Bulls Fire Skiles

[spiderman]

Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson today announced that Scott Skiles has been relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach.

In a statement released this morning, Paxson said:

“This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time. Scott helped us in many ways during his time with the Bulls; most importantly, he helped this franchise get back to respectability. I am appreciative of his hard work and the imprint that he left on our team.”

At this time, no decision has been made on Skiles’ replacement.

***

I think the Bulls need to find a coach more willing to have a Western Conference Up-Tempo Attack - this is a team that cannot create it's own shot, don't have a true point guard, or an inside player, but a lot of talent that I believe would be good in a more uptempo offense.

Any thoughts on who they should be looking at ? <!--IBF.ATTACHMENT_7943240-->
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[JPicks]

Skiles Fired

Bulls fire coach Skiles; no replacement named yet






<!-- end page tools --><!-- begin story body --><!-- template inline -->Bulls coach Scott Skiles has lost his job as a result of his team's slow start.

The Bulls have lost three of their last four games and were booed throughout Saturday's home loss to the Rockets. Despite high expectations, the Bulls (9-16) have the third worst record in the Eastern Conference.
"This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time," general manager John Paxson said in a statement Monday. "Scott helped us in many ways during his time with the Bulls; most importantly, he helped this franchise get back to respectability. I am appreciative of his hard work and the imprint that he left on our team."
The Bulls said no decision has been made on a replacement for Skiles.
Ben Wallace said Saturday he would welcome personnel changes if it would help the club.
"That's one of those things that goes along with this league," said Wallace. "Change is not always bad. If everybody wants to be here we have to step it up and go out there and play basketball."

 

[abcs]

Paxson should step down for drafting Tyrus Thomas, Noah and overpaying an old Ben Wallace.. None of these girls are even average big men in the league anymore

 

[abcs]

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[abcs]

Oh yea could have traded half of the roster and brought in Kobe to play alongside even average talent which would have been good enough to take this team to the playoffs in the east.. more than likely to the second or ecf ( as long as they didnt play the stons or celtics). Good Luck with your midget backcourt.. and your donut offense.

 

[sportjunky]

trading chandler and replacing him with wallace is an all time stupid move.

they basically gave an athletic version of mark madsen 60 mil :36_11_6:

 

[Bets4Bucks]

Bulls coach Scott Skiles has lost his job as a result of his team's slow start.

Wish I could add Mike Dunleavy to that list but all the clips injuries give him a built-in excuse for losing. :hang:

 

[abcs]

Dunleavy has done a hell of a job. You lost your best player and your 2 best pgs.. I mean look at the rest of the roster.

 

[B.A.R.]

Its the right move and may spark a run real quick for Chicago.

 

[abcs]

I think we all know who is on the short list of coaches..

Van Gundy or Larry Brown

 

[abcs]

Its the right move and may spark a run real quick for Chicago.

I disagree.. but I guess the coach needs to be held accountable. Look what the bulls were before he took over. They are 2 games away from the 8 spot.. the season is far from over
I'm sorry but I hate the make up of this roster.. it's all jumpshots

 

[divol]

I don't know if it is the right move or not (I think that Paxon has at least the same responsibility for Bulls poor form), but to fire on X-Mas eve, that is brutal!

 

[abcs]

Maybe he is atheist or a follower of truism?

 

[sportjunky]

heard wilbon on the radio, he was saying the players were upset with skiles for not giving Noah and especially Gray enough playing time.

 

[brewer]

fuck paxson. who fires someone on christmas eve?

 

[brewer]

he just fired the best pg on the team, too. now we are really in trouble.

 

[JPicks]

Its the right move and may spark a run real quick for Chicago.

I think it's the right move as well. Maybe the Bulls will run an offense with their new coach. I don't know nearly as much about the Bulls as a few people on here, but every time I watched them play I was amazed by the fact that they don't really have an offense. They just pass the ball around hoping somebody will have an opener jumper and hit it.

 

[abcs]

What are they supposed to do? Throw the ball down on the block to Ben Wallace and or Noah then wait for a double team? Give me a break man.. This is one of the most poorly constructed teams that i have seen in a long time. How can you have 2 midget guards in the backcourt?

