As Phil Jackson begins to approach and/or surpass some of Red Aurebach’s record’s, what do you guys thinks makes a great NBA Coach?
Let me be the first to say that it helps to have a Bill Russell, Michael Jordan (and now a Shaq/Coby), BUT doesn’t it take a certain amount of skill to mold all this talent and ego into a team, AND to put together a skilled “supporting cast?”
Your thoughts.
Bump
To Mufasa it KOBE not COBY.
Apologies to the Laker’s Fans!!!
Mufasa
A great coach is someone who can get the best out of his players. Phil does this. Personally, I don’t really like Jackson all that much, but he delivers. He takes big egos and a ton of talent and figures out how to make it work and he should be congratulated.
But I think the test of a great coach is being able to win with both great talent and marginal talent. The best coach who comes to mind regarding this is John Wooden. He won with Kareem and Walton and won with no names. He knew how to get the best of his players and goes down in my book as the greatest coach in basketball history be it college or the NBA.
Phil Jackson is a great coach. I’m not sure about the best ever, but still damn good.
GO LAKERS!
He must be a good coach since he has about 9 championship rings. Of course his teams have always consisted of the greatest players in the game.
Jackson is a brilliant coach. Most of his work though, it seems, is with the psychological, be it getting two superstars to work together or waging a psychological war against his opponents. It’s obvious that he knows how to manage good talent. There are other coaches out there that are better at getting more out of lesser players though. It’s not slight on Jackson at all, but I think there are other coaches out there more suited to build a team from nothing. Take an example from another sport, Bill Parcells. He resurrected at least three teams that I can recall (Jets, Giants, and Patriots) from laughable status back to Super Bowl contenders. He never needed a dynasty to prove his skills as a coach.
Sorry, I can’t buy the fact that Jackson is the greatest coach ever. He has assumed leadership of teams that, at the time of his coaching, contain the greatest 1 or 2 players in the league. Sure, make your arguement that he “brought out their potential” but the beef I have is that, at least for Michael and Shaq, they were coming into their prime when he assumed the coaching duties. How do you make me a believer? If he were to assume the GRIZZLIES job, today, and lead them to the playoffs, (no championship, just playoffs) then I may believe, but until then, no dice.