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A visit to the Chicago Bulls' official website shows a holiday wish list of potential games to catch in the new year. After Monday's firing of head coach Scott Skiles, the names of potential successors would be much more fitting.
The Bulls made Skiles the first head coach to lose his job this season, ousting him after 25 games and a 9-16 record. The start was the worst for the notoriously slow-starting Bulls under Skiles.
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| Scott Skiles pays the price for the Bulls' early-season struggles. (Getty Images) |
The head coach lasted a little over four years in his position, leading Chicago to three straight playoff berths. But this season was filled with major expectations, including some predictions of the team's first NBA Finals appearance since the Michael Jordan era.
During the final preseason game of the season, Chicago lost Ben Wallace, Tyrus Thomas and rookie Joakim Noah to ankle sprains, an omen for the struggles that were to come. Wallace hasn't really been himself all season and only returned Saturday after missing a pair of games due to bone spurs in his left foot.
Kirk Hinrich was practically AWOL for all of November, playing with remarkably little confidence despite Skiles sticking with him in the starting lineup. He has started to come out of it, but Skiles had to bench him because of poor decision making during the second half of Friday night's loss to the Celtics. Luol Deng, who admittedly was distracted by the preseason talk that he would be traded for Kobe Bryant, has also not been himself.
Ultimately, since you can't fire the whole team, Skiles paid the price.
"This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time," GM John Paxson said in a statement. "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."
Skiles was calm and relatively subdued at the Boston game I was present at Friday. He admitted having to tinker with combinations just to find one that worked against the Celtics, something you don't want to be doing at this stage in the season. Still, he seemed to have unearthed an unheralded contributor in center Aaron Gray. And despite Hinrich's struggles that night, had apparently made the right move in not throwing him under the bus, as evident by the guard's recent turnaround.
Ironically, Andres Nocioni told me one of the reasons he felt the Bulls would turn things around was they had rallied before and he felt things were stabilizing.
"I'm not sure I can put a finger as to why we have had a tendency to start slow over the years, but since that's where we've placed ourselves it's good that we have that experience," Nocioni said. "Things are settling down a bit. There was definitely a period of uncertainty due to the trade talk, but now it seems like we're moving in the right direction with the troops that are going to be here."
Keep in mind, those comments were made before the loss to Boston, a game Chicago was never in, and were in direct contrast to comments made by Wallace following the home loss to Houston on Saturday night.
"At times we're looking like strangers out there," Wallace said Saturday, adding that, "change is not always bad.
"We've got to care more for each other and play for each other. We can't go out there and have a hidden agenda. We have to respect each other," said the only current member of the Bulls with a championship ring to Chicago media.
"Right now everyone has to look at himself and say what he's bringing to the table is not enough. You have to hold yourself accountable. I'm speaking for myself. Right now I think this locker room is a little bit relaxed. We have to get it done with a chip on our shoulder. Right now we're going through the motions."
Clearly, Paxson felt it was time to send a message and develop that sense of urgency.
Chicago has yet to name a successor, not even one in the interim, but does have Jim Boylan on staff as a potential go-to guy. The Bulls' top assistant interviewed for jobs in the offseason and was regarded highly by Indiana. Pete Myers, who played for the Bulls during the Jordan era, is also an assistant and a very vocal member of their staff.
A decision will have to be made, at least on an interim choice, before Wednesday night's game against San Antonio.
