did anyone hear Mr. Arrogant's comments today ?

[Cman]

Jackson is arrogant but also one of the best coaches.  The way I feel about him is probably the way people outside of New England feel about Bill Belicheck....

Anyway, I have had a lot of fun the last few days imagining Phil Jackson two weeks from now (after the Celtics win the Finals), tossing and turning and not being able to sleep because he was just out-coached by Doc Rivers.

[Vermont Green]

I wonder if Doc irritates Lakers fans anywhere near as much as Phil irritates us Celtics fans.  The answer is no because Doc is pretty nice guy and he hasn't won as much.  I think that Phil has been pretty fortunate to have been able to coach the best players (and it isn't by accident) but he has always been able to get a little bit more out of the team than the previous coach.  This year he has Kobe and they were doing pretty well.  Then they got Pau and they have been very very good.  He is definitely getting the most out of this team.  I don't think this series is going to come down to coaching though.  All the Zen in the world is not going to be enough to make guys Radmanovic good enough to beat the Celtics unless our player totally forget how to play or something.

[Discoflux]

Celtics fans should be able to recognize arrogance in coaching... you had Red Auerbach.

I just watched the '84 finals Game 7... Celtics hold on to win at home.... Red celebrates with the team and in between puff of the cigar says "Where's the Los Angeles Dynasty now?  It's RIGHT HERE (tapping the trophy)"

Classic Red... but what an arrogant *(&^()(&((**^%

84 was a tough year.  We won our 3 games by an average of 19 points while your 4 wins averaged a 5 point margin.  That was the luck of the Irish/ Curse of Red.  (#$&%(#($&(#(#*!!!!!!!

[Finkelskyhook]

I have about as much interest in what the most overrated coach in sports history has to say as I have in hearing what the most overrated player in NBA history, Allen Iverson, has to say.

Jackson can take that irritating whistle of his and put it where the sun doesn't shine.

[dark_lord]

does jackson still sit on that pad thing?  if so, the fans should do something to really make him say "beantown being beantown", by stealing it

[aka_USAPA]

Anyway, I have had a lot of fun the last few days imagining Phil Jackson two weeks from now (after the Celtics win the Finals), tossing and turning and not being able to sleep because he was just out-coached by Doc Rivers.

Coaching will be a key in this series.  With that said, I'd bet Jackson will not be out-coached by Doc Rivers.

[PerkinsERA43]

Like him or not, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have enormous respect for the man.  He's a heckuva coach, and he'll make a worthy opponent in the two weeks to come.

-sw

Hes a good coach but it helps when you get to coach on the team that has the best player. Hes got to coach MJ, Shaq and Kobe. Must be nice...

That's fine, but there were also coaches who didn't win with those players -- he's still the only one to get the job done with the guys you mentioned.

Further, while we're talking about three of the biggest talents of all time, those are also three enormous egos, and it takes a skilled coach to integrate big-time egos with the rest of the roster and to get everyone to buy in to play championship basketball.  Jackson's skill set may be different from other title-winning coaches out there, but that doesn't diminish its value.  I take nothing away from the job he's done.

-sw

Jackson won with a much improved Bulls roster and Jordan in his prime.

The guys who coached shaq and kobe and didn't lead them to a title DIDNT have them together on the same team. Thats kinda big.

As regards the "managing egos" aspect... I would say 1) he needs to learn to manage his own and 2) Doc Rivers has taken THERE count em THREE big egos at once, all of whom were new to each other, and inregrated them into his system and led them to the NBA Finals. I think for that performance, Doc gets the check in the "ego management" column.

Still, this is all irrelevant since coaches don't matter too much in the NBA, a players' league.

[Andy Jick]

sounds like dr. phil needs ms. buss to provide him with a little more happiness in his life...

[pslakerfan]

"The guys who coached shaq and kobe and didn't lead them to a title DIDNT have them together on the same team. Thats kinda big."

I think you just offended Del Harris.

[bandonox]

I dont know but if Sloan would have won it all this year, would he be hated as much as Mr. Jackson? We seem to hate anyone that is successful if he is not related to the celtics? How many pennants has jackson won in the last 22 years; How many have the Celtics won?

sloan is a class act...
the jazz did what they were supposed to do as an organization and stuck by him even when times were rough...
and credit him for not jumping ship when the team sucked a la jackson/riley....
as the flip saunders situation further proves, the nba coaches as scapegoats epidemic is reaching monumental proportions..  what happened to sticking by the coach and making players accountable for the failings of a team? remember OB in philly? he actually was responsible for IMPROVING that team, but since iverson has issues with "practice?" they got rid of HIM INSTEAD OF DEALING WITH THE ACTUAL PROBLEM....of course, they eventually did, but still.
I guarantee that if doug collins had the same players playing for him in chicago, he wouldn't have been canned... no coach in professional basketball is doing anything revolutionary in this game. it's all about team chemistry and the players belief in whata coach has to say and their willingness to follow said coaches game plan... the utah jazz are probably the only team left in professional sports (other than the patriots) that flat out tell players "hey.. this is our coach.. if you can't play for him, peace out..." phil jackson is not alone in the opportunist dept. either... pat riley, larry brown, george karl... all these "big name" coaches are ALL the same.... show them the money, and within 2 years, your players will simply get sick of being yelled at for being lazy, and demand he be fired, or at the first sign of trouble, they'll "retire" for a year or so... just long enough to give another bubble team a chance to come sniffin around, and them BAM.. THE CYCLE STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN...it kinda makes me ill..

ps... ooooooh, Rick Pitino, anyone?