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
I will say that I had a number of teams there with Chicago and the Lakers that had over 45 wins or close to that at the All-Star break and the last third of the season is much more difficult. It's really tough.
We have teams pressing us. We have teams that are almost in the same situation as we are. It would be great for us to step ahead of them and up the ladder in our standings.
I know these teams have to have an answer, and it's time for the draft to commence and things to happen. I'll be off the queue here in another day or two.
That is what happens when teams play with desperation and the other team comes out and doesn't play at the same level. We just got beat to the ball too many times and they were active and aggressive. They beat us with the nature of the play.
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 two teams were both tired, but we were able to ride a little energy in the second half. We were able to build a lead that was tough to overcome.
Teams that have lost a lot of games are dangerous teams and we knew that coming in. We just have no excuses. They outplayed us tonight.
Teams have streaks, they get on a run, and this is fortunate for us because this team had been dying to do something like this for a couple years now.
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.
When you get off to a lead like that they usually catch up. Today we kept them at bay. It's good to be back in the playoffs.
When you have guys like Dixon and Blake basically have career nights, that really sets you on the edge as a team. We didn't come out with the intent to play defense tonight.
With our team, we're still learning what's a good enough lead. We didn't use the clock wisely and they made some big plays.
There have been some things that have happened over the years that have been really special in my life, and this is one of them.
We're not looking for Kobe to score 50 or 30 or 80. We're just looking for it to fit together. We want players to blend their talents together.