Scott Skiles vs Ty Thomas
Scott Skiles isn’t your typical NBA coach. That is to say, he doesn’t understand some of the nuances involved in the delicate art and science of leading young, obscenely rich men into battle. To be blunt, when God handed out people skills, let’s just say Scott Skiles wasn’t on the receiving end.
Before last night’s drubbing in Denver, an enterprising reporter asked the fiery Bulls coach why Tyrus Thomas’s minutes had been trimmed down recently, and Skiles went on a tirade against the young forward. From the Chicago Sun Times:
‘’We ask [Thomas] to sprint the floor,'’ Skiles said. ‘’To my knowledge, in his career, he hasn’t done it one time — not one time. You guys, sit and watch the game tonight. If he gets in there, is he jogging or is he sprinting the floor?”
Right or wrong, going after one of your guys in the press is usually a recipe for disaster in the NBA. It bad for everyone involved; the players are humiliated, and the locker room atmosphere can quickly turn acidic.
With the Bulls struggling mightily on the court, it might be time for Skiles to change his approach if he wants to maintain his players’ respect, and ultimately, his job.
40 Responses to “Scott Skiles vs Ty Thomas”
Nov.21 at 11:08 am
white hot eboy says:
Maybe Scotty does need to move on.
Nov.21 at 11:18 am
Sesa says:
I think Scotty wanted a raise.
Nov.21 at 11:20 am
Sesa says:
All his tirade maybe caused by off-court problems? Is he married yet? Does he had a good sex life? Does he have kids? Can He?
Nov.21 at 11:28 am
Candice says:
Well I watched the game yesterday and Tyrus did sprint up the court on a play and break up a Denver lobb pass..
Nov.21 at 11:34 am
booyakasha says:
it must be the headbands
Nov.21 at 11:36 am
Russ Bengtson says:
FIRE SKILES NOW.
Nov.21 at 11:36 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Go coach college, Scott. Please.
Nov.21 at 11:46 am
white hot eboy says:
Russ, who’s the replacement then?
Nov.21 at 11:49 am
Gerard Himself says:
Paul Silas! Please give this man a job in the NBA!
Nov.21 at 11:50 am
pajama mama jama says:
scotty doesn’t know! scotty doesn’t know!
Nov.21 at 11:51 am
H to the izzo says:
Eboy:a sane person would be a good start
Nov.21 at 11:54 am
eyehatedirk says:
SCOTTY DOESN’T KNOW, SCOTTY DOESN’T KNOW!!!
Nov.21 at 12:15 pm
Captain America says:
Scotty is a fiery guy prone to runaway mouth. If the club wants to trade Ty, Scotty just inadvertently lowered his value.
Nov.21 at 12:18 pm
Hi! says:
eyehatedirk gets the quote on the week
Nov.21 at 12:35 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I don’t even care who they replace him with–promote one of the assistants. Skiles is doing more harm than good at this point.
Nov.21 at 12:38 pm
Candice says:
I find it amamzing that he balstes one player. When his gaurds were throwing lazy passes, and no one was helping with defensive rotation’s.
Nov.21 at 12:41 pm
Keith says:
Well said to both Russ and Gerard Himself. Skiles is clearly cuasing harm by those comments..no matter how much fun the are to read.
Nov.21 at 12:41 pm
Kevin says:
i was gonna say.. Tyrus Thomas is hardly one of the problems on that squad right now..
Nov.21 at 12:42 pm
Keith says:
Dave Cowens should coach the Bulls for no other reason than that I am wondering where he went.
Nov.21 at 12:48 pm
h-town nick says:
well put…the “delicate art and science” of dealing with egos. This is why coach K would never make it in the NBA.
Nov.21 at 12:48 pm
h-town nick says:
well put…the “delicate art and science” of dealing with egos. This is why coach K would never make it in the NBA.
Nov.21 at 1:02 pm
Chief says:
That’s just bad policy on Skiles part. He isn’t angry enough like Avery to be calling out his players. I say they nix him and get Larry Brown. Him and Ben together again?
Nov.21 at 1:05 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I said it in the C-Webb post, but I guess it’s more appropriate here–Pax should fire Skiles, trade Gordon, Wallace and Smith for expiring contracts and draft picks, and try and build (again) around Kirk, Luol, Tyrus and Noc.
