Scott Skiles

Template:Infobox NBAretired Scott Allen Skiles (born March 5, 1964 in LaPorte, Indiana) is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and former American professional basketball player. He also is the former head coach of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns. Skiles holds the NBA record for assists in one game, with 30. In 1990–91 he won the NBA Most Improved Player Award.

High school and college

In 1982, Skiles led Plymouth High School to the Indiana State Championship. Plymouth, with no starter taller than 6'2" and no reserve taller than 6'6", was considered to be the weakest of the final four teams in the tournament that year even though they were ranked #4 in the state with a record of 26-1 entering the state finals. Amazingly, they won the state title with a 75-74 double overtime victory over favored Gary Roosevelt. In that game, Skiles scored 39 points (to follow-up his 30 point performance against Indianapolis Cathedral that morning) to lead the Pilgrims past the Roosevelt Panthers. His long 22-foot (6.7 m) field goal, that was well beyond where the current three-point line is (no three-point shot existed in 1982) as time expired sent the game into overtime. With a student body of 900, Plymouth is the smallest school to win the championship since Milan in 1954. Skiles scored 25 of his 39 points in the championship game after the third quarter of play. During the 1982 season, Skiles led the state in scoring, averaging 30.2 points per game. He set several records during high school, including most points in a home game (53) and most points in an away game (56). He left Plymouth as the school's all-time career scoring leader (1,788 points). A record that would stand until 2005 (Kyle Benge-1,979 points). Skiles had his number 22 jersey retired at Plymouth High School in 1992.

Skiles attended Michigan State University, where in his senior season he was a First Team All-America selection as well as the Big Ten Conference MVP and scoring champion. He left MSU as its all-time career scoring leader (2,145 points) and still holds the Spartans' record for most points scored in a season (850). While in East Lansing, he was arrested and charged with felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The cocaine charge was dropped when Skiles pleaded guilty to the marijuana possession. He was arrested and charged with drunken driving a year later and served 15 days in jail. During his senior season, Skiles committed a parole violation on an earlier marijuana conviction, and served a brief jail sentence.

Professional playing career

The Milwaukee Bucks made Skiles the 22nd overall selection of the 1986 NBA Draft. In ten seasons, he played for the Bucks (1986–87), Indiana Pacers (1987–89), Orlando Magic (1989–94), Washington Bullets (1994–95), and Philadelphia 76ers (1995–96).

In 1989, Skiles was selected by the newly-formed Orlando Magic in the NBA expansion draft. In that year Skiles would become a pivotal sixth man, and as backup point guard amassed 7.7 points per game, 4.8 assists per game, and twenty-one minutes per game. The following year he would transition to the position of starting point guard.

On December 30, 1990, Skiles racked up 30 assists in Orlando's 155-116 victory over the Denver Nuggets, breaking Kevin Porter's NBA single-game assists record (29). He averaged 17.2 points and 8.4 assists per game that season, doubling his marks from the previous year and earning the NBA Most Improved Player Award.

In 1996, nursing a serious shoulder injury, Skiles left the U.S. for the European league and joined PAOK in Thessaloniki, Greece. At PAOK, expectations were high for the new arrival from the NBA. Midway through the season, however, injuries and contract problems with key players threatened to devolve into a disastrous season for PAOK and French coach Michel Gomez. Still struggling with injury himself, and increasingly at odds with his coach, Scott asked to be released from his contract. Instead, President Lakis Alexopoulos fired Gomez and offered Skiles the job. Despite lacking three of their top players due to injury, Skiles led PAOK to a winning record as coach in the remainder of the '96-'97 season, and an unexpected 3rd place finish in the league tournament.

Coaching career

The following year Scott Skiles returned to the NBA as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns and was later elevated to head coach (1999). Under Skiles, Phoenix compiled a winning record (.595) and made the playoffs in two of his three years, including a first-round win over the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in 2000. In 2003, after a two-year absence from the game, Skiles came to the Chicago Bulls as head coach where he focused on improving the young Bulls' defense and developing greater consistency in a talented but underachieving team. In the first full year under his direction, Chicago limited its opposition to an NBA-best .422 field goal percentage and held their opponents to a franchise record and NBA season-high 26 straight games below 100 points. Scott was named NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January 2005 after guiding the Bulls to an NBA best 13-3 mark in that month.

In 2006, Skiles led his Bulls to a 41-41 record (earning a 7th seed in the playoffs) and faced the Miami Heat (the 2nd seed) in the first round of the playoffs, losing in six games. However, in 2007, Skiles led the Bulls to a 49-33 record, and again faced the Heat, this time sweeping them in four games. However, the Bulls went on to lose the first three games of their second-round series against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, losing Game 3 at the United Center after holding a double-digit lead for much of the game. After winning two consecutive games to stave off elimination, the Pistons finally finished off Skiles and the Bulls in six games.

Scott Skiles was fired from the Bulls on December 24, 2007. At the time, the Bulls were last in the Central Division with a 9-16 record after having high expectations heading into the season. "This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time," Bulls general manager John Paxson said in a press release.

On April 21, 2008, a report surfaced that Skiles verbally agreed to become the new head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Skiles led the Milwaukee Bucks to a 34-48 record in the 2008-2009 season. Many fans felt the season was marred by injuries to key players Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, and Skiles was given a show of support by general manager John Hammond.

In the Bucks 2009-2010 season, Skiles had success with an improving, if still young, Bucks core led by center Andrew Bogut and point guard Brandon Jennings. Midseason trades pulled off by Bucks GM John Hammond for John Salmons and Jerry Stackhouse had given Skiles both a reliable shooter and a veteran presence on the Bucks' bench. Most NBA prognosticators picked the Bucks to finish dead last in the Eastern Conference, but Skiles insistence that his players play hard every night and his focus on fundamental defense helped the Bucks to beat several of the top teams in the NBA. After a gruesome injury to the right arm of Andrew Bogut on April 3, 2010, Skiles coached his team to a decisive victory over the heavily favored Phoenix Suns. Three days later Skiles and the Bucks clinched a playoff berth by beating the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. They finished the regular season with a 46-36 record which was their first winning record in 6 years. Skiles was frequently mentioned in NBA Coach of the Year talks, eventually finishing second to Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

Head coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
PHX	1999–00	62	40	22	.645	3rd in Pacific	9	4	5	.444	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
PHX	2000–01	82	51	31	.622	3rd in Pacific	4	1	3	.250	Lost in First Round
PHX	2001–02	51	25	26	.490	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
CHI	2003–04	66	19	47	.288	8th in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
CHI	2004–05	82	47	35	.573	2nd in Central	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
CHI	2005–06	82	41	41	.500	4th in Central	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
CHI	2006–07	82	49	33	.598	3rd in Central	10	6	4	.600	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
CHI	2007–08	25	9	16	.360	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
MIL	2008–09	82	34	48	.415	5th in Central	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
MIL	2009–10	82	46	36	.555	2nd in Central	7	3	4	.429	Lost in First Round
Career		696	361	335	.519		42	18	24	.429

Quotes

• When asked by a reporter in 2003 to describe what Eddy Curry could do to improve his rebounding, Coach Skiles responded: "Jump."
• When questioned about an encounter between Charlie Villanueva and Anderson Varejão, Skiles responded: "I hope they'll launch an investigation to find the sniper who shot Varejao. I thought there was some acting involved."

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 22 or more assists in a game

External links

• Career statistics - from basketball-reference.com