Even if the Bulls move one young big asset by the trade deadline or this summer, they have enough invested in that area finally to hire a big man’s coach.
Former Bull Mike Brown interviewed over the weekend and will begin working extensively with young players Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas and Aaron Gray on Friday in Sacramento.
Brown played from 1986-88 with general manager John Paxson and has known interim coach Jim Boylan casually over the years. Brown and Boylan once shared the same agent.
Brown has assistant and head-coaching experience in the NBA’s Development League. Not since Paxson fired Bill Cartwright in November 2003 have the Bulls employed a coach specifically working with big men.
“You can be 5 feet 2 and be a great big-man coach,” Boylan said. “But there is something about having a guy who has been in the low post and experienced physical play and has learned tricks of the trade the hard way. It’s advantageous to the development of our young guys.”
Boylan said discussions to add a big man’s coach arose during his interviews to replace Scott Skiles with Paxson. Assistant Pete Myers primarily had been working with the big men.
Brown averaged 5.0 points and 4.4 rebounds over his 11-year NBA career.
Sick bay
Given the snakebit nature of the Bulls these days, it’s no surprise Joe Smith succumbed to the flu and didn’t even attend Tuesday’s game.
What’s surprising is trainer Fred Tedeschi had time to visit Smith’s home Tuesday afternoon to gauge his availability.
With Luol Deng (left Achilles’ tendinitis), Ben Gordon (sprained right wrist) and Chris Duhon (bruised left knee) all still out, Tedeschi is a busy man.
Barring weather problems, the Bulls were to fly to Minneapolis late Tuesday, which means Smith either will join the team there or on Friday in Sacramento via a commercial flight.
Deng remains out indefinitely. Gordon and Duhon are close to playing.
“With a day or two of rest, we can get [Duhon] back and he’ll be fine,” Boylan said. “He took some injections to kill the pain. But he was having trouble the day after.”
Gordon chuckled when asked if he could help the Bulls break 80 points while shooting left-handed. The Bulls had scored 77 points in back-to-back losses entering Tuesday.
“I have a pretty good left-handed shot,” Gordon said. “But I want to make sure I’m 100 percent.”
