give lebron rodman, prime shaq, or pippen and he'll win a championship. lbj's next best player is who? no one compared to those 3, offensively or defensively.
Which means they're just like every other coach in the NBA. It always amuses me when people think they know for certain how good a coach is. I doubt anyone here has attended a single practice, where all the "coaching" takes place. Listen to any coach that's mic'd up in the huddle - they all say the same stupid things.
when did i say phil is not lucky? still at the end of the day you can't get lucky 11 freakin times. he has to be doing something right. 11>1 I think.
Rudy t took steve francis cuttino mobley and a bunch of scrubs to 45 wins in the western conference. That is how I know he is a GREAT coach.
At the beginning of this season, our supposed 'best player' as deemed by the media was the 4th-5th option of his team last year yet we still finished with 42 wins and the 9th place in a very good west.
QUESTION: I am not doubting you but . .. . What is the WORSE TEAM they have coached? Particularly Jackson and Popovich. Doing good with Good Talent . . .doesn't make you a good coach Doing good with Mediocre or *****ty talent makes you a great Coach Rocket River
I'll bite. I think its safe to say that Jackson is a great coach because he gets results. Period. Yes he inherited Michael/Pippen/Grant and then Michael/Pippen/Rodman but none of those personalities are particularly easy to deal with. Coaching doesn't necessarily need to be all about X's and O's. Phil does a great job of getting people to buy into a system and he also does a great job of motivating players and managing everyone's different personalities. Michael Jordan by all accounts is/was one abrasive dude in the locker-room throughout his career (which is somewhat understandable given his Other-Worldly Talent) but somehow Phil earned his respect and was able to convince him to buy into a team concept. For a guy without a lengthy resume at the time to do that, I think he deserves some credit. *Not to be over-looked is his handling of Dennis Rodman, who was a bona-fide weirdo fresh off his melt down in San Antonio. Also, I think that Phil's handling of the Lakers drama, especially during the Kobe/Shaq years deserves some props too. Obviously those Laker teams were led by two sure fire Hall of Famers but the fact of the matter is the previous coaches could not get them to win anything despite the fact that those earlier Laker teams had more talent (The 97-99 Lakers had Kobe, Shaq, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Excel, Rick Fox, Horry, Elden Campbell, Derek Fisher, and Everyones-Favorite-White-Boy, Jon Barry). Phil has to be seen as the difference maker in terms of getting that team over the hump with slightly less talent (Post-knee-surgery Glen Rice instead of Eddie Jones, Grandpa Ron Harper instead of Nick the Quick, Virgin AC Green instead of Elden Campbell). As far as Pop is concerned, I'll give you that he's never really had a bad team (*except the '97 tank job where they shut down The Admiral because of his back injury to get a shot at Tim Duncan). But I don't think any of his teams were SO talented that only a moron could mess it up. He had good pieces and he used them well. I think he did a very good job coaching up Tony Parker, though. With the wrong coach Tony could very easily just had a career being a speedster off the bench because of his lack of perimeter shooting (though it has improved dramatically) and his terrible early decision making. Pop did a great job of recognizing the talent and letting him make mistakes early on when it could be afforded so that he would be ready when the time came to step up. I'm sure a lot of coaches would not have played Tony big minutes while trying to win a 'ship. Scott Skiles is definitely a great coach, but I cant help but get the feeling that he's going to end up being one of those coaches that coaches a young team into the playoffs by instilling the discipline that they need only to get tuned out once the players start becoming veterans. Pretty much what happened to SVG in Miami. On a side note, I think Mike Woodson in Atlanta is TERRIBLE. That team should basically be the Thunder-East. They have the athletes to play suffocating defense AND force turnovers to get out in transition for easy points. Their halfcourt sets should consist of either p'n'rolls with Joe Johnson and Josh Smith with Bibby spotting up and Williams either spotting up or cutting or running Crawford off screens. I'm not saying they could've beaten Orlando, but they definitely should have put up a fight. Such a disappointing end to their season. Basketball will be dead in Atlanta for the next 6 years again. Thanks Mike.
he only had to get lucky once. coaching MJ to a championship is all he needed. after that everything was pretty much automatic. even with kobe n shaq. they decided to listen to him b/c he won it all before. he is both lucky and a very good coach.
this is about that same as asking if phil jackson is a better basketball coach than dance instructor. mike brown is an assistant coach. no offense, so strategy, no philosophy (except get the ball to lebron), no game management.
