Scott Skiles ramblings

It is time for your intrepid author to keep you updated on all the trivial, ..er, important happenings in the NBA. How about that really important Piston vs. Bucks game?

Scott Skiles is suspended for the game.

Skiles will miss the Bucks’ road game at Detroit on Friday, and Jim Boylan will serve as the team’s coach.

Skiles was whistled for two quick technical fouls by referee Sean Wright with 29.7 seconds left in the first quarter on Wednesday. The Bucks coach went out on the floor to dispute a non-call after Hakim Warrick went to the basket and scored. Skiles wanted a foul called on Wizards center Brendan Haywood.

An angry Skiles was hit with a technical by Wright, then quickly was whistled for a second technical foul and an automatic ejection.

The NBA said in a statement Friday that Skiles was suspended for one game without pay “for his actions directed at a game official and for not leaving the court in a timely manner.”
source

Why does your intrepid author want you to know about Scott Skiles exhibiting a temper? Isn’t that like Tiger looking at a blonde girl that is not his wife? Ohh, cheap shot there, my apologies. No, it was interesting because Jim Boylan coached as an assistant for Tom Izzo who coached as an assistant for Jud Heathcote, both at Michigan State University. Scott Skiles played at MSU for Jud, while Tom was the assistant coach. Also, starting guard Charlie Bell played for Tom Izzo.

Scott Skiles with one of his best friends

And if that is not remarkable enough, then how about this, your intrepid author, NBAObsessed himself, went to MSU during the Magic Johnson years and was at the MSU victory over Wofford tonight. Yes, the mighty Wofford Terriers.

Skiles suspension is symbolic as MSU is going through a series of suspensions on their football team right now and Scott got in a lot of trouble at MSU, mostly for drinking.

Charlie Villanueva

In a return to Milwaukee, Charlie Villanueva had to send out tweet.

Villanueva did not play in the Pistons’ 92-85 loss in Chicago on Wednesday after suffering a broken nose in a game Sunday against Atlanta.

But Villanueva sent out a tweet a few hours ago that said, “Watch for the mask man in tonight game against the Bucks.”

Villanueva will have to wear a mask to protect the injury, which he sustained on a play in the fourth quarter of the Pistons’ 94-88 victory over the Hawks. He was fouled by Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia and as Villanueva fell to the floor he collided with teammate Ben Wallace.
source

Image: Zuma Press

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

There are some fans out there, along with many writers and coaches, that believe that Blake Griffin already has the ROY trophy sitting above his fireplace on the mantle proving what everyone thinks about him being a type of Patrick Ewing of the new age of the NBA.

Brandon Jennings is here to serve notice that he is one rookie that is just not going to lay down and allow Blake to walk off with the trophy.

Milwaukee Bucks 129 Golden State Warriors 125

Brandon Jennings just missed Wilt Chamberlains all time rookie single game record of 58 with a Buck Rookie high of 55.

Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor and who became the highest-scorer in
NBA history, held the franchise record for points in a game by a rookie with
51, which he scored on February 21, 1970.

But Jennings, who didn’t even score in the first quarter, lifted his name
among the greats with a virtuoso performance, sinking 21-of-34 shots,
including 7-of-8 from three-point range.

He scored 29 in the third and fell just two points shy of Michael Redd’s
franchise record for points in a game. Jennings was also just three points off
the NBA record for points in a game by a rookie, as Wilt Chamberlain scored 58
points twice in his first year.
source

Watch some of the action in this YouTube.

Brandon Jennings is coached by Scott Skiles and Skiles is a man that knows a little something about scoring as he put up 25 a game as a senior with Michigan State University, before the 3 point shot was available. He has complete confidence in Brandon’s game and allows him to stay on the court and make mistakes that other coaches would pull him out of the game for doing. This has really elevated the confidence of Brandon in his own game.

The 55 points by Brandon reminded Coach Skiles of a game with Michael Jordon when he got hot.

“I was in a game when Michael had over 60 once. I don’t know exactly what to say,” Skiles said immediately after the victory. “(Jennings) felt we needed to be picked up and we went to our pick-and-roll game and spread the floor and he got hot again.”

