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This just happened:


Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson today announced that Scott Skiles has been relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach.



In a statement released this morning, Paxson said:



“This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time. Scott helped us in many ways during his time with the Bulls; most importantly, he helped this franchise get back to respectability. I am appreciative of his hard work and the imprint that he left on our team.”



At this time, no decision has been made on Skiles’ replacement. On Nov. 28, 2003, Skiles became the fifteenth head coach in franchise history when he succeeded Bill Cartwright. Over the span of five seasons with the Bulls, he compiled a record of 165-172 (.490), and guided the team to the playoffs three consecutive years, highlighted by a first-round series sweep of the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. In eight-plus seasons as a head coach in the NBA, Skiles owns a career coaching record of 281-251 (.528).

Paxson will soon announce that he has secured a trade for Kobe and he will become player/coach for the remainder of the season.

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Well something had to happen, and like they say, you can't fire the whole team...

This season is the fault of everyone above and below Scott Skiles.

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Agreed, there are plenty of other worthy pink slip candidates. I was skeptical when I clicked on this story and had to go over to the mothership to verify the firing. Wow. Why christmas eve?

I doubt that with the way the Lakers have started the season.

Didn't the Bulls fire Cartwright on Christmas Eve as well ?

Agreed, but I also hope that Paxson is still not in denial about his team. I'm sure he'll get the team time to show itself here, but I hope he's considering changes there as well.

Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace have all underachived, and I put more blame on them than Skiles but like KDdidit mentioned, you can't fire the whole team.....I think Skiles is a good coach, but the team was severely underachieving, and Paxson must have thought the team was not listening to Skiles' message anymore.

On another note, who are we looking at for a long-term replacement considering the talent that we have ?

I think we need to be an uptempo team - we were, to some extent under Skiles, but I'm talking Western Conference uptempo - this is a team that cannot create it's own shot, don't have a true point guard, or an inside player, but a lot of talent that I believe would be good in a more uptempo offense.

Saying that, I'm expecting Paxson to hire somebody like Rick Carilsle. (spelling his name wrong) from Detroit/Indiana....

I guess I should have included the:

They're saying Jim Boyle is the new coach.

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Dear Scott, Merry X-Mas btw you are fired for being put in charge of coaching 12 mentally challenged players none of which have a low post move.

Sincerely,

John Paxson (have a Happy New Year as well)

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"Stay out of courtrooms-but if you must go in be Well Armed and Don't compromise. You are innocent, remember that. They are guilty" -- Dr. Gonzo

He sure did. I'll bet the beat reporters loathe Pax for doing this twice to them.

When does PAX himself become accountable?

When is Jason Kidd comin' to town - in return for Ben Gordon and ????

Pretty sure that was Floyd that got fired then, not Cartwright.

yeah, pretty much in a bit of shock about this...not that it's a wrong or poor decision...just...in shock.

Bulls are sure getting a reputation for firing coaches on Christmas Eve.

Absolutely ridiculous piss poor no class move.

Everybody in the world knew what the Bulls lacked, Paxson doesn't make a move to fill that hole, when there were guys out there, and Skiles is the scapegoat. I'm in fucking shock.

Paxson, get over your fear of a potential player who lacks character, and fill the hole already.

'No character' Zach Randolph's numbers this year:

PPG-18.0
RPG-10.30

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"Mattress technology has come a long way"

- Dan Bernstein, 2016

For a character team they sure lied down and died pretty quick on Skiles.

You see... it worked. It happened on a holiday so I don't even remember - and I usually remember all this kind of nonsense.

Looking it up it seems Floyd "resigned" on Christmas Eve. Cartwright was axed November 24th after starting 4-10.

Tim Floyd resigned (or was fired) on a Christmas Eve.

It was Cartwright who was fired a day or two before Thanksgiving. The Bulls had a few days off, and Skiles had a few days to implement his "basic training" like mini-mini camp.

Anybody want to buy a domain?

www.firescottskiles.com

Saved me $8 on the upcoming renewal

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I'm like a carpenter building stairs.......Always thinking one step ahead.

