In a move that surprised very few who have spent much time around the Chicago Bulls' locker room, GM John Paxson has fired Head Coach Scott Skiles this Christmas Eve. After a 9-16 start amidst inconsistent play from key guys, contract grumblings and Kobe Bryant trade rumors, the Bulls finally decided to shake things up. As these things go, the firing may not be so much a suggestion that Skiles was at the root of the Bulls' struggles, but rather a prototypical attempt to light a fire under the sluggish Bulls' players. In another sense, Skiles' firing seems clearly influenced by his ongoing bickerings with two of the Bulls' freewheeling youngsters, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. As early as last year, Skiles' seemed to be playing mindgames with Thomas and this year he openly questioned Thomas' effort, stating, "We ask him to sprint the floor...To my knowledge, in his career, he hasn't done it one time -- not one time.'' Skiles similarly called out Noah in a public manner after Noah questioned the Bulls' effort and their psychology after he played in his first game. "If I had just played my first pro game," Skiles said, "I'd probably keep my mouth shut, to be honest with you."
Not since Larry Brown and Allen Iverson's lovehatefest has a coach/player generation gap been so apparent. Traces of Bill Parcells and Terrell Owens linger as well. Skiles has always been a scowling, balding, Tom Izzo-trained, maximum-effort/minimal-flair guy, and his wooden personality seems to have finally chafed his young players to the point that they appear to tune him out.
The Bulls, however, now are in a precarious position. Point blank Skiles has been one of the best coaches in the league--if not THE best coach--since he took the Chicago position. The Bulls run the risk of not realizing that Skiles did way more with way less talent than anyone could have imagined. Skiles made the Bulls relevant in the post-MJ era by bringing them back to the playoffs and he developed Chris Duhon, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni into a solid, feisty core. The truth is that without Skiles nobody really knows how good any of those players are. The Bulls players may respond favorably to a new coach, playing a bit more loose and free-spirited for someone who isn't so much of a tight-ass as Skiles was. On the other hand, that new coach may have his hands full trying to get back to the playoffs and trying to figure out how Skiles reaped maximum effort and skill from a group of castaways, greenhorns, and not-quite-stars.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-24-2007 @ 2:48PM
ron said...
You are obviously a Skiles fan. You seem to forget that he has been run out of town everywhere he has coached. He is the NBA version of Buddy Ryan, teams get tired of those egos every few years.
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12-24-2007 @ 9:49PM
gary c said...
Skiles was pre-Tom Izzo. His training came from Jud Heathcoate.
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12-24-2007 @ 3:16PM
Gary said...
Now get rid of Lovie Smith, Turner, Grossman, and
Griese
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12-24-2007 @ 3:32PM
Ed said...
Dr. Lawyer Indian Chief?
A stupid name for a stupid article.
No surprise it reads like like a Jr. High newspaper article.
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12-24-2007 @ 6:43PM
Chris Clarke said...
Way to "break" the news. It's not like the Bulls announced this before you did.
"Point blank Skiles has been one of the best coaches in the league--if not THE best coach--since he took the Chicago position."
Wow. Do you follow basketball? Skiles has never won Coach of the Year. Skiles has, in 5 seasons, guided the Bulls to two winning seasons. Yikes. So you actually think Skiles, in the past 5 seasons in Chicago, has been better than Popovich, Sloan, D'Antoni, Nate MacMillan, Flip Saunders, Avery Johnson...I could go on.
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12-24-2007 @ 11:25PM
frank said...
Who ever is going to be the next coach PLAY NOAH AS STARTER NOT IN A LONG TIME HAS BEEN a player that looks like Bill Russell ( 11 rings second to none )never scored 100 points , 81 points nor even 50 points what he was a TEAM PLAYER the best there ever was he did the little things closing spaces ,stealing ,timing,rhythm , communication ,to prove it watch out if FLORIDA wins this year , like Walton UCLA , and then Alcindor also UCLA they stopped playing no more rings for UCLA Noah has the same potential his letter of presentation the botton line PLAY NOAH minimum 40 minutes ask me how !
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12-24-2007 @ 11:33PM
matt said...
izzo was an assistant with jud though...but i agree with the point gary
Skiles is a good coach for what he is. Some coaches are better at working with less. Some coaches are better at developing talent. Some coaches are better at taking a team on the edge of greatness to greatness.
Dantoni's style would probably only work with a certain number of teams in the league. Same with Sloans, Phil Jackson's etc.
We get so caught up in whether a coach is either good or bad that we forget that all of these guys have some sort of basketball knowledge that they bring to the table. However, like the role player who is not the key to his team winning a championship, Skiles is the role coach. He took a young and struggling team and maximized their talent for what it was worth. For a short time he was what the team needed.
But when his teams abilities began to move beyond his own abilities to coach it became time for the two to part ways.
So let's look at Skiles for what he is. A pretty decent coach who probably won't win a championship without the perfect mix of players and coaching personnel for his style...which is something you could say about pretty much any other coach/player in the league with the exceptions of a few.
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12-24-2007 @ 11:34PM
matt said...
also
being fired on Christmas Eve?
That's ice cold blooded
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12-24-2007 @ 11:38PM
Bob Conrad said...
Hey...Scott Skiles has been a winner in high school, college and the pros....The Bulls almost made the NB A finals last year...and now he gets fired. Crazy...I watched him play high school ball in northern Indiana and he was the scrappiest guy on the floor. Took small school Plymouth to the state title...Won honors at Michigan State. Probably still holds the NBA assist record at Orlando. He'll be back in an NBA job soon...if he wants to.
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