Scott Skiles does his defensive slide up I-94

The NFL draft is only a few dozen hours away. The Cubs are tied with the Diamondbacks for the best record in baseball. The Champions League Semis have produced two first-leg draws. The NHL playoffs are not only watchable, but genuinely compelling. Chris Paul, Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are straight up shitting on people in the first round. It seems like there's a wealth of sports related stories to explore, but I'm stuck on some news that happened a few days ago. It was the kind of news that made the ESPN crawl but you'd never notice it. The news got 15 seconds on Sportscenter before being forgotten amidst the din of an ever-blossoming Isiah Thomas saga. I'm speaking, of course, about Scott Skiles accepting the Head Coach position with the Milwaukee Bucks.

When it comes to basketball success, I'm a firm believer in defense. Jordan wasn't the greatest because he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists for his career. He was the greatest because he also averaged 2.3 steals and .8 blocks as a 6'6" shooting guard. He stepped up his game for 94 feet. There was no chance that you were getting a free pass if he was marking up on you. That's what playoff basketball supremacy is founded on. Just ask the Spurs.

Let's be honest, taking charges isn't glamorous. Boxing out is hard work. Trusting your teammate with a switch at the high post takes patience, practice and understanding. You can shoot the hell out of the ball but if the lane toward your basket is comprised of harmless arm-and-leg turnstiles than you'll never win. The hot hands will turn cold and your bedrock will buckle no matter how attractive your roster looks on paper. Just ask the Nuggets.

Scott Skiles assumed the helm of the Bulls only sixteen games into the 2003-04 season. This was a team that Paul Shirley averaged 12.3 minutes over his seven game trial as our backup power forward. Jerome Williams and Linton Johnson platooned down low starting a combined 52 games. Jamal Crawford averaged 16.5 FG attempts a game while shooting .386% from the field... over 73 starts. Basically, this was a miserable team that he inherited from long-armed Bill Cartwright. Skiles went 19-47 for the remainder of the season, but sadly, this was a vast improvement from the Tim Floyd era. Then something happened.

We drafted Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and Chris Duhon. All winners in college. All students of the game under solid and sound basketball minds. They were young, talented guys who could work well within a system. Basically, the best kind. Partly because of these reasons, all three averaged at least 25 minutes on a 47-win team in their rookie season. Skiles was the toast of the NBA. The Bulls were now the "Baby Bulls" that you don't dare sleep on. The next two seasons where highlighted with 41 wins and 49 wins and playoff progression each year. The predictions started flying shortly thereafter...

However, after a 9-16 start this year, Bulls management let Skiles go on Christmas Eve.

Skiles is a tough coach, but since when is that a bad thing? Just because the NBA bestows multi-million contracts to teenagers doesn't mean "a player's coach" is necessarily what you need to coddle and manage egos. If your franchise player is only interested in his stats, it takes a strong leader and teacher at coach to explain why team defense is going to progress "his" team into June (when legends are made). Discipline is essential to playing steady basketball over a grueling 82 game season and serious practices are the totem of such ideals. Scott Skiles provided that fair but stern rod for any player who had notions of self-satisfaction. He sat Tim Thomas without reservation. He shipped out bad attitude guys like Eddie Robinson. He created a nucleus of fundamentally sound professionals who were willing to play defense every night. That takes a ferocity of spirit, a pride of team, a desire of victory above all else. That's what a good coach does.

The Bulls under Skiles:

2004-2005 Opponents Field Goal Percentage: .422 (1st of 30)
Defensive Rating: 100.3 (2nd of 30)

2005-2006 Opponents Field Goal Percentage: .426 (1st of 30)
Defensive Rating: 103.4 (7th of 30)

2006-2007 Opponents Field Goal Percentage: .435 (2nd of 30)
Defensive Rating: 99.6 (1st of 30)


The Milwaukee Bucks over that same span:

2004-2005 Opponents Field Goal Percentage: .464 (27th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 109.8 (28th of 30)

2005-2006 Opponents Field Goal Percentage: .466 (24th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 107.4 (23rd of 30)

2006-2007 Opponents Field Goal Percentage: .480 (29th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 111.7 (29th of 30)

I'm generally not of the mind to judge too harshly or laud praise undeservedly on my Chicago coaches. Everyone gets two seasons and as long as they aren't flagrantly inept or decidedly overmatched, I can handle just about any experiment. But on the verge of a new hire for the Bulls, whether it's Rick Carlisle (go hoos) or Tom Izzo, Jeff Van Gundy or Tom Thibodeau... it'll be a step backward in my eyes.

Congrats Benny C, you just scooped up a bona fide coach.