Bucks move fast, hire Skiles

If one of the Bulls' options this summer was to trade all the players and rehire Scott Skiles as head coach, that can be crossed off the list.

The Milwaukee Bucks wasted no time introducing Skiles as their new coach Monday, just four days after firing Larry Krystkowiak.

One thing that surely made Skiles an attractive candidate was how he took over a perpetually bad Bulls team in 2003 and led them to three straight playoff appearances. This season turned sour quickly, however, and Skiles was relieved of his duties Dec. 24.

"This is a really nice end to a long winter for me," Skiles said during Monday's news conference. "First, I lost my job. Then I had an accident where I slipped on the ice, hence the scar on my forehead. I'm real excited to be here. It's a great opportunity."

Skiles answered several questions about what went wrong with the Bulls. He was never very specific and went on to express an optimistic view of the Bulls' future.

"I think Chicago will be a very, very good club next year," Skiles said. "This year will be wiped away, those guys will respond, and they'll come back and be a great club.

"I try not to be much of an excuse guy. If I say, 'Well, we had the some contractual issues and trade-rumor issues and maybe I -- maybe we -- didn't navigate those situations properly. It's still an excuse.

"There are small instances, 1-on-1 conversations where maybe I felt I could have gotten something going. On the other hand, I can't beat myself up too much over it."

The Bucks are just two years removed from their most recent playoff appearance, but they haven't advanced beyond the first round since 2001 and finished 26-56 this season.

Plenty of talented players fill the roster, including high-scoring guard Michael Redd, former No. 1 pick Andrew Bogut, guard Mo Williams, power forward Charlie Villanueva and rookie Yi Jianlian. But Milwaukee never bothered to play much defense, finishing last in the league in opponents' field-goal percentage.

"I don't have any magic dust to sprinkle on people," Skiles said. "We're going to have to do it by working harder and playing better defense. The first step is to be competitive every night."

Skiles originally was drafted by the Bucks in 1986, but he stayed just one season before getting traded to Indiana. He and Krystkowiak are close friends, and Skiles said the two already had made dinner plans for Monday evening.

While Milwaukee moved quickly, the Bulls' coaching search may drag on for weeks. The only other vacant NBA head-coaching job is in New York, and numerous reports have longtime Knicks point guard Mark Jackson as the favorite.

Skiles was a candidate in New York but never seriously considered the Knicks' job, according to league sources.

In news that could affect the Bulls' coaching search, Boston's Doc Rivers said Sunday he will allow his assistants to interview for jobs during the playoffs. Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau is on the Bulls' list of candidates but could be working through the NBA Finals in June.

"The only thing I won't allow is someone to be named as a head coach until we're done," Rivers was quoted in The Boston Globe. "(Interviews) would depend on the situation, like if we had a five-day break in between (series).

"The thing I don't want to do is hurt their chances, which has happened when teams don't wait. To me, if they don't want to wait, they really didn't want you anyway."