Head to Head coaching records of Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich

[Purch]

Phil Jackson

Against Pat Riley

44 Wins and 29 Loses

Against Gregg Popovich

40 Wins and 28 Loses

Pat Riley

Against Phil Jackson

29 Wins and 44 Loses

Against Gregg Popovich

6 Wins and 11 Loses

Gregg Popovich

Against Phil Jackson

28 Wins and 40 Loses

Against Pat Riley

11 Wins and 6 loses.


Here's how the playoff series stack up (Already included in W/L Data). Pop and Riley never matched up in a playoff series. Phil on the other hand has 5 playoff series against both Riley and Pop, he went 4-1 against both of them.

Phil went 4-1 in playoff series against Pat Riley

(4-1) 1997 Bulls vs Miami Heat
(3-0) 1996 Bulls vs Miami Heat
1994 Bulls vs New York Knicks (4-3)
(4-2) 1993 Bulls vs New York Knicks
(4-3) 1992 Bulls vs New York Knicks

Phil went 4-1 in playoff series against Gregg Popovich

(4-0) 2001 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs
(4-1) 2002 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs
2003 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs (4-2)
(4-2) 2004 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs
(4-1) 2008 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs

Other things to note
Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Riley all 5 were teams in which Riley had a top defense in the league
92' Knicks (2nd in defensive rating)
93' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
94' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
96" Heat (6th in defensive rating)
97 Heat (1st in defensive rating)

Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Pop all 5 were teams in which Pop had a top defense in the league
01' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
02' Spurs (2nd in defensive rating)
03' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)
04' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
08' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)

Looking at this is becomes clear, that even the best defenses in the league could not beat the offensive talent Phil had.

There's another story if Riley 82-90 team coexist with Jackson or Popovich teams.

Jackson had MJ-Pippen, then Shaq-Kobe, then Kobe and great players in Gasol-Odom-Artest
Popovich Robinson, Duncan, Gino, Parker, Leonard...

Riley in those Matchups had Ewing, Mourning, Hardaway as the best players... and in the late one old Shaq and young Wade which are pretty weaker teams than Bulls, Lakers or Spurs.

That's definitly true, even though those teams were tops in the league defensively, I always wonder what would have happend if Riley sped up the pace a little, if maybe they couldn't have been a little bit better offensivley. Pretty much every Riley team he had matched up aginast Phil in the playoffs, was bottom 10 in the league in pace. Now obviously I never expected it to be showtime in NY, but those teams played really slow.

Just decided to look into it because I was curious. Make of it what you will, but just thought it was interesting.

[EliteSmarts]

I'm curious to see what teams and games were for Pat Riley vs Popovich.

[Purch]

I'm curious to see what teams and games were for Pat Riley vs Popovich.

Pop took over the Spurs in 97" AND Pat was Coaching Miami in 97"

So it's the Spurs vs Heat from 97" to 03' (When Riley Stepped down)
Then the Spurs vs Heat from 06' to 08'

[Homer38]

I'm curious to see what teams and games were for Pat Riley vs Popovich.

Probably 1997 to 2008 excluding the 2004 and 2005 season when Riley was not coaching

[EliteSmarts]

I'm curious to see what teams and games were for Pat Riley vs Popovich.

Pop took over the Spurs in 97" AND Pat was Coaching Miami in 97"

So it's the Spurs vs Heat from 97" to 03' (When Riley Stepped down)
Then the Spurs vs Heat from 06' to 08'

Heat were good in late 90s if I recalled. I don't know good they were in early 2000s. The Spurs were a dominant team in the 2000s so it makes sense for popovich have a better record.

Although mommy had a really great team back in 06-08 though.

[Purch]

I'm curious to see what teams and games were for Pat Riley vs Popovich.

Pop took over the Spurs in 97" AND Pat was Coaching Miami in 97"

So it's the Spurs vs Heat from 97" to 03' (When Riley Stepped down)
Then the Spurs vs Heat from 06' to 08'

Heat were good in late 90s if I recalled. I don't know good they were in early 2000s. The Spurs were a dominant team in the 2000s so it makes sense for popovich have a better record.

Although mommy had a really great team back in 06-08 though.

