Why The Bulls Should Get John Calipari
The first in a series in which TBDS editor Luis M gives the powers that be at The House That Jordan Built advice on who should replace Vinny Del Negro. Today: Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
Upon announcing Vinny Del Negro’s dismissal, I was ready to embark on a crusade for the Chicago Bulls to hire Avery Johnson.
The former point guard and NBA coach of the year won 178 games in three full seasons with the Dallas Mavericks. He won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 2005-06 leading Dallas to its first NBA Finals appearance.
I was ready to run down the benefits of hiring Johnson, who would bring a superstar presence to the coaching ranks that the Bulls haven’t had since Phil Jackson during the glory years.
Johnson has also been described as a player’s coach, whose offenses embody something you would see out of the Dallas Mavericks and the defensive prowess of a San Antonio Spurs team.
I’ve made it no secret that Johnson was my main man (again) for the job.
That is, of course, until John Calipari’s name got thrown into the mix.
I never thought I’d find myself saying this, but here I am, advocating for my team to hire a guy who I honestly cannot stand at the college basketball level.
His 72-112 career record with the New Jersey Nets is downright pitiful. In the one year the Nets did make the playoffs (and yes, the Nets were a playoff team once upon a time), they were swept by the Bulls — who won 72 games during the 1995-96 season.
Ah, symmetry, how I love thee.
On the other hand, it’s hard to knock Calipari too much for his crummy record. Look at the roster handed to him, even in the playoff year. Your three leading scorers were Keith Van Horn, Sam Cassell and Kerry Kittles.
And who was the leading scorer for the Nets during their three-game playoff sweep that came at the hands of the Bulls?
Sherman Douglas.
I don’t even think a Phil Jackson coached team that had Red Auerbach and Jerry Sloan as assistants would have won a playoff series in which Sherman Douglas is the leading scorer.
In a summer where Bulls fans will put their faith in the organization’s ability to woo one or two top free agents to the Windy City, it would not hurt to bring on a coach who has close ties to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — who happen to be the top free agents the Bulls will be targeting starting on July 1.
On the other hand, Calipari has his question marks.
Of the 474 games he has won in his three collegiate stops, 442 of them came when he was coaching in Conference USA and the Atlantic Ten. Not exactly the ACC or Big East.
Calipari has made a name for himself on campus for bringing in the nation’s elite talents and bringing them together to play as a cohesive unit.
And as important as team building is, it is not as if Calipari will be able to bring in the NBA’s five best players year-in and year-out, get on the court and compete.
It’s a red flag and a serious risk for an organization to go out and give big money to a coach whose success hinges on being more athletic than their opponent because in the NBA, everyone is athletic.
Except Brad Miller, of course.
This is where I admit to feeling conflicted.
There is no doubt in my mind that John Calipari is scum in college basketball. And I say that knowing full well the community work he does, the philanthropic efforts he goes on and the money he raises for the universities he has been at.
Colleges love him. Boosters love him. Kids love playing for him. And the NCAA likes him enough to only reprimand his teams after he leaves.
The two greatest seasons in the history of the University of Massachussetts Minutemen and the Memphis Tigers were erased because of the shady happenings that occurred under Calipari’s “watch.”
However, in the NBA, his schtick is fair game and is probably par for the course throughout The Association.
His dribble-drive offense revolutionized offensive sets in college basketball, and if he departed Big Blue in exchange for an oversized check drawn out by Jerry Reinsdorf, Calipari would be reunited with his star pupil Derrick Rose.
If Calipari needs another selling point, at least there is no rule that would allow David Stern to vacate any NBA Finals trophies.
Photo #1 via.
I like the idea but at the same time I don’t. He can coach, but I don’t know about the NBA level.
That’s one of my concerns. However, that is alleviated knowing that he is a known recruiter and this summer, the Bulls need someone who is a proven recruiter to talk LBJ, D-Wade or Bosh to team with D-Rose.
Calipari is a great recruiter, but is not a good coach. Besides, we all know there’s something fishy going on as far as his recruiting “tactics.”
No way. NBA players today, especially the superstar variety respond to coaches who were a) an NBA players themselves (Jackson, Riley, Rivers, etc), b) an assistant to a successful coach (Mike Brown), c) an interim who did screw it up (Brooks) d)some mixture of the three (again Brooks) or e) so old that no one remembers when they weren’t a coach (Larry Brown). You are talking about this guy being qualified because he can sell a program and recruit? Well, he’s not going to be trying to convince somebodies Momma. He’s going to be sitting down with a multimillionaire. I can see it now. “Excuse me mister Wade I am Coach Calipari, but the kids all call me ‘C,’ I realize that I have no real experience, or business coaching an NBA team, but I think you should come and play for me in Chicago because . . . we have a really good Campus?”
If the Bulls are serious about bringing in a free agent they should be thinking Johnson or Van Gundy if they want to take a chance they should be thinking about Laimbeer (who coached a championship WNBA team) or about trying to pinch an assistant coach from somebody. This is not a good time to be considering taking on a College Coach. Who was the last College coach to make a successful transition anyway? Larry Brown? It sure wasn’t Rick Pitino and he is a way better coach than this guy.