Arguments will happen

Sitting here in the messy and mostly empty press room of the United Center, there’s been time to think about the actual news value of the physical confrontation between Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and coach Vinny Del Negro.

The scuffle happened after a March 30 loss to Phoenix at the United Center. The two argued about sore-footed center Joakim Noah exceeding the minute limit prescribed by the team’s medical staff. According to sources, Del Negro got up out of his chair and was pushed in the chest by an agitated Paxson. Others in the room separated the two.

The story was posted on the yahoo.com Web site about 90 minutes before Tuesday’s tip-off. The Bulls went on to beat Boston 101-93 and needs to beat Charlotte on Wednesday to clinch a playoff spot.

The news caught people by surprise, leaking out two weeks after it occurred and just before the start of an important game. Realistically, though, this kind of thing happens all the time in pro sports and the world in general. It was a heated argument. As long as Del Negro didn’t end up in the hospital, it’s not that big of a deal.

Paxson appears calm, collected and thoughtful most of the time, but still has a quick temper. Remember the night he confronted game officials outside their locker room after Denver’s Carmelo Anthony shot about 25 free throws in a win over the Bulls?

Inevitably, Paxson calms down quickly, apologizes for the outburst and moves on. I can’t say for sure if he smoothed things over after this incident, but it’s been obvious since December that there’s a gaping disconnect between team management, namely Paxson and Gar Forman, and Del Negro.

It’s been foregone conclusion for months that the Bulls will make a coaching change before setting out to chase free agents this summer. The players surely came to the same realization and have done a decent job of not letting it affect their season.

TIMING IS CURIOUS
The Bulls gave Del Negro a great opportunity to become a head coach with no previous coaching experience. He might end up making the playoffs in his only two seasons on the job.

So even if his seat on the Bulls bench is taken away soon, there’s an excellent chance Del Negro will be an NBA head coach again, especially if he’s willing to be an assistant for a few seasons.

With two games left in the regular season and the Bulls fighting for a playoff spot, why was this story suddenly leaked to a national reporter? It seems possible someone in Del Negro’s camp spread the news in a play for sympathy.

Keep in mind, the same reporter blasted Forman in December for refusing to give Del Negro a vote of confidence. Breaking stories like this one is the point of the job, so that’s not a big deal.

I’m just not sure how it helps Del Negro if news of the confrontation with Paxson goes public now. This would seem to be the time to exit quietly and start preparing for his next job.

NOAH’S MINUTES
Coincidentally, Noah played more minutes than anyone on Tuesday, logging just over 46. He finished with 16 rebounds, 9 points and 3 blocks. After the game, Del Negro stuck with the company line regarding Noah’s playing time.

“Dr. (Brian) Cole and Fred (Tedeschi), our trainer, have put the limit on there for Joakim," he said. "He was out a long time. We’re very fortunate to get him back, I think they did a tremendous job getting him back and there was a process involved with that. Joakim’s a competitor, he wants to be out there all the time.

“We all think big picture here. He’s a young player. He has a serious injury. We want to protect him from himself a little bit. His future is the most important thing. Sometimes you have to step in and protect players from that because there’s so much energy and so much competitiveness in Jo, and I think we’ve handled that right.”

BULLS BRIEFS
--Bulls fans are certain to appreciate the complete mismatch between Tuesday’s starting point guards. Derrick Rose finished with 39 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and hit 15 of 22 shots. Boston’s Rajon Rondo had 4 points, 6 assists, 5 fouls and hit 2 of 10 shots.

--Sights seen: A reunion of Fort Wayne Mad Ants coach Joey Meyer and his star player, newest Bull Rob Kurz, before Tuesdays contest. After the previous game, former Purdue center Brad Miller had a long conversation with current Purdue forward Robbie Hummel outside the Bulls locker room.

--Only five players in Tuesday’s game scored in double figures – Rose (39) and Kirk Hinrich (30) for the Bulls; Paul Pierce (28), Ray Allen (25) and Kevin Garnett (14) for Boston.

--Rose scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and hit all 6 of his shots from the field. He even went up for an emphatic dunk, mistimed his jump and was still able to lay the ball in with 25 seconds left.