 

[rod_steel]

I know this is a cut throat business but what a classy move to make the decision on Christmas Eve.

 

[abcs]

I don't have a problem with the timing of the firing. It's not like the guy will be living off foodstamps for the rest of the year. Hes probably made 10 million dollars coaching, and since he got fired he basically gets a paid vacation the rest of the year. Not bad in my opinion.

 

[JPicks]

What are they supposed to do? Throw the ball down on the block to Ben Wallace and or Noah then wait for a double team? Give me a break man.. This is one of the most poorly constructed teams that i have seen in a long time. How can you have 2 midget guards in the backcourt?

It's called running. Maybe push the tempo since you're playing with a small team. I'm no coach, but I think you can name a handful of teams in the league that have less down low than the Bulls that play better than the Bulls. I mean they're 9-16. You think they have that record because of the roster? I suppose we'll see when they get a new coach. I certainly agree that some mistakes were made when they put the thing together, but it's not bad enough to be 9-16 in the Eastern Conference.

 

[abcs]

What teams besides GSW have less than the bulls downlow.. Would love to hear this. I do agree they could run more though. 'an_horse'

 

[JPicks]

Nets have less than the Bulls, but they're pretty shitty as well. My #1 example would be the Pacers minus O'Neal. They played at a very high rate with no O'Neal because the coaching staff relized they needed to push the ball. The Sonics have WAY less inside than the Bulls and they've won ONE game less than the Bulls this year. Again they push the tempo to a point, but they just can't play D. Bulls were #1 in DEfficiency last year and if they pushed the damn ball and stayed in the top 10 in the league in DE they'd be good. The Kings have Brad Miller and they seem to be able to win some games with only Miller. I'm guessing the Bulls can match Miller inside.

Don't get me wrong man. Paxson is an idiot, but can you really blame him for trading Chandler when the guy just wouldn't play for Skiles. Skiles has a bit of Sloan in him meaning that he refuses to give young guys the time on the court. Hopefully the new coach will get Joe Smith off the court and find a way to get Wallace motivated or off the court because Gray, Thomas and Nocioni need to play. I could be completely wrong as the Bulls aren't my team, but that's my view from the outside.

 

[abcs]

I just disagreed with your statement that other teams with less are doing better. The problem with the bulls is that Deng isn't a star. You can't build around guys like him, Redd or Iguolda. They don't have a go to guy. They cant find a way to get easy buckets.
Would love to see any team in the nba whose starting power forward and center combined are producing 11 points and 12 boards

 

[abcs]

Would also love to see any gm not named isiah thomas who would trade for ben wallaces contract and the years remaining on it.

 

[brewer]

name all the low post threats in nba please.

 

[slayer202]

The bulls did a nice job putting together a team, EVEN after letting guys like brand, artest, and miller getting away. however, they fucked themselves in the end. Their style of play is just garbage, and you can't win the way they play. They play a slower style that the suns play, without steve nash, and without any big men, and without shooting, and the suns even have a hard time in the playoffs.

The only player on the team that I like is tyrus thomas, and it is questionable if he is worth more than aldridge

 

[tuck321]

Do not think it will happen but great chance for Toronto to fire the garbage nd hire Scott.

 

[abcs]

name all the low post threats in nba please.

I didnt say they needed a threat a la ming or howard. They need someone who can score a few buckets even like a nazr mohammed. I was dumbfounded when they had a chance at gasol and passed :hang:Just brutal decisions by paxson imo

 

[Toronto_Mike]

Do not think it will happen but great chance for Toronto to fire the garbage nd hire Scott.

not a chance. both don't even suit the type of players that the squad have

 

[posey55]

First, As a Bulls fan, I must say this is the best Christmas Eve present ever, Skiles has been holding this team back from it's max potential since he arrived, and this can only improve the team.

In response to this being not classy firing him on Christmas Eve... Skiles knew he had this coming with how bad the Bulls have been playing, and I'm sure the guy and his family who's making 4 million a year will be just fine over the holidays.

