Saturday, December 29, 2001
Cartwright man in the middle for the Bulls again
Former center will coach team
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
DEERFIELD, Ill. — When Bill Cartwright arrived in 1988, he gave the Chicago Bulls that final, key piece they needed to be a championship team.
Now the Bulls are putting the former center in the middle once more, hoping he can rescue the NBA's worst team and at least make it competitive again.
“I don't think we've felt hopeless. I think that we just haven't been as successful as we'd hoped,” Cartwright said after he was introduced as the team's new head coach Friday.
“Hopefully some of the changes I'll make will help the guys, and put them in situations where they can be more successful.”
Cartwright replaces Tim Floyd, who resigned Monday after going 49-190 in three-plus seasons. There's no interim tag attached, and general manager Jerry Krause said he'd like Cartwright — who has five NBA championship rings as a Bulls player and assistant — to be Chicago's coach “for the next 10 years.”
But the two will sit down after the season to make sure Cartwright wants to continue as head coach. If both agree, Cartwright will get a three-year contract.
“That's good to hear,” Cartwright said, drawing a laugh. “Let's go, Jerry. Let's sign it up now.”
Cartwright's first game as a head coach will be Saturday, when the Bulls play visiting Cleveland. Pete Myers, a Bulls scout the past two years, will fill the open assistant's spot.
“I think it brings some hope,” guard Fred Hoiberg said. “Guys were jacked up today. ... It just brings some excitement, and hopefully we can bring that out onto the court.”
The team Cartwright is getting is far different from the ones he played on. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are long gone, and the franchise's hopes now rest with a couple of 19-year-olds, rookies Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler.
The Bulls are a paltry 49-192 since winning the last of their six NBA titles in the 1990s, and have shown no signs of getting any better anytime soon. Attendance is dwindling, and the top free agents don't even consider Chicago anymore.
Hiring Cartwright won't solve everything, but at least it's a start, veteran Charles Oakley said.
“There are still some things that need to be changed around here,” said Oakley, who was traded for Cartwright in 1988. “It can't happen overnight. It's going to take time. I think Bill knows that and management knows that.
“All he wants is a chance.”
And if anyone can turn the Bulls around, Cartwright might just be the person to do it. A first-round pick by the New York Knicks in 1979, he spent 17 years in the NBA and averaged 13.2 points and 6.3 rebounds.
His presence and quiet leadership might have been even more valuable. Though a fractured larynx has left him with a raspy voice — he's had five operations to repair it — he's never had a problem making himself heard to his teammates or his players.
A co-captain on Chicago's first three championship teams, he was one of the few players who would stand up to Jordan. And when Pippen staged his 1.8-second boycott during the 1994 Eastern Conference playoffs, it was Cartwright who confronted him afterward.
“Coach has been around and he's got five rings,” said Ron Artest, who clashed with Floyd this season. “He's a player, he's a great player. That's important because you can look at the tapes. Whatever he's telling us, you can look at the tapes and it speaks for itself.”
And Cartwright will be bringing his past to the Bulls present. Defense will be his team's trademark. The triangle offense, used so successfully by Phil Jackson's title teams, will be put back in after being junked earlier this year.
“I know this is a big challenge. I feel that I'm ready for it,” Cartwright said. “With the young players that we have, we're going to try to bring them along the best we can. We have talented young players. We have enough weapons to win.
“In fact, if we had been healthy, I probably wouldn't be here.”
While Cartwright wouldn't predict how many games the Bulls will win the rest of the season — they're an NBA-worst 4-23 right now — he did promise the team will be better.
“I despise losing and I'd love to win every game the rest of the year,” he said. “But I think the biggest thing that you can do is to try and see growth from this point on. “By growth I mean growth in how we're going to guard. Growth in how our players handle themselves on the floor. Growth in our ability to learn how to share the ball and help each other be successful.
“I think if we can do that, we'll become not only a better basketball team, but we'll win some games, as well.”
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Cartwright man in the middle for the Bulls again
