Is Phil Jackson the Greatest Head Coach/Manager in American Sports?

[TheMojoPin]

I think that can be argued pretty well at this point.

Yeah, I know the usual "he had Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, etc." arguments, but those start to ring hollow now that the guy has coached his way to 10 rings in less then 20 years.

I also don't know why he's not more beloved in Chicago. It's not like he's disliked or hated here...he's just sort of there. Maybe it's because he had success with another team afterwards, but fuck, if they're going to prop up Ditka, why not the guy that was a huge part of bringing Chicago 2 threepeat NBA championships in less than a decade?

[HBox]

I thought it was pretty well settled that Ray Handley was the greatest coach of any sport in history.

[Snoogans]

no.

Though I now think alot more highly of him. I used to completely dismiss it as garbage and just the talent on the team. but as I see now what he did here with Kobe, and just the things he did gettin Jordan to settle in and be a team guy. its pretty nuts.

i dont think he is better than Red and since you said all sports, i dont think he is John Wooden either. But he is legendary and his abilities now can not be dismissed anymore

[Snoogans]

I thought it was pretty well settled that Ray Handley was the greatest coach of any sport in history.

Rich Kotite

[TheMojoPin]

no.

Though I now think alot more highly of him. I used to completely dismiss it as garbage and just the talent on the team. but as I see now what he did here with Kobe, and just the things he did gettin Jordan to settle in and be a team guy. its pretty nuts.

i dont think he is better than Red and since you said all sports, i dont think he is John Wooden either. But he is legendary and his abilities now can not be dismissed anymore

Red definitely was amazing, but I think Phil coaching his team to 2 triple championships in the 90's NBA would count as, like, 10 rings from Red's era.

[Snoogans]

You cant really compare sport to sport though. Football is so much crazier to coach, basketball is alot easier

[TheMojoPin]

You cant really compare sport to sport though. Football is so much crazier to coach, basketball is alot easier

True.

[HBox]

Football is crazier to coach now but coordinators and position coaches do so much work and have so much responsibility that aside from a few head coaches who are offensive or defensive gurus they end up being more of a CEO type than anything else. Some head coaches with defensive roots don't call plays. Brian Billlick was supposedly an offensive genius but his offense sucked balls every year he was there and rode an all time great D to championship that he had little to nothing to do with.

I think hockey and basketball coaches have the most control and pressure and potential to impact that game. With that in mind I'm throwing Scotty Bowman out there.

[epo]

no.

Though I now think alot more highly of him. I used to completely dismiss it as garbage and just the talent on the team. but as I see now what he did here with Kobe, and just the things he did gettin Jordan to settle in and be a team guy. its pretty nuts.

i dont think he is better than Red and since you said all sports, i dont think he is John Wooden either. But he is legendary and his abilities now can not be dismissed anymore

Fuck that, I'm thrilled that he passed the myth of Red. That fucker coached 9 Hall of Famers in a league of how many teams? If anything Red should be in the Hall of Fame for his general managing skills, not for his facade of "coaching".

[DolaMight]

x

[El Mudo]

I think that can be argued pretty well at this point.

Yeah, I know the usual "he had Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, etc." arguments, but those start to ring hollow now that the guy has coached his way to 10 rings in less then 20 years.

I also don't know why he's not more beloved in Chicago. It's not like he's disliked or hated here...he's just sort of there. Maybe it's because he had success with another team afterwards, but fuck, if they're going to prop up Ditka, why not the guy that was a huge part of bringing Chicago 2 threepeat NBA championships in less than a decade?


I think its probably because Chicago revolves around baseball and the Bears...much like everything else in DC takes a back seat to the Redskins

[cougarjake13]

thee greatest... no

but he's up there

[TheMojoPin]

I think its probably because Chicago revolves around baseball and the Bears...much like everything else in DC takes a back seat to the Redskins

Definitely agree, but the guy took it to another level. It just bugs me that people here are so indifferent to him while having built up the Cult of Ditka. Granted, Ditka was also a HOF player for the Bears, but still, his place here is cemented by the whole "Da Coach" thing, not his playing days.

[KnoxHarrington]

I think old-time coaches/managers had a huge advantage coaches now don't: their players couldn't go anywhere. Auerbach's players couldn't leave in free agency, and so he had absolute power over what they could or couldn't do. If they didn't like what he said, they could go slice meat in a deli somewhere.

Jackson's done what he's done in a league where the power structure has inverted, and players have the power. The fact that Jordan and then Shaq and Kobe didn't just tell him to go fuck himself really does speak well to him as a coach.

[A.J.]

Red definitely was amazing, but I think Phil coaching his team to 2 triple championships in the 90's NBA would count as, like, 10 rings from Red's era.

Red not only coached the team by himself, he built the team by himself through drafts and trades. Phil relied on Tex Winter's Triangle Defense and "the Jerrys" for building the team around Jordan. Advantage: Red.

Phil's one of the greats though. He walks among the Lombardi, Wooden and Connie Mack.

[TheGameHHH]

Red not only coached the team by himself, he built the team by himself through drafts and trades. Phil relied on Tex Winter's Triangle Defense and "the Jerrys" for building the team around Jordan. Advantage: Red.

Phil's one of the greats though. He walks among the Lombardi, Wooden and Connie Mack.

the triangle is an offense

[A.J.]

the triangle is an offense

D'oh! Stupid brain fart!