I am surprised, but I suppose something had to be done.

Can't argue with that, even if it was time for him to go.

First speculation: Pax got damn tired of the bizarre lineups, the nonsensical buring of Thomas and Noah.  

Second speculation: Skiles wore down his players.

Third speculation: Bulls turn it around, but we all miss Skiles.

As a fan, I certainly hope it does.

That being said, I wonder if the Bulls' problems stem from the limitations of its players, rather than the limitations of its coach.

Most regime changes are typically accompanied by an immediate, short-term improvement because the players are galvanized and energized by renewed hope. Old wounds and vendettas are forgotten. So I think we should see a much better Bulls' team over the next month. The question is whether that improvement will be sustained into the playoffs and beyond.

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/skiles_relieved_071224.html

P.S. Damn Tomcat for stretching the posting field beyond the edge of the page.

I definitely did not think he would pull the trigger this soon. I was wrong about that, though. It makes me wonder if there really was tremendous discord between the players and Skiles. Or if Reinsdorf handed down an ultimatum.

It's going to be strange to watch a game Wednesday with no posts about Skiles rotations. LOL.

I am not saying they should, I am just wondering if they might consider it?

Bringing in Brown, yet another disciplinarian who has a history of alienating players, would be an odd choice to replace Skiles, who had a similar disposition.

What player trades can we make to make the team better?  Please don't say Jason Kidd now that Skiles is gone.  The Bulls need to go a different direction in their current SG and need an all-star caliber low post scorer.

Not a fan of Larry, he's too close to skiles. Noah, TT, and Thabo would def not get playing time. Lets not forget what happened to Darko.

Hubie could be a good choice if he's not too old...

You could say that Carlisle is also to controling as a coach but not to the extent of those three.

I expect we will stay with an interim for at least a month while Paxson evaluates his personnel under a different coach. Whoever it is he will be taking a lot of direction from Paxson on player minutes.  

I guess anything is possible, but I seriously doubt Larry Brown would take any job after Skiles.

He also said that Jeff Van Gundy has no interest in going back into coaching right now.

"Hardly a day goes by that I don't demand accountability and stress results," Skiles told the newspaper. "Today was my day to be held accountable."

Skiles told The Tribune 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 newspaper. "The timing doesn't bother me. I'm not destitute."

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3167938&name=broussard_chris

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2007/12/chicago-bulls-b.html

I only hope that the new coach leads to a fresh evaluation of the team's talent ie more ben gordon less hinrich.  Ben is our best offensive player but ever since his rookie year Skiles has been an albatross around his neck, reluctantly elevating him to the starting lineup, while keeping him on a short leash.  

BG,Deng, Tyrus and Noah are the future of this basketball team.

He says that Nocioni and Thabo were "miserable" playing for Skiles.

Personally, ever since Skiles tanked the Toronto game with 1.5 quarters still left, i've felt sick watching them play.  Skiles has been coaching like he was under no pressure to win games in the present and could afford to tank a whole season in order to teach Tyrus and then Noah a lesson about who's in charge.  Watching him start Nocioni and Smith against Boston, including in the second half, convinced me that he just doesn't care about the outcome of games.  It's win his way, or don't win at all.

Screw that.  Everybody... the fans, the owners, and even the players... wanted the Bulls to do everything in their power to win every game.  The Rockets game was the first game in history where I could watch it until the end, but turned it off in the first half and deleted the tivo recording.  I checked blogabull later to see that we had lost.  

Skiles is the type of coach to get the most out of people who don't have loads of talent or experience.  However, he was never cut out to coach a group of veterans or develop young players with great talent.  His only method of developing young talented players is beating them into submission using playing time as his weapon.

Sit back and picture any coach coming in and saying, "Ben, you haven't been performing, so i'm going to limit your minutes."  Can you imagine Wallace not becoming a locker room cancer?  Hell, he already did it once with Flip Saunders when Flip wanted to take him out at the end of games because of his free throw shooting, and when Flip wanted to run zones instead of man to man.  It's also been pretty clear that he was even disgruntled lately under Skiles.

Best case scenario is that Ben starts to play like his old self and no choices have to be made. As someone pointed out though, that would speak volumes about Ben if he only sucks now because he's not trying.

Now, I've got to pick Tyrus Thomas up for my fantasy team. He always puts up great numbers when he plays, but for some reason he hasn't been getting minutes recently.

Merry Xmas, guys.

Maybe Wallace will actually start playing like he gives a shit now.  If he doesn't, then the biggest problem for the new coach is going to be figuring out how to bench someone who's the highest-paid player on the team.

Deep down I think one or more of the following:

1. Pax has another coach idea up his sleeve and is closer than he's letting on...
   
2. Pax was perhaps concerned about losing his own job and felt pressured to make a move...
   
3. There are still trades that are going to happen, but this team had clearly gotten away from Skiles and he still needed to go...
   
4. Perhaps during the trade discussions, Kobe stated behind doors that he would and/or could not play for Skiles, and this is just the beginning of chapter 2 and he may yet still play in Chicago...

Firing a coach from a situtation this messed up, at THIS early in the season when it could still be salvaged, and expecting that's all they plan to do when there's so much more than coaching issues at hand....

I wouldn't buy THAT for a dollar...

However, an entirely new style of play and a whole new system is going to come with the new coach and that might not work out well. I think skiles is a tallented coach who tries to win the right way. A combination of contract issues, missed jumpshots, a loss of intensity, and some questionable rotations have killed the first half of the season. I hope this new coach trying something too radical doesnt kill the second half. Farewell Skiles...