RETURN HAS FANS HOPEFUL SOME THINK JACKSON HAS HARD WORK AHEAD.Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer Vincent and Pierre Singletary, brothers and lifelong Lakers fans, were too busy to eat. While a pizza sat between them, they discussed the big news: the return of Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. . Vincent, 34, from Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, , is thrilled, convinced the Lakers rehired the best basketball mind of the past 20 years. Pierre, 27, from Chatsworth, disagrees. He thought Jackson severed ties with the Lakers for good by writing a book about the 2003-04 season and now is undercutting his values by agreeing to coach players he trashed trashed adj. Slang Drunk or intoxicated. Our Living Language Expressions for intoxication are among those that best showcase the creativity of slang. as selfish and immature. Meet Lakers Nation, a world confused, excited and frustrated - and, for the first time in months, a little bit hopeful. Jackson, the coach who led the Lakers to three NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= championships in five years, is back, leaving fans to decide just what to think about the whole situation. ``I love it,'' Vincent said. ``Phil, he has the best basketball mind in sports, besides John Wooden. That's the only basketball coach that has a better brain than Phil Jackson.'' Singletary and other Lakers fans know that Jackson has his work cut out for him, and several questions linger. Can Jackson mend fences with his star player, Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. , after trashing Bryant in his book, ``The Last Season''? Can Jackson, who excelled with Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. and Scottie Pippen Scottie Maurice Pippen (born September 25, 1965 in Hamburg, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). in Chicago and Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in Los Angeles, win with a team that many fans consider Bryant-and-the-rest? If he doesn't have enough talent to win, can he engineer a roster makeover? After the Lakers failed to reach the postseason last year for just the second time since 1976 - losing 19 of their last 21 games - most fans are convinced the Bryant-and-the-rest model doesn't work. ``Kobe wanted to run the team his way, they let him be the man, and look what happened,'' said Mitch Gothrick, a 43-year-old Reseda resident. ``He ruined a good team.'' Some think the team would be better off spending money on free agents instead of giving Jackson a contract believed to be worth as much as $10 million per year over three years, making him the highest-paid coach in NBA history. Josh Kleinbaum, (818) 713-3669 josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com |
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