Tim Floyd: Our first stop is December 24, 2001.   On that Christmas Eve, an embattled Tim Floyd had the led the Bulls to a 45-169 from 98-99 through 00-01 and was carrying a beautiful 4-21 into the holidays during the 2001-2002 campaign.  In all fairness to Tim, he wasn’t exactly working with the cream of the crop in terms of talent in the NBA, but he also wasn’t making lemonade out of lemons.  After numerous fights with players and management (Charles Oakley is not a good guy to be in a fight with), he was forced to resign on Christmas Eve, bringing joy and happiness to all Bulls fans around the world.

Scott Skiles: And now, my friends, I want to take you forward to another great Christmas Eve.  It was December 24, 2007, and all through the house, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse.  Except for Bulls management of course, which apparently is at the office firing people instead of being with their families.  Skiles had actually brought the Bulls back to the playoffs during back-to-back seasons, but after a string of ridiculous rules (no headbands was my favorite inane rule), and screaming at his players for his entire tenure, the team tuned him out.  It was obvious he had to go, but no one could have possibly imagined how wonderful it would be to have Skiles firing gift-wrapped for Christmas like a beautiful present under the tree.

Vinny Del Negro: Now, my friends, I will be serving as the Ghost of Christmas Present.  It is December 23, 2009.  Vinny Del Negro is about a third of the way through his second season as Bulls coach.  The results from his first season were mixed in that he took the Bulls to the playoffs but they seemed to win in spite of him instead of because of him.  Now, in year 2, things have gone from bad to worse.  His offense is incomprehensibly bad, stupid, or both.  His rotations make little sense.  His team won’t play cohesive defense even though they clearly have the talent to do so.  And now as the team skids into the holidays with a 10-17 record and some really REALLY bad losses to Toronto, New Jersey, Atlanta, Sacramento and others, it appears that we may be getting another Christmas present from our friends in the Bulls front office.  We can only hope.

So kids, make sure to leave cookies for Santa this year, but don’t forget to leave some extra ones for Jerry, John, and Gar.  Hopefully if everyone is good we’ll get the firing we all desperately want.

[Sidenote: In all seriousness, as much as Vinny deserves to be fired, the Bulls are huge dicks.  Who fires people on Christmas Eve?  I mean maybe once, but a pattern of it?  Terrible karma.  Just terrible.]

As I discussed earlier, defense will be the key to a successful season for the Chicago Bulls.  That got me thinking about Scott Skiles.  While he wasn’t the best coach in many ways, the one thing he was (and is, damn Bucks) good at is making his teams play excellent defense.  Individually and as a team, Skiles made the Bulls play some of the best defense they have ever played in the history of the franchise.  In fact, statistically they were the best Bulls defense in the modern era and one of the best in the NBA during the modern era.  According to Celtics Hub:

According to that list, the 2006-2007 Bulls were the 8th best defensive unit since 1980.  I’m not saying I wish we still had Skiles because we all know he would stunt Rose’s growth and be tuned out by just about the entire team, but boy was that defense good.

On next season in Milwaukee …

Budden: You better worry about Ramon Sessions, diggin’ in your a**, pause.
Jennings: He’s not going to be here. [inaudible] That money is going to Charlie.
Budden: N****, Ramon Sessions is gonna be there.
Jennings: I doubt it.
Budden: They ain’t go no other guards.
Jennings: Ridnour.
Budden: N****, get that bum-a** n**** outta here.
Jennings: He’s going to be a backup.
Budden: To who?
Jennings: To who? Who else n****?

On what happened on draft night …

Budden: Who was hatin’ on you?
Jennings: Jay Bilas.
Budden: What happened? You ran in the draft late or some dumb s*** like a loser?
Jennings: No, I was at the hotel. This is what happened right. My agent is like “Well, we ain’t hear nothing .We ain’t have no guarantee.” So we makin’ phone calls and s*** and n***** is saying like “The workouts is great and everything and he’s the best point guard but we don’t know yet, we just don’t know.”
Budden: They didn’t say that about Rick Rubio, number one, and number two they didn’t say you the best point guard. They said your jump shot is shaky, you got some potential, but your work ethic is bull****. You averaged 3 points.
Jennings: You’re a liar. I know you’re lying now.
Budden: I’m just telling you what they said.
Jennings: That ain’t nothing but a college person.
Budden: Just tell me what happened. You end up running in the draft? I tunred it off after that.
Jennings: No, n****, I came out there and made my appearance n**** and I had the best appearance out of all them n******. And I was the best dressed, they said, by the way. I was the best dressed.

