By John DentonOct. 26, 2015
ORLANDO – Fans of the Orlando Magic who date all the way back to the inaugural season of 1989 likely remember Scott Skiles most for his fiery demeanor, his craftiness as a passer and his coach-on-the-floor type of basketball smarts.
Those are the traits that allowed the 6-foot-3 Skiles to survive in the NBA as a player for 10 seasons – five of which were with the Magic from 1989-94.
What those same Magic fans aren’t likely to remember, however, was Skiles’ exploits as a defender. And for good reason because the point guard was mostly a nondescript defender and someone who had to use his anticipation and understanding of the game to make up for what he lacked in physical gifts.
Why then, you might wonder, has Skiles become something of a defensive guru in the NBA considering that he’s best known most for his league-record 30-assist game and his offensive exploits? Regardless of where he’s been in the NBA as a coach, Skiles has been the Bill Belichick of basketball with his unyielding demands that players take defense seriously. “The Skiles Effect,” if you will, has been tangible and real everywhere he’s coached.
Whatever the reason for his focus on defense, Skiles’ success in coaching during stops in Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee has come because of his ability to get players to buy in on that end of the floor. And when the Magic went looking for a coach last May to instill toughness, provide structure and teach strong habits, Skiles was the no-brainer pick for the job.
Make no mistake about it however: This wasn’t some sappy reunion of Skiles coming back to Orlando because of his past status as a fan favorite. He is here because of his teaching abilities as a coach, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.
So, why you might wonder, has Skiles had so much success on defense when that was far from being his pedigree as a player? In part, it’s come because he takes it seriously and is willing to roll up his sleeves and hold players accountable when needed.
“Not to take anything away from any other coaches, but at this level with how talented the guys are, if you are going to be a really good defensive team it takes a major commitment from the players in time, effort and staying with your schemes,” Skiles said. “Occasionally you will run across players don’t don’t want to do it (defensively) and then you have to hold them accountable. And honestly, there are (coaches) who don’t want to hold players accountable because they don’t want to get into that mess. It can get a little messy sometimes.
“But that’s why I’m excited for this (Magic) team on that (defensive) end of the floor,” added Skiles, whose Magic team opens the regular season on Wednesday night at the Amway Center against the Washington Wizards. “We have a bunch of willing guys who want to do the things we’re teaching them. They have athleticism and youth and I don’t see any reason why we can’t be pretty good on that end.”
Skiles’ track record as a turnaround artist shows that he certainly knows what he’s talking about. “The Skiles Effect” has been very much real in his 13 years as a head coach. To wit:
Skiles took over Phoenix’s head coaching job 20 games into the 1999-00 season and he quickly turned the Suns into a powerhouse because of their defense. That year, Phoenix finished third in the NBA in defensive efficiency – 16 spots better than it had been the season before and 14 spots ahead of where the Suns ranked in the first 20 games under then coach Danny Ainge. Under Skiles, Phoenix reached the conference semifinals in 1999-00 and won 51 games and was back in the playoffs in 2000-01. Skiles proved that improvement was no fluke as he did the very same thing in Chicago a couple of years later. The Bulls ranked 21st in the NBA in defensive efficiency in the 2002-03 season under then-coach Bill Cartwright, but climbed all the way to second in the NBA in two seasons. Skiles said of all the teams that he’s coached, it’s that young Bulls squad that reminds him so much of the youthful talent that the Magic have onboard now. Not out of the NBA long after resigning his post in Chicago, Skiles did one of his best coaching jobs ever with the Milwaukee Bucks. A Milwaukee team that ranked dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency in 2007-08 under Larry Krystkowiak steadily climbed to 15th in 2008-09 and a stunning second in 2009-10. That 2009-10 season, Milwaukee had its first winning season in seven years with 46 wins and Skiles finished second in the NBA’s Coach of the Year balloting. Just in case Orlando’s players were wondering whether Skiles knew what he was talking about when it came to defense, the coach gave the team a brief synopsis of how his teams in the past turned things around. That quick history lesson helped to build a belief among the Magic players that brighter days were ahead. “He told us,” joked point guard Elfrid Payton, referring to learning about Skiles’ track record as a defensive guru through the years. “We know if we’ll do what he says it