Milwaukee Dials Scott Skiles: New Coach Brings New Hope

When watching a Milwaukee Bucks game, fans can expect to see certain things every game.

1. Offensive talent from every position on the floor

2. Horrible defense

3. Lack of team chemistry/non-existent assisting

While the first point is a nice thing to have, the other two were problems that led to a 26 win season. Another dismal year for the Bucks prompted major changes in the front office, leading to the hiring of Detroit Piston's John Hammond.

Hammond didn't take long to make his presence felt as he gave head coach Larry Krystkowiak the boot. He also didn't take long to find a replacement, which brings me to the point of this article. 

Hammond made the best first move any Bucks fan could want when he hired Scott Skiles.

The Bucks have been in desperate need of a coach that will bring intensity and defense and Skiles provides both. The former Milwaukee Buck has an impressive head coaching resume that includes 532 career wins and has made five playoff appearances in eight seasons.

Skeptical Milwaukee fans should look no further than the 2006-07 season he had with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were a drastically undersized team with no superstar to be found yet they finished 49-33 and finished third in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls were one of the top defensive teams in the league and found a way to overachieve.

The Bucks have pieces of the puzzle in place. Charlie Villanueva might be ready to finally mature into a reliable threat every night, Ramon Sessions can seriously dish out assists and the future is bright with Andrew Bogut and Yi Jianlian.

Mo Williams, Charlie Bell and most importantly Michael Redd, will have to check their egos at the door and learn to dish the ball while playing hard-nose defense for a full 48 minutes every night. 

Everyone has a weakness and Skiles is stubbornness.

While his stubbornness leads to a much more disciplined style of basketball, it seems to eventually wear teams down. Skiles has never been able to get a team over that last hump, but there could be reason to believe that will change.

Skiles has always had a soft spot for the Bucks and he has enough head coaching experience now to learn from past mistakes. This last season with the Bulls should show him that the relationship with players has to be give and take, if he realizes that, Skiles could find a permanent home on the Bucks' bench.

There is no doubt the Bucks will be better defensively and play better team basketball next season. The wild card now will be what roster moves they make, the coaching staff Skiles brings in and what they do in the draft.

The Skiles era looks promising and in my next article I will break down what I expect the initial relationship to be between each player and Skiles when he first takes the helm.