Scott Skiles
Encyclopedia
Scott Allen Skiles is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....

 and former American professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. He also is the former head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

 of the NBA's Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 and Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...

. Skiles holds the NBA record for assist
Assist (basketball)
In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist...

s in one game, with 30. In 1990–91 he won the NBA Most Improved Player Award
NBA Most Improved Player Award
The National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1985–86 NBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada,...

.

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
Theodore Roosevelt High School (Gary)
Theodore Roosevelt High School is a four year public high school of the Gary Community School Corporation in Gary, Indiana, United States...

. 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 feet (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
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 in 1954
1954 Milan High School basketball team
The 1954 Milan High School Indians were the Indiana state high school basketball champions in 1954. With an enrollment of only 161, the Indians were the smallest school ever to win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana. The team and town are the inspiration for the 1986 film Hoosiers...

. 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
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

, where in his senior season he was a First Team All-America selection as well as the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 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
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

 possession
Drug possession
Drug possession is the crime of having one or more illegal drugs in one's possession, either for personal use, distribution, sale or otherwise. Illegal drugs fall into different categories and sentences vary depending on the amount, type of drug, circumstances, and jurisdiction.A person has...

 of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 and misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...

 possession of marijuana. The cocaine charge was dropped, and 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
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....

 made Skiles the 22nd overall selection of the 1986 NBA Draft
1986 NBA Draft
-Drug and health issues involving drafted players:There were various drug-related problems that plagued players in the 1986 NBA draft. Most notable was the death of highly-touted Len Bias. Bias died less than two days after being selected second overall by the defending champion Boston Celtics. His...

. In ten seasons, he played for the Bucks (1986–87), Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 (1987–89), Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

 (1989–94), Washington Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

 (1994–95), and Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...

 (1995–96).

In 1989, Skiles was selected by the newly-formed Orlando Magic in the NBA expansion draft
1989 NBA Expansion Draft
The 1989 NBA Expansion Draft was the ninth expansion draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 15, 1989, so that the newly founded Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic could acquire players for the upcoming 1989–90 season. Minnesota and Orlando had been awarded...

. 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
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...

 at Orlando Arena, 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
NBA Most Improved Player Award
The National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1985–86 NBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada,...

.

In 1996, nursing a serious shoulder injury, Skiles left the U.S. for Europe and joined PAOK
PAOK BC
P.A.O.K. Thessaloniki B.C. is the professional basketball department of the Greek multi-sports club P.A.O.K., originally founded in 1926 and is based in Thessaloniki, Greece. The club has established a firm reputation in Greek sports, especially for its success in European leagues...

 in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

, 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 Greek League
A1 Ethniki
The Greek Basket League , commonly referred to as the Greek Basketball League or Greek Basketball Championship, is the highest professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA...

, thus assuring a qualification to the following year's Euroleague
Euroleague
Euroleague Basketball, commonly known as the Euroleague, is the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe, with teams from up to 18 different countries, members of FIBA Europe. For sponsorship reasons, for five seasons starting with 2010–2011, it is...

.

Coaching career

The following year Scott Skiles returned to the NBA as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...

 and was later elevated to head coach (1999). Under Skiles, Phoenix compiled a winning record (.595) and made the playoffs
NBA Playoffs
The National Basketball Association Playoffs is a best-of-seven elimination tournament among sixteen teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference , ultimately deciding the final four teams who will play in the NBA Conference Finals.-Format:Following the NBA regular season, eight teams in...

 in two of his three years, including a first-round win over the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....

 in 2000. In 2003, after a two-year absence from the game, Skiles came to the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 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
Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, organized in three divisions of five teams each.The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their records, with all...

 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
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...

 (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
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

, 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.

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
John Paxson
John MacBeth Paxson is a retired American basketball player. He is currently the VP of Basketball Operations of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls.-High school career:...

 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 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
Michael Redd
Michael Wesley Redd is an American professional basketball player who currently is a free agent. He has most recently played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, where he attended West High School. He also was a member of the U.S...

 and Andrew Bogut
Andrew Bogut
Andrew Michael Bogut is an Australian professional basketball player. He plays for the Milwaukee Bucks of the United States' National Basketball Association....

, and Skiles was given a show of support by general manager John Hammond
John Hammond (basketball)
John Hammond is the current general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association, having succeeded Larry Harris on April 11, 2008. Previously, Hammond had been an assistant GM with the Detroit Pistons, where he had also worked as an assistant coach...