will help. And I definitely think we have the guys here that can translate it to the court. Vic (Oladipo) is a good defender, (Aaron Gordon) is a good defender and you can go down this. We have a team that can defend.” Skiles’ challenge of turning the Magic into a tough-minded team that relies on its defense to win could be his most difficult one yet. Orlando has been a mess on that end of the floor much of the past three seasons, bottoming out last year when they ranked 28th in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed and 25th in defensive efficiency. Skiles convinced the Magic that if they truly wanted to win and truly wanted to get the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the biggest changes would have to come on the defensive end of the floor. And as the Magic head into Wednesday’s opener, there are tangible signs that “The Skiles Effect” is taking hold in Orlando. The Magic went 6-2 in the preseason, winning their final five games. Exhibition records can often be deceiving, especially when considering that one of the defeats came against a non-NBA team (Brazil’s Flamengo) and two foes (Houston and Memphis) rested their starters for long stretches of games. But the numbers that give the most hope are these: 39.8 percent shooting allowed (fifth in the NBA), 30 percent 3-point shooting allowed (seventh), 95.9 points per game (10th) and a defensive rating of 95.9 (12th). Skiles has been highly complimentary of his team’s willingness to adapt to his defensive principles, but it’s those tangible numbers that tell him the Magic are heading in the right direction on that end of the floor. “We feel like we’ve made a ton of progress, but where we are exactly we don’t know for sure,” said Skiles, stressing that the team will have to work to carry its momentum into the regular season. “I feel comfortable that we’re going to play hard. And if we play any sort of defense like we did the last three games of the exhibition season, we’ll be in good shape.” Upon getting hired by the Magic in late May, Skiles began pouring over hours of game footage from last season so that he could fully understand where the problems were defensively. He basically came to assessment that the Magic have the talent to be a solid defensive team, but they needed to play harder, play more together and be held to a high standard on that end of the floor. Defending without fouling – one of the problems from last season that has lingered into this preseason – is still a major concern, Skiles said. Throughout training camp, Skiles has been on center Nikola Vucevic about being in position earlier and being a threat at the rim. He’s talked to Oladipo and Payton about not gambling so much on the wings. And he likes the potential of second-year forward Aaron Gordon as a potential elite-level defender, and he thinks Tobias Harris can use his quickness and basketball smarts at power forward to make up for he might lack in size. Put all of that together, sprinkle in a common purpose, and Skiles feel that the Magic can make life miserable for foes on a nightly basis. “Some of it’s maybe (playing) a little harder, but there just needed to be that if you have a set scheme, whatever is going on on the other side of the floor, you four know what I’m supposed to be doing and you can react accordingly,” Skiles said. “You can’t have a weak link in that chain because the other team will find it. But with everybody moving and reacting together – I think we’ve made a lot of progress with that. Early on in camp, we’d have a couple of guys doing it right and one not there yet. We seem to – one through 14 now – we seem to be getting on the same page now. We’ve obviously made progress going against each other, but now it’s John Wall, (Marcin) Gortat and Nene.” All three of those players are stars for the Wizards, the formidable opponent in Wednesday’s season-opener. And it doesn’t get any easier after that with Oklahoma City (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook), Chicago (Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler), New Orleans (Anthony Davis) and Houston (Dwight Howard, James Harden and Ty Lawson) to follow. Facing that kind of elite talent right away should give Orlando an immediate gauge of how far they have come defensively. “It’s going to be a big test for us getting five top teams right away,” Harris said. “Our goal is to make our impact known from the start, really execute everything that we’re doing and get these wins. We can’t get discouraged and we have to keep going. It’s about us breaking that mental barrier and showing these teams that we can compete.” Added Vucevic, who has used his length to become more of a physical presence on defense in the preseason: “From the first day that (Skiles) got here he made us understand that in order for us to win we have to defend. The best teams in this league are the best defensive teams. Obviously we don’t have those type of scorers who are going to go out there and score 30 every night, so we have to defend. We’ll win by stopping people.”
