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phil jackson is simply the greatest coach of all time. possibly the greatest coach of any professional sports team. the two reasons are this: jackson never reveals his game plan during the regular season, and he plays psychological mind games with his opponents. i bet you he could have won every game against the spurs, mavs and kings this year, but here's why-- he doesn't use his full strategies until playoff time.
if you remember, mark madsen was giving webber a hard time during (i think) the lakers & kings' third meeting of the season. then, madsen suddenly vanished from the game after lakers finally took the lead. he doesn't want to have webber get accustomed to madsen's style of play. do you see how many players they keep a secret for a year or two and then all of a sudden begin to use them. a great example of this would be jannero pargo. he had barely played a game until the final quarter of the season. all of a sudden, jackson puts him into the rotation, to give the lakers a defensive and quickness boost to their game. of course, by the time the lakers' opponents get a good scouting report on him, the playoffs are over.
and also, one example of his mind games are shown from last years memorable series with the kings. i remember it was game six and they were interviewing adelman on nbc during the game (u know where they put the guy talking in a box in the corner while the game is playing?). anyway, jackson had said something like " the kings can afford to lose game six, because they're ahead 3-2." adelman played it off like it didnt mean anything to him though. im no psychologist but ill bet u that those comments played with the QUEENS' heads and the three-peat came about after that.
that's why phil jackson is the greatest coach of all time. he stays calm and cool and he never loses his head.
