A LITTLE CREDIT, PLEASE? JACKSON MAY BE BEST COACH EVER.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

He sits with legs crossed, bemused, checking out his nails. Around him, chaos threatens and Phil Jackson looks like he could be thinking about most anything.

As usual, he has two superstars on the floor. As usual, his team is winning. And as usual, few want to give him any credit.

It's hard for many to recognize what by now should be obvious. Phil Jackson is a great coach. Phil Jackson might be the greatest coach in NBA history.

There is so little about Jackson that is traditional, other than loving a ball-movement offense and big defenders, that it's painfully difficult for many to give him his proper due.

He doesn't scream at referees, veins threatening to explode in his neck. He seldom calls timeouts to curtail an opposing run. Seldom even stands during the course of a game. He tries to let his players work out their problems, on and off the court.

He's not one of the gang. An intellectual. Wears a soul patch. Dates the owner's daughter. Has that Zen philosophical iceberg routine going. Clearly thinks a lot of himself.

Truth is, it makes a lot of people - including opposing coaches - uncomfortable. So Jackson hasn't received the acclaim he rightfully should and remains undervalued.

People like to write him off as simply having had the good fortune to coach the best player in the game with both the Bulls and Lakers, of having superior talent.

Everybody convinced the Lakers have more talent than the Kings right now? If you had to name the top eight players in the Lakers-Kings series, would six not be Kings? And they're missing their second-leading scorer.

Jackson was quietly masterful in Sunday's shocking Lakers victory over Sacramento. There was certainly an element of luck, but Jackson very much helped put the Lakers in position to cash in on Robert Horry's jaw-dropping shot.

Most of his moves Sunday were subtle, yet highly effective.

The most obvious was putting Kobe Bryant on Mike Bibby. After going 8 for 11 in the first half, Bibby was 1 for 5 in the second half when guarded mostly by Kobe, who played much of it with four fouls.

``We had to gamble at that particular point,'' Jackson said. ``I'm not a person who likes to pull out a lot of gambles, but we had to; we had no other recourse.''

Jackson was working his way deep through his options, plainly searching for something that would get the Lakers back in a game they trailed by as many as 24 points in the second quarter.

Fall behind by that many, at home, in a game that would leave you down 1-3 in the Western Conference finals, and most teams go into panic mode. The Lakers never did. They turned it up, dug down, fought like a team that recognized its life was on the line.

Much of that cool comes from Jackson. Disparage his sideline demeanor if you like, but he is a calming influence on the Lakers. And many of the players, particularly Kobe, have adapted his approach.

He's the anti-frantic coach. The general who prepares his team for battle and then once in motion, steps back and tries to let it win. Eisenhower at the European front.

Even some of his lesser, more-suspect moves, paid dividends. Devean George, who entered the league as a shooter but is hitting 32.4 percent in this series, missed 8 of 11 shots.

But he had nine rebounds - seven offensive - a steal and a blocked shot. He brought badly needed energy off the bench.

``I thought Devean George helped us get back just by offensively keeping the ball loose,'' Jackson said. ``The extra hustle created second shots for us. That's what we wanted, is simply outhustling.''

Even struggling Lindsey Hunter (2 of 8), Brian Shaw (0 for 3) and Samaki Walker (only seven minutes, but the biggest 3-pointer of his life) served purposes.

The Kings basically played with six and seemed to tire at the end. They certainly didn't collapse. They didn't roll over like the Spurs or Blazers when the Lakers dialed it up.

Vlade Divac's first free throw with 11.8 seconds to play fell way short, often a sign of fatigue. Bibby might have worn down. The Kings missed all eight of their 3-point shots in the second half.

Still, when the Lakers pushed, the Kings pushed back. Hedo Turkoglu and Divac hit clutch jumpers in the final two minutes.

``(The Kings) are a team that has shown poise,'' Jackson said. ``They hit some big, tough shots coming down the stretch. They are not going to give this to us. We know we still have a lot to do.''

For the first time, Jackson appears matched against a team with more overall talent. Yet Jackson, who did not receive a single vote in the Coach of the Year ballot, has his team tied 2-2 and the series very much in doubt.

Jackson is 150-53 in the postseason, six wins from breaking Pat Riley's playoff record. He has won eight NBA titles, one shy of Red Auerbach's record.

And for those who worship at the church of Auerbach, recognize he won all nine of his titles with Bill Russell at center; in the 10 years he coached in the NBA before Russell arrived, he won zero.

That's not to demean Auerbach's tremendous accomplishment, but put into context Jackson having won six titles with one organization built around guard Michael Jordan, and two more in another built around center Shaquille O'Neal.

Jackson is unorthodox, is very much his own man. But he's very much a winner and very much a great coach.

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(color) Given his just due, Phil Jackson might be recognized as one of the NBA's great coaches, alongside the likes of Red Auerbach.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press