TIME TO MOVE, TIME TO CHANGE

This early, some NBA teams had already started to prepare for the next campaign and what a better way to start off by changing the mentors, who will guide the club towards respectability and a possible winning season.

The Milawaukee Bucks immediately fired ertswhile coach Larry Kryskowiak after the regular season and in his place comes former Chicago Bull coach Scott Skiles. Skiles is no stranger to the Brew City franchise, himself a former first round draftee of the Bucks in 1986 (22nd pick over-all). Skiles played 13 games for Milwaukee as a rookie, averaging 3.8 ppg before being traded to the Indiana Pacers the following season. Skiles' career coaching record is 281-251 win-loss mark. He had coaching stints in Phoenix (1999-2002) and Chicago (2003-2008). He was fired early in the 2007-08 season after leading the Bulls to a disappointing 9-16 start.

The New York Knicks had finally parted ways with coach Isiah Thomas and is now looking into several prospects to take over the coaching reigns of the Gotham City franchise. Leading the race is NBA TV analyst Mark Jackson. "Action" Jackson spent 7 years of his NBA playing career with the Knicks. Another candidate is Jackson's co-NBA TV analyst and ex-Knick mentor Jeff Van Gundy. Van Gundy had an NBA coaching record of 430-318 mark. His last team was the Houston Rockets in 2006-07 season. He coached the Knicks for 7 years before moving to the Rockets. Van Gundy is well known for his defensive coaching style and his teams usually led the league in points allowed per game. Either Jackson or Van Gundy will have a lot of work to do during the off-season to rebuild the once-proud NY squad.

The Charlotte Bobcats had also come into the picture with the firing of 1st year coach Sam Vincent. The former Boston Celtic pointguard posted a coaching record of 32-50 in his only season with the Bobcats. The big news current circulating in the NBA world is the possibility of the Bobcats tapping the services of the legendary Larry Brown. A few days ago, Brown resigned from his front office position with the Philadelphia 76ers and is widely speculated of returning to the NBA coaching world. The 67 year old Brown had an over-all pro coaching record (including the ABA) of 1,239 wins and 907 losses. He led the Detroit Pistons to the 2003-04 NBA championship.

Expect more coaching changes in the next few months as more teams start to fall off from the ongoing NBA play-offs.