Skiles proved that improvement was no fluke as he did the very same thing in Chicago a couple of years later. The Bulls ranked 21st in the NBA in defensive efficiency in the 2002-03 season under then-coach Bill Cartwright, but climbed all the way to second in the NBA in two seasons. Skiles said of all the teams that he’s coached, it’s that young Bulls squad that reminds him so much of the youthful talent that the Magic have onboard now. Not out of the NBA long after resigning his post in Chicago, Skiles did one of his best coaching jobs ever with the Milwaukee Bucks. A Milwaukee team that ranked dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency in 2007-08 under Larry Krystkowiak steadily climbed to 15th in 2008-09 and a stunning second in 2009-10. That 2009-10 season, Milwaukee had its first winning season in seven years with 46 wins and Skiles finished second in the NBA’s Coach of the Year balloting. Just in case Orlando’s players were wondering whether Skiles knew what he was talking about when it came to defense, the coach gave the team a brief synopsis of how his teams in the past turned things around. That quick history lesson helped to build a belief among the Magic players that brighter days were ahead. “He told us,” joked point guard Elfrid Payton, referring to learning about Skiles’ track record as a defensive guru through the years. “We know if we’ll do what he says it will help. And I definitely think we have the guys here that can translate it to the court. Vic (Oladipo) is a good defender, (Aaron Gordon) is a good defender and you can go down this. We have a team that can defend.” Skiles’ challenge of turning the Magic into a tough-minded team that relies on its defense to win could be his most difficult one yet. Orlando has been a mess on that end of the floor much of the past three seasons, bottoming out last year when they ranked 28th in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed and 25th in defensive efficiency. Skiles convinced the Magic that if they truly wanted to win and truly wanted to get the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the biggest changes would have to come on the defensive end of the floor. And as the Magic head into Wednesday’s opener, there are tangible signs that “The Skiles Effect” is taking hold in Orlando. The Magic went 6-2 in the preseason, winning their final five games. Exhibition records can often be deceiving, especially when considering that one of the defeats came against a non-NBA team (Brazil’s Flamengo) and two foes (Houston and Memphis) rested their starters for long stretches of games. But the numbers that give the most hope are these: 39.8 percent shooting allowed (fifth in the NBA), 30 percent 3-point shooting allowed (seventh), 95.9 points per game (10th) and a defensive rating of 95.9 (12th). Skiles has been highly complimentary of his team’s willingness to adapt to his defensive principles, but it’s those tangible numbers that tell him the Magic are heading in the right direction on that end of the floor. “We feel like we’ve made a ton of progress, but where we are exactly we don’t know for sure,” said Skiles, stressing that the team will have to work to carry its momentum into the regular season. “I feel comfortable that we’re going to play hard. And if we play any sort of defense like we did the last three games of the exhibition season, we’ll be in good shape.” Upon getting hired by the Magic in late May, Skiles began pouring over hours of game footage from last season so that he could fully understand where the problems were defensively. He basically came to assessment that the Magic have the talent to be a solid defensive team, but they needed to play harder, play more together and be held to a high standard on that end of the floor. Defending without fouling – one of the problems from last season that has lingered into this preseason – is still a major concern, Skiles said. Throughout training camp, Skiles has been on center Nikola Vucevic about being in position earlier and being a threat at the rim. He’s talked to Oladipo and Payton about not gambling so much on the wings. And he likes the potential of second-year forward Aaron Gordon as a potential elite-level defender, and he thinks Tobias Harris can use his quickness and basketball smarts at power forward to make up for he might lack in size. Put all of that together, sprinkle in a common purpose, and Skiles feel that the Magic can make life miserable for foes on a nightly basis. “Some of it’s maybe (playing) a little harder, but there just needed to be that if you have a set scheme, whatever is going on on the other side of the floor, you four know what I’m supposed to be doing and you can react accordingly,” Skiles said. “You can’t have a weak link in that chain because the other team will find it. But with everybody moving and reacting together – I think we’ve made a lot of progress with that. Early on in camp, we’d have a couple of guys doing it right and one not there yet. We seem to – one through 14 now – we seem to be getting on the same page now. We’ve obviously made progress going against each other, but now it’s John Wall, (Marcin) Gortat and Nene.” All three of those players are stars for the Wizards, the formidable opponent in Wednesday’s season-opener. And it doesn’t get any easier after that with Oklahoma City (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook), Chicago (Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler), New Orleans (Anthony Davis) and Houston (Dwight Howard, James Harden and Ty Lawson) to follow. Facing that kind of elite talent right away should give Orlando an immediate gauge of how far they have come defensively. “It’s going to be a big test for us getting five top teams right away,” Harris said. “Our goal is to make our impact known from the start, really execute everything that we’re doing and get these wins. We can’t get discouraged and we have to keep going. It’s about us breaking that mental barrier and showing these teams that we can compete.” Added Vucevic, who has used his length to become more of a physical presence on defense in the preseason: “From the first day that (Skiles) got here he made us understand that in order for us to win we have to defend. The best teams in this league are the best defensive teams. Obviously we don’t have those type of scorers who are going to go out there and score 30 every night, so we have to defend. We’ll win by stopping people.”
