“Old friend” Scott Skiles is back in town tonight as the Bulls host the Milwaukee Bucks. “Old friend to those of us in the media who enjoyed his tenure here but definitely not a friend to some of his former players and current members of this Bulls team.  Many of them still harbor resentment to their former coach for how he treated them.
 
As for the game itself you dont want to get too nutso and say it’s a huge game when it comes just four games into the season but there are reasons that do make it important. After winning the season opener this team got clobbered at Boston and then let a winnable game get away from them down in Miami. If they were to lose tonight to an inferior Bucks team that would be three losses in a row with a hard upcoming schedule. That would be deflating to say the least so if for no other reasons, early season momentum and confidence are on the line.
 
We’ll also watch to see if Vinnie Del Negro continues to shy away from using Tyrus Thomas in the fourth quarter. He has already made a habit of benching his starting power forward when games are on the line. He could be trying to motivate Thomas but this tactic wont work. Skiles used to try the same thing with Thomas with opposite results. It’s also pretty obvious to most team observers that Thomas wont be here in the long run. The team had a chance to offer him a contract extension but passed on it. The Bulls are definitely looking towards next summer when a great free agent class will be available but the salary cap continues to go down which will make their job harder. If John Paxson realizes that he wont be able to sign the likes of Chris Bosch or Dwayne Wade then he’ll likely try and acquire star players during this season by making trades and Thomas will be front and center in that.

-David Schuster