| He Hadn't Had His Phil Authored by Scott Essman - June 21, 2005 - 7:48 pm
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But NOOOOOOOOO!!! In the midst of a chaotic postseason where your ex-center takes his team to the limit against the defending champions and your ex-forward drills unbelievable three-pointers, sending the defending champs to the brink of elimination, in walks a ghost of recent past. Phil Jackson is again a Laker coach.
But why? Why did he come back? Why did he throw a wrench into the works of a team that wasn't even close to making the playoffs, will pick 10th in the lottery, and seem to be so out of sync with their early 2000s success that it's a faded dream? Why return here and now?
Certainly, whatever you say about Jackson, he's in it to win. Coaching Michael Jordan to six championships, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to three, with a fourth rimming in-and-out on another unlikely Robert Horry three-pointer, and a fifth collapsing amid the chaos of their last season together, Jackson is used to winning. The current Laker roster gives him a very low percentage chance of doing so. To win it all, they would have to... bring back Shaq and Horry!!!
It can't be about money or glory, can it? The Lakers play on one of the most high-profile stages in the game, and they're throwing forkfuls of money at Jackson, but he's had plenty a taste of both to make those trivial reasons for returning.
Could he be returning because he's dating the boss'
daughter? Also seems a trivial reason, doesn't it?
No, Phil must be returning for one reason alone - to fix things. He must feel liable on some level for the failure of the Lakers to win in his final two seasons as coach. He had virtually the same tools - Shaq and Kobe were there and they had a seemingly tight ship around them. But they failed, close as they came.
Phil wants to set things right.
Certainly, he'll have to bring in new blood - it's unfathomable to walk on the court with the same team as 04-05. He'll have to readjust his approach to Kobe
- whatever happened between the two men obviously wasn't working for either. He'll have to be a better assessor of player personnel - his last two Laker teams were incapable of balancing their act.
But Jackson is doing all of this under the guise of re-establishing his presence. He must right the ship and win. He has no choice. Winning is what he's about. Even if the Lakers fail to win a championship in his next run, Phil will see to it that he goes out on a winning note - even if that means as little as having an above-.500 record. This past season was unacceptable to the Laker organization, and Jackson is a much a part of that as any aspect of the roster, the ownership, or the management. He's become a real Laker.
Scott Essman can be contacted at scottessman2005@yahoo.com. |