In response to the poor setup of the team... They were set up exactly the same last year, except they replace Vet PJ Brown with Vet Joe Smith. They won 49 games last year, I find it hard to believe that PJ Brown is that much better than Joe Smith.



Last Years Backcourt Deff: 4th in the NBA
This Years: 27th in the NBA

Last Years FrontCourt Deff: 10th
This Years: 16th in the NBA

You would think the Bulls traded away there best player or they lost a guard to injury or something just by looking at these stats. Nope, they just are playing like shit/not motivated. Clearly, I'm not blaming Skiles for everything, he wasn't out there playing afterall, but he didn't help much.


Next, Nazr? really? check out this article to see why Nazr could never be a great player in the league. Nazr fouls at 13.8 PF/100 minutes over his career! According to that article, that means he's likely to max out around 20 mins/game.


My last rant about Skiles (for now) is his player development. Apparently Skiles hates all young players, and once he has his mind set on a player, he doesn't want to say he was wrong about them. Skiles has been blessed with the following first round picks since he's taken over the Bulls (2003 #7, 2004 #3 and #7, 2006 #4 and #13, 2007 #9) and the previous years right before he became coach: 2002 #2, 2001 #2 and #4, 2000 #4, #8... of course he broke the 6 year playoff drought, with that many top 10 picks, you're gonna have a lot of talent to work with. He notably managed to piss off Tyson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, and Eddy Curry to the point of trade. It wouldn't hurt to have a top ten rebounder or a guard that can score 20 a night, keep Curry far away from a Bulls uniform though pleaseee. He's doing the same with Tyrus Thomas. When you have a player than can average 12-9 with 1.5+stls and 2+ blks a game you should probably put him on the court, and encourage his growth as a player, not bench him every time he turns the ball over. With a little direction and teaching, Tyrus could become an all-star for years to come. Without that, he could follow Marcus Fizer's footsteps into the Euroleague.

Go Bulls! :cheers:

 

[posey55]

I just disagreed with your statement that other teams with less are doing better. The problem with the bulls is that Deng isn't a star. You can't build around guys like him, Redd or Iguolda. They don't have a go to guy. They cant find a way to get easy buckets.
Would love to see any team in the nba whose starting power forward and center combined are producing 11 points and 12 boards

Who's to say you need a "star" anyway. What's the definition of a star in the NBA anyway?

Who was the "star" on the 03-04 Pistons? Nobody averaged over 18 pts/game or over 6 assists/game. Go to guy? According to 82games.com, In 03-04, Rip was the best offensive clutch performer, rated #14, 13 more clutch offensive players ahead of him from 12 other teams. The thing that does stick out about that team however is their +/- ratings during clutch situations in 03-04 (link) I would say the Pistons were good because of "clutch defense" and being able to shut down the other teams go to guy, instead of having their own.

The Bulls appeared to be Defensive orientated (6th in opponents Efficiency last year) but now they've fallen to 20th??? In my opinion the Bulls have two options, bring the D nightly, or trade for O... If they can get rid of Big Ben and his contract, and receive Pau for it as well, I'm totally OK with that. Seeing that JC Navarro is butt buddies with Pau, throw him in the deal too, please. My birthday's coming up soon, is this too much to ask?

 

[Master P]

rough firing of skiles on christmas eve, atleast the offense changes, hinrich and gordon will stop dribbling off the clock and shoot a long shot

question: with skiles gone, so can ben wallace now wear his head bands and arm bands???
:36_11_6:

question2: who do you think would be in the list of coaches for the bulls?
->im not rooting for brown or jeff van gundy, also in a way don't like silas and wilkens (don't know why), i doubt it is gonna be donovan or coach k (hahaha)... so who's on the radar and the list? mike fratello? brian hill? anyone?

merry christmas to all of ya :cheers:

 

[divol]

If Bulls would have been smart, they would have signed David Blatt from Efes Pilsen. One of the best coaches in the world and most important, master of using bit rosters and keeping up tempo game and coaching a team without strong big man in the offense (Treviso, Russia NT).
But, I don't see it happen, so he will get the job in the NBA only after Toronto finally sacks their semi professional coach.