Not out of the NBA long after resigning his post in Chicago, Skiles did one of his best coaching jobs ever with the Milwaukee Bucks. A Milwaukee team that ranked dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency in 2007-08 under Larry Krystkowiak steadily climbed to 15th in 2008-09 and a stunning second in 2009-10. That 2009-10 season, Milwaukee had its first winning season in seven years with 46 wins and Skiles finished second in the NBA’s Coach of the Year balloting. Just in case Orlando’s players were wondering whether Skiles knew what he was talking about when it came to defense, the coach gave the team a brief synopsis of how his teams in the past turned things around. That quick history lesson helped to build a belief among the Magic players that brighter days were ahead. “He told us,” joked point guard Elfrid Payton, referring to learning about Skiles’ track record as a defensive guru through the years. “We know if we’ll do what he says it will help. And I definitely think we have the guys here that can translate it to the court. Vic (Oladipo) is a good defender, (Aaron Gordon) is a good defender and you can go down this. We have a team that can defend.” Skiles’ challenge of turning the Magic into a tough-minded team that relies on its defense to win could be his most difficult one yet. Orlando has been a mess on that end of the floor much of the past three seasons, bottoming out last year when they ranked 28th in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed and 25th in defensive efficiency. Skiles convinced the Magic that if they truly wanted to win and truly wanted to get the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the biggest changes would have to come on the defensive end of the floor. And as the Magic head into Wednesday’s opener, there are tangible signs that “The Skiles Effect” is taking hold in Orlando. The Magic went 6-2 in the preseason, winning their final five games. Exhibition records can often be deceiving, especially when considering that one of the defeats came against a non-NBA team (Brazil’s Flamengo) and two foes (Houston and Memphis) rested their starters for long stretches of games. But the numbers that give the most hope are these: 39.8 percent shooting allowed (fifth in the NBA), 30 percent 3-point shooting allowed (seventh), 95.9 points per game (10th) and a defensive rating of 95.9 (12th). Skiles has been highly complimentary of his team’s willingness to adapt to his defensive principles, but it’s those tangible numbers that tell him the Magic are heading in the right direction on that end of the floor. “We feel like we’ve made a ton of progress, but where we are exactly we don’t know for sure,” said Skiles, stressing that the team will have to work to carry its momentum into the regular season. “I feel comfortable that we’re going to play hard. And if we play any sort of defense like we did the last three games of the exhibition season, we’ll be in good shape.” Upon getting hired by the Magic in late May, Skiles began pouring over hours of game footage from last season so that he could fully understand where the problems were defensively. He basically came to assessment that the Magic have the talent to be a solid defensive team, but they needed to play harder, play more together and be held to a high standard on that end of the floor. Defending without fouling – one of the problems from last season that has lingered into this preseason – is still a major concern, Skiles said. Throughout training camp, Skiles has been on center Nikola Vucevic about being in position earlier and being a threat at the rim. He’s talked to Oladipo and Payton about not gambling so much on the wings. And he likes the potential of second-year forward Aaron Gordon as a potential elite-level defender, and he thinks Tobias Harris can use his quickness and basketball smarts at power forward to make up for he might lack in size. Put all of that together, sprinkle in a common purpose, and Skiles feel that the Magic can make life miserable for foes on a nightly basis. “Some of it’s maybe (playing) a little harder, but there just needed to be that if you have a set scheme, whatever is going on on the other side of the floor, you four know what I’m supposed to be doing and you can react accordingly,” Skiles said. “You can’t have a weak link in that chain because the other team will find it. But with everybody moving and reacting together – I think we’ve made a lot of progress with that. Early on in camp, we’d have a couple of guys doing it right and one not there yet. We seem to – one through 14 now – we seem to be getting on the same page now. We’ve obviously made progress going against each other, but now it’s John Wall, (Marcin) Gortat and Nene.” All three of those players are stars for the Wizards, the formidable opponent in Wednesday’s season-opener. And it doesn’t get any easier after that with Oklahoma City (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook), Chicago (Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler), New Orleans (Anthony Davis) and Houston (Dwight Howard, James Harden and Ty Lawson) to follow. Facing that kind of elite talent right away should give Orlando an immediate gauge of how far they have come defensively. “It’s going to be a big test for us getting five top teams right away,” Harris said. “Our goal is to make our impact known from the start, really execute everything that we’re doing and get these wins. We can’t get discouraged and we have to keep going. It’s about us breaking that mental barrier and showing these teams that we can compete.” Added Vucevic, who has used his length to become more of a physical presence on defense in the preseason: “From the first day that (Skiles) got here he made us understand that in order for us to win we have to defend. The best teams in this league are the best defensive teams. Obviously we don’t have those type of scorers who are going to go out there and score 30 every night, so we have to defend. We’ll win by stopping people.”
