Collins said before Saturday’s game. “Chris’ roots, he played high school basketball here (at Glenbrook North High School). He was Mr. Basketball. He’s recruited this area. He’s come in and got some of the best players in Illinois to go to Duke.
“Again, I think he’s going to be a terrific young coach. That sounds like a maybe proud daddy, and I am. But I’ve watched him. I’ve watched the responsibility that Coach K has given him. I’ve watched him grow.”
Collins doesn’t think the jump from assistant to head coach would be a problem for his son.
“Coach K is like a CEO. His assistant coaches coach,” Collins said. “So they’re on the floor. It’s not just, ‘Here’s a credit card and a car, go recruit.’ He’s trying to groom these young kids to be coaches.”
Nocioni leaving Sixers:
Former Bulls forward Andres Nocioni was not with the 76ers on Saturday and coach Doug Collins suggested a contract buyout is in the works.
“I don’t know if the paperwork has been done, but we’ve worked out a deal with him to allow him to either go on with another team, maybe, or if not — I talked to him last night — I think he might go to Argentina and get ready for the Olympics,” Collins said. “I know he’s really focused on that.”
Nocioni, 32, played in just 11 games for Philadelphia this season. He’s probably not a candidate to rejoin the Bulls unless Luol Deng needs more time off for his injured left wrist.
Accounting for defense:
Tom Thibodeau talked a little about Joakim Noah’s assessment after Friday’s loss to Portland that the Bulls need to hold each other accountable on defense.
“I think everybody on our team has good intentions,” Thibodeau said. “We’re going about it the wrong way. I think part of it is, when things aren’t going well, we’re trying to do too much individually; more offensively, which is also leading to frustration on defense.
“Then our help isn’t what it should be. Our on-the-ball defensive isn’t what it should be. We can’t do that. We have to do things collectively, both offensively and defensively. Not get frustrated.”
Bull horns:
The Bulls have a glut of March birthdays. Kyle Korver turned 31 on Saturday, Brian Scalabrine is 34 on Sunday, while Ronnie Brewer will be 27 on Tuesday. … The Bulls wore their green uniforms for St. Patrick’s Day. ... After scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter against Portland on Friday, the Bulls scored 11 points in the first quarter Saturday.