Skiles' skadoodle

In a surprise move, a surprise to me at least, Scott Skiles got fired as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Although his overall win-loss record as head coach isn't particularly impressive, he did lead the team to multiple consecutive playoff appearances, which usually allows you to keep your job....

It could just be time for something new, as neither the players nor Skiles have had much passion this season given their anemic play thus far...I'm just not sure who they're going to go to next for the job. We're hungry for a championship in Chicago...

Some reactions in the sports media:

Skiles the limited: Bulls needed change from SportingNews.com

Skiles took over a proud franchise in a sorry state, and he brought it back to respectability. That wasn't enough, though. His teams never made it out of the second round, and this year has to be judged a miserable failure.

Bulls Coach Skiles Fired from Chicago Sun Times

‘‘I don’t have a long-term solution as of today,’’ Paxson said. ‘‘I’m disappointed in the way we’re playing, the way we’re competing. The energy or lack thereof that we’re playing with on the floor. I know expectations coming into the year were really, really high and we’re not even close to those."

Bull's-eye on Paxon now from ESPN

The Bulls' players and coaching staff simply weren't family anymore … if they ever were. It wasn't just Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas constantly clashing with Skiles; Bulls sources say that two of the foreigners we don't hear much from in the domestic media -- Andres Nocioni and Thabo Sefolosha -- were equally miserable with Skiles always grinding on them, just to name two.