Who cares what day they fire people. It's a business and you shouldn't wait around to make decisions based on peoples feelings. Decisions were made and it would have been stupid from them to wait on it. They want to change now, not in 3 days.

Where are these Jason Kidd rumors coming from ? They make more sense with Skiles out of the picture now, but is this being reported as a rumor somewhere ?

Jason Kidd would be swallowed by this team's shittiness. Not so sure he's the answer.

I don't know what Skiles' firing means in the long run. If it symbolizes an impending house-cleaning, that's a good thing. But on the flip side, if there is a house-cleaning Paxson should be a part of it as well. Even though it was a terrible decision in hindsight, at the time I backed him on his Ben Wallace signing. However, his Tyrus draft pick has especially left a bad taste in my mouth - especially seeing how well LaMarcus Aldridge has progressed in comparison.

Again, time will tell. But I really don't know what any of this means yet. But after their back to back performances against Boston and Houston last week, their schlackings at the hands of the Raptors, as well as their embarrassing loss to New York and their terrible first five games of the season it was obvious a change was in order. At least he realized that much.

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Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

That's what I was just thinking. What was the standard line on Skiles? That he's not the guy to take them to that next level. But shit, we know he can take a crappy team and make them perform better; does anyone expect some coach to come in and turn a team of jumpshooters who couldn't hit the fucking ocean into a winner? I'm with Cairo; I hope this move is signaling an impending house-cleaning. I hope no one's pretending that this is the answer in and of itself. I'd be more upset if Skiles still did the MJH show; I always appreciated his candor.

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Agreed. It was always some of their best radio, and that's saying something about Skiles given the basketball knowledge of MJH.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

If they fired Skiles, they should have fired Paxson, too. If a changed needs to be made, it's not a quick fix. They should blow it all up.
Personally, I think that the Bulls could have turned it around and made the playoffs. But then what? It would have been one and done, because there's no way this team is beating Detroit, Boston, Orlando, or Cleveland in a playoff series. There best bet now is bringing in a coach who will open everything up and let these guys run like crazy, put up monster offensive numbers to boost their trade value. Unfortunately, that would cause Paxson to overvalue his own guys and he'd be too big of a pussy to trade any of them.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

Yeah, blow it up so we can be atrocious again for another six years. Why is it when things aren't going our favorite teams' way the quick solution is to "BLOW IT ALL UP". I've always liked your posts Bulldog, but retarded logic. The East sucks. This team sucks too, but trust me it won't take alot to get this team into the playoffs. I think Paxson's got something up his sleeve; he realizes he's fumbled the ball repeatedly up to this point, but I think something's in the works. Blowing it all up accomplishes nothing, only some tweaks need to be made either throughout the season or in the offseason. I'd rather have this team, then clear them all out and start over with a bunch of nobodies.

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I'm bringin Sellars back..

Paxson's been over estimating the talent on his team for far too long which has prevented him from doing anything bold. He's the anti-Isaiah Thomas. People talk about how bad the East is like the Bulls aren't part of it or something. The last 3 years they never won 50 games in a season and have one whole playoff series victory. If the East is so damn bad what does that say about the Bulls then? To people like Paxson it apparently made the Bulls a lock for the Eastern Conference Finals, so much so he didn't feel the need to do anything other than sign Joe Smith.

As for the blow it up part, blow it up. If your GM doesn't suck you don't have to spend years rebuilding. Danny Ainge, considered a much crappier GM than Paxson, turned a 24-58 team into a 22-3 team in one off-season. It's amazing what happens when your GM has enough balls to do something risky.

Ainge went out and spent money, made moves, and took a chance that the egos on that team wouldn't clash. They also had nothing to lose.

The Bulls, as much as they consistently piss me off, even the last few years, let alone this year, have a lot to lose. They should be a playoff team given the competition, and for all intensive purposes I believe they are most years even with this lineup. For whatever reason, it just came apart this year.

Again though, moves could have been made to fill the A #1 hole, and that could have conceivably changed the role of some players, and solidified others.

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"Mattress technology has come a long way"

- Dan Bernstein, 2016