Skiles has Bucks at 21-24.

by PatBull on Jan 21, 2009 9:31 PM CST

As of this minute, the Bucks sans Andrew Bogut are whipping the Mavs (with Nowitzki, Howard and Kidd all having good games) by an outrageous 35pts!

The Bucks have become more efficient offensively and have made dramatic strides in their team defense.

Which brings us to this question: Was last year's Bulls debacle really Skiles's fault?

I seem to remember Skiles saying as early as the pre-season that he saw something off-kilter with the Bulls team, like, they didn't have the same hunger or intensity of years past. Which led to the now infamous incident where he told John Paxson he "couldn't win" with that team. Which offended the team so they tuned him out. Which led to Paxson firing him on Christmas week (was it on Christmas Eve?).

I'm sure blind Skiles-hate will flood in and insist that the development (or lack of) of certain players plus the regression of other players were all his fault.

But, objectively, was it really?

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Were people ever really blaming it on Skiles?

If anything, Skiles was the reason that group was good in the first place. Out of everybody involved in the organization over the past few years he definitely came out looking the best. Also, I think most people would have predicted the Bucks would at least have this record or even better around the mid way point of the season. He’s got a mostly veteran group of established players up there.

by Juiceboxjerry on Jan 21, 2009 9:51 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

I think

Skiles burnout wasn’t helping….and yes given how good we were looking, he received the blunt of the blame….it’s only now a year + afterwards that we recant a bit….

I still think he’ll burnout the Bucks team in a couple of years….but he IS a good coach and I don’t think any BaBer would say he wasn’t a good coach for this franchise….it’s just that he totally lost this team and now this team is just needing the chemistry factor to work together. Tyrus and Noah need to mature pretty damn quickly.

by majoyenrac on Jan 22, 2009 8:34 AM CST up reply actions

Jerry, I wish you would post like this more often.

by NittanyCub on Jan 22, 2009 5:37 PM CST up reply actions

Skiles always improve a team for the first 3 years then the team gets tired of him

PHX-CHI-MIL and then he will move on to another team

Skiles is good at making a team playing hard D but his drill sergeant ways get tiring. And his substitutions suck.

The Bucks always had talent, they just underachieved. They will get tired of him in a couple years…believe that.

by C Smoove on Jan 21, 2009 9:52 PM CST reply actions

And

That he constantly calls out players to the press. Keep it behind the scenes…..there’s often little reason for that, and it was especially bad in 06-07 and early last year.

by majoyenrac on Jan 22, 2009 8:35 AM CST up reply actions

well, like you said, he quit.

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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jan 21, 2009 10:40 PM CST reply actions

Sorry, he was FIRED!

This keeps being said. Why?
From ESPN:
December 24, 2007, 10:12 PM ET
Bulls fire coach Skiles; replacement expected to be named after season
DEERFIELD, Ill. — The Chicago Bulls were sure this was their season to challenge for the Eastern Conference championship. If they do, it’ll be with a new coach.
The Bulls fired Scott Skiles on Monday, hoping to shake up a team with one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference.

“Hardly a day goes by that I don’t demand accountability and stress results,” Skiles told the Chicago Tribune. “Today was my day to be held accountable.”

Skiles told also the newspaper that he wasn’t bothered by being fired on Christmas Eve.
“The fact that it’s Christmas Eve is neither here nor there,” Skiles told the Tribune. “The timing doesn’t bother me. I’m not destitute.”

It seems the players weren’t caught off guard, either.

“I felt like something was going to happen,” forward Luol Deng said. “I didn’t know whether it was players or coaches. But you could definitely feel there was something. It just didn’t seem like we were on the same page.”

The underachieving Bulls (9-16) have lost three of their last four and were booed throughout by the home crowd during Saturday night’s 116-98 loss to the Houston Rockets. Their next game is Wednesday at San Antonio.

The rest here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3167808

by rtblues on Jan 22, 2009 5:53 AM CST up reply actions

Merry Christmas Scott!

P.S. They fired Skiles On Christmas Eve!

It is the Chicago way…
Slip a note under his hotel room door!
That’s how Billy Reay was fired from old Blackhawks team! :-)

by rtblues on Jan 22, 2009 5:55 AM CST up reply actions

floyd also resigned on xmas eve. ;)

by Jaina on Jan 22, 2009 7:30 AM CST up reply actions

The way that team was going it was probably seen as a present to Skiles anyway

But I thought yfbb was talking about he quit on the team rather than literally quitting.

by Camry on Jan 22, 2009 8:46 PM CST up reply actions

i know what matt was saying

i was just pointing out something else that happened on xmas eve. best present ever. and i don’t celebrate christmas. haha.

