New Bulls’ boss Arturas Karnisovas
did the expected Monday when he fired Gar Forman as team general manager. Now what?
I ask because coach Jim Boylen,
that moose in the headlights, is still around.
While Forman was being made to walk the plank, the Bulls released a
statement from Boylan welcoming Karnisovas to the team while praising Jerry and
Michael Reinsdorf for making the hire.
Either Boylen is a lot more clever than anyone thought, or he has
friends in high places. My guess is that
a .317 winning percentage indicates #2.
It just hit me why I wanted Boylen
to succeed—at first he reminded me a lot of Ed Badger, who coached the Bulls,
1976-78. Badger was every bit the gym
rat Boylen ever was, including a fifteen-year stint as head coach at Wright
Junior College in Chicago before moving on to become an assistant with the
Bulls. Talk about dedication.
Badger took over a Bulls’ team
that went 24-58 the year before and managed twenty more victories in 1976-77
and a playoff berth against eventual NBA champion Portland. The next year the team regressed to 40 wins,
and Badger left to coach at the University of Cincinnati for five years before
returning to a the NBA and a long run in a number of front offices.
Jim Boylen, Ed Badger, both blue-collar
coaches. But only one knew what he was
doing. Now, does Karnisovas?
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