<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> There is a perception that Bulls coach Scott Skiles has favorite players, or at least one in Kirk Hinrich. If Hinrich is the teacher's pet, Ben Gordon usually is in the coach's doghouse. He's the player who gets pulled from games for the slightest mistake. The observations were brought up to Skiles on Saturday, two days after a published report portrayed a chilly disconnection between Gordon and Skiles. Gordon disputed the claims last week, and Skiles said the depiction is "totally false." "Anybody that has seen us practice or has been around me for any length of time knows I don't have any pets," Skiles said. "I'm in many ways harder on Kirk than anyone else. Sometimes your best player, if he can take it, there's nothing wrong with staying on top of him. We feel we give Ben an awful lot of leeway." Between the two, Hinrich is a more complete player. He has intangible traits every coach loves, from his willingness to scour the floor with his body to playing with enough intensity to take him to the brink of exhaustion. Gordon is the fan favorite because of his exceptional shooting stroke. He's the only Bull in recent times to occasionally evoke memories of Michael Jordan with an uncanny ability to take over a game by himself.</div><div align="center"> Source</div> Let?s be honest now Bulls fans, although, both parties denied that this is true we have all seen at certain points and times situations where Skiles thinks with his heart, and not his brain while coaching. The game against the 76ers was a perfect example instead of having one of our best offensive weapons on the floor (Gordon) we had a back court of Hinrich and Duhon, two step up men. Although, I understand why we had Duhon on the floor he had hit several straight three point shots, and was scorching, I don?t understand why we would not have Gordon in their opposed to Hinrich. We already have a ball handler on the floor in Duhon, and Hinrich had struggled all night (to his credit he hit a few shots late). I for one see a lot of favoritism in some of the coaching decisions Skiles makes, but perhaps it is not so much an issue of favorites as it is trust. Though that is not how I see it, it?s definitely a possibility. Skiles was the prototypical point guard; he once had 30 assists in one game, a NBA record. So he probably trusts Hinrich, a player who probably reminds him of himself more than Gordon.
I'm surprised that this hasn't been mentioned before. Skiles obviously plays favorites especially with Hinrich and Duhon. Sometimes I question his coaching ability when I see this happen and it's getting very upseting. I hope now that someone has said something to him he will be more obvious to the fact that he is playing favorites.
maybe he sees himself in hinrich and duhon point guards who pass first and hustle hard i'm not sure if it does play favourites though, i don't believe everything i hear in the media
I don't really believe it. I think he just loves guys that hustle on every play and don't give up. We aren't at the practices, so we'll never know.
I sometimes wonder at Skiles coaching, tonight for example why he played Harrington more then Malik Allen who had 10 points in 12 minutes (unless he was injured)
I don't know if you posted this too early but yes he was injured he fell on Songalia's knee and was carried away in a stretcher.
Yeah, he hit his head on Darius' knee and went to the hospital. Hopefully he's ok. He was on fire early on. Hinrich almost had a triple double 30 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists.
It appears, by all senses in my basketball experience, it's a trust factor. Hinrich, at least when his shot isn't on, still finds other ways to have an affect on a game. Either through getting oters involved, or on the defensive end, he's doing something. Gordon, as much as I love his offense, has no D, and does nothing on the floor other than shoot. He doesnt distribute, his handle is shaky and he's over matched on defense. The more and more I've paid attention to his game, the more I can see why the Bulls have no problem dealing him. Some players can overcome size at the 2. Wade, for instance, because he has the ability to impact the game everywhere. He play bigger than 6-3. Ben Gordon plays the 6-2 he is. Nothing more. Trading him now, while he has value, is ok with me. Draft a big guard, or start Hinrich and Duhon, but they need more options in the backcourt. I think Gordon could be a real weapon on a team with an inside presence who demands on double team, or a team with a big point guard to make up the defensive mismatch, Chicago is not that team, and it's better to let him go now before it ends up being too late. That's not playing favorites, I like Ben Gordon, just not with this group, not with this team, before it becomes a locker room issue to rock a young core of players. This is not a team that can afford a divided locker room.
I think he plays Kirk Hinrich because he's white. I'm joking of course, it seems like anytime a white player wins anything or does anything people think it's because he's white. As fans we have to believe that Skiles sees something in practices that makes him play Hinrich and Duhon more than Gordon. Either that or someone in the front office is forcing his hand and pressuring him to play certain players. All that said, I think he's crazy for not playing Gordon a lot more than he does.
