Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jacksonis an American professional basketball executive, former coach and former player, currently serving as president of the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association. Jackson was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 until 1998, during which Chicago won six NBA championships. His next team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won five championships from 2000 until 2010. In total, Jackson has won 11 NBA titles as a coach, surpassing the previous record of nine set...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth17 September 1945
CityDeer Lodge, MT
CountryUnited States of America
They played Kobe tough and a little harder than the refs wanted to see.
They got their veterans back on the floor in the second quarter and started running their screen-and-rolls. They were able to play some defense and shut us down after we made a run in the second quarter.
They had a game plan against Kobe that was effective, getting the ball out of his hands.
They're shooting almost 40 percent. That in itself is remarkable, unheard of. It converts to a lot of points. And to have to recycle our team to find a way to match up against them is not easy. It's not conventional.
They're playing at a very high level. They're still there as far as going after the record. A lot of things can go down in the second half of the season, but they are very good.
They really crowded Shaq well and did not give him a good look in the lane. He struggled to find a position in the lane all night.
They're all big (games) for us. We have 10 home games, three road games and we feel like we have to win really a high majority of those games to finish where we have to finish if we want to go forward to gain momentum for the playoffs.
They have that inner knowledge that (makes them) capable of going in, being tired and making the game come to them, how they want to play the game.
There's a process teams go through to put themselves in a competitive place. And when they get to that position, I felt like if they want me to coach that team, I'd have to listen to them, because of my connections in New York and my connections as a Knick.
The more you draw attention to it, the worse it becomes. So it's better just to show up and swallow your pride.
That's not what basketball is about. Basketball is about playing as a team and finding a functioning level.
That's not unusual for a player to lose concentration if certain phases of the game go wrong for him. He put some pressure on himself to score. All players want to score as a part of their game. . . . I don't know where his confidence is. You either have it or you don't have it. It doesn't reside in your jockstrap or your brain. His confidence should be in his defense. That's where he plays and rebounds and hustles for us.
You're talking about a different standard when a team wins 60 games.
You saw the apparent schizophrenia of these teams. They play great for a while and then they have trouble operating. What you see is young teams learning to play a consistent game. No quality in the direction of their discipline.