Nov.21 at 1:20 pm
Jukai says:
Skiles is just trying to one up Riley.
Nov.21 at 1:21 pm
Phil B says:
i love this bulls madness. the sad thing is i want to like this team, but i can’t so i enjoy the madness. same thing with the knicks. although comparing the two really isn’t fair.
Nov.21 at 1:43 pm
deestarbuckz says:
Isn’t this the same Bulls team that was lauded as up and comers in May of this same year? Baby Bulls, Skiles was the right man for the job, etc… New coach doesn’t bring them a go-to guy or a post presence. You can still sit on the shooters!
Nov.21 at 2:46 pm
A Pimp Named Slickback says:
that boy is crazy
Nov.21 at 4:14 pm
Daniel says:
Everyone else loves headbands, SCOTTY DON’T!
Everyone else knows whats wrong with the Bulls, SCOTTY DON’T!
Nov.21 at 4:49 pm
niQ says:
that boy is losing.
Nov.21 at 5:03 pm
TADOne says:
Come on down, Next Town Brown!
Nov.21 at 5:09 pm
John E. Sanford says:
Look at Scott Skiles, wouldn’t you be mad too if you looked like that?
Nov.21 at 5:33 pm
d.Y. says:
hire dennis scott, he’s good at keeping star players happy
Nov.21 at 5:48 pm
Tommy Patron says:
The real problem is that Skiles has been controlling his temper since he got to the Bulls, I think because he was walking into a very young team and had a reputation for screaming and being extremely hard and wanted to show he could keep his cool. I’m from Chicago and go to around 15 games a year. Watch him on the sidelines and during timeouts. Every time the Bulls call a time out he walks out into the middle of the court with his assistants and you can see it in his facial expression and body language when the Bulls aren’t playing well. He wants to beat the sh*t out of somebody. I think his “emotional control” is now costing him. The Bulls are past being the “young team” and has higher expectations of success and need to be pushed harder. I’m really hoping the ship hasn’t sailed on this Bulls team being a factor with the current group (coach included). Unfortunately this isn’t like the last couple of years where we started slow, this year we’re getting blown out.
Nov.22 at 12:08 am
Simon Fuller says:
How many times do you think Skiles must have brought this up with Thomas behind closed doors to feel like he has to air it in public? I can’t imagine Skiles would have just come out of nowhere and said that, he would have told Thomas countless times to pick up his hustle. Skiles is smarter than a lot of you seem to be giving him credit for.
Nov.22 at 12:26 am
Reno says:
You know who should coach the Bulls?..Michael Jordan…that way, if the Bulls are playing ugly, MJ could get on the court
Nov.22 at 12:57 am
Gumdrop says:
I disagree Simon. I’m sure that you’re right about him bringing it up previously, but when you trash your players publically it causes division; when you defend them it causes unity. The Bulls aren’t losing because Thomas isn’t getting down the floor fast enough, they are losing because they are bricking jump shots and are mentally soft right now.
Nov.22 at 4:01 am
Sesa says:
How about players voted that the Skiles shouldn’t coach for the next game?
Nov.22 at 4:11 pm
Lz - Cphfinest3 says:
Butt Skiles was amongst the first in line when G0d handed out Bulldogfaces and temperament..
Nov.22 at 4:25 pm
Harlem_World says:
The bulls problems: (1) Ben Wallace
(2) Ben Wallace
(3) Ben Wallace
(4) Ben Wallace
(5) Ben Wallace
(I have 60million other Ben Wallace reasons why the bulls are stuck right now). Ben Wallace is to the Bulls what Houston was to the Knicks. Untradeable, and the reason why the team will not be able to grow while he is on the payroll. The only difference is, at least Houston could score.
Dec.23 at 2:43 am
DRB says:
Tyrus Thomas has to be one of the best young stars on the court when he is on there. Skiles should not be taking out his bad coaching skills on Tyrus Thomas. If Tyrus is taught by a better coach he will be a great player. Fire Skiles and play Tyrus Thomas more. Bring in any other coach but FIRE SKILES!! Either that or trade Tyrus so I can go for that team.