Re: Phil Jackson
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this yr will be a good test for phil. all the other situations he has stepped into have been perfect. not to say he has not done a good job but he got kobie right when he was ready to get to the next level and jordan in his prime. i dont think you can compare him to l brown but he is a good coach.
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I don't think perfect is the way I would describe it. Few people were picking the Lakers to win a title when Jackson arrived in LA. Why would anyone pick them over the Spurs, who had swept the Lakers in the playoffs and beaten them 5 in a row, or over the Blazers, who had a better record and played the Lakers well during the season? Also, Utah owned the Lakers before Phil arrived, having won 6 out of the past 7 against LA.
After one game in which the Lakers lost to Portland, the Lakers were happy. They thought keeping the final score close was good enough. To that Laker team, losing to Portland by 8 points was a good accomplishment. Under coaches Del Harris and Kurt Rambis, the Lakers played no defense, gave terrible effort, and often looked lost on offense when playing the elite teams. When the Lakers tried their best, they still sucked on defense, and still looked lost on offense when playing the elite teams. LA had no idea what it took to be a championship team. This was the 'perfect' situation that Phil Jackson was stepping into.
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