Boylan recounts his Miller brewery days
Since the Green Bay Packers stopped playing games in Milwaukee two years before winning their most recent Super Bowl, the last official Milwaukee major championship was Jim Boylan's Marquette Warriors in 1977.
Before his head-coaching debut Friday, Bulls interim boss Boylan talked about some of the fringe benefits that came with playing on that team and shared fond memories of his summer job at the Miller brewery.
"I worked in the bottling house, like Laverne and Shirley, watching the bottles go by," he said. "I worked in the shipping department loading freight cars and in what they call the 'leaker room.' When they make pallets of beer, sometimes the pallet machines would miss a case. So they'd have to bring it to the leaker room.
"Bernard Toone and I worked there and we used to have to break down the case. Each state, just a little information for you guys, has different beer. You can't send beer for Kentucky to Tennessee. So you had to make sure you stuck the right case in there, fixed it back up, and they would come and pick it up."
Whether those skills translate into being an NBA head coach is still to be determined.
Vets get priority: Jim Boylan met with most of the players individually after being named head coach. One thing he promised was to stick more with the veterans.
That plan was demonstrated during the Milwaukee game. Rookie center Aaron Gray (10 points, 6 rebounds) played 14 minutes, but Tyrus Thomas saw just four minutes in the first half, while Joakim Noah and Thabo Sefolosha didn't play at all.
"Basically, what I've said to a lot of the younger guys is, they just need to stay patient right now," Boylan said. "The first task for us is to get our team back on track. So in order to do that, we may have to tighten up the rotation a little bit.
"That doesn't mean anyone is buried. No one's in the doghouse, anything like that. It's just we need to figure out a way that we can play the best basketball for the Chicago Bulls, and I believe some of our guys have had a hard time getting into a rhythm. So I'd like to keep guys out on the floor a little bit longer and try to maximize their abilities."
Wallace stays hot: Since Ben Wallace knocked down 10 of 12 free throws on consecutive nights against Detroit and Boston, he hadn't gone to the foul line in 20 days.
Wallace finally returned in the third quarter Friday and buried both attempts. He's now shooting an even 50 percent on the season, which would be a career high if it stands up.
Gordon picks new team: Ben Gordon confirmed a London newspaper report that Luol Deng has convinced him to play for the Great Britain national team.
"He had a lot to do with it," Gordon said. "I'll talk to somebody after the season about it."
Gordon was born in London but moved to New York when he was a few months old. Deng helped carry the English squad into Division A of European championship qualifying last summer.