Center Andrew Bogut wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t think we were working the roll game, I think we were just working the pick game,” Bogut said. “He was doing a hell of a job shooting the ball.”

source

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Ben Wallace staring down an opponent

Basketball in Cleveland is LeBron James. But did you know that the Cavaliers have the 3rd highest payroll in the NBA?

No, you didn’t. How could you, the team is loaded with no names.

One of those no names would just prefer to stay that way. His name is Ben Wallace and he makes more money in salary than LeBron James by 100 grand. Don’t worry about James, though. He makes mega millions through endorsements.

Big Ben or Clock Tower, as Rasheed Wallace used to call him, is just happy to be on a team that wants him, after suffering through a bad time playing for the Bulls.

After carving out an image of a quiet, yet fierce, defensive force in Detroit, Wallace’s perception and bank account changed when he signed a $60 million free-agent deal with the Bulls in 2006. Within days of showing up at training camp, Wallace was immersed in controversy for challenging the Bulls’ rules banning headbands and loud music in the locker room, among others. The sub-par season that followed only increased the heat.

Last year, as the Bulls got off to a rocky start, his relationship with Coach Scott Skiles went under the microscope. Neither ended up finishing the season with the team.

source

Cleveland wanted Ben to be the savior to a team that seemed to need a defensive presence on the blocks. You know now that the Bulls were really a team disintegrating right before our eyes. It was plagued by youth, selfishness, and lack of talent. It was a team driven by Scott Skiles until his message just wore out and they could go no farther.

Oh yeah, Ben Wallace is much happier to let LeBron James and Mo Williams get all the attention, so he can just play as hard as he can.

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Michael Curry will try to right the Piston ship

The NBA is proud to bring a brand new coach to your area. They did it for 8 teams.

Think about that. 8 new coaches.

Ever heard of a brand new coach immediately winning it all? It has probably happened, but not to my knowledge.

Usually you just fired the last coach because the team stunk so bad he could not make them win.

So this year we bring you the 8 trying to make the magic happen.

Michael Curry, Pistons

Curry, 40, was an assistant to last year’s coach, Flip Saunders, who was fired. From 2000 to 2004, Curry was president of the National Basketball Players Association. He’s also a former NBA vice president for basketball operations and played for six teams in an 11-year career.
source

Michael is lucky. He inherits a veteran team with a real honest to god chance to win it all. The team knows him. The GM, Joe Dumars, knows him. Heck, the hotdog vendor in section 133 knows him. Michael Curry was a defensive minded team oriented over achiever as a player. He even used to plan out bike trips and movies for when the players were on the road.

But can he coach? Well, he can as an assistant, but can he as the head coach?

Vinny Del Negro, Bulls

Del Negro, who has no coaching experience at any level, follows interim coach Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles. Del Negro, 42, formerly was assistant general manager for the Phoenix Suns and played for five teams in a 12-year NBA career.

Scotty Skiles and Jim Boylan is a tough act to follow. Vinny has his hands full with that crew in Chicago. Skiles whipped and beat them to play defense and play as a team. Boylan found out they are lacking depth, size, speed, etc. Good Luck!

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Club President Pat Riley named Spoelstra, a seven-year assistant, to succeed him. Spoelstra, 37, is the youngest coach in the league.

This guy just has the job on loan until Pat Riley sees a good enough team to take over. Sure doesn’t hurt to have Dwyane Wade and the Matrix auditioning for jobs.

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats

Have witnessed Larry up front with my Pistons and he is an amazing coach and complicated man. He is always chasing after something that is missing in his life. Some think he is looking for his father that left him at young age, not literally, but figuratively.

Larry will put them in half court sets and make them play playoff style basketball. If teams listen, they win, but most young players do not want to play that way. Example: Chauncey Billups was close to a triple double one night and Larry pulled him and said “You don’t have a clue as to how to play point guard for me, do you?” Think about it.

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks

This one will be fun to watch. The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki were often shooting before crossing half court and now will be playing half court. Rick was the Piston coach before Larry and he alienated so many people that he had to be fired with a winning record. Chauncey Billups used to say they knew exactly what plays would be run in the last two minutes as Carlisle called all the plays. Rick also does not like to double on defense. Can Dirk defend?

Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks

Mike has his hands full until the Knicks can clean house and find some D’antoni style players. He needs speed and outside shooting to go along with a pass first dribbling point guard, a la Steve Nash. Mike is a great coach and the players love his style. The ball gets shared and the pace is quick.

