|
COPYRIGHT 2001 South Florida Sun-Sentinal
Byline: Ira Winderman
FORT LAUDERDALE _ A year ago, a vote for Phil Jackson as Coach of the Year hardly was given a second thought.
This season, double takes have become the norm with the Lakers coach.
Take last week, when he was headed into what turned out to be a loss in Milwaukee. Nonetheless, he dismissed the Bucks as title contenders.
"They've been playing very good ball, above their heads," he said. "But you can't go to the Finals in this league without a center or dominating force inside.
"Chicago did it, but that was an aberration. Milwaukee is playing great ... That's all I'll say."
That was enough for Bucks coach George Karl.
"I just let him be the Zen Master or god," Karl said. "He does some strange things as a coach.
"I know he has six rings and I'm sure he'll be talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years. But I still don't think there's a lot of genius to coaching. It's a lot of psychology and motivation. Not just winning basketball games makes you better than someone else."
As for that "psychology and motivation," Jackson had his moments in those areas, too, last week, when he spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times. The discussion dealt with the impetuous nature of Kobe Bryant and the guard's shunning of the triangle offense, a staple of Jackson's success.
"The other day I said to Kobe, `What's the problem?"" Jackson said. "He said, `The game's too boring for me. The offense is so simple. It doesn't display my talent.'
"I said, `I realize that. But we're trying to win games with the least amount of things going wrong, the fewest injuries, the least fatigue.' He said, `But it doesn't give me what I have to have for my game.'
"Kobe's having...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
