i think a lot of Knick fans forget this man's history. that he was a bruiser, rebounder/defender a la Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. that years later he would call those guys brutes and dirty players, the same player he was. he would say the same about Dennis Rodman and then welcome him with open arms...Phil Jackson is a charmed citizen of the game of basketball. never more than a 7th man off the bench, he won a ring with the Knicks in 1970, via recovery from spinal fusion surgery and '73, as defender and enforcer. he inherited a ready made team in Chicago with the best player on the planet and won three straight titles riding that man's back to Atlantic City, before a year of retirement that left Jackson with the also rans...
every coach in the NBA manipulates referees some better than others, i always thought Knick coaches Pat Riley (also with the Heat and the Lakers) and Jeff Van Gundy (with the Rockets as well) did a nice job of showing the proper sort of indignation towards a particular game's officiating while others like Jerry Sloan (late of the Utah Jazz) and Greg Popovich (of the suddenly done like disco San Antonio Spurs) often sounded like someone kicked their dog. Jackson was elite in this regard, making it sound as if the NBA Commissioner, David Stern, had walked up to the microphone and said the words himself...
once Jordan came back from his 'retirement', he would coach three more title winning teams until the Air would once again take his ball and go home. Jackson followed in short order until he was hired to charge another super-talent in Shaquille ONeal along with a young superstar in the making in Kobe Bryant. Winning three more title with that crew, then, this time, taking a step away from the game only to return with Kobe and additions Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum to win two more...
11 titles, its impressive, no doubt...
he didn't create the triangle offense, that was Tex Winter, and his defensive schemes are more Red Holzman than anyone else. he has had more talent and grit given to him then any coach since Red Auerbach, but Auerbach drafted his players...
what makes Jackson what he is—his gift; is that he could make folks believe the earth was flat...
this is why, on this day, rather than applaud a man for his achievements of an unparalleled coaching career of over 20 years, we should show him for what he is...
a silver tongued thug...
i've watched the Dallas Mavericks/Lakers series as intently as i would if the Knicks we're playing it. i thought the talent, size and drive of Dirk Nowitzki, the size of Tyson Chandler and Brenden Haywood and the frenetic style of the Mavericks guards could match-up well versus the Lakers. And they did, game 1 and 2 in Los Angeles went to the conquering Mavs. Game 2 was the dagger and when the game was out of reach, Laker forward Ron Artest took a cheap-shot at fireplug point guard JJ Barrera. Classless to be sure but i thought nothing of it, i mean; its Ron-Ron, ever since Fran Frischilla pulled his pants down that kid hasn't been right. it was game 4, the penultimate ass-whooping by a team driven to destroy of a team certain of its demise...
with the game locked up late in the fourth Odom decided to shoulder block Nowitzki and was called for an illegal pick, a double technical and removed from the game. certainly another classless move and not the way Odom should be representing the thorough borough. Within the next minute, Bynum assaulted poor Barrera with a forearm shiver to the ribs, that sent the already in-flight Barrera to the floor, hard. Bynum should be suspended for the action going into next season. the action was not only classless, but it put another human being in danger of a serious injury...
all the years of promoting the idea that Jackson was the Zen master, making water in to wine, we saw his true face. when his stars faltered, the billy club came out. if he was such a good coach, a man of reason and wisdom, he would have told his charges after game 2 that Artest's behavior in was unacceptable. after the Odom incident, he should have repeated the mantra, but he kept his mouth shut and Bynum was let loose. regardless of how you perceive the incident, the onus was on Jackson to keep the peace, he did not. thug to the end...
they all fade away like wounded soldiers, Jordan came back once too many times. Oneal is languishing as a sound byte in Boston and Kobe, well, he has never looked so good. for a man who was booed in his home town all-star game, caught cheating on his wife, and had the most ridiculous scowl in playoff history, he comes off looking good. even to a hater like me. my advice is to pack them up Kobe, 5 rings in pocket are more valuable than the pain and suffering you will go through only to never see the finals again. walk now and enjoy, you've made your mark...
the next 24 hours will be a non-stop love fest for Jackson i will not participate. ESPN will get the final gurgle from the nipple of the man who was given the keys to the city throughout his whole career, but went out like a punk...
in watching this series, a lot has been made about Nowitzki, himself, 13 years in the league, and how he is determined to get another chance at a title. he has been a victim of the Jackson lore. Jason Kidd and Jason Terry have spent years in the league, foiled as well, but the player who struck me, and caught a lump in my throat was Peja Stoyakovic. Victim of Jackson's Laker's time and time again while in Sacramento, Stoyakovic went 6-6 from the three-point line yesterday, shooting the lights out. shooting every one in Jackson's eye. good for Peja, even if he doesn't win his ring, he can sleep knowing he sent Jackson out on a rail, for Chris Webber, and Vlade Divac and the rest of his former teammates...
but for a hardened Knick fan this was the sweetest day. the witch is dead. if i click my heels i can imagine a world without Jackson and maybe another title for my boys at 33rd and 7th in the neat future, the first one i will ever see...
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