Scott Skiles

Scott Skiles
Player information
Full name	Scott Allen Skiles
birthday	5th March 1964 (age 56)
place of birth	La Porte , Indiana , United States
size	185 cm
position	Point guard
college	Michigan State
NBA draft	1986 , 22nd Pick, Milwaukee Bucks
Clubs as active
1986–1987 Milwaukee Bucks 1987–1989 Indiana Pacers 1989–1994 Orlando Magic 1994–1995 Washington Bullets 1995–1996 Philadelphia 76ers 1996–1997 PAOK Thessaloniki
Clubs as coaches
1996–1997 PAOK Thessaloniki 1999–2002 Phoenix Suns 2003–2007 Chicago Bulls 2008–2013 Milwaukee Bucks 2015–2016 Orlando Magic

Scott Skiles (born March 5, 1964 in La Porte , Indiana ) is an American basketball coach and former player. He has coached the Phoenix Suns , Chicago Bulls , Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic teams in the NBA .

Career as a player

Scott Skiles began his basketball career at Plymouth High School, where he helped his team to the 1982 Indiana State Championship. In the same year, the point guard moves to Michigan State University . In his fourth and final year, he was named to the NCAA All-America Second Team and named the Big Ten Conference's top player . He then signed up for the 1986 NBA draft , where the Milwaukee Bucks selected him in 22nd place.

In his first year as a professional, Skiles only made 13 short assignments. After the season he was transferred to the Indiana Pacers for a second round draft pick . With the Pacers he received significantly more time. In the second year he played an average of 19.6 minutes in 80 games and scored 6.8 points with 4.9 assists . Even so, the Pacers did not protect him for the 1989 Expansion Draft , in which he was selected eleventh by the Orlando Magic . In the first year of the newly assembled team, Skiles was able to further improve his personal values ​​slightly, while the Magic were the second worst team in the league. The 1990/91 season was by far the best for Scott Skiles, who established himself on the grid. In the game against the Denver Nuggets on December 30, 1990, he managed with 30 assists in one game, a new, still valid NBA record. 17.2 points and an average of 8.4 assist over the entire season earned him the title of Most Improved Player . In the following year, his values ​​deteriorated slightly. In the 1992/93 season he was the second best assists in the league with a career record of 9.4 assists and 15.4 points. The Magic with their rookie Shaquille O'Neal just missed the playoffs with the same number of wins as the eighth-placed Indiana Pacers. In the 1993/94 season the Magic took part in the playoffs for the first time in the young history of the franchise, but lost 3-0 to the Pacers in the first round. For Scott Skiles this was the first and only participation in Playoff, but he lost his place on the starting line-up to Dennis Scott in the middle of the season . After the season he was transferred to the Washington Bullets . For Washington, he played the first 62 games from the start, averaging 13 points and 7.3 assists. In the last 20 games he had no further use. After the season, the Bullets fired him. In December 1995, he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers , but dissolved his contract in January 1996.

From 1996 to 1997 he played for the Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki , which he also coached at times.

Career as a coach

Scott Skiles' first coaching position in the NBA was the Phoenix Suns . From 1997 to 1999 he was Danny Ainge's assistant coach . After his resignation, he took over the position of head coach for the first time on December 14, 1999 against the Detroit Pistons . The Suns reached the playoffs, where they failed in the second round after a first round win over previous year's champions San Antonio Spurs with 1: 4 at the Los Angeles Lakers . The playoffs were also reached in the second year, this time already after the first round and a 1: 3 against the Sacramento Kings over . On February 17, 2002, the club and coach agreed on an immediate termination of the contract after the risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1988.

After almost two years of hiatus, Skiles took over the Chicago Bulls on November 28, 2003 . Previously, Bill Cartwright was sacked and Pete Myers had played two games as an interim coach. Of the remaining 66 games, the Bulls could only win 19, making them the second worst team in the league. In the next season, Chicago succeeded in qualifying for the playoffs, where they failed in the first round 2-4 at the Washington Wizards . Also in the following year the playoffs were reached, in which there was another first round defeat, this time with 2: 4 against the Miami Heat . The 2006/07 season was the most successful season for Scott Skiles in Chicago. After almost 60% won games in the regular season, the Miami Heat were defeated to zero before they had to admit defeat to the Detroit Pistons in the second round after six games . After a disastrous start to the next season, which was associated with high expectations, Skills was released on December 24, 2007.

For the 2008/09 season Skiles succeeded Larry Krystkowiak as the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks . After the team improved slightly under his leadership in the first year, it succeeded again in the second year. After three years, the team was able to qualify for the playoffs again. There they met the favored Atlanta Hawks in the first round and were able to take the lead 3-2 before the Hawks were able to prevail in seven games. The following year the team could not maintain its level and clearly missed the playoffs. After Skiles refused to negotiate a contract extension with the Bucks in December, he was relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect in January 2013. During his entire time in Milwaukee, Skiles had a record of 162 wins and 182 losses.

On May 29, 2015, it was announced that Skiles would be the new Orlando Magic head coach . With the team he achieved a record of 35 wins and 47 defeats in the 2015/16 season, which was a clear increase compared to previous years. The playoffs missed Skiles and the Magic anyway. After only one season, Skiles surprisingly announced his retirement as Magic coach in May 2016.

Web links

• Scott Skiles - player profile on basketball-reference.com
• Scott Skiles - Trainer Profile on NBA.com (English)
• Scott Skiles - Trainer profile on basketball-reference.com (English)
• Scott Skiles in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Scott Skiles: The Game I'll Never Forget on nba.com
2. ↑ a.espncdn.com: Skiles agrees to leave, assistant Johnson takes over , accessed May 16, 2019
3. ^ Bulls fire coach Skiles; replacement expected to be named after season on espn.go.com
4. ↑ Skiles returns to NBA as new coach of downtrodden Bucks on espn.go.com
5. ↑ http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/08/report-scott-skiles-out-as-bucks-head-coach/
6. ↑ Magic tab Skiles as 12th coach in franchise history
7. Jump up : Skiles resigns