.

In the Bucks' 2009-2010 season, Skiles had success with an improving, if still young, core led by center Andrew Bogut
Andrew Bogut
Andrew Michael Bogut is an Australian professional basketball player. He plays for the Milwaukee Bucks of the United States' National Basketball Association....

 and point guard Brandon Jennings
Brandon Jennings
Brandon Jennings is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association who plays at point guard....

. Midseason trades pulled off by Bucks GM John Hammond for John Salmons
John Salmons
John Rashall Salmons is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA...

 and Jerry Stackhouse
Jerry Stackhouse
Jerry Darnell Stackhouse is an American professional basketball player who plays both shooting guard and small forward. He most recently played for the Miami Heat. He is now an NBA TV analyst but remains as an eligible free agent....

 had given Skiles both a reliable shooter and a veteran presence on the Bucks' bench. Most NBA prognosticators picked the Bucks to finish last in the Eastern Conference, but Skiles' insistence that his players play hard every night and his focus on fundamental defense helped the Bucks 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, their first winning record in seven years. Skiles was frequently mentioned in NBA Coach of the Year talks, eventually finishing second to Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ; their home court is at Chesapeake Energy Arena....

 head coach Scott Brooks
Scott Brooks
Scott William Brooks is a retired American professional basketball player from Lathrop, California and is the current head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA...

.

Head coaching record

|-
| align="left" |PHX
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...


| align="left" |
|62||40||22||.645|| align="center" |3rd in Pacific||9||4||5||.444
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
2000 NBA Playoffs
The 2000 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1999–2000 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers win their first championship in twelve years by defeating the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers...


|-
| align="left" |PHX
| align="left" |
|82||51||31||.622|| align="center" |3rd in Pacific||4||1||3||.250
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
2001 NBA Playoffs
The 2001 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2000–01 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers winning their second consecutive championship by defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers...


|-
| align="left" |PHX
| align="left" |
|51||25||26||.490|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-
| align="left" |CHI
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...


| align="left" |
|66||19||47||.288|| align="center" |8th in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||47||35||.573|| align="center" |2nd in Central||6||2||4||.333
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
2005 NBA Playoffs
The 2005 NBA Playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2004–05 season.The San Antonio Spurs, the number two ranked team in the Western Conference, won the 2005 NBA Playoffs by defeating the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons, 4-3 in the NBA Finals...


|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||41||41||.500|| align="center" |4th in Central||6||2||4||.333
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
2006 NBA Playoffs
The 2006 NBA Playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2005–06 season. The Miami Heat won the first championship in the history of the franchise by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 in the 2006 NBA Finals...


|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||49||33||.598|| align="center" |3rd in Central||10||6||4||.600
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
2007 NBA Playoffs
The 2007 NBA Playoffs was the postseason to the National Basketball Association's 2006–2007 season.There were four rounds of postseason action, all of them in a best-of-seven format, with teams seeded on a bracket. The team with the better record wasn't necessarily the basis of seeding teams in...


|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|25||9||16||.360|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-
| align="left" |MIL
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....


| align="left" |
|82||34||48||.415|| align="center" |5th in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |MIL
| align="left" |
|82||46||36||.555|| align="center" |2nd in Central||7||3||4||.429
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
2010 NBA Playoffs
The 2010 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2009–10 season. The playoffs started on April 17, 2010 with ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and NBA TV broadcasting the games in the United States...


|-
| align="left" |MIL
| align="left" |
|82||35||47||.427|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||778||396||382||.509|| ||42||18||24||.429

Quotes

  • When asked by a reporter in 2003 to describe what Eddy Curry
    Eddy Curry
    Eddy Curry is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. He was born in Harvey, Illinois...

     could do to improve his rebounding, Coach Skiles responded: "Jump."
  • When questioned about an encounter between Charlie Villanueva
    Charlie Villanueva
    Charlie Alexander Villanueva is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association....

     and Anderson Varejão
    Anderson Varejão
    Anderson França Varejão is a Brazilian professional basketball player, who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He won the gold medal with Brazil at the 2003 Pan American Games.-1998–2001 :...

    , Skiles responded: "I hope they'll launch an investigation to find the sniper who shot Varejao. I thought there was some acting involved."

External links

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