ducks
10-20-2005, 10:23 AM
Can you feel the love?
By Sean Deveney - SportingNews
More: Questions and answers | Instant expert
The floor of the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu is littered with all the trappings of training camp -- errant balls, discarded headbands, rolls of tape, unidentifiable long-shot roster hopefuls (Von Wafer? Adam Parada?). Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, casually clad, Hawaiian-style, lounges in the stands. Hall of Famer James Worthy chats with Kobe Bryant while another Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plays mock defense on new power forward Kwame Brown. Players, drenched in their first official NBA sweat of the 2005-06 season, stretch, catch their breath and work on free throws.
"Not much different than any other training camp so far," says guard Aaron McKie. "We worked on defense a lot; that was the emphasis. I think that is going to be the key for us. But no drama, nothing like that."
As much as playing defense, as much as winning games and earning a playoff spot, limiting the drama seems to be a priority for this version of the Lakers. No theatrics, no juicy tabloid stories, no Jim Gray interviews -- just basketball. That's a difficult proposition, of course, considering the rumor-hungry nature of the Lakers' market and the team's built-in soap opera. That would be the relationship between Bryant, the brooding superstar, and anointed genius coach Phil Jackson, a relationship that will be analyzed as much as any pairing in Hollywood.
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The two have, at various times, avowed a sincere dislike for each other. Two years ago, Bryant said that despite his respect for Jackson as a coach, he did not like Jackson as a person. Jackson, after the Lakers refused to re-up his contract in 2004, put out a book detailing his "final" Lakers season, one in which he revealed much (too much, many felt) about his testy relationship with Bryant. That includes Jackson's midseason rant to Kupchak, in which he said he could not coach Bryant. Jackson, it seemed, had willingly burned his bridge, both to Bryant and to Los Angeles.
But there was Jackson two weeks ago, cracking a wide smile when the first question from the media came after the team's first practice. "So," Jackson was asked, "is Kobe Bryant coachable?"
"I don't know; I didn't talk to him," Jackson said.
That will be the approach the Lakers take when it comes to the Bryant-Jackson relationship -- they're not going to talk about it. Jackson says he approached Bryant and told him he will not disclose any details about their relationship, no matter how many times he is asked. Bryant says he never read Jackson's book in the first place and is looking only to the future. "I just want to move on," Bryant says. "There's been a lot said about our relationship by outside parties, as well as ourselves. But, ultimately, there is an inner respect there."
Former Laker Derek Fisher, now with the Warriors, thinks the relationship between Jackson and Bryant can be repaired -- especially with Bryant's nemesis, former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, out of the equation. "There was a lot more going on than just Phil and Kobe," Fisher says. "There were too many personal rivalries, things like that, that were hard for Phil or any coach to deal with. Kobe was just a small part of that. I am sure they'll put all that behind them.
"Kobe knows he needs Phil; he saw that last year. And Phil understands he needs to have a good relationship with his star player. Now, there is no question Kobe is his star player."
The Phil & Kobe Show is the most intriguing, but, heading into the new NBA season, the Lakers are hardly the only team dealing with a potentially testy star-coach relationship.
Boston reportedly shopped All-Star wingman Paul Pierce over the summer because of his frosty relationship with coach Doc Rivers (the Celtics denied the rumor). The Knicks are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping high-scoring guard Stephon Marbury can get along with nit-picking new coach Larry Brown, who clearly was not a fan of Marbury when Brown coached the 2004 Olympic team. The Timberwolves are hoping that an increasingly frustrated Kevin Garnett welcomes rookie coach Dwane Casey. The Trail Blazers paid big money in the offseason to lure Nate McMillan away from Seattle, betting that he could get through to some of the team's talented but difficult young players.
The way these relationships develop will have a significant impact on the way this season shapes up. That's because the star-coach relationship is more important than ever as coaches have become increasingly disposable. Entering the season, the league average for full seasons a coach has spent with his current team is 1.7, and there are 13 coaches who have not yet spent a full season with their teams. When asked how hard it will be to adjust to new Pistons coach Flip Saunders, Tayshaun Prince laughed and pointed out that he already has played for Rick Carlisle and Brown. "It's not hard for me," Prince says. "It's only Year 4 for me, but this is coach No. 3."
