Skiles won't make excuses, point fingers at Bulls players
By K.C. Johnson | Tribune staff reporter
10:44 PM CST, December 24, 2007
Scott Skiles doesn't suffer from lack of confidence, doesn't do regrets and is as honest and frank with reporters as he is with his players.
That's why the upbeat attitude and lacerating analysis he offered Monday afternoon, mere hours after being fired as Bulls coach, were not a surprise.
Even in conversations with confidants, Skiles refused to travel anything but the high road and spoke with fondness of his tenure coaching the team he cheered for as a child growing up in LaPorte, Ind.
"Hardly a day goes by that I don't demand accountability and stress results," Skiles said in a lengthy phone interview from his north suburban home. "Today was my day to be held accountable."
Skiles didn't even bite when questioned about the timing of the move, which came six years to the day Tim Floyd resigned under pressure on Christmas Eve 2001. The Bulls had Sunday off, but general manager John Paxson and team Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf informed Skiles of their decision shortly before Monday's practice began.
Skiles already had led his assistants through a pre-practice meeting.
"The fact that it's Christmas Eve is neither here nor there," Skiles said. "The timing doesn't bother me. I'm not destitute."
Indeed, Skiles will collect a settlement on the roughly $7 million left on his contract, which ran through next season.
Skiles said he absolutely hopes to coach in the NBA again and added that his Bulls tenure, during which he went 165-172 over parts of five seasons, had benefited him greatly.
"This is a great organization to work for," Skiles said. "John is great to work with, the training staff, the players, ownership. Everything is wrapped around the Bulls having success.
"I understand how this business works. We had a lot of expectations and we weren't playing up to them this season. We went from an overachieving team to an underachieving team. But this was a great experience that will continue to make me a better coach."
Asked how he believed matters fell apart so quickly despite returning the core players from an Eastern Conference semifinalist, Skiles, as is his nature, looked inward.
"I hate to be such a bland interview on a day like today, but anything I say would sound like excuses and I'm not into excuse-making," Skiles said. "You review stuff every day, but it's different when you can take a step back.
"When I analyze it, the onus will be on me. I have to look at this as a failure on my part and try to have a different outcome in my next job."
Asked how coaching the Bulls to three straight playoff appearances and reversing the losing trend that was the norm under Floyd and Bill Cartwright could be considered a failure, Skiles briefly let his guard down.
"I don't look at my overall time here as failure, but the endgame is," he said. "I'm proud that young guys came into the league and got mentally stronger and played together and bought into what we were trying to teach defensively.
"I felt we became an exciting team to watch. It was nice to go places and hear people say they liked watching our team."
Skiles said the contrast from this Bulls experience to his comparably successful stint with the Phoenix Suns from 1999 to 2002 would serve him well in his next job.
"This has nothing to do with me being burned out," Skiles said. "I feel fortunate to have had both experiences. With Phoenix, I inherited a good, veteran team. This was a total rebuilding from the ground up. I learned a lot."
Skiles sent players an e-mail thanking them for their efforts that was waiting for them after practice. Skiles didn't comment when asked if he thought players had tuned him out.
A team source said Reinsdorf and Paxson met with Ben Wallace and his agent, Arn Tellem, who is close with the chairman, shortly after the Bulls concluded their annual extended November trip to gauge the team's mood regarding Skiles.
"I really like these players," Skiles said. "There is no question in my mind they can turn it around. I'll be watching for that and hoping for that."
Regardless of whether players wanted to see change, there might be changes beyond the coach. With lead assistant Jim Boylan set to interview for the interim job with Paxson on Wednesday, lineup changes are inevitable.
It's possible Gordon could be moved into the sixth-man role he no longer embraces as readily as he did his rookie season.
Boylan stayed on the Suns' staff when Frank Johnson replaced Skiles on an interim basis in 2002. Reached late Monday, he declined to comment other than to praise Skiles.
Pete Myers, who will coach the Bulls in Wednesday's game in San Antonio, did the same.
"Scott is a great coach," Myers said. "I'm not worried about him. He's going to be OK. He can coach. Don't let nobody fool you. He's going to help somebody. GMs would be crazy to overlook him.
"He took a team from nowhere to respectability. The fire is there."
That certainly sounded like the case when Skiles, who will retreat to Bloomington, Ind., with his family, was asked what his next move was.
"To get better as a coach," he said.