Can he play enough defense to win a title though?

Must be Michigan week in the NBA or something

Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons
Larry Brown, former Detroit Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle, former Detroit Pistons coach
Vinny Del Negro replaces Jim Boylan former assistant at Michigan State University
Before Jim Boylan was Scott Skiles former player at Michigan State University
Mike D’Antoni was brought in to replace Isiah Thomas former Detroit Piston
The D’Antoni wanted to trade Zach Randolph former player at Michigan State University
Terry Porter, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach
Scott Skiles, former player at Michigan State University
Scott will work for GM John Hammond and he worked under Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons.

Terry Porter, Phoenix Suns

A hustling guard as a player and an average coach at Milwaukee, Terry will have some talent to work with, but will drastically change the style for the Suns. Terry is a real believer in defense.

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Scott will have some hungry players in Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. Maybe not enough talent to win, but that has never been an issue with Scott. He just wants you to bring the desire.

Photo source Newscom

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

The masked man, Andrew Bogut, gets a lot of dough

Image details: Chicago Bulls v Milwaukee Bucks served by picapp.com

It is a big pile of money. Bigger than you will see in your lifetime of slaving at a regular job.

Andrew Bogut will sign a 5 year extension for 72 million bucks.

The signing should also silence critics who feel the team hasn’t shown a commitment to winning, Bauman said. The hiring of Scott Skiles as coach and the trade for Richard Jefferson demonstrated to Bogut that the team was making a push to be competitive.

“These moves show Andrew this team is committed to winning now,” Bauman said.

The extension does not affect the nearly $7 million Bogut is owed for the upcoming season, the final year of his rookie contract.

Despite the Bucks’ struggles in the past two seasons, Bogut indicated he wanted to stay with the team.

He played in 78 games last season, averaging 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds.
source

Ordinarily, you would find me critical of a signing like this, but this is not the ordinary. John Hammond helped Joe Dumars build the Pistons and now he is trying to do the same with the Bucks. Think it over; they now have Michael Redd at shooting guard, Andrew Bogut at center, and Richard Jefferson at small forward. That is a pretty powerful nucleus. Throw in Scott Skiles at coach and this team is ready to move up the ladder!

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

High flying Derrick Rose holds the keys to the draft mania, but where is the basketball?

Image details: UCLA v Memphis served by picapp.com

This is going to be one crazy draft.

First let’s set the table. The Western Conference finished as tight in the standings as a conference could. There were barely any games separating first place from 9th place. What does that mean? Wheeling and dealing will take place, because each team that finished behind the Lakers and Kobe Bryant thinks it will just take one solid deal to move them up to first.

In the Eastern Conference, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, and especially Detroit are also ready to deal.

Just to add to the mess, this draft is loaded with point guards and other than Rose and Beasley; it just seems to have a lot of equal appearing players.

How about we just pick out a few scenarios from the mock draft by Chad Ford at ESPN.com.

Miami Heat #2

Go no farther than the Miami Heat at the number 2 pick.

We continue to hear that the Heat will probably trade the No. 2 pick if Rose is off the board. The latest talk has the Sonics and Heat discussing a swap that would send the No. 2 pick and Mark Blount to Seattle for Chris Wilcox and the No. 4 pick. The move would give the Heat a huge amount of cap space in the summer of 2009. (Wilcox is in the last year of his contract, while Blount has two years and $16 million remaining.)

source

Seattle seems to be in everyone’s plans. With the number 4 pick and so many needs, they could pull off all kinds of deals.

Memphis Grizzlies go cheap

The Memphis Grizzlies at the number 5 pick are also looking to wheel and deal, but for a different reason.

Even stronger are rumors that the Grizzlies are talking to a number of teams, including the Knicks, Blazers and Suns, about deals that would send the No. 5 pick to whomever is willing to take Brian Cardinal’s awful contract (two years, $13 million left). The latest buzz has the Knicks talking to Memphis about a deal that would send David Lee and the expiring contract of Malik Rose to Memphis for No. 5 and Cardinal.

In other words, it sounds like GM Chris Wallace is, once again, being pushed by ownership to cut payroll.

