April 23, 2009

You call that an explanation?

Good news, everybody! This comes courtesy of the Trib's K.C. Johnson, in a story headed Vinny Del Negro explains his burning of timeouts:
"People are going to second-guess and first-guess," Del Negro said. "So what? I don't care. I'm the coach. I will make the decisions. That's the way it is."
Del Negro then added, "And thou shalt have no others before me. I am the Lord thy God."

Pertaining specifically to the final moments of Game 2, He said:
"In two or three seconds the ball is going to go to Derrick [Rose] because he's our fastest guy to get it up the court. We set up a play in the Celtics' timeout [with 12.3 seconds left]. We didn't execute it because the Celtics did a good job with their execution."
I'm not sure what's more frightening: that Del Negro thinks people are mad that he blew a timeout because it meant we were denied the chance to see one of his shitty plays, or that he doesn't seem to know that having a timeout to call would mean the Bulls could advance the ball to the front court.
Despite scoring 42 points, Ben Gordon sat on the bench for defensive purposes. If the Bulls had had a timeout, Gordon could have re-entered and the Bulls would have inbounded the ball at half-court.

"Yeah, it was tough to watch," Gordon said. "We definitely wish we would have reserved one of those timeouts."
Finally! Thank you, Ben. That is a totally reasonable thing to say: We definitely wish we would have reserved one of those timeouts. I feel much better.
If Paul Pierce had made both free throws Saturday instead of just one with 2.6 seconds left in regulation of Game 1, the Bulls would have trailed by one with no timeouts and again would have been forced to attempt a full-court desperation shot.
Yes, we know, K.C. That's what made Gordon's comment so reassuring.
"I would've liked to have one at the end," Del Negro said.
There, you said it. That's wasn't so hard, now was it? Oh Vinny! You have made me the happi-
"But sometimes you have to use them to stay in the game. When they're making runs or when we get the ball with 20 seconds left and we're down two, I want to make sure we get a good shot—especially with a young team."
OH, C'MON! I haven't heard anyone say that the timeout you called with 20 seconds left was a mistake; it's that you put yourself in a position where it was your last one. You know, you did have five others -- plus a pair of 20's -- in the game. Perhaps those could have been a bit more judiciously. And don't even get me started with your We're a young team bullshit. But still, even you have to admit that you have some regrets, right?
"Not at all. Not for a second."
Jesus Christ. Look, Vinny: You fucked up. Just say so. The game was getting out of hand, and we ended up burning all of them. I really wish we hadn't. I need to be more cognizant of holding onto them until the very end. That's all you'd have to say, and all would be forgiven. Instead, you make it seem like you know better than everyone else. Which includes every great baskeball coach in history, all of whom would at least try to save their timeouts for last-second situations, and would show some regret if they weren't able to. Nobody's ever thought, You know what? Burning all my timeouts before the end of the game, that's gonna be my strategy. People make mistakes, and sometimes circumstances dictate doing things that we later regret. To act like it's all a part of some master plan is incredibly arrogant and absurdly foolish. Not to mention totally disturbing for the Bulls' fanbase.

There is some good news -- and this time I mean it -- at the end of Johnson's story, in regards to a topic I brought up in my previous Bulls' post:
Further review: TV replays showed a deceiving angle, leading some to believe John Salmons' three-pointer swished through near the end of the third quarter. Instead, officials properly called an air ball and 24-second shot clock violation.
Thanks, K.C. It's good to know that I am not completely losing it, and at least a few other people thought the same thing I did.

One last thing: Not that he needs the plug, but if you haven't read Bill Simmons' article on the Bulls-Celtics series, you definitely should. It made me laugh out loud several times.

Go Bulls.

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