Skiles busy these days on new project up north
Scott Skiles doesn't think returning to the United Center on Friday as a visiting coach will feel awkward.
He finds the scheduling a bit odd, since his Milwaukee Bucks will face the Bulls in the exhibition finale, then return to Chicago four days later for Tuesday's regular-season opener.
But awkward? No.
Skiles definitely is not one to worry about how he will be received by fans, even if this is his first public appearance at the United Center since being fired by the Bulls last Dec. 24.
"I guess it would be hard for me to imagine why there would be any negative reception, other than that's pro sports," Skiles said this week at the Bucks' training facility. "That doesn't bother me either way."
He has a point. The Bulls' post-Jordan years were miserable and depressing until Skiles showed up. During his first full season as head coach, the Bulls rebounded from an 0-9 start to finish 47-35 in 2004-05, making the playoffs for the first time since the dynasty dissolved following the 1998 season.
Skiles and the Bulls made two more playoff trips before things fell apart last year. Burdened by contract issues, trade rumors, along with a highly paid, underperforming centerpiece, the Bulls were bad from start to finish.
Skiles was let go on Christmas Eve, while center Ben Wallace was traded to Cleveland in February.
The Bulls have a new coaching staff, led by Vinny Del Negro, but other than Chris Duhon pretty much every player remains from the Skiles era.
"I look forward to seeing those guys," Skiles said. "We had a lot of good times together. Hopefully we'll see each other before the game or whatever. I have very positive and fond feelings for those guys."
There are plenty of familiar faces surrounding Skiles in Milwaukee. Jim Boylan is the lead assistant, just as he was with the Bulls. Malik Allen and Adrian Griffin played for Skiles in Chicago. Trainer Marc Boff and strength coach Jeff Macy are former Bulls employees who moved north.
Allen listed Skiles' presence as a reason he chose to join Milwaukee as a free agent this summer. Naturally, his new teammates exhibited some inquiring minds before training camp began.
"Pretty much everybody asked me how it was going to be," Allen said. "It was out of curiosity. I didn't get the feeling anybody was leery going into training camp. They want to know; every player does when they go into a new situation.
"How is training camp going to be? Is practice going to be hard? How long do you practice? That's just general NBA player talk."
Allen seemed almost protective of Skiles, whose reality may not always match outside perceptions.
Skiles is a demanding coach, no doubt. But ever since his first head-coaching job in Phoenix, he seemed to carry a reputation for crossing the line from demanding to overbearing. Whether that reputation is fair or unfair, his style worked wonders for the Bulls. Until last season, anyway.
"I said, 'You've got to be ready to work every day, especially early on,' " Allen said. "There's not going to be any b.s. When it comes time to work, the moment you step on the wood in practice you're going to work while you're in there.
"Whether it's shootaround or practice, everything he does is for a purpose. It's not just to come in, get shots up and get out of here. He wants you to work physically, be in tune mentally. If you do that, you'll be fine."
The only strong similarity between the Bulls team Skiles inherited and the current Bucks is an absence of success. In his first full season with the Bulls, Skiles had a young team featuring four rookies and a second-year player in the main rotation.
Milwaukee has established stars such as Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson, while center Andrew Bogut is beginning his fourth NBA season.
"To me, it's very similar," Skiles said. "Teaching things we think need to be taught. The veterans that have been here have been great as far as trying to do what we want done. So we'll see."
Defense was the biggest reason for the Bulls' success under Skiles, and it might also be the Bucks' greatest deficiency. The previous coach in Milwaukee, Larry Krystkowiak, is a close friend of Skiles and no doubt tried to teach defense. So once again Skiles will be asked to get a message across where others have failed.
"Well, I have before, so we'll see," Skiles said. "Not everybody's the same. People have different defensive schemes and different beliefs. I don't have any illusions that we're just going to magically with one training camp go from one of the worst defensive teams to one of the best.
"But we should be able to move up into the upper echelon if we work on it enough and stay with our plan."
The Bulls and the Bucks appear to be an even matchup on the court. But don't forget, these next two games pit first-time coach Del Negro against the only Bulls coach to meet with any success since Phil Jackson.