Is Phil Jackson the answer?

Anyone or anything other than vanGundy. A wet doormat would suffice.





I love lamp.

 

Let's compare last year's Lakers and this year's Rox:

Shaq > Yao
Malone > who?
who == JJ
Kobe >= T-mac
Fisher > Sura/AB

Bench, Lakers have shooters.

Last year's Lakers lost.

The problem is not the coach, it is the personnel. If anybody believes that Phil can fix the problem, he needs to look at the Laker's roster from last year and this year's Rox roster. If still not convinced, look again, then again.

 

I don't think anyone thinks Phil Jackson will come here and immediately win championships this year.

I definitely agree we have personnel problems, but we also have a coaching problem. No one is playing well under JVG right now, our player's trade value is at an all-time low. Maybe guys like MoT, Howard will play a lot better w/o the pressure of JVG on their back.

Phil Jackson=9 Championships. No matter who he's had on his team or whatever, he has made it work. He made a guard oriented team work, he made a center oriented team work, and also made a center/guard combo team work.

 

This is all true... except where it says Kobe is greater than Tracy. The players are just not producing right now. Its not the coach's fault. More than half of this site just wants to put the blame on the coach, because more than half the site are to blinded to even see that our players arent even that good. (Refering to the obession of Boki)

 

I'd get a young euro coach. The league is become more international with an emphasis on european-style play. At least a euro coach would emphasize shooting more in training the players rather than defensive rotation. Also, I would think a young coach from europe would be cheap since JVG would have to be paid.

 

PHil Jackson will not take a job in the middle of a season, so hire jackson now is out of question.

I remember him acepting the lakers job in the summer, then went right to work, talked to Shaq and Kobe in the summer.

 

What comes first, getting role players that aren't completely useless or getting a new coach (both of which this team is sorely in need of)?

It's hard to say whether Jackson could get this team to play better. He probably will incorporate the triangle offense which will again include a slow down tempo. He may or may not make the Rockets better. In the end though, I think they're still going to be mediocre because of the lack of talent present on the roster. Hell, Phil couldn't win with what he had last year.

 

I do not believe that Mo and Juwan have both lose all usefulness on the offensive end. I wouldn't be surprised if they play better for another team that has a better coaching staff. What is happening to Yao, Mo, and Juwan is just sickening. I am seeing these players deterioriate skill-wise under poor tutelage.

 

Agreed. Yao, Mo, and Juwan all could hit those 10 foot jumpers with ease. Yet, they have all seemed to have lost it.

 

He probably will?? That's the only offense he knows. LOL

Phil's thinking:

"Geeze, Yao is no shaq and soft, T-mac only won 19 last year, nobody on the team is a good one-on-one defender, do I get a Fish who can score with 0.4 second left on the clock? nope,
Is the owner willing to spend the money? you tell me!

Hey, in Chicago, I got Krause who knew how to draft; in LA, Jerry West laid the foundation. At Rox, we have this $21million PF waiting to be be used. Maybe I can play 4 PFs at the same time.

You know what, maybe I should pass. "

 

No way Jackson would come to this team until next season at the earliest. I'm also not convinced that the triangle is the right offense for this team.

No matter who is coaching the team, they'll need to see serious upgrades in the roster before serious improvement can be had.

Evan

 

I would fire JVG and his evil minions, fire CD, and install Van Chancellor to finish out the string. He can have Calvin and Coop for assistant coaches, for all I care. Whatever. Maybe they'd help teach shooting. I'd try and lure some decent assistants - like Kareem or Alvin Genty - good as assistants - not so good with more power.
I'd give Van major $$$ for helping out. I'd tell Van to make sure Yao and Tracy play together and score like allstars. Screw defense. The season is over. Make the stars look good, whatever the cost. Kill anyone in the way. Execute any scrub that doesn't defer to the stars like a serf before the lord and master.

I'd trade all the crap and JVG guys for whatever I could get, and pay to buy out contracts. I'd put an obvious time limit on sucking, like Denver did a few years back. In the offseason, I'd throw the coach/gm combo tag at Phil. If Phil balked, I'd throw it at Donnie Nelson. If he defers, I'd go to Rick Majerus, or search overseas. Argentina could be better than Sam Mitchell. Never an Eric Mussellman (Napoleon). A lot of the US "coaching" talent sucks. Don't know who on gm - need a very open minded guy. Agenda guys always get spanked. Would try to pry away Jerry West.



I wouldn't be Les.

 

The difference between Kobe and Tmac is greater than the difference between Yao and Shaq. Tmac is what Kobe was 4 years ago. Kobe was still an amazing player back then, but he had improved a lot in the last couple of years.

Just like Yao, Tmac needs to learn to score regardless what the defense does. Right now, when Tmac sees a zone, he passes the ball up or settles for long jumpers. See the similarity to Yao with fronting/swarming D? Kobe gets his every night regardless of defense, just like shaq.

Phil could not do much to our team. Although if Phil came here, we will have lots more free agents calling us. Also, this board will never blame the coach ever again. Instead, we'll all direct our hate energy towards our players. I foresee who should be the focus, Yao vs. Tmac threads. Believe me, hating on the coach threads are a lot better.

 

I don't hate Phil Jackson, but I don't think he's the answer for our team. I'd like to see VG replaced, but not by Jackson. This team's too much about its coach as it is. That wouldn't change under Phil. Couldn't vote in your poll though. There's no option that matches my sentiment.

 

I look at the coaching assistants for the Rockets. I cannot find a shooting coach. This is the #1 fundamental in basketball, and there is noone on the team who is an expert in this department. Then there is Yao, Juwan, and Mo who all seem to have problems with their hook shots. Ewing is basically a lodestone on the bench. The Rockets need to hire Rick Barry or someone who knows how to shoot the basketball.

 

We have one of the best shooters ever in the game waiting for his job back as commentator. Calvin seems like he would be an excellent coach.

 

Is Phil Jackson the answer?

-I don't know, maybe.

Is Jeff Van Gundy the answer?

-Not just no, but hell no!

I think a fresh coach with new ideas and a POSITIVE attitude would do this team a world of good.

Similar to Charvo's comment that if guys like Yao, Juwon, and MoT were on different teams, or under different coaches, I believe that they would have better production.

 

Love him or hate him, the guy is a winner. He won as a player, then as a player-coach in NBA; he won as a coach in CBA, he won in Chicago and LA when others couldn't. The guy simply knows how to win, how to find spots for each of his players. There is a reason why all those "nobodys" became the hot commodity after they played for him, just take a look at Luc Lonley, BJ Amstrong, Steve Kerr, etc. PJ was the one made all those guys a few millions richer.

Everyone here wants to get ride of Howard & Talor, I do too. But you know what? Jackson would have find the minutes & roles for them in his system. He always does.

For those of you who claim Jackson doesn't know coaching, or only knows triangle, you need to do some serious research before open your mouth. Jackson was a player-coach under Holzman, he was recruited to the Bulls because of his outstanding coaching talent he displayed when he won the CBA title. He is a great X's and O's guy. He just knows how to fit players into his system, tailor the system to fit his players. If winning 9 titles with different style of players still cannot convince you, then you really don't know anything about basketball.

BTW, I'm not trying to get ride of JVG here, just give my opinion about Jackson. I believe a coach need at least 2-3 years to prove his system & his ability. It's only fair to let JVG coach this and next season before making any conclusion. Coach K had a terrible records his first three years at Duke, look at where he is now, a colleage hoop legend.

 

he won the cba too? dang that would fit nicely with yao