Phil Jackson already working the refs

[farzi]

Phillip has been fined countless times over his career and a couple times this season alone for ref bashing he continually does this kind of stuff and doesn't worry about the irony and or being a hypocrite as many have said.

He is probably doing this more to rattle the young Thunder team and Durant more than anything. He speaks his mind and pays for it.

I really think more coaches need to do this, I really do. It's not like the fines actually hurt them, it gets in to the head of some of the younger players, and if more and more people start speaking out about preferential treatment, there might be (lol, there won't) more attention paid to the officiating.

[Blame Rasho]

Is this unexpected?

[That Nicka]

When in doubt.. rip on the injury side of things. You know he has had 2 hip replacements and sitting in a regular seat is actually painful for him.

Pretty petty off-topic dig.

Interesting that you use the word petty in a Phil Jackson thread... Appropriate word indeed however ---regardless of the context in which it was played...

If big Phil is in pain, he should perhaps call it a career...

what a clown... Somehow I dont think you'd have the same sentiments if this thread was about George Karl.

[HootieRules]

Durant fires back

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... ectful.php

I agree with Durant completely. Mr. Jackson stooped to another low. But Phil accomplished exactly what he set out to do, he got into Durant's head.

[ThreeYearPlan]

Durant fires back

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... ectful.php

I agree with Durant completely. Mr. Jackson stooped to another low. But Phil accomplished exactly what he set out to do, he got into Durant's head.

and Phil wins again

[Thundestruck]

So Durant answering questions about this when asked means Phil "won"? Please, this will have zero effect on Durant's game and the series either way. You actually think something like this is going to make Durant play different?

[dockingsched]

i knew the fanbase around here was getting younger, but man some people post like they started following the nba, and phil jackson, in november.

[NADALbULLS]

Durant's comment was the most unwise comment he could have said. He took Phil Jackson seriously. Never ever take Phil Jackson seriously. Now Phil is truly in his head. Durant, if he were smart, would have made a 3 word statement:

Cool

Story

Bro

That is all he needed to say, rather than go on and on and on and on and on about respect. Immature, but not surprising.

[Joe Kleazy]

PHIL ---------------------------- DURANT
------1----------------------------0----------

[joyner82]

One of 2 things are going to happen here


A. Durant is going to struggle due to pressing and pull a LeBron Finals special shooting like 38% from the field in a 4 game sweep via the Lakers

OR

B. Durant is going to destroy the Lakers

[TruSkool]

funny to see how the zen master is even working some of these posters on realGM

[DFan]

2002 WCF says hi, Phil!!!!!

[JimMurray]

So Durant answering questions about this when asked means Phil "won"? Please, this will have zero effect on Durant's game and the series either way. You actually think something like this is going to make Durant play different?

Yeah, I do. Durant's going to be playing with something to prove, and it will hurt the Thunder's chances. Durant can't beat the Lakers by himself, and I can't help but think that he's going to try at least a couple times during the season because of Phils comments. He said so himself....he feels disrespected. The fact that he even responded to those comments shows weakness, and Phil is playing on his immaturity....and winning.

[slick_watts]

I like Kevin Durant's response. As long as it doesn't affect him on the court, and it shouldn't, I think he responded as well as he possibly could.

Henry Abbot has a good piece about this, and I agree with his take: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... h-kindness

[mattle]

Phil might be in his head, but KD gave a lot of compliments to the refs in his quotes. It would not suprise me to see KD get MORE calls in game one. After that I dont think it will matter.

[TheBurbs]

The smart coaches do this before things get started. The slower ones wait till they are 2 games down.
Phil has been doing this for years and years. His job is to make sure his team has any and every advantage he can give them.

He has plenty of rings and this is one of the reasons why. Your coach isn't as good period.

[DanTown8587]

Was what he said wrong?

[Thundestruck]

So Durant answering questions about this when asked means Phil "won"? Please, this will have zero effect on Durant's game and the series either way. You actually think something like this is going to make Durant play different?

Yeah, I do. Durant's going to be playing with something to prove, and it will hurt the Thunder's chances. Durant can't beat the Lakers by himself, and I can't help but think that he's going to try at least a couple times during the season because of Phils comments. He said so himself....he feels disrespected. The fact that he even responded to those comments shows weakness, and Phil is playing on his immaturity....and winning.

You can read that much into Durant's response? He was asked about it and gave an honest answer. He said he thought it was disrespectful and the refs were smarter than to let that effect how you call a game. How is that showing weakness?

[JimMurray]

You can read that much into Durant's response? He was asked about it and gave an honest answer. He said he thought it was disrespectful and the refs were smarter than to let that effect how you call a game. How is that showing weakness?

Of course I can.

How do you think Kobe would have responded to a question like that? How do you think Lebron would have responded?

Kobe would have offered no comment, I'm pretty sure Lebron would have done the same. They really don't give a sh** about what you say about them, they know how to win regardless. Durant doesn't. Which is why he actually took offense to the comments, admitted that he took offense, and responded like a teenager. Durant might be nipping at Kobe's heels right now in terms of basketball skill (a fact exacerbated by Kobe's injuries), but they are worlds apart in terms of poise and knowing how to win. The series hasn't even started yet and he's more concerned with Phil's assessment of his basketball ability than how he's going to attack Ron Artest; and all Phil said was he gets superstar calls. It's that easy with kids. It's that easy.

[slick_watts]

The series hasn't even started yet and he's more concerned with Phil's assessment of his basketball ability than how he's going to attack Ron Artest; and all Phil said was he gets superstar calls. It's that easy with kids. It's that easy.

I see we've found the first RealGM poster to possess a telepathic link with an NBA player. I have so many questions I've wanted to ask Kevin Durant.. what's his favorite color? Does he play NBA2k10 as himself? Does that feel weird?

In all seriousness, Kevin Durant responded to the question respectfully, and gave his honest opinion on the matter. He's a genuine person. Over the summer goof ball Wayne Winston used adjusted plus minus to justify his claim that he wouldn't acquire Kevin Durant for free. Durant had no harsh words, only words of respect and that he knew he had to get better. What does he proceed to do? He has the second best adjusted +/- (to Dwight Howard) as calcuated by Wayne Winston's website.

Just because Kevin Durant has a different set of values, and responds differently to interviews and criticism doesn't mean he lets it affect his game negatively. I've been following Durant since he came into the league, and if anything, criticism and comments such as the ones Phil Jackson made drive him to become better. If that's the case, I don't understand how anyone could have a problem with his response.