Thebesteva
05-29-2013, 07:06 PM
Phil on Lakers and D'antoni
"I think they need to get back inside. That’s where the strength of their team is.
They picked the path to go on, and they think it’s the future of the NBA. We’ll see.
It bothers me that Pau had a season where he had so much difficulty. It bothers me that Kobe had a season where he had to push himself to the limit, playing 40-plus minutes.
It bothers me that a guy at the level of Dwight Howard looked human, less than human at times. That’s the biggest thing about coaching – you want players to thrive."
Colin asked if he thinks Kobe got a little bothered by the MJ comparison:
- I think so. I came to understand coaching Kobe at a young age that he's sensitive when it comes to his game. He's usually more sensitive in a group setting so I usually tell him things alone or in my office. But that's just the nature of his competitiveness.
Colin asked if there were people in the Lakers organization like maybe Jim Buss that didn't want Phil there because they were envious:
- When I first met with Dr. Buss (1999), he told me everything came easy when he bought the Lakers in the 80's but he hasn't won since and wanted just to win at least 1 more. I told Dr. Buss this Lakers team with Kobe & Shaq could win at least 2-3 championships. Then of course we won the championship my 1st year there. So Dr. Buss tells my fiancee (Jeanie) that I made it seem too easy again. So I can understand why there maybe some envy from others.
Colin asked what if the Lakers called him and just said "Help Us":
- I would send them one of my Assistant Coaches to help them out.
- I know what the Lakers need, I know what they need.
- The Lakers are big, they need to get back inside the post, that's where the strength of their team is. But they picked a different path and chose a style of play they believe is the future of basketball so we'll wait and see.
Colin says D'Antoni coaching players to play inside isn't his strength then asks Phil if it bothers him watching the Lakers fail:
- That's the biggest thing about coaching, it bothers me when the players are not thriving, watching the players struggling the way they were.
- It bothers me that Pau had a season where he had so much difficulty being utilized ineffectively.
- It bothers me that a guy at the level of Dwight was made to look human, sometimes even less than human.
- It bothers me that Kobe had a season where he had to be put in a position to play entire (48 min) games and had to be pushed to the limit for his age.
Colin asks where Phil sees his basketball career in the future:
- An adisory role or even a Tex Winter type role, something like Pete Newell.
"I think they need to get back inside. That’s where the strength of their team is.
They picked the path to go on, and they think it’s the future of the NBA. We’ll see.
It bothers me that Pau had a season where he had so much difficulty. It bothers me that Kobe had a season where he had to push himself to the limit, playing 40-plus minutes.
It bothers me that a guy at the level of Dwight Howard looked human, less than human at times. That’s the biggest thing about coaching – you want players to thrive."
Colin asked if he thinks Kobe got a little bothered by the MJ comparison:
- I think so. I came to understand coaching Kobe at a young age that he's sensitive when it comes to his game. He's usually more sensitive in a group setting so I usually tell him things alone or in my office. But that's just the nature of his competitiveness.
Colin asked if there were people in the Lakers organization like maybe Jim Buss that didn't want Phil there because they were envious:
- When I first met with Dr. Buss (1999), he told me everything came easy when he bought the Lakers in the 80's but he hasn't won since and wanted just to win at least 1 more. I told Dr. Buss this Lakers team with Kobe & Shaq could win at least 2-3 championships. Then of course we won the championship my 1st year there. So Dr. Buss tells my fiancee (Jeanie) that I made it seem too easy again. So I can understand why there maybe some envy from others.
Colin asked what if the Lakers called him and just said "Help Us":
- I would send them one of my Assistant Coaches to help them out.
- I know what the Lakers need, I know what they need.
- The Lakers are big, they need to get back inside the post, that's where the strength of their team is. But they picked a different path and chose a style of play they believe is the future of basketball so we'll wait and see.
Colin says D'Antoni coaching players to play inside isn't his strength then asks Phil if it bothers him watching the Lakers fail:
- That's the biggest thing about coaching, it bothers me when the players are not thriving, watching the players struggling the way they were.
- It bothers me that Pau had a season where he had so much difficulty being utilized ineffectively.
- It bothers me that a guy at the level of Dwight was made to look human, sometimes even less than human.
- It bothers me that Kobe had a season where he had to be put in a position to play entire (48 min) games and had to be pushed to the limit for his age.
Colin asks where Phil sees his basketball career in the future:
- An adisory role or even a Tex Winter type role, something like Pete Newell.