Phil Jackson Quotes (191 Quotes)

We're not amazed, to say the least. We are enthralled by it, and it's a beautiful thing to see, but it's something that we've grown accustomed to over the years.

There's a process teams go through to put themselves in a competitive place. And when they get to that position, I felt like if they want me to coach that team, I'd have to listen to them, because of my connections in New York and my connections as a Knick.

It was designed for him (Bryant) to catch the ball and find what he could find available. I have to give him credit that he can shoot that shot. I have to allow his judgment to be so he felt like he could do that at the time. I wanted him to penetrate.

Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.

He practiced against Kobe all of last year, so obviously it was sweet revenge for him. We deserved that. We didn't know who he was, we gave him up to Charlotte, we had no idea how good a player he was.

I think some of our guys hit a little bit of a wall here. We talked a lot about that ... This is a heavy time to play basketball. You've really got to take care of yourself. I had a couple of guys fighting through things out there, under-the-weather type of things. They just couldn't get themselves going.

It was a game where our rebounds and defense really failed us and eventually, I had to think about an offensive unit that could do some things to try and catch up. Kobe obviously wasn't right tonight, but this is the second time Blake has scored big against us in critical situations.

Obviously when the threes aren't going it's time to stop shooting them. We kept going to it and got desperate at the end trying to hit home runs. We can't do that.

Like life, basketball is messy and unpredictable. It has its way with you, no matter how hard you try to control it. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart. When you do that, the game and life will take care of itself.

There's plenty of time to look at this for a while until either he shows improvement or else we go back to more of a basic offensive standard ... and take that guard responsibility away. Move him into a forward place where he can make plays and he can still be a participant in the offense.

His confidence grew as we kept going back in to him, and he got more productive from that. I think guys started relying on the fact that he could be counted on to catch the basketball and convert.

I thought we were despondent when we came out of that regular time, going into overtime and played like it the first three minutes, but we found some energy at the end.

I have been involved in a lot of wild ones. That one was right up there.

I'm not the panacea for this basketball club, ... It's going to take plenty of hard work and dedication over the course of the summer to change the face of this team.

We looked like we were lethargic out there. We shot 50 percent in the first half, and had 16 turnovers to go with that, which is not acceptable. The second half was a disappointment not only with the choice of shots, but with the execution. Golden State had something to do with that.

It was a disappointing loss tonight. We couldn't finish it to its completion.

I don't feel like we missed an opportunity. We'll have better opportunities as we go along. We're figuring out how to play against them.

This trip, you've got to do a lot of PR work for the league, pump up that Miami game on Christmas Day because they're asking you to do this all the time. And don't forget, Orlando is just as important in the win-loss column.

we'd visit an art museum in Houston, or a spectacular shoreline vista in Oregon, or attend a political lecture in Boston. And so I found myself getting a special kind of education just witnessing Bill's grasp of what makes our society tick and how business gets done.

I still think we have a good chance, ... I still feel that we're the odds-on favorite to be the team of destiny.

It's 1-1. We haven't done anything yet. Now it's time to come home and see if we can't win on our court and get the actual lead in the series.

I was on them a little bit after the game because they were dumping the ball in his lap when he wasn't hot. But I thought they did a good job of milking the clock.

When Stephen got hurt...it was either a motivating force for the Pacers to get their run, but at the same time he was turning the ball over a lot, so he may have been an asset by default.

He's had to make some adjustments. I really feel like the adjustments have been made,

There really is something nice about it as far as energizing this team. This team has some deadbeats on it, anyway, and the coach is one of them. It's good to have some people out there that are enthusiastic about the game.

Kobe fought his way through it tonight. It was one of those games where the numbers of shots he took was too high, but he thought he was going to get fouled and he took the shots because he felt the pressure on him.

It will affect our season, there's no doubt about it. And we're going to live with it, ... We're going to deal with it. And we're fortunate to have made some moves that will help us, regardless of what happens in the Kobe situation.

I think that it can provide a space away from the other things that I'm sure have encroached upon his life and really give him a chance to do what he does best, ... His genius is basketball, and to do that he's got to play it at the highest level.

Von has a lot of game. He is an aggressive player, but sometimes it is good to have a wild horse out there who can push guys and challenge people.

It was a nice win for us, a game that we shot the ball well. They just kept coming back and found a way to get back in the game with various plays. It was a great game to watch as a fan.

They almost made me get up and walk out of the building in the third quarter. They got it righted and played good defense to get back in the game. I knew that Kobe would find a way out there to help us win.

I wouldn't ask him to go on the trip. We want him to stay behind, work out and get an opportunity to condition himself. It makes no sense for him to go along on the trip and stay in the hotel while we play.

I think it was a disservice to Larry to make him take Allen Iverson. Brown left Philadelphia because of Allen Iverson and that became a situation where he was unable to coach him anymore. Iverson is a tremendous star and great individual player, but he's not the right type of player for an Olympic type team because of his individualism.

He could have been the heir apparent to (Michael Jordan) and maybe won as many championships. He may still win a championship or two, but the boyish hero image has been replaced by that of a callous gun for hire.

Ludicrous is probably the best word I could think of.

It was a really nice game. He did a lot of things well for us tonight. He has been saying he has been getting more comfortable playing in the offense. We asked him to do a variety of things, and that sparked his game tonight. His rebounding has been a great asset for us.

I've seen quite a few guys do that in his situation, focused. He wanted to stay in, in the second quarter. He asked to stay in so he could get loose, get a second wind.

He's moved on. It's time for the fans to move on.

Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart.

It's time to penetrate and find somebody else if that's not the shot you're making or you're comfortable with. You have to know that.

It's not something that I have to do tomorrow or next week. I feel real comfortable just taking my time.