Interesting piece by Ric Bucher: Zenmaster flash By Ric Bucher Whenever Phil Jackson publicly recounts a private conversation he has had with one of his players, trust that he is up to something -- and it's not making a Chicago columnist's day or offering the public a delicious glimpse inside an NBA franchise. Phil believes his teams should keep it all within the family as much as Pat Riley does. So why did the Zenmaster reveal a recent exchange he had with Kobe? Two reasons: 1) It's a last stab at hoping public pressure will do what his private harangues have not -- make Kobe do what Phil wants; 2) Should the Lakers fail to repeat, it's an attempt to put the blame a safe distance from one Phil Jackson. The pressure ploy has worked almost without fail in the past, including last year with this very same player, but it'll be a miracle if it works again. Kobe took the browbeatings before his teammates last year because he believed it unified the Lakers in a way nothing else had before. He figured it was one of Phil's Zenmaster devices and he went along with it. But as advanced for his age as Kobe is, being put in that role a second year in a row is proving to be too much. He may play like a machine at times, he may appear to be oblivious to not having a single teammate he can trust, but he's still 21. In any case, the Chicago columnist's contention that Kobe "can't read the game" is preposterous. The problem is that he understands both the floor game as well as the political one that Phil is playing, and no longer wants to be a pawn in it. Kobe looks at all the times he saved the Lakers' bacon during the playoffs, looks at how he designed his summer to be ready to defend the Lakers' title (while Shaq did not), looks at the personnel moves that have made the Lakers a weaker team than last year, and figures he deserves better than to have to carry the psychological load of whipping boy again. There's a point when being repeatedly ripped wears on anybody and I believe Kobe has reached it. Maybe Phil is right, maybe Kobe is another Houdini, creating difficult situations just to see if he can get out of them. But know this -- Phil's disclosure about Kobe has a sleight-of-hand purpose, too. For any magician to slip through an escape hatch, he first has to make his audience look elsewhere. http://espn.go.com/magazine/bucher_20010323.html ------------------
So many of todays players are all about Ego and wannabe stars. Winning is secondary. Let Kobe go to the Hawks or Warriors or Wizards and put up the numbers he wants. If, by some chance, he makes the playoffs, his team won't get far. Basketball is a beautiful sport when played as a team game. Watching one guy bring the ball down and jack up a shot gets old quick. Teammates stop hustling, stop playing D, stop rebounding and just stand around and watch. Like the old saying goes, Kobe, "You don't know what you got till its gone" ------------------ "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."- (Aldous Huxley)
I don't think he's trying to cover his butt,for he sure doesn't want for job security.When he takes this attitude with Kobe,I think he's just tweaking Kobe's immense pride and ego.Jackson needs to keep everyone else on this team focused and not show any preferential treatment.He'll do whatever it takes to motivate and like I said send a message to all the other guys,that this is still a team and nooone is beyond reproach.I'll bet the Lakers or the Spurs win it all and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Lakers reel everyone in.These guys have the talent to flick the proverbial switch.Sometimes it isn't a good thing to rely on,but with the the ability to take over games and raise it to another level,the Lakers can easily repeat....They ARE healthy.(even though I really look forward to watching the dogfight in the Western Conference post season) ------------------ If I had my life to live over,I would have liked to have ended up as a sportswriter - Richard M. Nixon,1969
Phil Jackson is supposed to be a master at coaching a team with massive egos. I think practicing a scorched-earth policy with Kobe Bryant is not a wise move. I think its obvious that this tactic is dated and won't work anymore with Kobe, yet Jackson continues to employ it. There seems to be no purpose to slinging mud all over the fan's most popular player. Unless its a precursor to a trade . . . ------------------ I'm just a communist whose come to blow sunshine up your ass. The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.
I wonder what MJ would have to say about this? or Quitten for that matter? ------------------ Time is a great teacher-- only problem is it kills all its pupils. PowerbizOnline.com
