Credit the coach for keeping Bulls in this one

Winning never should be accompanied by mixed emotions.

That's not to say that Jerry Reinsdorf and John Paxson would have any if the Bulls beat the Cavaliers in their first round NBA East playoff series.

For one thing, the Bulls' chairman and vice president don't have to worry about it because the Bulls aren't going to upset the Cavs.

For another, Reinsdorf and Paxson wouldn't mind having the dilemma that advancing past the Cavs would pose.

Still, Bulls management and ownership likely would prefer even a single victory in a single game would be due more to point guard Derrick Rose or center Joakim Noah or some other player.

Anybody but head coach Vinny Del Negro.

As has been well documented, Reinsdorf and Paxson don't like Del Negro for whatever reason or reasons.

That's ironic considering they hired him even though he never had coached a minute anywhere at any time.

You would think that Reinsdorf and Paxson would prefer that Del Negro succeed and make them the smartest men in the room.

Yet the impression is the only thing Reinsdorf and Paxson dislike more about Del Negro's coaching is how his personality conflicts with them.

Consequently if they don't fire him right after the season ends it would be a bigger upset than the Bulls beating the Cavaliers.

So what occurred Saturday in Game 1 of the Bulls-Cavs series in Cleveland only complicated matters.

The Cavaliers won 96-83 but Del Negro didn't lose the game for the Bulls. The roster Paxson compiled did.

If anything, a case could be made that Del Negro was responsible for the Bulls being in the same hemisphere with the Cavs in the fourth quarter.

"The guys kept playing," rookie forward Taj Gibson said.

After the Cavs went ahead by 22 points in the third quarter, the Bulls played like they enjoy playing for Del Negro.

The Bulls went on an 8-0 run, then kept chipping away and eventually pulled to within 7 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Some teams might have quit on themselves and their coach under the stress of what appeared to be insurmountable odds. The Bulls didn't.

That's not to say Del Negro's players love him. He's probably just a guy to them, but player-coach neutrality in the NBA is a victory in itself.

"I like the way we fought back into it," Del Negro said.

Listen, I'm not a savant when it comes to NBA strategy and I'm pretty sure Del Negro isn't either. But it did seem to make a difference when he went to more zone defense in the second half because at one point the Cavaliers went seven minutes without a point.

"We made some adjustments," Del Negro said.

So, coaching wasn't the difference in the outcome. Give LeBron James to Del Negro and he would have beat the Cavs the way Cleveland's Mike Brown beat the Bulls.

You know, like next season if the Bulls acquire King James via free agency ... oh, what the heck, Vinny Del Negro won't be their coach regardless.

mimrem@dailyherald.com