Actually, I think he's just not overtly bagging on him because he's letting Skiles do it: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"I'm always in a difficult spot with a player like that," Skiles offered calmly and seemingly without rancor. He seemed to understand where he was going with Thomas, a fan favorite because of his spectacular dunking and occasional brilliance in games. He has shown his promise, such as when he scored 21 points with 12 rebounds in a victory over the 76ers and had 19 points with 14 rebounds in another over the Pistons. The excellence seems right there, but no one can quite grab it. It's like a fog, which Skiles seemed to suggest often envelops Thomas. "I understand the fans see one side of it," Skiles said "We see the other. We know what's supposed to be done out there. We ask him to sprint the floor. To my knowledge in his career he hasn't done it one time. "Not one time." Still, Skiles gave Thomas an early run against the Nuggets. It perhaps was the team's worst individual display of the season. Thomas came in for Adrian Griffin with 7 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter and the Bulls down six. The first time Thomas touched the ball, he committed a turnover, stripped as he tried to drive. On the next possession, he committed an offensive foul. Then he fouled Carmelo Anthony on a drive. All this within 42 seconds before he was yanked in favor of rookie Joakim Noah with the Bulls down 18-8. Skiles seemed determined to get something out of Thomas, bringing him back early in the second quarter as the Bulls opened with a 7-0 run before the Nuggets scored 13 straight. "Watch when he gets in there," Skiles said Tuesday morning. "Is he jogging or is he sprinting the floor? So I have to look out not only for … 'Can somebody help me win a game tonight?' but balance that against trying to get him to be a high-level player. "He's not going to be if he doesn't do that one thing. That's about all he has to do, change ends like a train. We have not been able to get him to do that. "I'm not not playing him to penalize him for that. I went in a different direction. We played great in the Clippers' game. I didn't see any reason to disrupt the lineup. The Lakers game we were right there when they kind of blew the doors open. Skiles had more to say. "And that's just one thing," he said. "He doesn't have the habit of doing it, of being on all the time and into the game. He's much better than he was.</div></p> Much like the game the fans see on the floor vs what the coaches and players are seeing, it's hard not to look past the literal message here and see Skiles saying "Fire me? I didn't want this clown in the first place!"</p>
John Jackson has a similar article in the Sun-Times, titled, simply enough, "Skiles rips Thomas' laziness". <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> Because of his athleticism, Skiles believes Thomas would get numerous easy baskets if he focused on running hard and beating other big men down the court.</p> ''He's leaving an awful lot on the table by not doing that,'' Skiles said. ''With our guys, the way we kick it ahead and when we're open take the early jump shot, if you're running down the middle, there's rebounds, tip-ins, nobody's boxing you out.</p> ''He knows it. We show him on film. We go over and over and over it. It's just something we've got to get him to do somehow.''</p> Whether the message is getting through is the issue -- and judging by Thomas' reaction to the comments, it may not be.</p> ''It's as simple as that,'' he said. ''You got the answer from the man making the calls. I don't know what you want me to say.''</p> ''I'm not not playing him to penalize him for that,'' Skiles said. ''We played great in the Clipper game, and I didn't see any reason to disrupt the lineup. It's nothing punitive.''</p> Skiles' comments obviously didn't jump-start Thomas, who had no points or rebounds and two turnovers in 11 minutes against the Nuggets.</div></p> </p>
Am I wrong, or is Skiles trashing Thomas the most shocking Bulls-related news story in years? I can't believe what I'm reading.</p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MikeDC)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> Much like the game the fans see on the floor vs what the coaches and players are seeing, it's hard not to look past the literal message here and see Skiles saying "Fire me? I didn't want this clown in the first place!"</div></p> This is probably the correct analysis, though Skiles doesn't seem like the type to send messages through the press. I suppose he did when he was negotiating a new contract, but I can't recall any obvious examples otherwise.</p> The other possibility is that Skiles was pissed after a very rough loss and vented. But it's hard to believe he would be so stupid as to trash a important young player so brutally. Tyrus is a significant part of this team's future, and their relationship is broken and probably beyond repair. </p> </p> </p>
He's right, Tyrus doesn't run the floor and is very lazy. He jogs up the court nonchalantly when the Bulls are on offense. If he doesn't like being Skiles whipping boy then he needs to step it up.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shapecity)</div><div class='quotemain'>He's right, Tyrus doesn't run the floor and is very lazy. He jogs up the court nonchalantly when the Bulls are on offense. If he doesn't like being Skiles whipping boy then he needs to step it up.</div></p> Perhaps, but like RWJ points out, this was a pretty brutal slam by the coach. He might be right about Thomas now, and Thomas may absolutely never get it, but I don't see any constructive purpose (to the end of salvaging Tyrus Thomas) that this outburst achieved. It seemed very much like frustrated buck passing to me.</p> For that matter, I don't know that he is right. Thomas has looked lazy and clueless, but he's also made a pretty wide variety of spectacular plays over the last year, many of which were the direct product of him hauling ass up and down the court.</p> You know who else has looked lazy and clueless? Kirk Hinrich are the two most obvious candidates to me. I haven't seen anything close to the treatment Tyrus has gotten directed at those guys.</p> For that matter, Tyrus appears to be increasingly out of his mind as his minutes decrease. His response to Skiles' rant made pretty clear he's checked out of the "being coached by Scott Skiles hotel". Noah looks like he's walking on egg-shells too, and my guess is the entire team is pretty well messed up.</p> What a mess... I'm starting to get a little bit numb to it.</p>
Tyrus Thomas not running the floor? I find that hard to beleive. I remember last year during the playoffs watching Tyrus Thomas come up with a huge block then SPRINT the floor to catch an oop, and it really doesn't seem like thats the only time I've seen a similar sequence with Thomas involved. In my opinion Scott Skiles needs to shut up. He created this mess, as they say you've made your bed now you have to lay in it. You don't take a team full of young, impressionable and easily distracted players and publicly put them on the trading block for Kobe. The Bulls shooting woes are mental, they have a massive lack of focus and drive which is directly a result of the Kobe trade talks. With all the rumors swirling around essentially most of their starting lineup, I can't imagine what training camp/practices were like. Very few young players respond well to such harsh public criticism. If I was Thomas I'd basicly tell the Bulls to piss off...there are plenty of teams who would appreciate what he brings to the table.</p> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzcPhxGtcV8...feature=related</p> anyone remember this? No hustle....</p> </p> </p>
