The Chicago Bulls, who are off to a 9-16 start, fired coach Scott Skiles on Monday.

 

The Bulls, who did not name a replacement, announced the decision in a written statement from vice president John Paxson. "This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time," Paxson said. "Scott helped us in many ways during his time with the Bulls; most importantly, he helped this franchise get back to respectability." This is quite surprising, although we won't know the fantasy impacts of the move until a replacement is named, etc. We're not sure if it's more shocking that Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve, or that Isiah Thomas still has a job.

Talk about a lump of coal in your stocking

Hearing them talk on the Score about the move, I guess they felt the team was not showing up and that Skiles had heated words with Paxton after the last loss before his firing. I wonder who will replace him next year? I assume an interim HC will come from the current assistant coaching staff?

Pax didn't get Skiles a go-to guy (Kobe) or a low post scorer (Gasol), so the blame should be on Pax, not Scott.

Hearing them talk on the Score about the move, I guess they felt the team was not showing up and that Skiles had heated words with Paxton after the last loss before his firing. I wonder who will replace him next year? I assume an interim HC will come from the current assistant coaching staff?

Pete Myers (Asst.) will coach them on Wednesday and after that the Bulls will name one of the assistants as the full time interim coach for the remainder of the year. My guess is that Boylan will end up getting the interim gig.