On whether he’ll start next season …

Budden: You think you gonna start for real though?
Jennings: I don’t know, actually, I really don’t know.
Budden: I heard that n**** Scott Skiles is an a**h***.
Jennings: That n**** tough, that n**** tough though. There must be a reason he liked me. There must be a reason.

On Ricky Rubio and the Knicks …

Budden: Let me know when Minnesota get there. So I can watch Rubio light your f****** a** up. I never seen a n**** hate on Rubio so much.
Jennings: [inaudible]
Budden: You know what’s funny? You’re the only guard in the draft talking s*** about Rubio.
Jennings: The other n***** are scared.
Budden: What are you going to do when Rubio comes to the Knicks?
Jennings: Rubio is not coming, they are not giving up Rubio. You got Jordan Hill, you happy with that?
Budden: I don’t really know enough about Jordan Hill to be happy … I’m happy with Toney Douglas.
Jennings: I know they were booing this n****.
Budden: What does that mean? They boo everybody n****.
Jennings: If it was Stpehen Curry, them n***** would’ve went crazy in there.
Budden: Shut the f*** up, you don’t even know nothing about New York basketball.
Jennings: F*** the Knicks, them n***** skipped out on me.
Budden: Oh man, you feel to the Knicks like I do about Jay-Z? [Laughs] Yo, the Knicks is your Jay-Z?
Jennings: F*** the Knicks, them n***** is always going to be weak.
Budden: This is where I f****** hang up on your f****** ass for talking stupid.
Jennings: Duhon ain’t gonna get it done.

He should do a boom roasted post for us about the Bulls here at NQTC.  He’s definitely good at ripping people.  What will happen first: he gets Skiles fired or Skiles gets him traded?

Oh, and who the hell is Joe Budden? (I have a feeling we might be asking that about Brandon Jennings in a couple years too).

In light of all the recent trades and rumors swirling around Paxson, people have been analyzing his legacy.  My focus has been mainly on how much Reinsdorf was really calling the shots and whether that interfered with Paxson’s job.

But was someone else really pulling the strings from 2003- 2007?  Scott Skiles put his imprint on the team and gave them an identity on the court.  With his attitude and coaching style (angry, disrespectful and a bully), he was able to get the Bulls to play ferocious defense and win a lot of games.  Was Scott Skiles also calling shots in the front office?  Tim Thomas seems to think so.  When asked if he has hard feelings about his last stint with the Bulls, he answered:

”[Paxson] really didn’t go into it,” Thomas said. ”I’m pretty sure he felt a certain way about the whole situation. There was a lot of heat on the organization at that particular time. There’s really no need to talk about it. That’s in the past. The guy who was pretty much controlling things is gone.

Now this is Tim Thomas, and its not to say that Paxson and Skiles weren’t on the same page for Skiles’ entire tenure, but this does make some sense.  Guys that Skiles didn’t like were shipped out without playing a game.  Tim Thomas and J.R. Smith are just two examples, but how many other deals were forced or made by Skiles?  Was Curry really traded because Skiles wanted him gone?  Chandler?  We know Skiles sat Thomas and to a lesser extent Noah, even after Paxson made clear numerous times that he wanted the young guys to get minutes.  Who knows, but Skiles is one controlling, stubborn person and his pattern of coaching continues in Milwaukee.  He comes in, bullies his team into playing with intensity, team starts winning, Skiles imposes his will on the entire organization, players get sick of being treated like shit, players tune out Skiles, Skiles gets fired.  Annoyingly we have to deal with him getting Milwaukee to compete for our playoff spot this year before the inevitable meltdown when the team turns on him next year.