MILWAUKEE -- It has been said that Scott Skiles comes with an expiration date, that he has a short shelf-life as an NBA coach because he pushes his players hard and, while they experience success, they eventually tire of his demands and tune him out.

Skiles, who was hired Monday to coach the Milwaukee Bucks, refuses to accept criticism that he was too tough on his players during coaching stints in Phoenix and Chicago.

"I always feel like I'm supposed to apologize for that and I'm not sure that's the tact I want to take," Skiles said. "Anybody that is going to come to work with enthusiasm, concentrate and play hard will never have a problem with me. ... This is one of the things that's put on a lot of coaches now, that somehow if you accept mediocrity and you accept poor effort, that's better than not accepting it. That's a philosophy I just can't endorse."

If that sounds like Skiles is uncompromising, that he refuses to give in to players who won't do what they're asked to do, that he confronts players who don't pass the ball and play defense, then there is only one thing to say about his return to Milwaukee:

Good.

If ever a team needed a coach who will make demands and hold players accountable, it is the Bucks. After years of underachieving under soft coaches, they needed one with a firm hand. Skiles, an all-time tough guy during a 10-year NBA career that began as the first-round draft pick of the Bucks in 1986, fits the description.

His hiring completed a good two weeks for Sen. Herb Kohl, the Bucks' owner. First, Kohl lured a general manager, John Hammond, from Detroit. Then, he watched Hammond fire the overmatched Larry Krystkowiak and aggressively pursue Skiles, locking him up with a reported four-year contract before other teams with openings could get involved.

Mostly, what Kohl got was two guys who have known success in the NBA. The Pistons have been the class of the Eastern Conference with Hammond as the top assistant to president Joe Dumars. Skiles was fired by the Bulls after a 9-16 start this season, but led them to the playoffs the three seasons before that. His NBA coaching record is 281-251.

"We were looking for a coach who has won, a coach who has experience, a coach whose teams have played with discipline," Hammond said. "If that means (we wanted) a disciplined coach, then so be it."

Given the magnitude of the rebuilding project facing the Bucks, Hammond also wanted a coach who's been in these situations before.

"To have someone that has had that experience twice and had success in doing so, I think that's invaluable," he said.

Actually, Skiles inherited a good team at Phoenix in 1999-2000 and kept it that way until 2001-02, when the Jason Kidd-for-Stephon Marbury trade led to a 25-26 start and Skiles' dismissal. The Bulls were 4-12 when he took over in 2003-04 and 19-47 after that, but won 47, 41 and 49 games the next three years.

"It's not going to be easy; I don't have any magic dust to sprinkle on people," Skiles said. "We're going to have to do it by working harder and playing better defense. The first step will be getting competitive every single night. The team has not been competitive every night."

Skiles knows Milwaukee's personnel because he coached against them the last five years and is a close friend of Krystkowiak's. He declined to analyze the players or discuss the Bucks' issues, though he did say one problem was "the poor shot selection that has led to a lot of the defensive woes."

That doesn't fit Skiles' style, which is based on seeking good shots on offense and communicating on defense.

"I believe in playing hard, playing defense, playing with passion, bringing an enthusiasm every single day," he said. "That's what I'll be after."

As in the past, Skiles will do it in a demanding yet fair manner. It'll be up to the Bucks to adjust because Skiles has shown he will hold players accountable.

"Whatever mistakes I feel like I made, I'm going to keep them private," he said. "I'll keep them to myself and try to learn from anything that happened and get better. I think I was better in Chicago than I was in Phoenix and I'm pretty sure I'll be better here than I was in Chicago."

If Skiles has the same effect on the Bucks that he had on the Bulls, no one will care how long his shelf-life is because anything would be an improvement over the last few years.