Bulls extend Skiles’ contract
A talk with his boss changed Scott Skiles’ mind and then it changed his future.
One day after he said he was through negotiating with the Chicago Bulls and was shocked by the process, Skiles agreed Tuesday to a four-year contract extension to keep coaching the young team he led to a remarkable comeback this season.
It was a heart-to-heart phone conversation with owner Jerry Reinsdorf – a 30-minute call that Skiles initiated – that got the deal done. So instead of leaving town, Skiles is staying put.
“I actually came in this morning and kind of felt bad, to say the least, about the way things have gone,” Skiles said. “I didn’t want anything to break down because, you know, sort of foolish pride on my part, or some sort of immaturity on my part. I wanted to have a man-to-man talk with the owner of my team.”
General manager John Paxson would not disclose the terms of the contract, but said: “He’s going to get paid well. It’s in line with the top coaches.
“I’m really glad he’s back,” Paxson added. “This is a big thing for the franchise.”
Previous reports had said that Skiles had turned down a four-year, $17 million offer.
He refused to talk about the financial details, but stressed that money was not the only factor.
“Of course it’s involved in there. It was just more about some things that had gone on that maybe frankly I misunderstood,” Skiles said.
Popovich squares off against mentor
Gregg Popovich has long credited Larry Brown for bringing him into the NBA and teaching him much of what he knows about basketball. That’s why the NBA Finals between Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs and Brown’s Detroit Pistons is creating mixed feelings.
“It will be a strange situation,” Popovich said, “trying to beat somebody up and hoping they do well at the same time.”
Not too well.
Given the long basketball kinship between them – Brown hired Popovich as a Spurs assistant in 1988 and later tapped him as an assistant for the 2004 Olympic team – it’s not a surprise the Spurs and the defending champion Pistons would have similar, defense-driven styles.
San Antonio, which won titles in 1999 and 2003, allowed the fewest points per game (88.4) in the league during the regular season, and Detroit was a close second at 89.5 ppg. Both squads were in the top five in blocked shots, opposing field-goal percentage and fewest assists allowed.
Detroit’s Ben Wallace was the league’s defensive player of the year, and San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen was runner-up. Together, the Pistons and Spurs accounted for five of the 11 players selected to the All-Defensive first and second teams.
So it’s not a surprise the Spurs expect defensive execution to decide the best-of-7 series, which begins Thursday night in San Antonio.
“It’s going to be very tough to score, we all know that,” said Manu Ginobili, who has averaged 21.8 points in the postseason. “It’s not going to be 110-, 115-point games.”
Pacers hire Person as assistant coach
Chuck Person is moving from the Indiana Pacers’ front office to the bench as an assistant to coach Rick Carlisle.
Person, the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1987 with the Pacers, has been a special assistant with the team the past three years.
He will fill the spot that opened when Mike Brown was hired last week as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Person will focus on offense and will continue individual workouts with players.
“He’s been with our team in kind of a dual capacity,” Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said. “He’s worked with management and he’s worked with the players.”
Pistons get draft pick from Sixers
The Philadelphia 76ers acquired a second-round draft pick from the Utah Jazz for a future second-round draft pick, then traded that pick to Detroit.
The Sixers dealt the 60th overall selection to the Pistons to complete a trade made on Dec. 18, 1997, in which they acquired Theo Ratliff and Aaron McKie for Jerry Stackhouse and Eric Montross.
Philadelphia had until Sunday to deliver a second-round pick to the Pistons or they would have surrendered their No. 45 selection.
The 76ers don’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft because that was traded to Denver in a three-team deal on Dec. 18, 2003, in which the 76ers acquired Kenny Thomas.