Ballon Boy

The more I listen and watch interviews with phil Jaclson the less I like him.

But the media gives him a pass so if he does not want to talk about the game...that's ok.

Now he is predicting that LA will beat Boston in game 5. That's ok too..

But you can tell that Phil is concerend that his team will be able to pull this one off. He of course has the 2 hole cards in his pocket (Games 6 and 7 at home0 but he is so completely oblivious to what is about to happen to his lakers. His smugness is irritating. He ate crow in 2008 and he is about to get some leftovers.

dboss

dboss

If we win he will tuck it away in one of his many neat compartments and not learn a damn thing from it.

Coaching in his 13th NBA Finals in the last 20 years, how long will it be until the NBA re-names the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy to the Phil Jackson Championship Trophy?

doc rivers = hotspur

phil jackson = prince Hal

I dont envy you having to defend him. I must say you throw his winning record around an awful lot. That's one way to do it.

Not asking to be an ass, I am honestly curious (and not knowledgable about history).

Has Phil Jackson ever won with an underdog team?

swedeinestonia wrote:Not asking to be an ass, I am honestly curious (and not knowledgable about history).

Has Phil Jackson ever won with an underdog team?

Of course not, and have the Yankees...I'm sorry, I mean the Yankees of basketball ever won as underdogs...Nope.
They win because they put the best team money can buy out on the court.

Swede,

Actually that's a difficult question to answer. How should "underdog" be defined? By Las Vegas? By the public? By the Media? When the season starts? When the playoffs start? When the finals start?

The finals favorite is the easiest to look up. More often than not, the finals team with the better regular season record is installed as the favorite. I'm not arguing for or against that definition of "favorite" versus "underdog." But, if that criterion is exercised, Phil's championship teams had poorer regular season records than their opponents in 1991 (Lakers), 1993 (Suns), and 2009 (Orlando).

They were tied in the regular season with their finals opponents in 1998 (Jazz) and 2001 (76ers).

I have no idea whether Phil's team was actually installed as underdogs in any of these years, given the love affair the basketball world has had with his two benefactors, Michael and Kobe.

Sam

Ok cool.

Like I said I really was not trying to be an ass about it. Seems like a lot of people think Phil Jacksons record is more because of the "material" than his coaching skills as such.