 

[abcs]

Who's to say you need a "star" anyway. What's the definition of a star in the NBA anyway?

Who was the "star" on the 03-04 Pistons? Nobody averaged over 18 pts/game or over 6 assists/game. Go to guy? According to 82games.com, In 03-04, Rip was the best offensive clutch performer, rated #14, 13 more clutch offensive players ahead of him from 12 other teams. The thing that does stick out about that team however is their +/- ratings during clutch situations in 03-04 (link) I would say the Pistons were good because of "clutch defense" and being able to shut down the other teams go to guy, instead of having their own.

The Bulls appeared to be Defensive orientated (6th in opponents Efficiency last year) but now they've fallen to 20th??? In my opinion the Bulls have two options, bring the D nightly, or trade for O... If they can get rid of Big Ben and his contract, and receive Pau for it as well, I'm totally OK with that. Seeing that JC Navarro is butt buddies with Pau, throw him in the deal too, please. My birthday's coming up soon, is this too much to ask?

Comparing the stons championship team to the bulls? First off the bulls have a midget backcourt. The stons also had sheed a resemblance of a post up game. I'm sorry but no one wants ben wallace and that god awful contract, good luck trading that.

 

[t-dot]

I think Paxson might have fired Floyd during Christmas week a few years ago.

The players just quit playing D for Skiles. You cant bring in an offensive minded coach. The Bulls dont have the roster for it. The lack of D exposed how offensively inept the Bulls actually are.

My money would be on JVG coming in. Go back to hard nosed D and a slowed tempo will result in possessions during a game.

BTW, the Bulls have a horrible roster. The time to make moves was during the last off season.Now they are stuck with a roster full of tweeners or 1 dimensional players (except Deng).

 

[Gorgolon Lives]

Paxson needs to start building a team, instead of bringing together a bunch of athletic 6-8 guys who all do the same things.

Skiles is an excellent coach, and he will be coaching somewhere next year. My guess is he waits until the offseason to make a decision, instead of taking over a bad team in the middle of this season. He will be coaching a decent club next season. Might the Sixers attract him?

Gotta love the way he left, too. He didn't bitch or complain. He went out on a high note, knowing his best days are ahead of him. And THEY ARE.

 

[signalcaller]

Im calling Terry Porter as the next coach of the Bulls. Just my guess. But what a wierd time to fire Skiles IMO

 

[posey55]

GM John Paxson did say that they probably wont hire a new coach until after the season ends and have assistants Pete Myers or Jim Boylan lead the Bulls for the rest of the season.

That seems a little weird to me, but who knows what will actually happen.

 

[nropp11]

i didn't read this whole thread, but from following the pacers for the last few 10 years or so, bird and paxson get along like a duck and water

so i'm saying rick carlyle about a 60% chance for this gig.

 

[Master P]

Carlisle, Brown, Westphal interested in Bulls opening

Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 12:04 pm EST

Getty Images

Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson made it clear that he was unlikely to pick a permanent successor this season, or as permanent as a coach can be in the NBA these days the Chicago Tribune reported.
Sources say inquiries have already been made on behalf of Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown, each a former coach of the year, and Paul Westphal, who's back on an NBA bench as a Dallas assistant.
Paxson said assistant Pete Myers would coach Wednesday's game. Top assistant Jim Boylan, who interviewed for the Pacers' job last summer, is to meet with Paxson on Wednesday, skipping the San Antonio trip to interview for a job that's likely to last only for the rest of this season.
Source: Chicago Tribune


im not a big fan of brown and carlisle... westphal interests me a bit, im rooting for someone like fratello or porter though

 

[Master P]

Miami could be among suitors for Skiles

Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007 6:32 am EST

Getty Images


Just-fired Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles will have a job next season, and his team will improve. Miami Heat coach Pat Riley has become a big fan of Skiles and the two spent time together at the coach's annual meeting in September. The New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers probably will give him a hard look. Source: Chicago Tribune