Just finished watching a segment on ESPN First Take, and boy, Scoop Jackson is a joke. He was asked what he thought about the Bulls/Celtics series and he said he didn't think the Celtics are in trouble or need to be worried although they are going into Chicago to play two games there with the series tied. Even though the Celtics almost lost both of their games at home. Everyone with a brain, even ardent Celtics fans are worried and nervous. This guy is from Chicago? What, is he trying to impress viewers with his supposed fairness? He looks and sounds stupid.

I've always ben fan of Bob Ryan of the

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UPDATE - Yahoo! is reporting :

While Rick Carlisle is the leading candidate for the Chicago Bulls coaching job, multiple league sources say that an intriguing name has gained momentum within the franchise’s front office: Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.

Bulls GM John Paxson granted Carlisle the first interview in the process, two league sources said, and Carlisle made a strong impression. But Chicago officials were still busy gathering intelligence on him Tuesday, reaching out around the league to those who had worked with him at stops with the Pacers and Pistons.

Nevertheless, the search won’t be limited to Carlisle. There’s been much internal discussion over Izzo, whom many NBA officials believe is one of the rare college coaches who can make the transition to the pros.

When reached on Tuesday night, Izzo told Yahoo! Sports that he hadn’t been contacted by the Bulls, but sounded willing to discuss the job with them.

...

Owner Jerry Reinsdorf is believed to have some hesitation about hiring a college coach.

I have some hesitation as well, although from what I'd heard locally (OK, on the radio) Tom Izzo has always been more of a pro-style coach, maybe the best candidate out of those ranks to make the jump that so many have failed at before. -Matt

(p.s.: oh, and TYI apparently had this already. I swear I simply read the original source article on my reader first, is all...) ]

Slam Dunk's original diary is below...

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Jim Boylan and Pete Myers had all bought into Scott Skiles' way of running the Chicago Bulls, and if Jim Paxon thought that Boylan would be different, he's naive.

What is shocking is their contempt for Paxon's view that young players like Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas be handled differently. The situation with Noah is the most alarming. Myers, who I never considered had a brain, was willing to give Noah next to no minutes when he took the reins of coach. Boylan took it another step when in last night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks he gave Noah no floor time. I'm surprised that no member of the Chicago media found it important to ask Boylan his reason for hitting Noah with a DNP.

This behavior by the Bulls coaching staff can only have damaging effects on young players like Noah and Thomas. This habit of giving Thomas short stints and a quick hook must be eating away at this young player's already fragile psyche. It's a damaging strategy that has effectively been employed by Skiles.

What disgusts me is that Boylan will attempt to make up for the slight by giving Noah some significant playing time when the Bulls meet the  New York Knicks in New York tomorrow (Sunday). Nice way to play tug-o-war with a young player's emotions. Boylan might be secretly hoping that Noah will be so pumped up and bent on making a good showing before his New York fans that he might try too hard and and not have a good game, giving them a good excuse to pull the plug early.

Boylan is nothing more than a journeyman assistant with no philosophy or ideas of his own. Paxon should have fired the entire staff and brought in a new coach with his own staff.
To think that we have to put up with this Skiles clone and his other acolytes for the rest of the season is highly disturbing.