For players, the security of guaranteed contracts has meant increased power. Players, especially star-caliber players, are able to withhold effort to ensure an unpopular coach is fired -- it happened to Byron Scott in New Jersey two seasons ago and to Jeff Bzdelik in Denver last season. And every coach in the league knows it could happen to him. "You can't fear change in this business," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy says. Van Gundy should know. He will be putting up with new acquisitions Jason Williams, Gary Payton and Antoine Walker, players who have resisted instruction in the past and have caused many headaches for coaches.
Perhaps the most baffling question about Jackson, then, is not why he would want to come back to coach Bryant and the Lakers but why he would want to come back to coach in the NBA at all. A telling passage from Jackson's book reads, "Despite their tremendous talent, (NBA players) are still, by and large, young adults, seeking validation from an authority figure, and there is no greater authority figure on a team than the coach. Needless to say, in today's warped, self-indulgent climate, too many players couldn't care less about appeasing the coach."
Hall of Famer Rick Barry says a coach's relationship with his star player has always been vital in the NBA, "but it is so much harder now. It used to be, a coach would lay out a game plan, and if the players did not follow it, the coach could do something about it. Now, what do you do? You can't fine anyone because the players make so much money. A fine means nothing. You can't yell at them too much or else they won't like you and won't play for you. Then, they're demanding a trade or you're getting fired. Players control things a lot more now."
But players generally want coaching and appreciate having a strong figure in charge. That worked for the Bulls last season under Scott Skiles, whose demanding nature was a factor in his dismissal from Phoenix three years ago. With the young and impressionable Bulls, though, Skiles' approach was a welcome change from the lax regime of Bill Cartwright, and the team responded by winning 47 games last season. "He came in and got everything organized," says Bulls center Tyson Chandler. "Everyone knew what he wanted out of them. That was big for us."
The benefits of a strong coach are not limited to young, developing teams. Gregg Popovich, a former Air Force cadet, runs the defending champion Spurs with militaristic efficiency. No team plays tighter, more consistent defense, an emblem of the discipline Popovich requires. He plays no favorites -- he is as likely to deliver a scolding to two-time MVP Tim Duncan as he is to rip backup point guard Beno Udrih. It helps that Duncan is not the type to rebel against Popovich's style, but the unique relationship between Duncan and Popovich registers with opposing players.
"(In San Antonio), I knew what I was getting into from a team standpoint, from a coaching standpoint," Spurs guard Michael Finley told reporters. Finley was pursued by the Suns, Timberwolves and Heat but said that it was chemistry -- fostered by the relationship between Popovich and Duncan -- that pushed him to sign with San Antonio.
That remarkable chemistry, along with the additions of Finley, Fabricio Oberto and Nick Van Exel, makes the Spurs the overwhelming favorite to win this season's championship, especially as foes in the East struggle with potential coach-star problems. The Pistons have a new guy, Saunders, at the helm, and there's little telling how the two-time defending East champs will respond to their new coach's desire to play a more open offense and more zone defense. In Miami, Van Gundy has his hands full with a remade roster. And Carlisle must deal with the return of Pacers forward Ron Artest, who was suspended for most of last season after the brawl in the stands at Detroit. Artest has vowed to play "like a wild animal that needs to be caged in," which probably is not what Carlisle had in mind.
This leaves Jackson in an odd position with the Lakers. For the first time in his career, Jackson is not in charge of a contender. Even if his relationship with Bryant is repaired, even if they play pinochle and go bowling together on their off-nights, the Lakers simply are not good enough to compete for a championship. Jackson acknowledges as much, stating that his goal for the Lakers is 46 wins (which would be the lowest output of Jackson's career) and a playoff spot -- and even that might be too much to ask.
The Lakers will, essentially, play without a point guard, letting Bryant and Lamar Odom handle the ball and initiate the triangle offense, much as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did in Chicago. (Smush Parker was the starting point guard in the Lakers' preseason opener.) They'll gamble more by pressing on defense. They'll rely on Brown, an underachieving big man, and look to gimpy veterans such as McKie and Corie Blount for depth. But, Fisher says, "Don't count them out. They are not going to win a championship, but they'll be much better. The thing people don't know about Phil is that he is a great teacher. That is what he does best. By the end of the season, he will have taught that team a lot."
And Jackson's most important student will be Bryant. Jackson must sell him on playing within the team's system, accepting the triangle offense and avoiding the individualistic forays that caused the strain in the star-coach relationship in the first place.
Just don't ask Jackson how the relationship thing is going. "It's not going to be all Kobe and I," Jackson says. "Kobe and I obviously fit into a team framework. The thing we want to see work is that we become competitive and we win again."
Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at [email protected].
By Sean Deveney - SportingNews
More: Questions and answers | Instant expert
The floor of the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu is littered with all the trappings of training camp -- errant balls, discarded headbands, rolls of tape, unidentifiable long-shot roster hopefuls (Von Wafer? Adam Parada?). Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, casually clad, Hawaiian-style, lounges in the stands. Hall of Famer James Worthy chats with Kobe Bryant while another Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plays mock defense on new power forward Kwame Brown. Players, drenched in their first official NBA sweat of the 2005-06 season, stretch, catch their breath and work on free throws.
"Not much different than any other training camp so far," says guard Aaron McKie. "We worked on defense a lot; that was the emphasis. I think that is going to be the key for us. But no drama, nothing like that."
As much as playing defense, as much as winning games and earning a playoff spot, limiting the drama seems to be a priority for this version of the Lakers. No theatrics, no juicy tabloid stories, no Jim Gray interviews -- just basketball. That's a difficult proposition, of course, considering the rumor-hungry nature of the Lakers' market and the team's built-in soap opera. That would be the relationship between Bryant, the brooding superstar, and anointed genius coach Phil Jackson, a relationship that will be analyzed as much as any pairing in Hollywood.
ADVERTISEMENT
The two have, at various times, avowed a sincere dislike for each other. Two years ago, Bryant said that despite his respect for Jackson as a coach, he did not like Jackson as a person. Jackson, after the Lakers refused to re-up his contract in 2004, put out a book detailing his "final" Lakers season, one in which he revealed much (too much, many felt) about his testy relationship with Bryant. That includes Jackson's midseason rant to Kupchak, in which he said he could not coach Bryant. Jackson, it seemed, had willingly burned his bridge, both to Bryant and to Los Angeles.
But there was Jackson two weeks ago, cracking a wide smile when the first question from the media came after the team's first practice. "So," Jackson was asked, "is Kobe Bryant coachable?"
"I don't know; I didn't talk to him," Jackson said.
That will be the approach the Lakers take when it comes to the Bryant-Jackson relationship -- they're not going to talk about it. Jackson says he approached Bryant and told him he will not disclose any details about their relationship, no matter how many times he is asked. Bryant says he never read Jackson's book in the first place and is looking only to the future. "I just want to move on," Bryant says. "There's been a lot said about our relationship by outside parties, as well as ourselves. But, ultimately, there is an inner respect there."
Former Laker Derek Fisher, now with the Warriors, thinks the relationship between Jackson and Bryant can be repaired -- especially with Bryant's nemesis, former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, out of the equation. "There was a lot more going on than just Phil and Kobe," Fisher says. "There were too many personal rivalries, things like that, that were hard for Phil or any coach to deal with. Kobe was just a small part of that. I am sure they'll put all that behind them.
"Kobe knows he needs Phil; he saw that last year. And Phil understands he needs to have a good relationship with his star player. Now, there is no question Kobe is his star player."
The Phil & Kobe Show is the most intriguing, but, heading into the new NBA season, the Lakers are hardly the only team dealing with a potentially testy star-coach relationship.
Boston reportedly shopped All-Star wingman Paul Pierce over the summer because of his frosty relationship with coach Doc Rivers (the Celtics denied the rumor). The Knicks are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping high-scoring guard Stephon Marbury can get along with nit-picking new coach Larry Brown, who clearly was not a fan of Marbury when Brown coached the 2004 Olympic team. The Timberwolves are hoping that an increasingly frustrated Kevin Garnett welcomes rookie coach Dwane Casey. The Trail Blazers paid big money in the offseason to lure Nate McMillan away from Seattle, betting that he could get through to some of the team's talented but difficult young players.
The way these relationships develop will have a significant impact on the way this season shapes up. That's because the star-coach relationship is more important than ever as coaches have become increasingly disposable. Entering the season, the league average for full seasons a coach has spent with his current team is 1.7, and there are 13 coaches who have not yet spent a full season with their teams. When asked how hard it will be to adjust to new Pistons coach Flip Saunders, Tayshaun Prince laughed and pointed out that he already has played for Rick Carlisle and Brown. "It's not hard for me," Prince says. "It's only Year 4 for me, but this is coach No. 3."
