Re: Phil Jackson
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Right. So. Is he a good coach? Lots of teams have 2 superstars. Hell the Heat had Shaq and Wade this year and didn't come close. Like I said, I don't follow basketball. Is Phil that good? Or has he just gotten lucky. It seems like he's past the short term and must be pretty good.
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The Heat came within one game of the finals... and they didn't have the supporting casts that the Bulls/Lakers had. Phil Jackson is an excellent coach, one of the greatest of all time. His championship record is inflated. there's no denying it, and those who try just look silly. He had the undisputed best player in the world in his prime (and another in the top five, plus a handful of very solid role players) during every one of his championship seasons. No bum off the street could take these teams to the title, but any very good coach could. He did a great job with what he had, but he was dealt a very strong hand. The best showcases for his coaching skills were the years that he didn't win the championship: the overachieving Jordanless Bulls and the very combustible and discontent Lakers teams. The fact that he got demolished by Larry Brown's Pistons despite having the most loaded lineup in recent memory does not help his case though.
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The third Lakers team that won a title had an embarrassingly poor supporting cast. Other than Shaq and Kobe, the team had very little. That's one reason why Sacramento, who was much deeper, gave them trouble.
The Lakers team that lost to the Pistons didn't have the most loaded lineup in recent memory. Far from that. If I remember correctly, wasn't Slava Medvedenko starting against Rasheed Wallace in the finals? Malone was injured and did very little for LA. Gary Payton was there, but he didn't help the team much at all. Age seemed to have caught up with Payton. He was too slow on defense (just ask Chancey Billups) fit terribly with the triangle, and didn't shoot well at all. That Lakers team in the finals only had two real superstars at the time: Kobe and Shaq. Had Malone been healthy, he would have made a big difference, but he wasn't. Nobody else on that Laker squad could really play basketball too well to say the least.
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