Rivers understands Del Negro's plight
Even though Celtics coach Doc Rivers won an NBA championship two years ago and has a team that currently sits atop the Eastern Conference standings, he can relate to a coach feeling some heat, like Vinny Del Negro has this week.
During the 2006-07 season, Boston finished 24-58 and recorded a franchise-record 18-game losing streak. Everyone assumed Rivers would be sent down the Charles River. Instead, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived in trades and a few months later, Rivers was leading a victory parade.
Rivers, a Maywood native, did offer some advice on how to handle adversity as a coach.
"You do your job and that's all you can do," he said. "You can't let it sway you. I came into work the same before that streak and the same after it and the same during it. I didn't change my personality at all. I was the same guy."
While Del Negro played for San Antonio in the 1990s, Rivers was a teammate for two seasons, then became a team broadcaster. So the two coaching rivals have a strong history.
"Listen, I believe this will work out for him," Rivers said. "I know what he can do. I coached against him last year in the playoffs. I just hope he gets a chance. I know Vinny. I know his basketball knowledge. He's got a heck of a basketball IQ. I think he'll be fine."
Rose stays afloat: After Friday's win over Golden State, Derrick Rose was asked why he's been launching his running floater so much instead of taking the ball all the way to the rim.
"That's what they're giving me," Rose said of the floater. "If I go all the way to the rim, they're not giving me (foul) calls down there. I don't know what I've got to do. So in Memphis, that's why I used my floater a lot, because they were doing the same thing to me in college."
Rose has a point about the fouls. Saturday was his 110th NBA game and he's attempted 10 free throws just once - when he scored 36 points in Game 1 of last spring's playoff series against Boston.
Sympathy from Doc: Celtics coach Doc Rivers on the Bulls' struggles early this season: "Losing (Ben) Gordon probably hurts them more in the last four minutes than in the first 44 minutes. Starting the season out with the injuries they had, plus having a guy that didn't play last year in (Luol) Deng come back, you're probably going to start out slow."
Bull horns: After sitting out Friday's game, guard Jannero Pargo didn't make an appearance against Boston until the 8:50 mark of the fourth quarter. Less than a minute later, he knocked down the Bulls' first 3-point basket of the night. - Pargo and Joakim Noah are hosting a holiday party for intact families today at UIC.