Just in case Orlando’s players were wondering whether Skiles knew what he was talking about when it came to defense, the coach gave the team a brief synopsis of how his teams in the past turned things around. That quick history lesson helped to build a belief among the Magic players that brighter days were ahead.
“He told us,” joked point guard Elfrid Payton, referring to learning about Skiles’ track record as a defensive guru through the years. “We know if we’ll do what he says it will help. And I definitely think we have the guys here that can translate it to the court. Vic (Oladipo) is a good defender, (Aaron Gordon) is a good defender and you can go down this. We have a team that can defend.”
Skiles’ challenge of turning the Magic into a tough-minded team that relies on its defense to win could be his most difficult one yet. Orlando has been a mess on that end of the floor much of the past three seasons, bottoming out last year when they ranked 28th in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed and 25th in defensive efficiency.
Skiles convinced the Magic that if they truly wanted to win and truly wanted to get the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the biggest changes would have to come on the defensive end of the floor. And as the Magic head into Wednesday’s opener, there are tangible signs that “The Skiles Effect” is taking hold in Orlando.
The Magic went 6-2 in the preseason, winning their final five games. Exhibition records can often be deceiving, especially when considering that one of the defeats came against a non-NBA team (Brazil’s Flamengo) and two foes (Houston and Memphis) rested their starters for long stretches of games.
But the numbers that give the most hope are these: 39.8 percent shooting allowed (fifth in the NBA), 30 percent 3-point shooting allowed (seventh), 95.9 points per game (10th) and a defensive rating of 95.9 (12th). Skiles has been highly complimentary of his team’s willingness to adapt to his defensive principles, but it’s those tangible numbers that tell him the Magic are heading in the right direction on that end of the floor.
“We feel like we’ve made a ton of progress, but where we are exactly we don’t know for sure,” said Skiles, stressing that the team will have to work to carry its momentum into the regular season. “I feel comfortable that we’re going to play hard. And if we play any sort of defense like we did the last three games of the exhibition season, we’ll be in good shape.”
Upon getting hired by the Magic in late May, Skiles began pouring over hours of game footage from last season so that he could fully understand where the problems were defensively. He basically came to assessment that the Magic have the talent to be a solid defensive team, but they needed to play harder, play more together and be held to a high standard on that end of the floor. Defending without fouling – one of the problems from last season that has lingered into this preseason – is still a major concern, Skiles said.
Throughout training camp, Skiles has been on center Nikola Vucevic about being in position earlier and being a threat at the rim. He’s talked to Oladipo and Payton about not gambling so much on the wings. And he likes the potential of second-year forward Aaron Gordon as a potential elite-level defender, and he thinks Tobias Harris can use his quickness and basketball smarts at power forward to make up for he might lack in size. Put all of that together, sprinkle in a common purpose, and Skiles feel that the Magic can make life miserable for foes on a nightly basis.
“Some of it’s maybe (playing) a little harder, but there just needed to be that if you have a set scheme, whatever is going on on the other side of the floor, you four know what I’m supposed to be doing and you can react accordingly,” Skiles said. “You can’t have a weak link in that chain because the other team will find it. But with everybody moving and reacting together – I think we’ve made a lot of progress with that. Early on in camp, we’d have a couple of guys doing it right and one not there yet. We seem to – one through 14 now – we seem to be getting on the same page now. We’ve obviously made progress going against each other, but now it’s John Wall, (Marcin) Gortat and Nene.”
All three of those players are stars for the Wizards, the formidable opponent in Wednesday’s season-opener. And it doesn’t get any easier after that with Oklahoma City (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook), Chicago (Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler), New Orleans (Anthony Davis) and Houston (Dwight Howard, James Harden and Ty Lawson) to follow. Facing that kind of elite talent right away should give Orlando an immediate gauge of how far they have come defensively.
“It’s going to be a big test for us getting five top teams right away,” Harris said. “Our goal is to make our impact known from the start, really execute everything that we’re doing and get these wins. We can’t get discouraged and we have to keep going. It’s about us breaking that mental barrier and showing these teams that we can compete.” Added Vucevic, who has used his length to become more of a physical presence on defense in the preseason: “From the first day that (Skiles) got here he made us understand that in order for us to win we have to defend. The best teams in this league are the best defensive teams. Obviously we don’t have those type of scorers who are going to go out there and score 30 every night, so we have to defend. We’ll win by stopping people.”
