Phil Jackass

There's no doubt, Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches of all time for any sport...not just the NBA. He's got 10 rings, and that's only part of the reason why the Lakers have chosen to make him the highest paid head-man in sports. Bottom line...he wins wherever he happens to be. I have to respect the guy for what he does, but his "war of words" with opposing players is a bit childish and silly. Yea, it's a ploy to get inside the opposing team's head or to get officials to pay closer attention to something, but it's old already. First, he was telling everyone that Kevin Durant got preferential treatment from the refs. Next, he was accusing Steve Nash of "walking." Now he's saying that Kevin Garnett plays "too physical."

Yea, it's one thing to suggest that some players get treated differently. I'm sure Lebron, Kobe, Wade, and probably Durant have received their fair-share of "helpful" calls. I'm also sure that the same players (add in Nash if you want) get away with traveling multiple times per game. Jackson is right about all of that. His strategy probably does succeed to some extent at getting inside the players' and officials' heads. But now he's going out and accusing a player of being "too physical?" Is that a joke? Did I read that wrong? I mean, I know the NBA is a pussified league to begin with, but that mentality toward any sport is laughable! All he's saying is that his team doesn't match up well against the Celtics physically, and he's trying to gain sympathy for it. Go ahead, Phil, try and get the leg-up in the series by whining to the media and to David Stern about how "physical" the Celtics play, but you're still coming up short this year.

I think Terry Francona needs to take a page out of that book. Whenever the Sox play the Yankees, Tito needs to come out and say that the Yankees play too offensively and have too much power. Maybe that will force Major League Baseball to expand the walls at Fenway and Yankee Stadium. We obviously don't match up very well against the Yanks, so lets try and whine our way out of it like Phil Jackson! Zen Master my ass.