According to Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: “Bulls assistant Del Harris will announce plans to retire from coaching today. Harris, 71, worked one season on the Bulls bench after spending the previous eight seasons as an assistant with Dallas. The Indiana native was a head coach for 14 seasons with Milwaukee, Houston and the Los Angeles Lakers. He was NBA coach of the year in 1995 with the Lakers and led the Rockets to the 1981 NBA Finals.”

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune got a few words out of Harris regarding his looooong career: “I’m proud of the 50 years. I didn’t want to quit after 49. And though I never won that title, I don’t think that’s a failure. I’ve impacted people. I still have players I coached in high school and college who call me. That means more to me than wins.”

And here’s the “but” statement on the relative finality of his retirement: “Like Michael Jordan, Brett Favre and Muhammad Ali, I reserve the right to change my mind.”

My enduring memory of Del — other than his amazing turn as Lieutenant Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun movies — is of his Coach of the Year performance in 1994-95, when he coaxed 48 wins and a first-round upset of the Seattle Sonics out of a Lakers squad that featured a starting lineup of Nick Van Exel, Cedric Ceballos, Anthony Peeler, Vlade Divac and Elden Campbell. (And mind you, that Sonics team would make it all the way to the NBA Finals the next season…where they lost to the Bulls.)

Meanwhile, Vinny Del Negro now has an empty spot next to him on the bench. Who’s going to fill it? According to the Johnson: “[the vacancy] could be filled by holdover Pete Myers or another candidate. League sources said former Bulls guard and current Sacramento Kings assistant Randy Brown interviewed with Del Negro here at this week’s NBA predraft camp, although indications are Brown could be hired in a player development role rather than coaching. Myers, whose contract ends after June, had been relegated to a behind-the-bench role with little input last season. Still, sources indicate Myers remains in good standing with the organization and that attempts to have Del Negro expand his role could be made.”

More Del:
NBA.com profile
Wikipedia entry
Basketball-reference page

Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times: “The Bulls returned home from an 0-2 road trip needing a refresher course at finishing school. Sunday at Toronto, the Raptors shot 55.6 percent in overtime and went to the free-throw line four times to none for the Bulls. The Raptors made all four and won 134-129. Tuesday at Indiana, the Pacers outscored the Bulls 11-2 in the final 3:36 to win 107-105. Indiana shot eight free throws to the Bulls’ two in the final five minutes. ‘We could have done a better job,’ said Kirk Hinrich, who missed the last two free throws at Indiana with three minutes left and the Bulls up 103-98. ‘[The referees] were letting it be real physical. I guess we had to be tough enough to still be effective offensively when they were letting them do that out there.’ … The pain of the Bulls’ numerous close losses will linger through the summer if they miss the playoffs. The Bulls (36-40) are 2-6 in overtime and have lost 10 games by five points or fewer. They lead Charlotte by 1½ games for the final playoff spot after the Bobcats lost in double overtime Wednesday night at Boston. ‘It’s disturbing,’ said Ben Gordon, who missed a 26-footer with 1.5 seconds left Tuesday. ‘We’ve been doing a poor job of closing games out all year. [It] was a game we definitely needed. It was a winnable game. It was definitely disappointing.’”

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “He’s a leading candidate for NBA Rookie of the Year. Everyone from LeBron James to Chris Paul has praised his play. Everyone from Doc Rivers to Phil Jackson has lauded his demeanor. So, Derrick Rose, how would you grade your rookie season? ‘I’d probably go with a B or B-minus,’ Rose says — without a smile. ‘We haven’t won enough and I’ve committed too many turnovers.’ Ah, yes, those pesky 2.5 turnovers per game. Those are what stand out to Rose beyond his 16.6 points, 6.2 assists and 47 percent shooting. Rose’s humility has been well documented, leading to some hilarious understatements. Perhaps one favorite was Rose’s recent answer when asked if he thinks he should win Rookie of the Year: ‘Only if we make the playoffs because I’ve just played OK.’”

Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune: “When the Bulls take a timeout, first-year head coach Vinny Del Negro is not reticent when it comes to deferring to the opinions of assistants Bernie Bickerstaff and Del Harris. After all, Bickerstaff, 65, and Harris, 71, have won coaching accolades during their NBA careers. ‘They’ve been great,’ Del Negro said. ‘Being a young coach in this league, you want to have as much experience around you as you can. They’ve helped me tremendously in a lot of ways. But my whole staff: Bob Ociepka, Mike Wilhelm, Pete Myers … everyone involved really has been a positive influence for me.’”

Kathy Bergen of the Chicago Tribune: “The images that Chicago will serve up to international Olympics officials in the coming week are changing by the hour, with an appearance by Michael Jordan and yet another community protest among the recent additions. Long-expected to play a role in Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics, basketball legend Jordan finally brings his megawatt smile to a promotional video unveiled at a news conference Wednesday at Douglas Park, an Olympic venue site on the West Side. ‘The Olympic spirit — it’s alive in Chicago,’ His Airness says in the video. ‘We’re ready.’ The former Chicago Bulls star, who played for the U.S. team that won gold at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, will not make a personal appearance during the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission’s visit, which begins Thursday. But he will be more engaged as the bid enters its final months, said Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan.”

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “The silly speculation about Del Negro getting fired this season, possibly by the beginning of the All-Star break Feb. 13, overlooks three crucial factors: •He’s in the first season of a three-year deal, and Reinsdorf already is paying Scott Skiles not to work for him. •Reinsdorf played a role in Del Negro’s hiring after general manager John Paxson first signed off on Mike D’Antoni and Doug Collins. •Little about Del Negro’s learning curve in his first season coaching at any level surprises anybody in Bulls management.”

Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: “The coaches didn’t click right away and that might be understandable. Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff had volumes of experience on their resumes, but Harris was used to working with a championship contender in Dallas. His intricate offense was no match for a rookie point guard and big men who were already struggling to pass NBA 101. Bickerstaff hadn’t been an assistant in more than 20 years and no one could be certain what Del Negro needed to know in order to do his job well. After a promising start to the season, the Bulls hit a deep slump. They seemed to have no concept of team defense, something that should have been established during training camp. Give the coaches credit for realizing that their methods weren’t working.”

Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Get the hint, Vinny Del Negro. Reinsdorf’s finger was pointing straight at the Bulls’ head coach. If your boss said your co-worker was great but didn’t want to say anything about you, well, you would know what that means. But Saturday, Reinsdorf tried to squirm out of it, following up his vague finger-pointing with more vagueness. Someone asked him if his TV interview Friday was meant as a shot at Del Negro. ‘How many coaches do we have?’ he said. Uh, one? ‘No, we don’t.’ Let me get this straight: The Bulls are a disaster, and it’s the fault of the assistant coaches? Have you ever heard of an owner blaming assistant coaches?”

Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Only 1½ games and two teams separate the Bulls from the eighth playoff spot in the East. But they’re keeping their recent success in perspective, particularly since it coincided with team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf condemning the season Friday as a ‘disaster’ and ‘embarrassing.’ ‘We’re not getting carried away we won three in a row,’ captain Kirk Hinrich said. ‘But we’re playing better together as a team. We’re trying to do the right things out there, and it’s paying off. Even during that [five-game] losing streak, we had some tough luck. We got bogged down late in games.’”

More K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: “The Bulls already had a planned day off Sunday, but the move proved fortuitous timing for rookie guard Derrick Rose. He was agonizing over asking out of a game for the first time in his career, so one can imagine how Rose would have felt to miss a practice with a slight sprain on the top of his left foot. Instead, Rose enjoyed a day of rest and treatment after a team spokesman said Rose didn’t even undergo tests. ‘They said it’s really not that serious,’ Rose said. ‘I should be fine with extra treatment.’”