[TomBoerwinkle#1]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...bulls,1,1526018.story?coll=cs-bulls-headlines

All season, Skiles hasn't hesitated to go 12 players deep, even in a single game. Recent injuries to Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng, both of whom didn't practice Tuesday and are questionable for Wednesday's game at Charlotte, are underscoring the importance of this depth.

"I feel like you have guys on your team because you think they can play," Skiles said. "If situations call for them to be put in there, you put them in there. I'm confident and why wouldn't I be at this point in the season? Everybody has contributed."

Ben Gordon leads the league with 20 double-digit fourth quarters and is a leading candidate to win the Sixth Man of the Year award, unprecedented for a rookie.

Tyson Chandler leads the league in fourth-quarter rebounding and, much like a closer in baseball, has anchored many dominant defensive performances down the stretch, including the last time the Bulls visited Charlotte.

"Most coaches I've been around in this league have confidence in about three to six players on the team," Piatkowski said. "It usually doesn't matter if the starting crew has played horribly and the other guys are having a great night. If it gets close and it's toward the end of the game, the majority of the coaches go back to their starters.

"It's nice to see what this coaching staff does. We all understand: If somebody else has it going, you're probably not going in. Whoever is playing well that night, we ride them."

A nice byproduct of this philosophy is that only Hinrich has played more than 2,000 minutes this season. The guard also is the only player to average more than 30 minutes, which means this team should be fresh come playoff time.

"I think the coaches who played in the league understand it's a long season," Griffin said. "They understand there are some nights when your starters may take time getting started or they might be tired. So they throw in fresh bodies. Scott understands that better than any coach I've played for.

"He'll call on anybody. And because there's always a possibility you might get in, you see guys out working on their game all the time."

"The coaching staff respects every player on this team," Piatkowski said. "They value what they can do on the floor. The majority of the guys in this league, if they're not a starter, the coaches look at them like, 'Who cares?'

"This approach makes a player feel good and want to work hard. I know it's a cliché, but you want to run through a brick wall for a staff that treats you that way."

 

[DaBullz]

Pike and Griffin are the experts.

 

[kukoc4ever]

Great article. I think this is one of the best aspects of Skiles. The players respect him. If you play the way he wants, he'll have confidence in you and treat you like a man and a professional.

 

[LuolDeng]

This is exactly why when Hinrich goes out we don't skip a beat.
We have so many guys that have been getting PT this year we don't have a gapping hole when a starter goes out.

 

[badfish]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...bulls,1,1526018.story?coll=cs-bulls-headlines

Sorry, not good enough. A team where everybody knows his role and embraces it is not a team I want to root for. We might as well fire Skiles now since he's a quitter and can't win the big one for us.

Oh, and also because Jason Kidd has a vendetta against him.

 

[BealeFarange]

Hey, I think the thing that earns Skiles even more praise is the fact that he has a consistent rotation that involves all twelve men. The most infuriating thing about last season and the beginning of this season, for me at least, was that there were never any easily discernable patterns to Skiles' substitution patterns hence all the accusations of childish statements and ambiguous punishments.

Nowadays, though, he'll go back to a player that he had taken out, he'll stick with a core of productive players and he'll try out new and effective combinations of players in a logical manner.

 

[Rhyder]

Hey, I think the thing that earns Skiles even more praise is the fact that he has a consistent rotation that involves all twelve men. The most infuriating thing about last season and the beginning of this season, for me at least, was that there were never any easily discernable patterns to Skiles' substitution patterns hence all the accusations of childish statements and ambiguous punishments.

Nowadays, though, he'll go back to a player that he had taken out, he'll stick with a core of productive players and he'll try out new and effective combinations of players in a logical manner.

I like the analysis.

In hindsight, Skiles was expirimenting with lineups until he found something that worked with the way he wanted to approach the game last season. The wild substitution patterns last year are evident that nothing worked (even more evident by our 23 win season).

This season, he has done equal expirimentation (in my eyes), especially to start the season. The difference is, he has found combinations that have not only worked, but worked well. The difference is that the players have bought into Skiles system.

This is a players game, as evident by the coach taking the heat for any team misfortunes since NBA contracts are guaranteed. However, if you don't believe in your coach, it's a quick and easy downward spiral (see Orlando this season and Chicago the past six).

 

[Killuminati]

At times I've questioned the 12-man rotation, but hey if it continues to work, why the hell not? Even Griffin (arguably our worst offensive player) is at least contributing on the defensive side of things.

Maybe it'll become a new fad in the NBA to play 12 different guys a night? Nah probably not. Not with today's athletes and their constant whining about PT. Oh well, as long as it works for us and everybody is happy.

 

[Hustle]

"The Bulls are winning with an 8 man rotation of guys who are all under 24."- Tim Legler

I will never let this guy live this comment down. When it should be

they are winning with a 10-11 man rotation with 6 guys under 24


It is always nice to here about good cohesiveness between coaches and players.