FanHouse AdrianGriffin

So, among all the bodies to switch places in the big threesome today, guess which three Bulls all got shipped out of Chicago? Ben Wallace, Adrian Griffin and Joe Smith -- the entire Veteran Discipline Committee which has (in multiple ways) held young Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas down.

You may remember this episode:

Chicago's elder statesmen didn't believe being benched for one game was enough punishment after rookie Joakim Noah lashed out at assistant coach Ron Banks during practice last week. Noah was benched for Friday's game at coach Jim Boylan's behest; his Sunday benching came from the mighty hammer of... Adrian Griffin and Ben Wallace.

First, Scott Skiles gets canned. Then, the Discipline Committee gets traded. Honestly, who will be there to keep Noah in check? This troubles me greatly. There is a madman loose!

Chicago's elder statesmen didn't believe being benched for one game was enough punishment after rookie Joakim Noah lashed out at assistant coach Ron Banks during practice last week. Noah was benched for Friday's game at coach Jim Boylan's behest; his Sunday benching came from the mighty hammer of... Adrian Griffin and Ben Wallace (via BallHype).

Griffin parses the episode as something which will set Chicago's myriad youngsters straight; Blog-a-Bull has a bit different assessment.

But see, if you're going to play this "galvanizing the team" game, it shouldn't be initiated by Griffin and Wallace: someone who doesn't play, and someone who can no longer play (and is known for clashing with coaches himself!). And then have it endorsed by a lame-duck coach.

Oh, and you can't then walk on the floor with this welling of team spirit... and then give up 38 in the first quarter. Lose to the Hawks by 21.

Knowing how proud a man Joakim has made himself out to be, I assume he was tickled pink watching his captors get stomped.

Scott Skiles has made few friends this year -- fans and Bulls alike seem to have soured on the S.S. Does Skiles sense this? Because this unsolicited public apology to Tyrus Thomas -- Skiles ripped him Tuesday, saying he's never sprinted the floor once -- doesn't seem like it's coming from a confident man. From the Chicago Tribune:

"And let me say something else on the record since you [reporters] are here: I was way too harsh in my comments toward Tyrus," Skiles said. "And I apologized to him personally. I felt really bad about that. I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did. I wasn't misquoted or anything. But I felt bad about it."

Why would Skiles feel bad about it? Because he was wrong. It's one thing to take a stand on a young player needing to improve to gain playing time -- every coach does that. But Skiles doesn't really seem to get it. He's hurting his team's chances to win by playing Adrian Griffin over Tyrus (according to most who watch the team every day, as well the numbers and common sense).

Does Skiles think his job is on the line? Because he should. He has taken a team which was very nearly the two-seed in the East last year down to the absolutely depths of being, statistically, the worst team in the league. Something's got to change.