Lakers re-hire head coach Phil Jackson

[sahyder1]

Lakers re-hire head coach Phil Jackson

Sports Ticker

6/14/2005 1:30:12 PM

BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant apparently have gotten over their differences.

ESPN is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers once again have hired Phil Jackson to be their coach and will hold a press conference at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Jackson guided the Lakers to three championships but resigned after losing in last year's NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons, due largely to his testy relationship with the superstar guard Bryant, which subsequently was detailed in a book.

[Sabu]

Fuck. I wanted him to go anywhere but LA.

I don't even know how him and Kobe will co-exist, I think this will be a trainwreck.

[jonnycomelately]

I don't see this going anywhere next year but after that they'll be free of six contracts and use that money to get a big man back in LA. That being said, that big man will not be Shaquille O'Neal and The Zen Master Heir to the Lakers throne will not honor his full three year contract and go smoke weed in Montana somewhere.

[naiwf]

Lakers re-hire head coach Phil Jackson

Sports Ticker

6/14/2005 1:30:12 PM

BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant apparently have gotten over their differences.

ESPN is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers once again have hired Phil Jackson to be their coach and will hold a press conference at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Jackson guided the Lakers to three championships but resigned after losing in last year's NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons, due largely to his testy relationship with the superstar guard Bryant, which subsequently was detailed in a book.

Phil Jackson is an idiot. How do you let a guy practically run you out of town.....and then come crawling back?

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[sahyder1]

Lakers re-hire head coach Phil Jackson

Sports Ticker

6/14/2005 1:30:12 PM

BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant apparently have gotten over their differences.

ESPN is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers once again have hired Phil Jackson to be their coach and will hold a press conference at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Jackson guided the Lakers to three championships but resigned after losing in last year's NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons, due largely to his testy relationship with the superstar guard Bryant, which subsequently was detailed in a book.

Phil Jackson is an idiot. How do you let a guy practically run you out of town.....and then come crawling back?

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[Karizma]

Phil Jackson returning to LA >>>>> the Finals.

It is amazingly amusing that people are more interested in this than the Finals matchup.

Caron, Odom, and Kobe could make the triangle work.This Laker team will make the playoffs next year.They only fell apart in the last month this season, despite Kobe and Odom etc having injuries.I'd say 5th maybe 6th seed.

[thuganomic]

People don't seem to realize that Phil doesn't have much to do with the triangle. The true innovator of the Triangle is Tex Winter. He's the one that makes it work. Phil's more of a defense-oriented coach than anything.

[Karizma]

regardless, I watched a couple (well, enough to be able to judge) Laker games, defence was their problem, there offence was good enough to get they by, it was the poor defence which dragged them down.

[Miami Vice]

Jackson is a fucking pushover.

He spewed more shit at that press conference then a broken sewage line.

"Kobe and I are friends, we want to win together" blah blah blah. The bottom line is Kobe had his way for a year and realised it won't get him anything but to the all-star game. Now Phil is back to pick up the pieces and try to win with a bunch of guys that just aren’t that good. The fact of the matter is they can make the playoffs at 7 or 8 but won't get out of the first round.

[jonnycomelately]

regardless, I watched a couple (well, enough to be able to judge) Laker games, defence was their problem, there offence was good enough to get they by, it was the poor defence which dragged them down.

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[livid]

As a Lakers fan, I find it to be good that Phil's back. We were abysmal without him and he can only help. But the fact is, Odom didn't produce last year, Butler was inconsistent and Kobe was doing all he could but that wasn't enough. What they need in LA is another guy to compliment Kobe, it doesn't matter if it's a big man or not (it would be nice though), but they need somebody to score points and "lead" the team when Kobe's resting on the bench, or just not playing well. So somebody either has to step up and start playing well, or they're going to have to find somebody who can produce. Either way, I don't see them making it far, but they'll make the playoffs as long as they don't get hurt down the stretch.

[the-giant-head-of-dean-malenko]

Yeah, they might make the playoffs, but that may be tougher than you'd think. Some of the lesser Western conference teams are only getting stronger and more experienced ie. Seattle, Denver, Memphis....even the Warriors and Clippers. Lest we forget that the Lakers aren't even the best NBA team in L.A., standings-wise this year.

Phil will help immensely, but this is the first time he's taking over a team that hadn't already been BUILT with superstars. The Bulls already had Jordan and Pippen. The Lakers already had Shaq and Kobe (and would have won the Finals with Rambis as the coach, I guarantee).

This Lakers team doesn't have the talent or depth. Kobe's a good player whose head isn't in the game all the time. Odom and Butler are waaay too inconsistent to plan your team around. And the rest of the team either sucks (ie. Devean George) or is too old (ie. Vlade and B. Grant).

So it'll be interesting. This is the first time in his career that Phil's going to have to MAKE stars and coach them rather than just coaching stars that have already been made. He's good enough to do it, too.