<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <h3>Skiles Tuning It Out</h3> </p> A copy of <font color="#000000">Chris Broussard's ESPN.com column </font>was on Scott Skiles' desk, placed there by a Bulls public-relations staffer who felt the coach might want to read it because Skiles and his style were being taken to task.</p> </p> Broussard's unnamed sources said Bulls players have tuned out Skiles through this 3-10 season. It's a theory that also has been advanced by local columnists.</p> </p> ''I wasn't aware there was a groundswell of support for that theory,'' Skiles said after practice Thursday. ''I don't have a problem with guys having an opinion. I only had a problem with one thing [Broussard wrote]. That was the 'relentlessly riding' term he used. Too many people have seen us practice, too many people have seen me during the games, too many people have seen me interact with my players to buy into that.</p> </p> ''We've started terribly each year, and somehow we've righted the ship. You don't do that by riding people. You do that by coaching them and by being supportive of them and believing in them. That's how you get it done.'' -- <font color="#000000">Chicago Sun-Times</font></p> </p> </p> [*]Beyond the bricked jumpers and, until recently, lack of defensive intensity, a popular theory for the Bulls' disappointing start is that players are tuning out fifth-year coach Scott Skiles. </p> "I don't think that's true," guard Ben Gordon said. "Everybody here knows what he wants. We all know what we're supposed to do and how we're going to win games, and that's to get back to what made us successful in the past. I don't think anybody is tuning him out." -- <font color="#000000">Chicago Tribune</font></p> </p> [*]The overwhelming reason for the Bulls' poor start this season has been awful shooting. They currently rank last in the NBA in points per game, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage. </p> The defense has been decent, better than it was during last season's sluggish start, which is an indication the Bulls are still giving a strong effort.</p> </p> "Anytime you're in a stretch where we're in right now where we're not playing as well as we would like to play, nothing seems to be working," center Ben Wallace said. "We're here, we understand it and we go out and try to do it, but it's not working right now." -- <font color="#000000">Arlington Heights Daily Herald</font></p></div> </p>
