Bulls to hire Doug Collins - What?
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
Let’s back up and look at Doug Collins.
My early memories were of Doug playing for the 76er’s, swooping to the hole and making a layup or drilling jumper after jumper. He played on the great Dr. J’s teams. He averaged over 17 points a game for his career.
Doug also played on the Olympic team that the Russians beat after the ref’s kept giving them do over’s until they scored the winning basket. Ok, so that one still bothers me. You can’t let everything go.
After retiring as a player, Doug went on to coaching. He got his first walking papers as Michael Jordan’s stubborn coach.
“We knocked heads early,” Collins said at the time. “I was 35, had never been a head coach before, was going to roll up my sleeves to show everybody that I could get the job done. I wanted to do things my way.”
Collins was fired and replaced by Phil Jackson, whose first team also lost to Detroit in the conference finals, 4-3. The following season the Bulls broke through, sweeping the Pistons 4-0 and going on to the first of six championships in the 90s with Jordan and Scottie Pippen leading the way. In 1995-96, they finished 72-10 as what many consider to be the greatest NBA team of all time.
Collins accepted his second head coaching job in 1995 and worked 2 1/2 seasons with the Pistons, going 46-36, 54-28 and 21-24 before he was let go amid reports his style caused friction with some of his players.
He was 37-45 in both seasons in Washington but couldn’t get the Wizards into the playoffs. He was fired shortly after Jordan was denied a return to the front office.
Collins’ overall record is 332-287 and 15-23 in the postseason.
Here is a YouTube breaking the Chicago Bulls news of hiring Doug Collins.
Now being a huge Piston fans, the early Chicago years were followed and the Piston years were followed. Doug was tough, demanding, and a my way or the highway guy. He could make a weak team strong, but could not make a good team great.
Speaking of great, after a while Doug grated on you and you did not want to play for him anymore.
Now after Chicago experienced the tough, demanding, my way or the highway Scott Skiles, why would they sign Doug Collins?
The Bulls and Collins, who coached a young Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen before the 1990s dynasty took off, acknowledged Thursday discussing a return engagement. The sides also said there would be more talks once Collins’ obligations with TNT ended, which happened when the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals that night.
And Collins was adamant during a pregame interview with TNT: “I have not been offered. I have not accepted.”
On Friday, general manager John Paxson did not return a call to his cell phone, and Collins’ representative John Langel declined comment. A message seeking comment was left Friday night on Collins’ cell phone.
The Bulls will have the number one pick in the draft, probably Derrick Rose of Memphis.
Does this sound like a do over of young Michael Jordan and Doug Collins?
Only Derrick Rose is not Michael Jordan and young Doug Collins had better not be old Doug Collins!
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