In his weekly chat Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld revealed that some of the players on the Bulls are getting upset because Vinny Del Negro is not executing the plans that they discussed over the summer when Vinny wined and dined them. Here is what Kyler wrote:

bearlychi69 in ga.:
hey steve i was wondering, if d-rode is being compared to cp3 (which he was by dominique wilkens last night)then why is he not making tyrus thomas and joakim n. better. they both suck.

Steve Kyler:
Do not blame Derrick Rose for Tyrus and Joakim’s struggles… I can share this… the coaches met with several of the Bulls players during the summer over dinner… during those meetings, certain plans and expectations were mapped out… those plans have not been delivered by the coaching staff… There really is a “make it up” as we go feeling among some of the guys, because what they believed was going to happen is not… they have a role in it, they have a share of the blame… but the guy that is not to blame is Derrick Rose… Tyrus Thomas is not a spot up jump shooter and Joakim Noah is not a post-up center… both guys have far too much athletic talent to be playing “set up” basketball - Tyrus and Joakim should be attacking the basket. They should have plays that gets these guys in the open space so they can over power people with their athletic ability… it comes down to coaches not knowing how to use the guys they have. They are not terrible… they are terrible when being put into bad situations… Luol struggled early in this system too… beyond Rose, there is not much being drawn up for the other guys, so they have to create for themselves.

and

John in Chicago:
Are the Chicago Bulls still Luol Deng’s team? Has Derrick Rose become the new leader of the Bulls?

Steve Kyler:
Among the players - by far Luol is the leader… Vinny and the Coaches in Chicago are making this up as they go… they are deliberately forcing the issue with Derrick… do not mistake Derrick’s unlimited green light to mean that all is right in the locker room… there are some guys that are not happy with how this season is unfolding, especially considering what was said in individual meetings this summer… no one is blaming Derrick, because when the coach calls you number, thats how it goes… but Derrick’s success is at the expense of others on the team.

Here is the bottom line, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah have been downright terrible for the majority of the early season. What is Vinny supposed to do for these guys? They really cannot do anything on the offensive end.

Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon are setting these guys up for wide open jumpshots. Joakim Noah does not have the range to hit a jumpshot. Tyrus Thomas has shown some ability to hit the jumpshot in the past, but has been nothing but a bricklayer this season. P.J. Brown, Malik Allen, and Joe Smith would be salivating at all of the wide open these kids are being set up with. Part of the reason why the Hornets system works is because David West can hit these easy shots.

Rose and Gordon also routinely set Thomas and Noah up for some easy lay-ins and dunks, yet these guys cannot finish those easy ones on a consistent basis. No longer are there the days of Eddy Curry where the big man gets the ball in great scoring position and raises for a simple dunk. Thomas and Noah consistently Thomas, who was able to dunk over many of the league’s best shotblockers his rookie season is constantly blocked at the rim because he never took the time to learn how to dunk with one hand. Part of the reason why the Hornets system works is because David West and Tyson Chandler can make those easy looks.

This is quite simple, Tyrus Thomas in particular has no one to be upset with for himself. Thomas currently has a 36.5 scoring efficiency after logging nearly 200 minutes on the season. This is not acceptable by an NBA player. We would not expect an NBDL player to score this inefficient if you plugged him into an NBA roster, same with a NCAA player. This type of low efficiency is what you would expect if you take the winner of Pros vs. Joes and plug him into an NBA roster. Thomas has no reason to be upset with Vinny Del Negro. The only people who should be upset with Vinny Del Negro are the fans, who should be upset that Thomas is not permanently glued to the bench after his dismal performance.

The Bulls big men, outside of Drew Gooden, are terrible. Tyrus Thomas is clearly a bust and Joakim Noah might not be too far behind him. These are simple facts that John Paxson will have to come to terms with in the very near future. It is time for Paxson to get off his butt and make a move to improve our broken front court.

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Tags: Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose, Drew Gooden, Hoopsworld, Joakim Noah, Joe Smith, John Paxson, leader, Luol Deng, Malik Allen, P.J. Brown, Steve Kyler, Tyrus Thomas, Vinney Del Negro

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 7:26 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.