JamFan - It was hard to tell if Coach Jackson was actually asleep or maybe just slipped into a coma during the Cleveland game. He must be really bored during the dog days of the season. His team is only 1 game over 500 and only 1 loss ahead of New Orleans in the chase to make the playoffs. So why does he often disappear during games. It was hard to tell the other night if Coach had actually stayed in the locker room at half time and they put a manniken out there masquerading as the coach.
On the road against Cleveland they were up 14 points at half time and had gone up as much as 18 points. The second half started good enough but as the game headed into the 4th quarter, Cleveland, playing at home, started to make a run. They got energized, the fans went crazy, the Lakers went scoreless. 15 straight points later all the momentun had changed to the home team.
And what did Coach Jackson do during that 15 unanswered point run...............nothing. No timeouts, no substitutions. We are all paying big bucks to buy tickets to be spectators, but he is being paid big bucks to be a spectator.
We all know that in the past, Phil Jackson has let his teams play through tough stretches during games. But in those days he had championship level teams with all star level players on the floor that could show the poise necessary to overcome those situations. But he is living in the past. This team has no such character.
So our coach sits on his hands and the Lakers lose. Every other coach who ever coached in the NBA game, coaching this team, would have called a time out to quiet down the opposing team, quiet down their crowd which was going crazy, and give his team the opportunity to compose themselves.
Coach Jackson didn't, and the Lakers lost 96-95.
So far Coach Jackson has shown the capacity to win Championships when he has had MJ, Scottie, Shaq and Kobe. But when he hasn't had those all world players, he has become just an average coach. Some nights he isn't even that good.
JamFan