"They should. They better. I'm Vinny Del Negro!"

by Jaina on Jan 23, 2009 8:43 AM CST up reply actions

I never had much of a problem with him

But I didn’t think the record this year was surprising this time around he even has a better offensive ball club and not as many mismatches. (not that it looks all rosy over there or anything)

by Camry on Jan 21, 2009 10:45 PM CST reply actions

It was time for him to go

He had quit on the players and the players had quit on him. They got off to bad starts every year with Skiles, but they were just getting blown out every single night at the start of last season. That’s the surest sign of a team that’s quit. The problem wasn’t firing Skiles, it was that Pax had no one lined up to replace him.

Why resort to name calling?
-Dionysus2.0

because I wish to insult you personally
-your friendly BullsBlogger

by Big D on Jan 21, 2009 10:56 PM CST reply actions

21-24 isn't impressive

The Bucks traded Yi for Jefferson this offseason with the intention of competing this year. With three big money players in their primes – Redd, Jefferson, Bogut – management probably expected better.

by YaoPau on Jan 21, 2009 11:59 PM CST reply actions

Considering he's taken the team from 30th in defensive efficiency to 11th in one season

I’d say they’re likely happy with the job he’s doing. Jefferson, Redd, and Bogut are all borderline All Stars at best and there’s not much left on the roster after them.

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look.
Ronald Reagan

by snley on Jan 22, 2009 8:26 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

Bogut's

Got a ways to go to be borderline all stars. Redd’s an all star, and RJ…well I don’t think he’s quite Deng anymore…..but so be it.

Bogut looks a bit better because the C position is at likely it’s historic low point in the NBA.

by majoyenrac on Jan 22, 2009 8:37 AM CST up reply actions

Eh

They arguably have three players better than anyone we have. They should be ahead of us by more than 2 games.

by YaoPau on Jan 22, 2009 10:39 PM CST up reply actions

Again that's arguable for all 3

Deng hasn’t played to his normal self consistently, but I’d pick him over RJ these days.

Redd has the edge over BG…..it seemed for a while to be closing, but BG’s slide of the past 4-5 games makes me think Redd has that edge (him being left handed is such a bonus).

Bogut is of course better than our Centers, but Hinrich and our depth help more than offset Bogut….

by majoyenrac on Jan 23, 2009 7:57 AM CST up reply actions

Point is they aren't scrubs, nor werethey a giant question mark like the 2005 Bulls

That just came out of nowhere to become a very good NBA team. The Bucks have talent at every position, mediocre talent, but then again that’s the kind Skiles prefers.

Vinny Del Negro interviewed for the job today. I mean come on! Nobody else thinks this is nuts?
by Juiceboxjerry on Jun 6, 2008 4:21 PM CDT actions actions 0 recs

by Ozzie Montana on Jan 23, 2009 12:47 PM CST up reply actions

Skiles>VDN. VDN!!!!!!!! 7 MONTHS of searching a coach to replace scott skiles and we got

V D N

when are we going to add a 7th championship?

by broseleay301 on Jan 22, 2009 12:07 AM CST reply actions

I agree wholeheartedly!!!

Although Skiles was an effective coach, he had grated on the players so I can understand needing to hear a different voice. But that voice should not have been VDN. Not after a 7 month search. It should have been Avery Johnson or even Rick Carlisle. With our team being constructed the way it is (leaderless) we need a strong voice at the helm. Hinrich and Deng are not effective leaders (neither is Gordon for that matter) and without that we will go nowhere. Skiles was the head of the beast for us, but in truth it needs to come from the players. Until someone develops into that type of leader, we need a coach with a firm hand. Case in point, the Hornets. Byron Scott is a strong leader but as Chris Paul emerged as a true leader Scott pulled back.

It took us 7 months to come up with…..Vinny Del Negro. I have nothing at all against Vinny and I believe that in time he’ll be a decent coach at the very least. But come on….for what we needed….you gotta be kidding me with the VDN choice.

by lexdiamonds0730 on Jan 22, 2009 1:28 PM CST up reply actions

the mistake was not paying up and getting d’antoni. players are very excited to work for a offensive minded coach who has a great rep. they listen and respect him. and contrary to popular beleif, the suns were actually pretty good on defense based on the numbers.

I used to think coaches were overrated...

by blademan88 on Jan 22, 2009 12:48 AM CST reply actions

Yeah

And I thinK D’Antoni’s system would be awesome with our glut of guards…..and Thomas and Noah….

THAT WAS A REAL SHAME. Rose-Hinrich-Gordon-Deng-Tyrus-Noah, hell even Hughes could add a bit to the D’Antoni system (I mean I guess I just come from the impression that Hughes isn’t “Starbury-esque” given that all we hear from Pax and even Gill/King is that he’s professional and just wants to play more)…..

