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Help Phil Jackson set the screen
May 20th, 2008, 4:56 pm · 2 Comments · posted by Michael Lev, staff writer
Lakers coach Phil Jackson has made a postseason
tradition out of splicing movie clips into game tape to send a motivational message and/or make sure his players are paying attention.
Seeing how Jackson has a lot on his plate these days — preparing his team for the Western Conference finals, toting his giant hip-friendly chair around, keeping Jeanie Buss happy — we thought we’d help him out by picking some appropriate film fare for the upcoming Spur series.
And be “we,” I mean you and me.
Please submit your movie suggestions and (hopefully) pithy remarks in the comment box below. Or, if that doesn’t work for you, you can send them to me at mlev@ocregister.com. Assuming they’re publishable, I’ll post them as they come in.
My suggestion is the reigning Oscar winner for Best Picture: “No Country for Old Men.” It works on two levels:
(1) It sends the message, at least in title, that the geezer Spurs’ time is up.
(2) It prepares the Lakers for the violent fouling of Robert Horry, whom some pundits now are referring to as “Cheap Shot Bob.”
I already solicited ideas through the paper version of The Orange County Register. Here’s a sampling of responses (not including “Brokeback Mountain” from rdblair999@aol.com, though I do appreciate the humor):
From Kenny Sivcovich or Orange: “It depends on what Phil Jackson wants to show. If he wants a comedy, he should go for ‘Happy Gilmore‘ or ‘Wedding Crashers.’ … If Phil wants a fight movie to get his players pumped up, he should definitely go for the manliest movie of all — ‘300.’ ‘300′ is in my top five of all-time greats, and the fight scenes always get me pumped and ready to fight someone.”
From H.B. Haspell of Villa Park: “Tell Phil to use the underlying theme from the ‘Rocky‘ movies. That is very inspirational!’
From Jeff Trigo: “1. ‘Top Gun‘ — Kobe MVP. 2. ‘Seabiscuit‘ — Nobody expected them to go this far.”
For more on the Lakers-Spurs series, check out our Lakers page.
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Dear Coach Jackson,
I’ve been trying to find out why some of the ‘Bigs’ on the bench aren’t playing. Are some of our big men on the bench able to play or what? We can definately use some changes in the line-ups thrown out in the game. By playing Chris Mihm and Mbenga we have some real size inside that can help stop the easy penetration, while doing this you make the Celtics beat you from the perimeter instead.
Using the ‘Bigs’ also helps out in the very needed rebounding department. It all comes down to the basics: hustle, rebound, run the game plan(which includes moving the ball around and players moving too) and play defense! Give the Celtics some defense all the way to the end, use a rotation in order to keep the players legs fresh as possible. It’s time to throw some curve balls along with some old fashioned basics of the game, bringing a big heart definately helps too. No more guys getting easy un-contested lay-ups…play some tough Defense otherwise get off the court….contest everything….use your bench players. The Celtics aren’t going to know how to defend Mihm, Mbenga and Ariza because they rarely play and are never used. If anything, play them early in the game and let them get some rhythm plus some very-needed confidence.
WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY.
OHHH YEAH…
STOP DEPENDING ON KOBE!!!!!
PUT GUYS IN THE GAME THAT ARE NOT AFRAID OF ADDING SOME PRODUCTION ON THEIR OWN.
LUKE WALTON is the first player that comes to mind, he’s afraid to do anything on his own, like shooting…driving in for a layup….it’s rare to see it.
Lamar has to be more focused, don’t let foul trouble take you out of your game…keep slashing to the hole, they can’t stop you as much as you can produce some lay-ins.
Everyone needs to be moving, Kobe & Lamar need to slash to the hole more, get the layup or dish out, maybe even a bucket plus a foul.
COACH: last game you could have used some strategy or better strategy and go at an opposing player when he has 4-5 fouls, go right at him with plays so that you can get him fouled out.
Foul trouble always takes a player and the coach as well, out of there game plan. Pay attention to the guys that are in trouble and go at them, help the team by getting him fouled out, like with the case of James Posey on Thursday night….he had i believe 5 fouls early in the game and continued to hurt us with his play-time.
The guys need to be more aggresive (especially bench players like Farmar & Turiaf…where are these guys.., plus starters like Gasol, Radmanovic and Odom) as well, as we all know already.
PLAY OUR 7′ PLAYERS LIKE MBENGA AND MIHM!!!!