When Bulls' brass speak, skepticism scores points

The longer that Bulls general manager Gar Forman spoke Tuesday morning the more his words sounded familiar.

Familiar as in the Gettysburg Address? No. As in Lou Gehrig's farewell speech in Yankee Stadium? No. As in Crash Davis' long-wet-kiss monologue in "Bull Durham"? Not even close.

What Forman sounded like was the Three Bears just after the NFL season. No wonder that I didn't leave the Berto Center with much more than profound skepticism.

A primary difference is that Bears' head coach Lovie Smith kept his job and Bulls' head coach Vinny Del Negro lost his. We'll have to wait to see whether either move was the right one.

Beyond that, Forman issued the same old "moving forward" and seeking "a new dynamic" rigmarole.

So did executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson in his apology for his altercation with Del Negro on March 30.

If Paxson were serious about taking responsibility, wouldn't he have approached Del Negro with an apology long before Tuesday morning?

Maybe Paxson did but I didn't get that from his apology. It was more like Bulls chairman/cleanser/closer Jerry Reinsdorf wrote the script for him.

Del Negro followed Forman and Paxson, though not in the same room or even the same building. He met the media outside the Berto Center and thanked Reinsdorf for giving him the opportunity to coach the Bulls.

What I took from that is Reinsdorf did what he frequently does to soothe hard feelings: Give the dearly departed a generous package of parting gifts.

Now back to Forman. Maybe my skepticism is unfounded and he'll persuade Phil Jackson and LeBron James to walk through that Berto Center door in July.

Then again, maybe I'll persuade Jennifer Aniston and Charlize Theron to walk through my front door this week.

So Mr. Forman, please surprise us. Hire the right coach, sign the right free agent and overall be worthy of being the general manager of the Chicago Bulls.

First things first: Indicate that you were kidding when you said the coaching search is just beginning instead of just ending.

Having no timetable for finding a new coach doesn't inspire faith after it took 52 days to hire Del Negro. Make a snap judgment this time if that's what it takes to wind up with someone who will last more than two years.

Since Del Negro was a fired coach walking months ago, if not a year ago, Forman should have his replacement lined up.

We can only hope that Forman was dancing a little dance to project that he hadn't been sorting out candidates before officially dismissing Del Negro.

Listen, it's clear that my problem is just not trusting anybody with the Bulls to make the right moves in what they characterize as a pivotal summer for the franchise.

No matter how often those inside the Berto Center say they have a great organization, they still have to prove it isn't dysfunctional.

For now the best hope seems to be that the Bulls get lucky again: Win the free-agent lottery this year the way they won the draft lottery two years ago.

mimrem@dailyherald.com