Scott Skiles Out As Bucks Coach

10:06am: The Bucks have officially confirmed that Skiles is out as head coach and that Boylan will assume the reins.

"Scott and I met yesterday after practice and after some honest discussion, we both came to the conclusion that it was best to part ways," Hammond said in the press release. "It is never an easy decision to make, but in the end a decision we felt was best for both parties. I want to thank Scott for his hard work, dedication and the imprint he leaves on our team and our entire organization. We all wish him and his family well."

TUESDAY, 12:09am: Boylan will coach the Bucks for rest of the season, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. Woelfel hears the team was close to firing Skiles recently, but the coach earned extra time when the Bucks beat the Heat on December 29th. That wasn't his first brush with an exit from Milwaukee. Skiles, thinking he wouldn't be back, cleaned out his desk at the end of last season, Woelfel notes (All Twitter links).

MONDAY, 11:51pm: Assistant coach Jim Boylan will take over for Skiles on an interim basis, just as he did when the Bulls fired Skiles in 2007, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

11:32pm: The Bucks and Scott Skiles have agreed to part ways immediately, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. The move comes on the heels of a report by TNT's David Aldridge that indicated Skiles would not return to the team when his contract expires this summer.

Skiles and GM John Hammond entered the season with high stakes on the team's performance, but after a strong start, the Bucks have lost four in a row to drop to 16-16. Skiles' agent, Keith Glass, denied rumors last year that Skiles was seeking a buyout of the final year of his deal. A reputed taskmaster, Skiles has clashed with some players, notably Stephen Jackson, who recently scoffed at the suggestion that he and Skiles had spoken since the team dealt him away last season. Skiles "hated his team" this season, a close friend told Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Skiles finishes his tenure in Milwaukee with a 162-182 record, highlighted by a 46-36 campaign in 2009/10, when the sixth-seeded Bucks took the No. 3 seed Hawks to seven games in the first round even without an injured Andrew Bogut. That was the only playoff appearance in Skiles' four and a half seasons with the team. He's 443-433 all-time as a head coach, including stops with the Suns and Bulls. 

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