if Phil Jackson was the coach, would you respect his opinion on Tmac?

It is reasonable to wonder if Phil would have retired with his hips and other issues used as justifuication (that are OK with Kobe there).

 

30% pssst, I think your discounting DD prolific posting prowess.....

 

Phil Jackson had legends by his side. He had commercial and NBA protection for his team and players.

Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaq, Kobe.

RA led his team to the finals with a much lesser team. In fact, his Kings unofficially beat the Lakers. If Phil was here with our current team, I can bet he'll throw McGrady in as soon as possible to try to get our second win of the season. RA will never do that, because the guy is all team ball and chemistry. In fact, I can bet RA would've solved the whole Shaq and Kobe thing before it even escalated.

 

Doh! I voted wrong. I read too fast and thought it said "I DON'T respect Phil's opinion more than Rick's".

 

On court, it's the coaches team. When/if management doesn't like his decisions they will make a change. It is a team. Tracy is on a team. A team that is coached by RA. His decision is law.

 

If we are going to ask what Phil would do, why not ask what Rudy T would have done, or Jeff Van Gundy, Larry Brown, Jerry Sloan or John Wooden...or...well I don't think it's worth the time to worry about it.

Hmm...Jerry Sloan. Man, I have to admit THAT would be high comedy.

From the owner, to the GM, to the coach, this franchise clearly has a long-term outlook. One (or two or three) marquee players' health and ego is not going to make or break those plans. And to me that's very different from the Barkley to Francis eras. We just seemed to make move after move trying to improve the team in the short term with little regard for contract issues and the relative age of the team and other things that came to hurt us in the long run.

Phil would probably have handled it differently, and I'm sure the drama would be even louder. Then again, Jackson is not the kind of coach that builds teams, so much as he makes very good contenders into champions. Phil likes making noise and making his snide remarks to the media to put his players under his thumb. Maybe he'd have done a better job of getting in T-Mac's head and motivating him when T-mac's play and attitude became an issue, but in my opinion we have one of the best management teams in the NBA and I don't second guess them.


Personally I like RA's management style a lot. I really liked his Kings and his Trailblazer teams, and how they played to their full potential, and the result were teams everyone wanted to watch. No one can argue that he has a long record of getting the best of whatever he has to put on the court.

I trust that Les, Rick and Daryl are interested primarily in winning games and having a healthy franchise. As a fan I can't really ask more.

 

To play devil's advocate, what if Jackson was the Rockets coach and he made the complete polar opposite decision to RA and put him on the court?

Would you respect the position of the Zen Master or agree with RA's?

Edit: BTW, I think RA is a great coach, just putting a different spin in on the Q.

 

I think the fast majority of people think RA is taking the right approach and isn't being unfair. Why don't you put up a poll to first establish your charge first?

 

Hear! Hear! A 99er speaks!

Great post, man. Post more please.

 

So for the handful of people like that you put this thread up? I guarantee you at least 80% of this board thinks RA is doing fine with the T-mac situation.

RA is not a "ruler" he's a players coach. If you can't get PT under RA - then something is wrong with you, not the coach. If anything, RA is faulted for giving guys too much of a chance, not the opposite.

SF was not benched. He was getting playing time and actually looked good in his last game before he had to call it quits. He was playing unselfishly, moving the ball well, etc. He wasn't benched, his body just didn't have it and he had to have that quadracep surgery which ended his career.

I have my issues with RA - but I don't think he's at fault in terms of giving guys a chance. He's totally a players coach. I honestly like JVG more but I think RA is just doing fine.

 

Jackson only gravy trains off winners. He would never even entertain an offer from the Rockets as long as McGrady was on the roster.