Phil Jackson Speaks on the Knicks

[antisthenes]

For people trying to badmouth Jackson, by acting like he road the coat tails of great players to championships, take a look at these numbers of his 4 best players:

Shaq:
Years in league/Titles without Jackson: 14- 1
Years in league/Titles with Jackson:5- 3

Kobe:
Years in league/Titles without Jackson: 5-0
Years in league/Titles with Jackson: 10-5

Pippen:
Years in league/Titles without Jackson: 8-0
Years in league/Titles with Jackson: 8-6

Jordan:
Years in league/Titles without Jackson: 7-0
Years in league/Titles with Jackson: 8-6

34 combined seasons without Jackson, and only 1 with a championship. Yet, in roughly 18 years he won 11 titles with those guys. Explain to me who rode whose coat tails... Not saying Jackson did it himself, but it's pretty obvious that he made a huge impact.

[tsherkin]

I think what people are failing to realize is that pretty much only Red Auerbach (who was awesome in his own right) stands with Phil in terms of his ability to bring teams to lots of titles.

There are exactly three franchises that have experienced a three-peat, and two of them did it with Phil (Chicago and Los Angeles, the obvious third being Red's Celtics).

It takes a great deal of focus, dedication and emotional management to keep people into it long enough to do what those three squads did, especially as rosters rotate over the years and all the little changes and physical hurdles occur, etc. Duncan has never even MADE the Finals in consecutive seasons under Pops (who is himself a phenomenal, all-time great coach). The Lakers under Riley were the first team in two decades to just REPEAT in the NBA Finals and then couldn't keep it together for a three-peat. The Rockets couldn't do it. Phil's strength lies in his ability to keep his teams focused on the bigger picture, buying into his dream of perennial contention and then making sure that his men have the emotional stamina to actually make it through the 82-game grind and the uber-intense postseason.

That's not a common thing.

It's also dumb as hell to ignore that literally any coach ever needs to have a ton of talent in order to win. The Pistons, whatever you think of their title in 2004, had a great deal of talent. That was one of the most stacked starting 5s in league history. They didn't have a great deal of superstar offensive talent in any one player (although Billups, Sheed and Rip certainly balled out within their roles) but they played great team ball and thugged you on defense with exceptional results (very apropos of their franchise history, I think).

Auerbach, for example, had one of the best players in the history of the league (a lot like Phil did during each of his three-peat runs) and then a rotating cast of All-Stars, roleplayers and contributors. He also, of course, benefited from Russell being an innovator in defensive style, so he was shaking the league with something never before seen, and that played a huge role in what they accomplished. Jordan and Shaq, like Russell, were players of such thundering dominance that they reshaped the league around them. You'll notice that no one was able to accomplish this with Wilt. Or Kareem. And that no one was able to get West/Baylor over the hump together despite making the Finals so often. You'll notice that the 80s Celtics, though they once made the Finals in four consecutive seasons, never repeated and that Heinsohn wasn't able to coach Boston into consecutive Finals appearances in the 70s (nor was Bill Fitch in the very early 80s). Rivers hasn't been able to get his Celtics into the Finals in consecutive seasons either (though like some of these other guys, injuries are a ubiquitous consideration).

It takes some friggin' DOING in order to accomplish these things. That's what ticks me off about people who rip on Phil Jackson. Yeah, the man likes to win, but what he does isn't something that's magically simple to replicate. Pops has had teams with none of the personal issues from the egos that Phil has coached and he's not really come close to doing what Phil did. He's done a fantastic job and has milked HIS superstar for all he was worth but he wasn't able to do the same thing.

It isn't easy to work with someone like MJ. Or Shaq. Or Kobe (let alone someone like Shaq and someone like Kobe TOGETHER). It isn't easy to coordinate all these dominant personalities and to establish roles and hierarchies, to keep the "roleplayers" satisfied even though they don't get the glory and tend to do a lot of the dirty work unsung. Pat Riley is all remembered for his "15 Strong" thing from the 06 Heat title run and of course for his work in the 80s but even with that stacked Showtime Lakers squad, he couldn't do what Phil did and he had teams that were similarly or MORE stacked.

People need to wise up.

[NCHeels2008]

Tyler spits fire again

[NCHeels2008]

He's not wrong, though. The Knicks were assembled by an idiot, they are not a team that has good balance, good off/def split, a great star, etc. They really don't have the foundation to compete for rings. They have a foundation to compete for a playoff spot and get canned in one of the first two rounds. I'm not sure a guy who has nearly a dozen titles would really be content with that kind of opportunity, because that team needs to be blown apart and redesigned before it'll go anywhere.

Also, there's the hint there that he doesn't like Melo as a foundation player. Notice how he had positive things to say about Amare before effectively calling him a system player? And then all he said about Melo was that he has to quit sucking as a passer? It echoed a lot of comments he had about Kobe over the years, the ball-stopping and stuff, only Kobe's about a zillion times more effective a scorer and used to be a way better defender as well (note to Kobe-ites: not a shot at Bryant).

I think he's objecting because the team is in disarray and he's not a huge Melo fan.

Do you think Melo could ever win anything of substance? I'm thinking no at this point in his career.

[Josephpaul]

I'd rather have Spo.

[EntropyPR]

Woody will lead us to the promised land, no worries.

The 2nd round?

Yeah the same place Kobe has led you to a 1-8 record in the last two years.

Lol and whats is the Knicks 1st round record in the last 10 years? 1- 888989?

[jeff1624]

Old Phil got his pink panties in a bunch, because James Dolan never called him or wanted him.

That's because Dolan is an idiot.

[Heat3]

I'd rather have Spo.

PJ is 2-4 vs Spo

[Josephpaul]

Well then .... Clearly SPO> PJ

[betterdayz02]

The Knicks are broken.

[[GR]]

Old Phil got his pink panties in a bunch, because James Dolan never called him or wanted him.

James Dolan not seriously considering old Phil hurts Knicks more than anyone else..

They did reach out to him, but by 3rd party. Phil just wants his ego stroked.

[NyCeEvO]

You guys are crazy.

I think the guy who has won 11 titles would know something about what it takes to win lol.

[Jay10]

You guys are crazy.

I think the guy who has won 11 titles would know something about what it takes to win lol.

an all-star team.

[BlueDawn]

Lots of tight fans in here.

[FlipTSO]

That last line, combined with knowing how Phil likes to take subtle shots at ppl through the media who have angered him, it kind of makes me think he wanted that job. But maybe the Knicks refused to pay him what he asked or something.