He's not warm and cuddly, but Scott Skiles is the new coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. We now have to wait about six months before we begin to find out if the move pays off, but in the grand scheme of things the Bucks' makeover is off to a promising start. Now we just need to shake up that roster. All the dirt on the Skiles hiring:
- Bucks.com has your audio. Skiles doesn't tip his hand too much on players, while playing it cool on the inevitable questions about his demeanor. He also says he spoke to Larry Krystkowiak on Wednesday and received LK's blessing to pursue a deal, but said that hiring LK as an assistant didn't seem like the right move given the circumstances.
- Tom Enlund reports that Skiles isn't coming cheap: his deal is worth a reported four years and $18 million. It's not quite George Karl money, but following a disastrous five years of penny-pinching on coaches, Kohl clearly got the message.
- Bob Wolfley at the JS with some terrific background on Skiles' brief stint as a player in Milwaukee. For a guy known as a hard-nose disciplinarian, it's interesting that Skiles picked up two DUIs and a marijuana possession charge while playing at Michigan St. And he wasn't exactly Kohl's favorite player:
"I know Herb's not too fond of the way I play," Skiles told The Milwaukee Journal, referring to Bucks owner Herb Kohl. "I guess he's made that clear. From what I hear, from what people tell me who've read about it, he was not too happy with Nellie for drafting me. It seems that Nellie was the only one who wanted to draft me. Now he's gone, so I won't know where that leaves me."
- Bucks Diary welcomes the concept of a Bucks team playing defense
When you hire Scott Skiles, what you are saying is, we shall play defense no matter the cost. In three or four seasons, this radical approach tends to burn teams out, but in the short term its highly effective. And, after 17 seasons of no defense in Milwaukee, I think it will be a welcome change.
- The Bratwurst notes that the list of people complaining about Skiles isn't the most reputable.
It’s a great hire, as Skiles is one of the best X’s and O’s coaches around. He has a reputation as being tough to get along with, but the real problem is that he can’t stand players with ego’s bigger than their games. He quit as the Phoenix coach after only a few weeks of coaching Stephon Marbury, and had problems in Chicago with Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford and Tyrus Thomas. Basically, Skiles isn’t interested in coaching losers (I may be a little quick to paint Thomas with that brush, but his immaturity is well known).
- Bulls fans react.