Milwaukee on demand

Skiles begins challenging Bucks with intense drive by Truman Reed / special to Bucks.com The Bucks know that Scott Skiles will demand consistent effort and accountability from his players this season. (Getty) MILWAUKEE -- When John Hammond pursued and eventually hired Scott Skiles as the 11th head coach in Milwaukee Bucks history, one of the factors that swayed him was Skiles' ability to engineer turnarounds of the two previous National Basketball Association teams he coached. Skiles received his first NBA head coaching assignment with Phoenix on Dec 13, 1999, after Danny Ainge resigned, and he promptly guided the Suns to a 40-22 record over the remainder of the season, posting the 12th-best first-year coaching record in NBA history. The Suns twice made the playoffs with Skiles at the helm and won a first-round series over... [read full story]