Milwaukee Bucks get tough

It is going to be real fun following the Bucks up in Milwaukee. Think about the combination of tough former Michigan State University All American point guard, current NBA assist record holding, and former Chicago tough guy coach Scott Skiles with former Detroit advisor to Joe Dumars, now turnaround expert John Hammond. These are two guys that believe in toughness and have shown that before.

Alexander is a high-energy forward who impressed GM John Hammond and new coach Scott Skiles with his toughness and grit. That’s exactly what the Bucks are going for right now. Hammond wants to change the culture in Milwaukee, and Alexander has that capability. He also fits a need. The Bucks will be shopping Bobby Simmons (along with just about everyone else) hard this summer.

If Joe Alexander is what they say he is then he is going to love being a Buck.

Cleveland LeBron’s seek age insurance

At number 19 the Cavaliers are talking about Georgetown 7′2″ Center Roy Hibbert. LeBron James desperately needs players around him and Coach Mike Brown would love the big guy for his defense and shot blocking. Cleveland has to be concerned with an aging Ilgauskas and an aging Ben Wallace. It would be a great pick, but LeBron still needs points from other players inside.

Detroit Pistons look to surprise

Finally, how about my Pistons. Chad has them taking 6′6″ Bill Walker and they might, but most of us expect some kind of deal from Joe Dumars. There are just too many teams looking to move up or down for Joe D to miss this opportunity. Even though Boston showed you can win with old guys, it is time for the pot to be stirred on the Pistons, they need to get younger. Bill Walker would not provide a whole lot to the team and most likely would be included in any trade.

Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince are two likely candidates. Rip Hamilton could go if they replace him with a scorer.

This draft is all mixed up.

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

Let’s back up and look at Doug Collins.

My early memories were of Doug playing for the 76er’s, swooping to the hole and making a layup or drilling jumper after jumper. He played on the great Dr. J’s teams. He averaged over 17 points a game for his career.

Doug also played on the Olympic team that the Russians beat after the ref’s kept giving them do over’s until they scored the winning basket. Ok, so that one still bothers me. You can’t let everything go.

After retiring as a player, Doug went on to coaching. He got his first walking papers as Michael Jordan’s stubborn coach.

“We knocked heads early,” Collins said at the time. “I was 35, had never been a head coach before, was going to roll up my sleeves to show everybody that I could get the job done. I wanted to do things my way.”

Collins was fired and replaced by Phil Jackson, whose first team also lost to Detroit in the conference finals, 4-3. The following season the Bulls broke through, sweeping the Pistons 4-0 and going on to the first of six championships in the 90s with Jordan and Scottie Pippen leading the way. In 1995-96, they finished 72-10 as what many consider to be the greatest NBA team of all time.

Collins accepted his second head coaching job in 1995 and worked 2 1/2 seasons with the Pistons, going 46-36, 54-28 and 21-24 before he was let go amid reports his style caused friction with some of his players.

He was 37-45 in both seasons in Washington but couldn’t get the Wizards into the playoffs. He was fired shortly after Jordan was denied a return to the front office.

Collins’ overall record is 332-287 and 15-23 in the postseason.

source

Here is a YouTube breaking the Chicago Bulls news of hiring Doug Collins.

Now being a huge Piston fans, the early Chicago years were followed and the Piston years were followed. Doug was tough, demanding, and a my way or the highway guy. He could make a weak team strong, but could not make a good team great.

Speaking of great, after a while Doug grated on you and you did not want to play for him anymore.

Now after Chicago experienced the tough, demanding, my way or the highway Scott Skiles, why would they sign Doug Collins?

The Bulls and Collins, who coached a young Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen before the 1990s dynasty took off, acknowledged Thursday discussing a return engagement. The sides also said there would be more talks once Collins’ obligations with TNT ended, which happened when the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals that night.

And Collins was adamant during a pregame interview with TNT: “I have not been offered. I have not accepted.”

On Friday, general manager John Paxson did not return a call to his cell phone, and Collins’ representative John Langel declined comment. A message seeking comment was left Friday night on Collins’ cell phone.

source

The Bulls will have the number one pick in the draft, probably Derrick Rose of Memphis.

Does this sound like a do over of young Michael Jordan and Doug Collins?

Only Derrick Rose is not Michael Jordan and young Doug Collins had better not be old Doug Collins!

