OT: Phil Jackson

How many championships did Kobe or MJ win without him. I really hate these arguments where to be the best coach your team has to be devoid of talent and exceed all expectations. Who in your eyes is better than him? I'd say Pop and that's it.

His great teams have featured two of the greastest players of all time. Talk to me when he wins it all with the LA Clippers.

Many can say he just was in the right place at the right time, but I think there is a lot of evidence for coaches with all the best talent in their respective sports on their teams failing to win it all.

It would be one thing if Phil only won one ring, everyone would say he did it with superior talent to no good of his own. But he has won over 10. In any regular experiement, his repeated success would continue to disprove this hypothesis. He's a talented coach and a perfect fit for the guys he coaches.

I think everyone would love to be in his spot to win 10 rings if they could.

Phil Jackson is better at dealing with and managing big egos than anyone.

who's the last coach to win a championship without good players?

he takes good players and makes them the best.

... and nothing else.  To include team talent in your assessment of a coach you would have to do the same thing going in the other direction -- maybe a coach with a bad record is the greatest ever simply because he didn't have "talent" on his team.  With that you would end up with an impossible question to answer and where you can have great drunken debates tonight. 

The question that can be answered is "how many titles does he have compared to his peers" and "what is his win % compared to his peers".  You answer these questions and he is one of the greatest ever.  I hate him, as most Detroit fans still should, but it is hard to argue with success...

... Phil Jackson makes $12 million per year and gets to "date" the owner's daughter.

And, for some reason, Jerry Buss is grateful.    Must be some Zen-infused, Jedi mind-trick or something.

no doubt, the best coach of this time. He will remain well liked and revered, many years after he has retired from coaching. I wish him well in his future. I hope he stays a few more seasons...but maybe i am being greedy...

I remember Jackson complaining about talent of teams he was coaching or thinking about coaching. I can't remember which but still...

I'm favorably impressed with all his championships.  (Really -- I am.)

But, I really can't stand all the Zen BS.  Someone who displays that much love of self and makes b*tchy little remarks (as in the Phoenix series) has no business associating himself with that word.

To everyone who is down on Phil Jackson because of the talent he has had on his teams and don't think he's a great coach: NAME WHO YOU THINK ARE GREAT COACHES. This is bullshit when people throw out "Oh, he's not one of the best because ____" then don't name peers who they think are better.

Again, I said Popovich is probably the only coach better than him. Has won titles, obviously has (or had) a scheme and philosophy that worked, but guess what: he had talent too. Duncan, Ginobli, Parker in their primes with other solid role players through the years. How about Riley? Successful coach, but guess what he also had: talent. Showtime, Ewing, Wade, a lesser Shaq.

So again, to everyone who doesn't think he is a great coach, name those you think are better and why. The man is obviously doing something right.

I have read all of his books and I can tell you the man is a great coach. He knows how to manage his players and he runs the most difficult offence in the NBA with the triangle. Coaches so often get so little out of great talent. Phil has on a regular basis. He's one of the greatest of all time in the sport.. period