Everyone who thinks that still having Gordon would make one iota of difference in this seasons record simply chooses to ingnor how much damage(that would be the bad kind) he did when not scoring.

Gordon was not, is not currently, and never will be a complete NBA player qualified to start for a championship contender., he is nothing more than a circus act. I say that he should have been a Globetrotter, but I think that they require every player to dribble the entire length of the court without tripping over his own feet and dribbling the ball off his knee.

I didn’t say, nor did I imply that VDN is the “whole” problem. The point is that he is a big reason why the Bulls are underachieving, and developing a young team is precisely the wrong task to entrust to a poor coach. His weaknesses will continue to drag the team down, and make the job of any subsequent coach that much harder.

I’m disappointed with Salmons as well, and blame him, not VDN for his weak season thus far. But the multiple disappointments surrounding Rose are a different story, as he is still immature, and badly needs the guidance that a good coach could provide. Thomas is a another who could benefit greatly from better coaching.

The central point is that the Bulls are in a longish rebuilding process, and attempting to do that with a demonstrably bad coach is the height of ignorance. It’s teams like the Bulls that will benefit the most from a good coach, and suffer the most from a bad one.

I could go on more, but the point is that I hate to see it when people think the solution to the Bulls’ problem this season is to fire VDN. He’s not THAT bad of a coach. Even so, a bad coach doesn’t necessarily mean a bad team. I mean, look at the Celtics. I find Doc Rivers to be a terrible coach, but the Celtics are doing AMAZING this year!

Anyway, I pretty much hope that the Bulls at least improve their scoring to average in the 90s each game, and keep their energy up. For a free agent like D Wade to come to Chicago in 2010, he needs to see dedication, teamwork, and energy on the court. Wade will not care that much about how many points the Bulls score, because he can pull that up a lot with 27 ppg. What he wants to see is energy, dedication, and teamwork as I said before. I also know that if Wade came to Chicago, Rose would definitely see Wade as a mentor and learn from him.

…pz…

While I believe that much too much is being made (by many) about the Bulls’ having let Gordon go, you do make an important and subtle point. It isn’t so much about losing his scoring, but the threat of his scoring!

So yes, especially with Hinrich and Salmons having shot poorly, it makes it easy for the Bulls’ opponents to defend effectively.

But having said that, poor coaching (and management) remains at the core of the Bulls’ problems. It’s fantasy to imagine that the addition of one star (or had they kept Gordon), will (or would have been) the road to salvation. The fact is that they were very lucky to have gelled at the right time, and met a badly weakened Celtics team last year in the playoffs. Expectations beyond another first round loss for this season would have been silly in any case.

It was a big mistake to hire VDN, as he is incompetent. And every day that he remains the coach will further degrade the team on a number of levels. He should be replaced ASAP. Otherwise, the young players’ development will continue to be stunted, and his poor coaching will lead to further underachievement and loss of morale. Keeping him around would also mean that he will be involved in crucial trade/draft decisions when there is no evidence that he has any skills in those areas.