But that puts me in the minority here, and frankly I guess my harping on it gets folks here mad at me.

I’m sorry I’ll stop. I want HUGHES gone, and I want NOCIONI gone, but I don’t necessarily want just a one off trade for crap…..wait til next year with Hughes and trade him in a package for something…

by majoyenrac on Jan 22, 2009 8:40 AM CST up reply actions

I will miss Noc though :(

by majoyenrac on Jan 22, 2009 8:40 AM CST up reply actions

Yeah D'antoni's system would have been perfect with all the perimeter players we have. But...

….I really don’t think you can win playing like D’antoni. Sure you’ll win a lot of regular season games and it will be fun and high scoring. But ultimately you’d lose to a team who’d bust us right in the mouth with some solid offense and great defense. We need to mix up this personnel that we have and we need a veteran coach (unless we get a player that plays regulary and is truly a leader…or unless one of our guys ends up growing into that role).

by lexdiamonds0730 on Jan 22, 2009 1:42 PM CST up reply actions

I don't agree

I think those teams were damn close, a call here or there away from beating the Spurs, and had they beat the Spurs they would have won.

I think people get too “can’t win because it’s not been done”. Those teams were awesome and the West was very competitive.

Hell last year likely 6 teams could have won. A call here or there goes the other way and the series change.

Had Phx been in the East during those reigns and not made it to the finals at least, I would be saying otherwise, but they were in the tough tough West…..

by majoyenrac on Jan 22, 2009 3:26 PM CST up reply actions

It doesnt help that Pop and the Spurs are the antithesis of the D'Antoni system either

by reprisal on Jan 22, 2009 3:50 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah

I mean the Heat team that won it all a few years back played little defense (same as the Mavs—they improved a bit defensively under Avery, but they weren’t a lock down D like the Spurs to my recollection—they could be broken on that side of the ball, and I think the talent was there to make them look a bit more respectible)….

by majoyenrac on Jan 23, 2009 7:58 AM CST up reply actions

i've always liked him

we all know that last year wasnt his fault. its up to the players to play in the system thats worked for them before. but those guys were all about themselves. arguing with him, distracted by contracts, it was stupid. but its the coaches that always takes the fault(except jerry sloan), so what can you do.

Chicago... Where giving up career nights happens

by Yibs on Jan 22, 2009 8:32 AM CST reply actions

He was a scapegoat

Skiles never should have been fired, it should have been Paxson for being the Matt Millen of the NBA

When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all.

by Looney_Bucky on Jan 22, 2009 9:20 AM CST reply actions

I'm sure they is much more to this situation... something troubled Skiles with Paxson and/or Reinsdorf ..

besides the players, but involves the players?

Skiles may have been discredited in the presence or audience of the players by Paxson feeling the need to scratch his balls “once” on behalf of his beloved players. Or Jerry?

This may seem trivial, but “Skiles” basis of effective coaching and maintaining order and respect requires complete adherence to the coach orders, second to none.
(Phil Jackson seem also to have this concept, as he always had the players ears and keep them away from Krause’s stupid GM suggestions and potential player shakeups)

Therefore, with Skiles this becomes a MAJOR OFFENSE, and therefore renders him ineffective to continue coaching in this Organization knowing that the beloved players only need raise their little hands together in the classroom. Or Deng and Kirk, together.

So, next time a GM decides to scratch his balls and he’s Skiles boss, he better make sure he scratches them in the bedroom with his wife (or girlfriend)!

man up!

by exult463 on Jan 22, 2009 2:19 PM CST reply actions

!!

USE THE SOFTWARE. Actions-> Rec/Flag. Reply to comments with the reply button. Rec good fanposts/fanshots so the crud gets pushed down.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jan 22, 2009 3:53 PM CST up reply actions

Indeed!! Right on brother!!

Just one question…..WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!

On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!

by piccolomair on Jan 22, 2009 4:28 PM CST up reply actions

Reflex

I don’t understand, but it makes my balls itch.

by El Toro de Goro on Jan 22, 2009 4:33 PM CST up reply actions

This has something to do with having the DOG doesnt it

by reprisal on Jan 22, 2009 4:46 PM CST up reply actions

No Way

I don’t believe for a second that it was Skile’s fault. In my opinion he is the main reason the team was even competitive from ’04 to ’07. Unfortunately, the guys on the team began to think too highly of themselves (perhaps in part from being overvalued by Pax) and started to tune out Skiles, and therefore stopped doing what was necessary to win games.

I believe Skiles will coach Milwaukee into the playoffs (of course, they’ll lose in the first round).

by SickeyDimpkins on Jan 23, 2009 7:00 PM CST reply actions