The classic bach. (Here Below).LIKE ALL THE OTHER RARE-bird watchers in basketball, we have always been intrigued by coaches such as 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. . Imagine a coach who operates with his head in a maze of triangles, his soul in a cloud of Zen Buddhism Zen Buddhism, Buddhist sect of China and Japan. The name of the sect (Chin. Ch'an, Jap. Zen) derives from the Sanskrit dhyana [meditation]. , and his trust in two septuagenarian sep·tu·a·ge·nar·i·an n. A person who is 70 years old or between the ages of 70 and 80. adj. 1. Being 70 years old or between the ages of 70 and 80. 2. Of or relating to a septuagenarian. assistants named Tex Winter (born 1922) and John Bach (born 1924)! His reverence for age thrills us for two reasons. First, because it takes two people off social security and, second, because both coaches are alumni of Scholastic Coach. Both wrote articles for us in their prime years, Winter at Kansas State and Bach at Fordham and Penn State. Since Bach had played the game and coached it at the college across the street from our high school, we knew a lot about him. But he remained somewhat enigmatic to us. It took us a while to discover that his extroverted ex·tro·vert·ed also ex·tra·vert·ed adj. Marked by interest in and behavior directed toward others or the environment as opposed to or to the exclusion of self; gregarious or outgoing: personality concealed a sharp, creative mind and the sensitivity of a born psychologist. Though he never received a vote as Coach of the Year, that mind never faltered. It was totally intact when Phil Jackson hired him in the '90s, and it remains that way seven or eight years later with the Washington Wizards. It was a man named Michael Jordan who called him up two years ago in Maine, where he had gone to paint water colors after retiring from the Bulls. "John," was the command, we need a teaching coach for our young people in Washington. Get here as soon as you can." Want to know what this remarkable man is all about? Check some of his answers to the questions put to him in the January 12 issue of the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Special Sunday Supplement: How can a 78-year-old senior citizen continue coaching in the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= ? "You have to see what's on the court every season and find a way to compete with what you have. That's what old guys like me bring to the game. We've seen all the strategies and playing styles - the old New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. game, the motion game, and now zone defense. The more you know, the more you can adapt." Can you really coach the game at your age? "I'm a better coach than I was in 1954. Age tempers. all bad traits, like rage and frustration and the inability to deal with losses. "You can't coach with the same frenzy, but you can treasure simplicity. You can get the kids to work on their basics and become more complete players. Instead of relying on raw talent." How do you get them to listen to your advice? "I may kid them a little. I'll ask about a great player from the past and when they give me a quizzical quiz·zi·cal adj. 1. Suggesting puzzlement; questioning. 2. Teasing; mocking: "His face wore a somewhat quizzical almost impertinent air" Lawrence Durrell. look I'll tell them: 'You never heard of George Mikan? Hey you don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. anything about the game.' "Another thing I do is try to keep showing them things they've never seen before." You have your Navy ID framed near your locker. Is that to inspire you or your players? "Both. When I was with the Bulls, I started using the ace of spades as our symbol. It's a military card, the one men wore in their helmets. These days I splice footage of the Marine Corps silent drill team into our training videos. Perfection beyond excellence. If you've never seen the Marine Corps do this drill, you're the poorer for it." |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion