From Deseret News archives:
It's Psychology 101 with Jackson in mix
You are getting sleepy.
Verrrrrrry sleepy.
OK, maybe that's a little heavy on the hypnotic hocus-pocus. Still, that's kind of how it is in a series involving Lakers' coach Phil Jackson.
It's all in the mind.
It has been 10 years since the Jazz were in a playoff series involving Jackson, but they probably haven't missed it. The positioning. The lobbying. The Vulcan mind-melding.
The psychology of it all.
He was Dr. Phil before that other Dr. Phil even had a job.
If anyone has forgotten, this what happens when you face a Jackson team. There's the game on the court and the game in the head.
So it continued, Monday, when Jackson addressed the issue of free throw shooting. L.A.'s Kobe Bryant got a whopping 23 attempts on Sunday, a club playoff record, and made 21, also a record.
Already, it seems, Jackson is lobbying for favor from the officials, calling the Jazz's physical style "a scrum match."
"Well, they play a very physical game," added Jackson.
"They bring the element up and just let the referees make a decision upon what is a foul and what isn't, and it escalates. But they play well under those circumstances. They must practice like that contest it in their practices because their people all play that way."
Unspoken message: Beware, refs, or the Jazz will turn this into mud wrestling.
This series features Jerry Sloan, the plain-talking pragmatist, and Jackson, the hippie existentialist. Jerry the Farmer vs. Phil the Shrink.
It's not as though there has ever been open animosity between Sloan and Jackson. But it's obvious they're not good buddies. Sloan has more than his share of friends and admirers in the business, Detroit's Flip Saunders, San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, Houston's Rick Adelman and Portland's Nate McMillan, to name a few.
Somewhere else on the spectrum is Jackson.
They don't exactly trade insults, but they don't exchange Christmas cards, either.
In a way, it's odd they're aren't best friends. Jackson is from Deer Lodge, Mont., Sloan from McLeansboro, Ill. Jackson went to high school in North Dakota and college at the University of North Dakota. Sloan played his college basketball at Evansville.
Recent comments
ok
re:re:re:@rizz | May 8, 2008 at 9:38 a.m.
Rating of your ability to pick up on obvious sarcasm in the first...
re:re:@rizzo | May 7, 2008 at 7:08 p.m.
Math is fun - let's do some now.
0 rings + 0 banners = Jazz
1...
re:@rizzo | May 7, 2008 at 6:05 p.m.
- Vegas, Poinsettia bowls or bust 2:01 a.m.
- Wildcats face tough defense 1:59 a.m.
- Aggies look to Idaho for an example 1:58 a.m.
- Aggies host Southern Utah 1:53 a.m.
- Cougars turn back Wildcats' 1:44 a.m.
- Cougar women lose at home 1:41 a.m.
- Sloan's two point guard lineup 1:39 a.m.
- BYU football: 5 keys to victory 1:36 a.m.
- RSL's Movsisyan departs 1:36 a.m.
- Glover gives Utes last-second upset 1:27 a.m.
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
265 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
211 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
133 - Boys basketball rankings
128 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
112 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
109 - Letters: Trump card for believers
93 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
85 - Utah, BYU are top choices for bowls
75
It's finally time for the game that everyone has been waiting for all...
I could tell BYU was ready to play Saturday afternoon even before the...
Carlos Boozer denied that playing so well against the Chicago Bulls held...
Score more points.
When the coach is organized and runs the team, there is consistancy. When...
Hello Anonymous...you chicken to let us know who you are? What is wrong with...
Speed kills. Utes win.
Coach Whittingham!
And Y'all thought BYU football was Bi-Polar? Somebody get these guys some meds!
Instead of getting rid of football let's get rid of the crap that you teach...
Speed kills, as we have seen with TCU and Florida St. Utah is faster and more...
Kudos to the Utes on a big win. It makes the Aggies loss to you hurt just a...
is why we're so up and down. I think they will be solid by conference play....
