How do you ensure a Merry Christmas in Chicago? You fire the Grinch.

 You can’t put all the Bulls woes on ex-Suns coach Scott Skiles, who was fired Monday as coach of a 9-16 team that was the choice of many to reach the NBA Finals (OK, before Kevin Garnett wound up in Boston). Between the contract hassles of Luol Deng and Ben Gordon (neither of which was resolved) to all the Kobe Bryant trade rumors, there was so much garbage hangning over this team that it was bound to stumble out of the gate.

 But while Kirk Hinrich has been terrible and Ben Wallace has been invisible and Gordon a non-factor, Skiles’ abrasive style had worn out its welcome among the core players. Publicly ripping young players Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas was uncalled for, especially when there were so many other worthy candidates.

 You can’t get off to bad starts two years in a row and survive. Last year, the Bulls rose up after a 3-12 start and reached the playoffs. This time, they went 2-10 and have been a .500 team since. And when a team that lives on defense stops playing it, the time for a new voice had arrived.

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