In terms of records his Miami Heat stint was pretty up and down (a lot of injuries to)

Quite a few really good teams, and a lot of teams that missed the post season

Just realized that I contributed one of Riley's losses in 06 that was actually a Stan Van Gundy Loss

So his record against Pop is actually 6-11

[Heat3]

Riles had the worst team in most of those matchups. So no surprise he got a ton of losses.

97-00 and 2nd half of 06 where the times the Heat were good while he was coach.

[Purch]

Meant to add this on as a caveat to the original post


(4-1) 1997 Bulls vs Miami Heat
(3-0) 1996 Bulls vs Miami Heat
1994 Bulls vs New York Knicks (4-3)
(4-2) 1993 Bulls vs New York Knicks
(4-3) 1992 Bulls vs New York Knicks

Phil went 4-1 in playoff series against Gregg Popovich

(4-0) 2001 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs
(4-1) 2002 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs
2003 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs (4-2)
(4-2) 2004 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs
(4-1) 2008 Lakers vs San Antonio Spurs

[FJS]

There's another story if Riley 82-90 team coexist with Jackson or Popovich teams.

Jackson had MJ-Pippen, then Shaq-Kobe, then Kobe and great players in Gasol-Odom-Artest
Popovich Robinson, Duncan, Gino, Parker, Leonard...

Riley in those Matchups had Ewing, Mourning, Hardaway as the best players... and in the late one old Shaq and young Wade which are pretty weaker teams than Bulls, Lakers or Spurs.

[Purch]

Other things to note
Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Riley all 5 were teams in which Riley had a top defense in the league
92' Knicks (2nd in defensive rating)
93' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
94' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
96" Heat (6th in defensive rating)
97 Heat (1st in defensive rating)

Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Pop all 5 were teams in which Pop had a top defense in the league
01' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
02' Spurs (2nd in defensive rating)
03' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)
04' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
08' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)

Looking at this is becomes clear, that even the best defenses in the league could not beat the offensive talent Phil had.

There's another story if Riley 82-90 team coexist with Jackson or Popovich teams.

Jackson had MJ-Pippen, then Shaq-Kobe, then Kobe and great players in Gasol-Odom-Artest
Popovich Robinson, Duncan, Gino, Parker, Leonard...

Riley in those Matchups had Ewing, Mourning, Hardaway as the best players... and in the late one old Shaq and young Wade which are pretty weaker teams than Bulls, Lakers or Spurs.

That's definitly true, even though those teams were tops in the league defensively, I always wonder what would have happend if Riley sped up the pace a little, if maybe they couldn't have been a little bit better offensivley. Pretty much every Riley team he had matched up aginast Phil in the playoffs, was bottom 10 in the league in pace. Now obviously I never expected it to be showtime in NY or Miami, but those teams played really slow.

[Homer38]

Other things to note
Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Riley all 5 were teams in which Riley had a top defense in the league
92' Knicks (2nd in defensive rating)
93' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
94' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
96" Heat (6th in defensive rating)
97 Heat (1st in defensive rating)

Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Pop all 5 were teams in which Pop had a top defense in the league
01' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
02' Spurs (2nd in defensive rating)
03' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)
04' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
08' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)

Looking at this is becomes clear, that even the best defenses in the league could not beat the offensive talent Phil had.

At the same time,the Bulls defense were elite and for the most part,the knicks had a below average offense(I don't know for the heat),so the bulls were a more complete team

[Purch]

Other things to note
Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Riley all 5 were teams in which Riley had a top defense in the league
92' Knicks (2nd in defensive rating)
93' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
94' Knicks (1st in defensive rating)
96" Heat (6th in defensive rating)
97 Heat (1st in defensive rating)

Of the 5 playoff series Phil coached against Pop all 5 were teams in which Pop had a top defense in the league
01' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
02' Spurs (2nd in defensive rating)
03' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)
04' Spurs (1st in defensive rating)
08' Spurs (3rd in defensive rating)

Looking at this is becomes clear, that even the best defenses in the league could not beat the offensive talent Phil had.

At the same time,the Bulls defense were elite and for the most part,the knicks had a below average offense(I don't know for the heat),so the bulls were a more complete team

They definitely were. I only mentioned the defenses, because it highlights how good Phil was at adjusting when a great defensive team focuses on shutting down his star players.