I caught up with Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro shortly after the second Summer League game. For those not aware, Vinny isn't coaching the Summer League team, rather he's watching from the sidelines which is a common practice for most head coaches.
Vinny Del Negro Interview after Summer League Game 2
Vinny was friendly and accommodating in my discussions with him, but he
definitely speaks in generalities and avoids getting into specific
details about anything even when pressed. That may have merely been
because of his unfamiliarity with me and what my angle was. I'm sure all these guys are watching out for the reporter trying to make a name for themselves.
Much like many of my interview opportunities, I choked in the clutch and forgot to ask about how the offense will change without Ben Gordon.
Doug: You had a successful campaign as a rookie head coach, but what do you think you'll improve upon in your second season?
VDN: You know you just get better at it. Hopefully, improvigint everything. You always try to get better. Your team's going to be a little different. You've got to make some adjustments and hope to get better on both ends of the court.
Doug: With Del Harris leaving, how has that effected your coaching staff, what specific responsibilities do your assistants have?
VDN: I just restructured within my staff. I feel confident with my staff. Certain coaches have certain responsibilities, but we all work together toward one goal. So we just restructured, hired a couple new people, and I'm very happy with everyone. Now's a good time to get a good test in summer league.
Doug: So is your staff segmented by position of the players? Big man coach, guard coach etc?
VDN: We specialize in certain areas, but I want everyone to get involved in a lot of things. We try to keep guys in certain area to focus on, but I like everyone's input as well.
Doug: Derrick Rose's development is so key to the team, any word on his off-season?
VDN: All these guys are young, and they have to have productive summers. As they get better individually, they make our team get better and that's the key to it all, to get Better with young talent.
Doug: What are your first impressions of Johnson and Gibson?
VDN: They've played well. Not as well today as yesterday, but that's part of the growing process and part of the learning curve you go through at this level. As long as they keep fighting and working they'll continue to improve and that's what it's all about.
Much like many of my interview opportunities, I choked in the clutch and forgot to ask about how the offense will change without Ben Gordon.
Doug: You had a successful campaign as a rookie head coach, but what do you think you'll improve upon in your second season?
VDN: You know you just get better at it. Hopefully, improvigint everything. You always try to get better. Your team's going to be a little different. You've got to make some adjustments and hope to get better on both ends of the court.
Doug: With Del Harris leaving, how has that effected your coaching staff, what specific responsibilities do your assistants have?
VDN: I just restructured within my staff. I feel confident with my staff. Certain coaches have certain responsibilities, but we all work together toward one goal. So we just restructured, hired a couple new people, and I'm very happy with everyone. Now's a good time to get a good test in summer league.
Doug: So is your staff segmented by position of the players? Big man coach, guard coach etc?
VDN: We specialize in certain areas, but I want everyone to get involved in a lot of things. We try to keep guys in certain area to focus on, but I like everyone's input as well.
Doug: Derrick Rose's development is so key to the team, any word on his off-season?
VDN: All these guys are young, and they have to have productive summers. As they get better individually, they make our team get better and that's the key to it all, to get Better with young talent.
Doug: What are your first impressions of Johnson and Gibson?
VDN: They've played well. Not as well today as yesterday, but that's part of the growing process and part of the learning curve you go through at this level. As long as they keep fighting and working they'll continue to improve and that's what it's all about.
8 Comments
JVP said:
No worries, Doug! Thanks for making the attempt and actually getting him to agree to speak with you. Maybe now that he knows you, he'll open up more next time. I've done exactly as you have in the past, as far as the choking aspect goes. I had the opportunity to speak with Red Kerr, Noce and Pax a couple of years back when the Bulls played the Sonics in Lawrence, Kansas for an exhibition contest. It's funny how when someone you watch so often on tv or in person is right in front of you, the words just don't flow quite as easily as you'd like and you forget things you'd like to ask them or comments you'd like to make. Thanks again!
Hoover said:
Nice job Doug. I personally find Vinny to be one of the worst interviews I've ever heard, so I wouldn't worry to much about what you didn't ask him. He never says anything. He's much more lime a football coach that way. I've always found most basketball coaches interesting, mainly because they are candid and relatively honest. I miss Skiles for that reason, he had some great one liners. I also enjoy listening to Phil Jackson.
My hope is Vinny is different with his players, I imagine he is .
Doug Thonus said:
Hoover said:
He's a lime football coach? That word should be like.
Doug Thonus said:
More or less that's what happened. It's no big deal to me really though. I just hate it when I forget to ask a question. Judging by his other answers, I think I would have gotten something like: "Well we'll just have to adjust. It will be a challenge, but that's what it's about adjusting and improving and hoping you get better".
VDN definitely isn't giving up much in an interview. I should try to talk to him casually next time instead like I did with Gar Forman. Gar may have primarily given me company line, but he was at least very candid about it. It's hard to build a relationship with these guys when you only get to see them once a year though.
Raven1908 said:
Hollinger had a piece in the playoffs about the progression of coaches (focused on Mike Brown and VDN). Many Bulls fans were calling for VDN's head about 12 minutes into the season, but weren't really taking into account that coaches, like players, are going to improve in time. Sure, you could argue that hiring a first time coach for this team was the wrong choice, but once you've made that choice, expecting him to be Phil Jackson right out of the gate is simply unfair.
Vittorio De Zen said:
"Judging by his other answers, I think I would have gotten something like: "Well we'll just have to adjust. It will be a challenge, but that's what it's about adjusting and improving and hoping you get better".
Exactly. VDN is a terrible interview. It's not your fault! Heh.
I don't like his coaching, but I think I might cut him a bit of slack if he was an entertaining interview. As it stands, I hate him! Fire VDN!
Andrew Wamboldt said:
They were interviewing Del Negro on NBA.com during the 2nd quarter of the Bulls vs. Warriors game. They asked him about Gordon. He basically just said that everyone is going to have to step up and chip in for the misses scoring, and then he started naming the entire roster pretty much, for guys who need to pitch in to make up for his scoring. Also mentioned something like he will miss Ben, but the cap flexibility is important too.
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