Comments on: Zen? How about rapture?

By: c money

c money — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:22:28 +0000

Januko……Do you remember the Pistons…you know ZEEK, Lambeer, Dumars, Rodman, Vinnie, Aquire, Sally….yeah, those guys. Do you remember how dominant they were the ladder half of the 80’s? Do you remember they were big dogs following the LAKERS and the CELTICS domination of the NBA? the repeat in 89-90? BAD BOYS? Do you remember then knocking the Bulls out of the play-offs for three years straight? Those Detroit team were deep and EXPERIENCED. They were also a team on the decline when Jordan was rounding into his prime.

Like i said…the man won his rings…on the back of great players. The BULLS won three straight, Jordan retires and nothing. Jordan comes back three more titles.

Teams have teaming with great talent what? if I follow what you are trying to say, the Lakers are the epitome of a talented team. Half of their bench could start on more than half the teams in the league!! Their bench has ODOM, Farmar, Ariza!! They still have the best player in the league!! and yes, Experts to choose them to go to the finals this year…..and last.

The man is a Hall of Famer. It can be argued that it is because of the players. Jordan was an unstoppable force, And SHAQ/KOBE were the best inside out combo ever….period.

By: januko

januko — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:55:53 +0000

For me, Phil Jackson is great. Before Phil came in the Bulls, Jordan and Pippen were unable to win championships. When he came, well, 3 rings and more than a year later, another 3 rings. Ok, the Lakers. Before Phil came, Shaq and Kobe were together and yet, no rings. When Phil came, 3 rings. Yes, he was blessed with great players with him alright.

But my question is, if these players who were in their primes at that time, would they win the championships without Coach Phil Jackson and Assistant Coach Tex Winter? Or would they even appear in the NBA Finals? Those players were expected to win them all in those years but can they win it without these two great basketball minds?

All I know is Phil Jackson’s only flaw when having a bunch of great players was in 2004 where Karl Malone playing not in his usual self because of injuries and Gary Payton unable to adapt the Triangle.

This season and last season, Phil Jackson is coaching in a very different time. The NBA is now different from the 90’s and the early 2000’s. The NBA today has teams teeming with great talents and players are playing better than ever as a team and as individuals. There are simply a lot of good players out there than in the 90’s or early 2000’s.

Simply put, Coach Phil is no longer coaching a team being the favorite to win them all because now, if all of you readers, “experts’, and fans alike can get this, there is no clear-cut team to win it all!

By: c money

c money — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:59:31 +0000

OK. No one can dispute that fact that he has 9 Friggin rings. That alone places him among the coaching elite. No one can dispute the fact that he has had the opportunity to coach 3 of the best (KOBE, MJ, SHAQ) in their primes, and one of the top wherever you want to put him in PIPPEN. Jordan was the NBA throughout the 90’s, he made Phil…PERIOD. An inside out game of SHAQ in his prime and a rising KOBE better win championshipS, and they did under Phil’s watch.

Do you think Jordan would be as celebrated without phil? How about Shaq, KOBE?

Where do you think Phil would be without one of them on any of his teams? 9 Friggin rings? Greg Pop or……DOC Rivers?

Like i said….The guy is accomplished. He is a hall of famer, but, at the same time his credentials are little skewed.

Snoop….the playoffs are a lot diff. than the reg. season. Star players and Defense reign supreme. Show me who did Phoenix run on in the playoffs and you’ll see a team not worthy of going any further. The Lakers got in as what an 8th seed? Did the Clips have a better record than them? Who did they have? Elton Brand and a bunch of stiffs? Wasn’t that the year Phil was talkin about quiting?

And POP and Sloan are better coaches.

By: jn

jn — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:59:46 +0000

It never fails to crack me up how people spout their opinions with the line “fact is”. That’s not a fact, it’s even a stretch to call it an opinion. Specially when proof comes out to be “voices in my mind”.

For the record, timeouts are a tool, not a magical device. Calling timeouts will not make Garnett, Pierce and Allen go away.

Oh, by the way, I am sure it’s Jackson’s fault that Krause undermined the Bulls. After all, it’s not as if Krause hired Collins while Albeck was still the coach, then Jackson while Collins was still the coach, and finally introduced Tim Floyd to the Bulls while Jackson was still the coach. And then even poor Floyd clashed with Krause.

