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Rockets just making the shots they are supposed to make
Coach's Zen approach not helping Lakers
by Mark Kriegel
After the first game of the Western Conference semifinals, an eight-point Laker loss at the Staples Center, Phil Jackson came to the interview podium and addressed the media in his best, most reassuring baritone:
"It's not as bad as it seems," he insisted. "We're OK."
Then, after Game 4 -- another Laker loss that saw Jackson's team spot the Yao Ming-less Rockets a 29-point lead -- the coach declared the trip a success.
"We got home-court advantage back," he said, referring to the split in Houston. "That's what we came here to do."
I had to wonder if he was having one of those LSD flashbacks.
And on Thursday, after a first quarter in which Houston jumped out to a 17-1 lead, Jackson said: "I thought we played all right but for the shot selection."
Hold up. For the second time in four nights, his team had come out for a
playoff game overconfident and under-prepared and it was the shot selection?
Finally, when the game was over and the series tied at three games apiece, Jackson said, somewhat mercifully, "I don't have a statement to make."
So allow me to make one. The front-running Lakers will probably win Game 7 at home. But even if they do, it won't change the facts. With two rounds now in evidence, the most talented team in the playoffs has also been the most poorly coached.
Phil Jackson has nine championship rings. He's co-written five books, a library of his opinions and reflections, from "Maverick" to "Sacred Hoops" to "The Last Season." He makes $10 million a year, more than any coach in any sport. But this great basketball man is having one lousy postseason.
It would be nice and convenient to say that the undermanned, if admirable, Houston Rockets have exposed some of his Zen camouflage. But that's not the case. It was the Celtics who laid bare Jackson's team almost a year ago in the finals. In losing the last game by 39, the Lakers entered these playoffs with the burden of proof squarely on their shoulders. Yet they still play as if they are owed something. That's coaching, or rather, lack thereof.
The NBA's most prolific author is down to cliches. "Nobody stepped up," he was heard to say late Thursday at the postgame presser televised on NBA TV.
Then there was this gem: "You know, we're playing with a couple guys who are injured." He was speaking of Andrew Bynum, who made it back from a bad knee before the season ended, and Lamar Odom, who's playing with a bruised back. What he failed to mention, of course, were the Rockets injuries.
The comparison doesn't flatter Jackson's squad. It's difficult not to root for the Rockets. They lost Tracy McGrady during the season. They lost Dikembe Mutombo against Portland. Then Yao Ming went down in the third game of this series. Houston shouldn't have won another game. It's as simple as that. But now they've won two.
While the Lakers start their pair of 7-footers, the Rockets are now smaller than a lot of college teams. They started a 6-6 center, Chuck Hayes, who played more defense than all the Lakers not named Kobe Bryant put together. (By the way, this one isn't on Kobe, who knew the Lakers wouldn't win Game 6 without a marked increase in intensity). Second-year forward Carl Landry came off the bench for 15 points, which was not only more than Bynum and Odom combined, but more than Mr. All-NBA, Pau Gasol.
Good coaches do two things consistently well. They motivate their players, and they make adjustments. To this point in the postseason, Jackson has done neither. After Game 1, he said of his team's lackluster start: "I don't know if we can play much worse, to be honest with you."
Turns out they could play a lot worse, as evidenced by Thursday's first quarter. Speaking of adjustments, there's Aaron Brooks. He's a good player, but the Lakers are giving him the confidence to discover just how good he can be. Six games into this series, Los Angeles still has no answer for Brooks.
Then again, the Lakers have more problems than a slight, second-year point guard. For all their talk of championships, they can't recognize a simple mismatch. Worse, for all their size, they don't defend the lane.
So what of Game 7? Jackson was asked.
It's a home game, he said. "There's nothing to worry about."
Rockets just making the shots they are supposed to make
I hope this man never get's another ring.
So what happens when/if they get to the Finals when they don't have HCA?
lol KFC
that writer looks like he took a mugshot after getting caught on 20/20's pedophile show.
He's right.
So is koriwhat.
+1He's right.
So is koriwhat.
As much as I hate KFC and his antics, he is right.
Stern wants Kobe vs Lebreon in the NBA Finals
I like Mark Kriegal's articles. BTW Phil needs to lite a fire under these soft Faker asses....
Holy , Phil Jackson really does sound like a Dynasty troll. Life imitating internets. Creepy.
PJ is the Barry Switzer of basketball. There are two rules to that coaching style.
1. Have the best team money can buy.
2. Smile a lot, and let them play.
The problem is, at the professional level that isn't always enough. Maybe when you have Jordan and Pippen, and a great supporting cast. Or when you have Kobe and Shaq, and a great supporting cast. But when the talent level on PJ's team isn't overwhelmingly better, he gets his ass kicked.
Zen Master my ass.
Frankly, I think Jackson just doesn't give a crap.
Terry Porter, when he was still a Spurs player had a great quote.
"I would like to see him try that Zen crap in Vancouver"
(back when the Grizz were still there.)
I wouldn't go that far
I think he's expecting this team to flip a switch and turn up the intensity like all the other championship teams he coached did, and he seems completely unprepared for a team that needs a coach to motivate it throughout the playoffs.
I think he's regretting giving them the leeway they had through the regular season. When he coached the 2001 Lakers he could give the team leeway to coast through the regular season cause that team shut up and focused completely once the playoffs started. He's expecting a focused veteran team that can shut up and do their job like the 2001 Lakers when he simply doesn't have a team full of self-motivated players.
The Zen master is laughing all the way to the bank... wether he wins or not.
Give the guy some credit.
So was Bernie Madoff. If Jackson deserves credit for getting paid to be a fake, then I guess I'll give it to him. At least fake coaches don't go to jail.
I'd like to see him try now precisely because there's no NBA team in Vancouver.
Terry Porter, when he was still a Spurs player had a great quote.
"I would like to see him try that Zen crap in Vancouver"
(back when the Grizz were still there.)
Phil Jackson will end up as the most overrated coach in NBA history. This is inexcusable. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than whining about the officials.
I wouldn't say that. Doug Collins did jack with MJ in chicago. LA was a joke with Del Harris running the show before he got there.Phil Jackson will end up as the most overrated coach in NBA history. This is inexcusable. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than whining about the officials.
ok Phil Jackson is better than doug Collins and Del Harris, whopdee-doo.... point is he is severely overrated.
Maybe his hip is really giving out and he doesn't want to travel anymore. He was up and standing the most I've seen in a long time in last night's game. Maybe the comfy raised chair isn't even working anymore. He needs to rest.
Don't forget...the Bulls didn't really get going until the duo of Jordan and Pippen gelled.
He's still not as big a prick as Auerbach. I'd root for him to break that record if he was coaching somewhere else.
But that's not coaching a team. That's just getting stars to work together. He's the Dr. Phil of the NBA. He's a great psychologist, and a good head coach, but that's it.
That's why Phil has 9rings and is the winningest coach in the playoffs.
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