Tension Building Between Gordon & Skiles

Tension Building Between Gordon & Skiles

Skiles reply to Gordon's complaints about touches in game two...

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When Skiles was asked after Tuesday's workout at the Berto Center how the Bulls could get Gordon back into the fourth-quarter flow, Skiles took a not-so-subtle shot at his starting shooting guard.

"If you look at the tapes?and don't necessarily believe what you read all the time?he's getting plenty of touches," Skiles said.

"[Monday] night was one of the games that Ben has on occasion where he just moves at the same speed the whole game. Whereas in Game 1, he was changing pace, changing direction ? he had a nice thrust when he was driving the ball.

"[Monday] night, for whatever reason, he just kind of stayed at the same speed. That plays into their hands, especially with a guy like [Miami guard Gary] Payton, who's very adept at keeping the ball out of a player's hands."</div>

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Ben Gordon enjoying the Miami night life...

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Bulls guard Ben Gordon partying Saturday night at Prive, despite a 1 a.m. curfew set by coach Scott Skiles. ''If they want to come to South Beach and have some fun, they all have the money to do that in the summer. Now is not the time,'' Skiles said.

At least Gordon got in -- Boston's Paul Pierce, deemed underdressed, was denied entrance into Empire Event parties Saturday at Prive and Monday at B.E.D.</div>

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Oh, no. I hope this doesn't get bigger after the next game.

 

again?

 

It's good coaching to keep talking to your players, particularly the star players,
all season. No matter how good a player is he has a weakness on the court or overlooks something that is happening on the court and is constantly in need of a steady voice teaching, conversing, reminding, encouraging. If a coach doesn't do this, and remember Jordan was always talking, listening, scowling with his coaches but he credited them for his success, then the coach needs to find another job. And if Gordon can't listen to his coach without getting upset over advice, criticism, pointers, reminders, then he will learn he is expendable.

 

I like the sound of this lol for the Heat's sake. That really sucks for Paul Pierce though lol how embarrasing.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I've heard similar things throughout the course of the year," Skiles said after preparing his team for Thursday night's Game 3 at the United Center against the Heat in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs. "It's something he's going to have to get over. He needs to face the personal responsibility of what he needs to get done. ? It's an opportunity for him to learn a good lesson at this time of year."

After struggling for 13 points in the Game 2 loss Monday, Gordon suggested the play-calling limited him. Skiles issued a rebuke a day later when Gordon's comments were brought up, then again Wednesday when asked if the pair had cleared the air.

Gordon, for his part, tried to stamp out the flames.

"I think it was just a misunderstanding," he said. "I was asked a specific question?it was almost like the [reporter] asked me, 'Why are you standing in the corner not being aggressive and trying to get the ball?' I was just trying to answer as best I could. I didn't mean it in any [negative] way."

Still, it is not the first time Gordon has expressed dismay at his role in the offense. The starter vs. sixth man debate was one such doozy. And as for Gordon's offensive workload, Skiles minced no words in affirming the Bulls have more sets for Gordon than any team in the league does for any one player.

"He should know it by now," Skiles said. "We constantly are running things for Ben. You can ask any team in the league, and they all would tell you the same thing."

Assuming this soap opera has been put on hiatus with the Bulls down 2-0 in their first-round series, the issue becomes how Gordon can revert to his form in Game 1?in which he blistered the Heat for 35 points?after shooting 5 of 16 in Game 2.

"They're pretty much just face-guarding me and being very physical," Gordon said. "They're fighting over screens, so I just have to work on getting open and using screens better to try and get the ball."

Wednesday could have been even more interesting if a nugget in the Miami Herald held water. The paper reported a Gordon sighting at the trendy nightclub Prive late Saturday night, intimating the player was violating a 1 a.m. curfew.

Except the curfew was 2 a.m.

"Ben was in his room at 2," Skiles said. "I don't know where that report came from."

At last. Something on which everyone can agree.
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Most of the things that come about Ben Gordon is usually fake, like the one where he wanted to be traded.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Ben Gordon stayed above the fray.

He stayed above it, he stayed out of it, and he stayed true to his game while getting his team back in this playoff series with a 24-point effort, including 13 in the decisive third quarter, as the Bulls pounded Miami at the UC.

At least for one night, there was no outward sign of the rift, and both downplayed the weeks? events, but now that Bulls coach Scott Skiles has gone public with his dislike for Gordon, there?s a bigger issue at hand:

Does it do general manager John Paxson any good to have his coach ripping one of his best players in the papers, with national media in town to spread the word and lower Gordon?s trade value?

Rather than continue to advertise it, as Skiles has done three times already this week, you?d have to think Gordon and Skiles will go back into denial mode because it?s better for both if that?s the way the story is told.

?I just want to play basketball and win games,?? Gordon said Thursday night. ?What else am I going to do???

But even the most na?ve of Skiles fanatics will have a hard time pretending now that these two love each other, and it doesn?t help Skiles? reputation for being unable to coach star players. Nor does it help Paxson sell big-name free agents on Chicago as an enjoyable place to play.

This week?s edition of ?Ben Hurt?? hit the stands when Gordon answered a question about his Game 2 performance.

That was his crime.

Gordon said he didn?t mean his response to sound negative or critical, and it didn?t to anyone but Skiles. He was merely standing at his locker to answer a question, something he does after every game, which teammates like Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng rarely do.

Skiles? response was to belittle Gordon on Tuesday, and then rip him Wednesday, but you have to wonder about the timing of taking the discord public now.

?I wouldn?t call it a fall-out,?? Skiles said Thursday night of the Gordon upheaval. ?We played awful defensively and Ben was talking about touches.??</div>
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when has Skiles gone public about his dislike for Gordon?

 

It’s not so much that he has stated flat out he dislikes Gordon. It’s more that he often criticized Gordon and his game, and there have always been reports of some tension between the two, not all reports being true. I think it’s more Skiles trying to coach Gordon up into a legit superstar in the league rather than anything else. If he just didn’t care he would let Gordon rot away on the bench then get Paxson to trade him first chance he got.

I don’t think there is much to it, but it’s good to stay on top of this stuff just in case something happens with Gordon (a trade) so we are not left wondering why that happened.

Gordon is a professional though, and so is Skiles they always make sure to watch there words when speaking to the media, and keep in house business for the most part in house. However, the media is always picking away at them trying to get something out of them, and occasionally one of them will mess up and let something slip then the media will take it and run with it.