Phil Jackson has his dark side. He has made mistakes, he has gambled and lost sometimes. But the fact is, and this is a fact, that he has won nine rings as a coach, somehow beating out Doug Collins and Del Harris even though they coached the same teams.

By: Nathan Kavanaugh

Nathan Kavanaugh — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:10:20 +0000

C-MONEY, you are nuts. Scottie Pippen is not one of the top four talents in history. That’s just uninformed. Besides, if it’s only great players that win championships, why didn’t Jerry Sloan’s Jazz beat the Bulls in ‘97 or ‘98. They had more “great” players than the Bulls. So did the 1991 Lakers, for that matter. There are a lot of great players in the NBA, and a lot of good coaches. None of them are even close to Phil in the rings department though. That’s not an accident, and it’s not luck. Remember, Del Harris had that same lineup before Phil got to town (with arguably a better PG at the time in Van Exel). Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich have proven that it takes a special coach to get every last drop from their players. Some coaches do it better than others, and no one does it better than Phil. Talk about a loaded team, look at the championships Mike D’Antoni won in Phoenix with the (by far) most talented team in the league for four years: Zero.

By: Fatty

Fatty — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:31:43 +0000

Biblical allegory in my favorite sport, NBA Basketball, now that’s deep!

As a less than Holy Roller, I can appreciate how PJ’s rapturist upbringing can still influence his thoughts today.

I also feel his Timothy Leary days have as much to do with his Zen-like statements more than anything. Throwing out bizarre thoughts and watching us grovel over there meaning must be the ‘ultimate trip’ for the ‘Guru’ of empty words. (see Emperors invisible clothes story)

For PJ, its not ALL about the money, (according to PJ, $12 million a year is not materialism) nor is it all about winning, but how you win.

We are talking ‘legendary status’ or legacy. That thing that all US Presidents worry about and only a few NBA coaches will ever to care to dream. In the end, PJ wants to be considered the best of the best, and until he gets to that status, he may stay around for a few more terms of coaching.

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:03:10 +0000

Derek Karlos must be a freshman at UC Berkeley as he clearly has a lot to learn about journalism. In powerfully nuanced writing, Roland suggests that Phil’s fundamentalist upbringing is integral to his coaching philosophy. When the End will come is irrelevant; the End will come and PJ is preparing. He’s been waiting and expecting it all his life. The End is the motivation, as any Bible thumper can attest, and it better be the focus of these young millionaires or they’ll be as forgettable as a high school quarterback. Karlos would do well to have a few literature courses under his belt and know the difference between Flannery O’Connor and the Guiness Book of World Records before he calls something a “non-story.” I know nothing about pro basketball, but Roland’s perspective in this article guarantees that I’ll be awaiting the rapture this year along with the real Lakers fans.

By: Damon

Damon — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:26:55 +0000

@mada
im sry, but jackson became the bulls coach in 89. that means they lost with him in 1990. so your point isn’t thtat clear…

By: Snoopy2006

Snoopy2006 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:09:19 +0000

Ghost - I have many of the same concerns you do. I don’t like what Phil does on an ethical level. I think he, quite frankly, is an a** for the way he manipulates and tears down some players. But overrated? You look at the results, and he has 9 friggin rings. He maximized the potential of every single team he coached. You can say he’s an arrogant jerk (and I certainly do), but he’s rated just fine.

By: Snoopy2006

Snoopy2006 — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:07:11 +0000

C Money - Actually, Phil has 9, which, yes, is tied for the most in NBA history. You’re also forgetting the 2006 campaign, which many people say was Phil’s greatest coaching jobs. Kwame Brown? Smush Parker? This was a 1 man team, and Phil maximized its potential to the fullest, pushing a title-worthy Phx to 7 games (yes, as much as I hate them, I think the Suns could have won in a different era). He instilled such discipline in his team, to pound it inside to Kwame Brown and Luke Walton and Odom, that the Lakers became the only team other than the Spurs to slow down Phx’s style of play.

That’s what makes him great - getting the best out of his available talent. That’s what makes all coaches great. Is Pop any less great of a coach because he has the greatest “PF” of all time, and two of the best in Manu and Tony? Red Auerbach had Russell, Cousy, Havlicek. The only team that won without a superstar was the Pistons. Phil is great for the same reasons that Pop, Sloan, and others are - he makes his teams so much better than they were without him.