OK, PHIL, WE'RE LISTENING ...

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

MEDIA

The more Phil Jackson grouses about how the NBA fuddy duddies are forcing him to wear a clip-on wireless mike, the worse it's probably going to get for the Lakers coach.

Starting with Thursday's game against San Antonio, four of the next eight Lakers games are on national TV, which means he has no choice but to comply with new "NBA Access" rules aimed at enhancing the coverage.

Welcome to the first installments of The Jackson Monologues.

TNT had the honor of wiring him up for the first time Thursday. ESPN has him tonight when the Lakers go to Golden State. On Dec.20, it's TNT's turn again in Cleveland. Then on Christmas Day at Staples Center, ABC has the mike gift-wrapped for him during a game against Phoenix.

"I'm reading the paper right here that says Phil signed a new contract (two years, $24 million)," TNT game analyst Mike Fratello said Thursday morning. "You really think he's got anything to complain about right now?"

The oft-unwatchable NBA, while ahead of the curve on its Internet presentation, has finally getting up to speed with its TV partners to expand access to its players and coaches with microphones and cameras in the locker room. The approach is hardly any different from what Fox has done for years with Major League Baseball, NBC does with the NHL or NFL Films has pulled off with ABC and ESPN on "Monday Night Football" telecasts. And none of them are at the level that NASCAR is with TV access.

Yet, it's a gaggle of NBA coaches, some of whom have benefited handsomely with contracts paid for in part by TV rights fees, who fear the worst, as if their secrets will get laundered and their authority will be undermined.

Jackson, who has called the whole experiment a example of "Big Brother"-ism, got his first airtime early in the second quarter Thursday when TNT's "Inside Trax" segment had him yelling about "penetration" to his players -- without any "Brokeback Mountain" reference, either. The Lakers' Jordan Farmar also wore a mike.

If anything, you'd think coaches might embrace the opportunity as a way to audition for a TV analyst job once the inevitable firing takes place.

"I doubt too many are thinking of their next job when they're in the middle of a game, but those with a witty sense of humor might be the ones who could position themselves better with this," said the less-than-witty Jeff Van Gundy, the current ESPN NBA game analyst who's had 11 seasons as an NBA coach, most recently fired by the Houston Rockets.

Van Gundy, one of the first to publicly question the mandatory coaches- get-miked edict when he first learned about it last week, said his opinion hasn't changed after doing ESPN's Chicago-Detroit telecast last Friday.

"I'm in a position where I can see both sides," said Van Gundy, who'll be with Mike Breen on tonight's Lakers-Warriors game on ESPN. "Coaches are going to worry about a mistake back in the truck letting something get out, but I also now see how stringent they're going to be in letting stuff out. If there's anything remotely strategic, or questionable, they'll protect the interest of the players and coaches and put everyone in a positive light."

If that's the case, why bother?

"Viewers want to feel they're getting closer to the game and we're going to find opportunities to educate, inform and personalize the coaches and players," said Tim Corrigan, ESPN's senior coordinating NBA producer.

A case to support Corrigan's point came during the fourth quarter of that Bulls-Pistons game last Friday. Detroit's Rip Hamilton was miked up, and during a timeout, ESPN aired a clip of his approaching referee Zach Zarba to ask for a clarification about how a defender was using his forearm to push against him while he was facing the basket. Viewers heard Zarba explain that it was legal in the area of the court known as the lower defensive box, an area that Breen and Van Gundy were able to explain consisted of the bottom of the free-throw circle to the baseline between three foot marks on either side of the basket.

"Here's an example of how even the players don't know all the rules," said Van Gundy on the telecast. Which probably meant a good many of the viewers at home didn't know this rule either.

ESPN will turn this access thing up a notch when it presents a day-long, behind-the-scenes look at the Charlotte Bobcats as they prepare for their 5 p.m. game tonight (on ESPN) against visiting Orlando. Coaches meetings, film reviews, shoot-arounds and player interviews at different points in the day will all be part of the deal.

"As other coaches see what's taking place, they'll get more comfortable with how TV is doing this," said Fratello, who spent 16 years as an NBA coach in Cleveland, Atlanta and Memphis before landing back on TNT, where he'll be doing the Lakers-Cavs game next week.

"Some player is not going to walk into a locker room at halftime and get a text on his cell that says, 'Your coach killed you on TV during that last time out.' It's just not gonna happen."

Van Gundy's brother Stan coaches the Magic and has expressed some hesitance about the whole process. Jeff, who says he hasn't talked to him about it, hopes that projects like the one today with Charlotte help show "a broader picture of what goes into coaching, because it's not just yelling, 'Let's play hard!' on the sidelines.

"This is all about building trust, and pretty soon (the complaints) will be a non-issue. It was the same thing when they put TV boom mikes in the huddles a few years ago. Change is the most difficult the moment things change."

And changing Jackson's mind may be easier said without a microphone nearby than done.

Web simulcast for state bowl games

FSN Prime Ticket's coverage of the three state high school football games Saturday from Home Depot Center has an additional outlet with a deal in place to simulcast them all live over Vootage.com for the first time.

"We're excited to see how this works as a test," said FSN vice president/general manager Steve Simpson. "The byproduct is that people will get to see these games all across the country."

This is the second year of FSN's coverage of the state bowl games. Chris McGee and John Jackson will do the broadcast of the St. Bonaventure-Central Catholic Div. III game at 11:30 a.m., with Jim Watson and Petros Papadakis doing the Oceanside-Novato Div. II game at 3:30 p.m. as well as the Centennial-De La Salle Div. I game at 7:30 p.m. Lindsay Soto and Brandon Hancock anchor the day's coverage. Dain Blanton and Jackie Pickering report on the sidelines.

Soto, meanwhile, has signed a new deal with FSN that will allow her to do more outside work -- including, perhaps, as a reporter for NBC during its 2008 Summer Olympics in China.

"She's not leaving; you'll see the same amount of her, but it's just under a different structured contract," said Simpson. "Her work ethic is beyond compare and she'll continue to do a great job for us."

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Lakers coach Phil Jackson sports a microphone clipped to his tie while watching warmups before Thursday's TNT broadcast of the game against San Antonio.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) WHAT SMOKES

(2) WHAT CHOKES