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

You talking to me?

The Bulls are going no where in the NBA this season.

That means you have to blame someone.

They did. They fired the coach, Scott Skiles.

Oh, it was going to happen sometime anyway. Scotty is too fiery to last too long with any pro team. He probably should be coaching in college where a coach can really rule over the team.

When you have Scott’s attitude and your team begins to lose, you will begin to lose your team. It is part of the package in NBA Basketball.

You hire Skiles as a coach and you get better, like with Brown. He’s smart and demanding. Those are good things. He sees the game more quickly and clearly than most coaches working today. He has a plan and a system of play that’s appealing to watch. He emphasizes the right things: defense, teamwork and accountability.

I’d recommend Skiles to just about any team in the NBA.

Like Brown, he tires of his players, in part because his standards are so high. source

It was not all Scott

Scott was not the sole problem in Chicago. Scott gave his all and wore out his message, but the Bulls have problems beyond Scott Skiles.

First there were the failed expectations of the Ben Wallace deal. Ben was on the downhill slope of his career and fit perfectly into the Pistons roster. Chicago thought it would work for them just as well. It didn’t.

Then there were some major gaffes by the GM John Paxson.

There were no major acquisitions in the off-season. Instead, the most notable moves were the ones the Bulls did not make — contract extensions for Ben Gordon and Deng and a blockbuster trade for Kobe Bryant.

And Deng finally acknowledged the negotiations and trade talk may have weighed down the team.

“I keep saying the whole idea that the contract thing isn’t a big deal with me, but it’s getting to a point where I don’t know,” he said. “It’s not like I came in and said I’m not going to play hard. It’s a life-changing decision. When I made the decision, I decided that I’m just going to play. It became part of it because that’s what people kept talking about. We struggled and they kept coming up.” source

They had better think about getting Kobe, because things just are not working as they are now.

Scott explodes through college

Scott played his college ball at Michigan State University and you never saw a guy fuller of spit and fire than Scott. He was linked to some drinking problems in his junior year and had other problems with cocaine and weed before that.

His college coach, Jud Heathcote, came to Scott and asked him if he would prefer to redshirt and not have to face all the hostile fans, while court dates and stuff were going one. Jud reasoned a lot of it would die down in a year.

Scott said no. Bring it on. And bring it on they did. Opposing fans were merciless and booed and chanted at him in every arena. All Scott did was play out of his gourd.

Scott ended his career as All American, Big Ten MVP, Big Ten Scoring Champion, and All time scoring leader for MSU.

Scott has always been me against the world.

NBA Basketball Fan Question What should the Bulls do now?

Visit my companion blog on the NFL at Squibkick.com

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

The Bulls are 1 – 5.

How can that be?

There are basically 5 reasons.

Oh, this is a joke right. The five reasons are the 5 starting players, right?

No, there are really 5 reasons and here they are.

1. Point guard play

Kirk Hinrich owns an assist-to-turnover ratio of just 2-1 and leads the Bulls in personal fouls. The fifth-year guard threw one pass Saturday night against the Raptors that a youth basketball coach would stop a practice to criticize, a one-handed, cross-court pass across his body.

“Offensively we aren’t sharp, and ultimately that’s my responsibility,” Hinrich said. “I haven’t been playing very well.” source

Hinrich and Gordon? Make the trade for Kobe!

2. Shooting slumps

Can happen to any team.

3. Coaching communication

Never easy to be one of Scott Skiles little minions.

4. Wallace’s woes

Slowed through four games by a sore left ankle, Wallace hasn’t come close to resembling the dominant rebounder and defender he can be. Already, he has sat for three entire fourth quarters, although the other four starters joined him for Saturday’s blowout loss.

In the two games since Wallace has said his ankle is better, he has just 12 rebounds. That used to be one night’s work—and often then some—for him.

Wallace was on the down slope when they got him. What did they expect?

5. Mental fortitude

The “Kobe! Kobe!” chants are now as much a part of home games as Benny the Bull. The multimillion dollar extensions for Deng and Gordon went unsigned. The Eastern Conference is stronger.

Easy solution. Make the trade for Kobe!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Would you make the trade?

Visit my companion blog on the NFL at Squibkick.com

As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

More blogs about basketball.

Post from: NBA Obsessed