For players, the security of guaranteed contracts has meant increased power. Players, especially star-caliber players, are able to withhold effort to ensure an unpopular coach is fired -- it happened to Byron Scott in New Jersey two seasons ago and to Jeff Bzdelik in Denver last season. And every coach in the league knows it could happen to him. "You can't fear change in this business," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy says. Van Gundy should know. He will be putting up with new acquisitions Jason Williams, Gary Payton and Antoine Walker, players who have resisted instruction in the past and have caused many headaches for coaches.
Perhaps the most baffling question about Jackson, then, is not why he would want to come back to coach Bryant and the Lakers but why he would want to come back to coach in the NBA at all. A telling passage from Jackson's book reads, "Despite their tremendous talent, (NBA players) are still, by and large, young adults, seeking validation from an authority figure, and there is no greater authority figure on a team than the coach. Needless to say, in today's warped, self-indulgent climate, too many players couldn't care less about appeasing the coach."
Hall of Famer Rick Barry says a coach's relationship with his star player has always been vital in the NBA, "but it is so much harder now. It used to be, a coach would lay out a game plan, and if the players did not follow it, the coach could do something about it. Now, what do you do? You can't fine anyone because the players make so much money. A fine means nothing. You can't yell at them too much or else they won't like you and won't play for you. Then, they're demanding a trade or you're getting fired. Players control things a lot more now."
But players generally want coaching and appreciate having a strong figure in charge. That worked for the Bulls last season under Scott Skiles, whose demanding nature was a factor in his dismissal from Phoenix three years ago. With the young and impressionable Bulls, though, Skiles' approach was a welcome change from the lax regime of Bill Cartwright, and the team responded by winning 47 games last season. "He came in and got everything organized," says Bulls center Tyson Chandler. "Everyone knew what he wanted out of them. That was big for us."
The benefits of a strong coach are not limited to young, developing teams. Gregg Popovich, a former Air Force cadet, runs the defending champion Spurs with militaristic efficiency. No team plays tighter, more consistent defense, an emblem of the discipline Popovich requires. He plays no favorites -- he is as likely to deliver a scolding to two-time MVP Tim Duncan as he is to rip backup point guard Beno Udrih. It helps that Duncan is not the type to rebel against Popovich's style, but the unique relationship between Duncan and Popovich registers with opposing players.
"(In San Antonio), I knew what I was getting into from a team standpoint, from a coaching standpoint," Spurs guard Michael Finley told reporters. Finley was pursued by the Suns, Timberwolves and Heat but said that it was chemistry -- fostered by the relationship between Popovich and Duncan -- that pushed him to sign with San Antonio.
That remarkable chemistry, along with the additions of Finley, Fabricio Oberto and Nick Van Exel, makes the Spurs the overwhelming favorite to win this season's championship, especially as foes in the East struggle with potential coach-star problems. The Pistons have a new guy, Saunders, at the helm, and there's little telling how the two-time defending East champs will respond to their new coach's desire to play a more open offense and more zone defense. In Miami, Van Gundy has his hands full with a remade roster. And Carlisle must deal with the return of Pacers forward Ron Artest, who was suspended for most of last season after the brawl in the stands at Detroit. Artest has vowed to play "like a wild animal that needs to be caged in," which probably is not what Carlisle had in mind.
This leaves Jackson in an odd position with the Lakers. For the first time in his career, Jackson is not in charge of a contender. Even if his relationship with Bryant is repaired, even if they play pinochle and go bowling together on their off-nights, the Lakers simply are not good enough to compete for a championship. Jackson acknowledges as much, stating that his goal for the Lakers is 46 wins (which would be the lowest output of Jackson's career) and a playoff spot -- and even that might be too much to ask.
The Lakers will, essentially, play without a point guard, letting Bryant and Lamar Odom handle the ball and initiate the triangle offense, much as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did in Chicago. (Smush Parker was the starting point guard in the Lakers' preseason opener.) They'll gamble more by pressing on defense. They'll rely on Brown, an underachieving big man, and look to gimpy veterans such as McKie and Corie Blount for depth. But, Fisher says, "Don't count them out. They are not going to win a championship, but they'll be much better. The thing people don't know about Phil is that he is a great teacher. That is what he does best. By the end of the season, he will have taught that team a lot."
And Jackson's most important student will be Bryant. Jackson must sell him on playing within the team's system, accepting the triangle offense and avoiding the individualistic forays that caused the strain in the star-coach relationship in the first place.
Just don't ask Jackson how the relationship thing is going. "It's not going to be all Kobe and I," Jackson says. "Kobe and I obviously fit into a team framework. The thing we want to see work is that we become competitive and we win again."
Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at [email protected].