If ever a team embodied its coach, it's the Bulls. And if ever there was a moment to define that relationship, it was at the end of the first half Thursday.
Antoine Walker tried to block Chris Duhon's shot in front of the Bulls bench. After the play, Skiles yelled for a foul. Walker told him to quit whining, saying Skiles has been whining all game. Skiles shot back that Walker's been whining the whole series.
According to someone near the spat, Walker then dropped the f-bomb and called Skiles a faggot. Skiles erupted with his own f-bombs and started toward Walker before being held back by trainer Fred Tedeschi.
Walker apologized after the game and said it was heat-of-the-battle banter. Walker - a Chicago native - even thanked the Bulls for letting him work out at the Berto Center in the offseason. That's fine.
But Skiles' take-no-crap attitude is one of the reasons the overmatched Bulls even were able to stretch the series to six games. Miami has two of the best players in the league, and they had to play like it to close out the series.
The Bulls have one of the best coaches in the game, and they played like it.
Scott Skiles was a punk as a player and never won a title. He was teamed with Shaq and Penny and couldn't get out of the first round. He coached a talented team in Phoenix with Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, and Penny Hardaway and couldn't get past the first round of the playoffs. I don't know how to put this any other way, Scott Skiles will never be the head coach on an NBA champion. The Bulls made the playoffs because the bottom of the East is the worst it has been in years, and needed Ben Gordon to play out of his mind in April to do it. If you want a defining moment, it is when Tim Thomas saved the Suns season on Thursday night. NBA Champion coaches know how to deal with different personalities and get the best out of them. Skiles can't even get Tyson Chandler to develop a 15-foot jump shot, so save yourself from this rah rah junk about Skiles leading this team to a first round loss.
Roman responds: Skiles' Suns team beat defending champion San Antonio to get out of the first round in 99.
Don't confuse being a good coach, which Skiles is, to acting like an idiot. I mean this is Antoine Walker! A lazy-butt, wannabe all star. Why Skiles would waste his breath on Walker is beyond me. To me it showed Skiles finally realized his undermanned Bulls were about to bow out to the Heat and he decided to take it out on some set-shooting, no defense playing, trash talking without any game player. It would be like Pat Riley having an argument with Tyson Chandler.
Roman responds: Good point, but Walker called him out in front of his players. He had to do something.
"The Bulls have one of the best coaches in the game, and they played like it."
Yeah, if "playing like it" means not showing up for the final 5 quarters of the series than you are right on. Skiles feels he has to act this way, becuase his young players(Kirk, Deng, Ben) are too soft and timid to do so. Skiles felt he had to show some "fire" and he was not going to hold his breath waiting for Kirk Hinrich to do so. Do not confuse a red ass with coaching abililty.
RoMo - I guess we'll agree to disagree. I still can't get by the fact he was arguing with Antoine Walker who I would pick behind Eric Piatkowski in a fantasy league.
Once the Bulls add some better players, the real question will become, can a hands on coach like Skiles win it all in the "me first" age of the NBA. For me, Skiles is a terrific coach probably better suited to college where they still actually listen.
Name a coach out there that the Bulls could get that you'd rather have for this team. I can't think of one. A young team needs a disciplinarian who makes his players work hard in practice. Getting to the playoffs two years in a row w/o dominant big men is impressive (isn't this Bulls team the youngest in the NBA?), Eastern Conference or not.
Good or bad, Skiles got this team to the playoffs two times in a row. That is a feat in itself. The last time I looked, Allen Iverson and Chris Webber did not qualify for the playoffs.
I have always thought that you do not need a great deal of talent, but a good or great coach is an absolute must in the NBA. Need proof - the Bulls championship teams consisted of Jordan, Pippen (and Rodman for the last 3), and a bunch of stiffs! The current Lakers - Kobe Bryant and a bunch of stiffs! The coaches - Skiles, Phil Jackson in Chicago, Phil Jackson in LA!!!
This is a response to Tim's comment. Ok Skiles was teamed with Shaq and Penny and didnt win a title so how was that his fault? Also just because you have a good team doesnt mean anything as a coach, look at the Lakers last year. Skiles is top 5 in the league right now.
I still can't understand why Skiles can get away with his terrible attitud and inability to win must games. He gets so much credit when the bulls win and is never held accountable when they play bad. A couple of things I want to point out about Skiles; first, on games five and six Skiles seemed to give up even before his players, one of the only or few times he got up from his chair, was when he acted like a 15 year old kid with Walker. I've never seen Skiles talking directly to his players. Even when he was in Phoenix he was known for putting a communication wall between him and his players. How in the world are you supposed to get point across your players? by being wise azz on tv?? Skiles needs to understand that he is not coaching a High School basketball team, like it or not, this is a league with grown men, and he must treat them as such. Anyone thinks this is not a problem?? just wait and see how many good "all-start" like players are going to want to come and play for him!!! still dont want to believe me??? there is a western semi-finals series going on this weekend, you might see a familiar face playing a very important roll.
Skiles is a good coach, not a great coach. He still hasn't developed the potential that exists in Tyson Chandler and hasn't developed a ball club that can close out games. I know the Bulls roster isn't complete yet, but even when all the pieces are together on the court, I still don't think Skiles will be the coach that brings a championship back to Chicago.
A response to Adam: Top 5 coach? Jerry Sloan, Larry Brown, Mike D'Antoni, Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, Rick Carlisle, Flip Saunders, and Pat Riley are all have resumes that far exceed Skiles' 223-204 with 9-16 in the playoffs. Avery Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy, Lawrence Frank, Mike Dunleavy, George Karl, Eddie Jordan, and Byron Scott have had led teams to better season than Skiles has. It is easy to say he is Top 5, but who is he better than? Who is in your Top 5, and which of these coaches is he better than? I'm not going to blame him for losing to a more talented Heat team, but he certainly should not have gotten a pass for dropping four straight to the Wizards last year. He also should be held accountable for the Tim Thomas situation. Thomas can play and could have helped this team. I have a hard time believing that a coach without any rings to speak of should be able to turn away players that has shown to be able to help multiple teams win games. Top coaches should be able to handle personalities better than simply telling a player to go away.
Liz - what is the real "potential" in Chandler" I mean how can you play a sport for probably 15 years and not have a single offensive move? He is B-R-U-T-A-L..and the Bulls are paying $60M for that. By far the worst move Paxson had made.
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