Zen MASTER

Master of Puppets, I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
--Master of Puppets, Metallica

Phil Jackson is a freaking genius (for the record, I just think the song title's relevant, I don't believe he's actually smashed your dreams--unless your name has a "Maloof" or an "Adelman" in it). Not that I'm breaking any sort of ground with this observation or anything, but the guy is better at what he does than anybody I've ever seen in any sport (I obviously didn't get to see Wooden coach, so he doesn't count). At the NBA level, the mental edge is so huge, and Jackson consistently finds ways to get it and maintain it--over his players, his opponents, the referees, anybody. His most recent stroke of genius came on Thursday, a day off for the Lakers, as he questioned Kobe's physical capacity since surgery. Phil said something to the effect that he didn't "think Kobe would ever be back to 100 percent" after his off-season knee surgery. Kobe himself had said it might take until January for him to feel his best, but Phil kind of kicked him in the ass with that one, inferring that he couldn't be the 81-point-dropping Kobe of old. Well, last night (coincidentally--or not--against the Jazz, the team with the best record in the NBA), he was indeed the Kobe of old. If he's not 100 percent, then that third quarter was even more amazing than it appeared, and I'm not sure if that's even possible.
If you missed it (TNT broadcast, the always-entertaining team of Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, the never-entertaining sideline schmuck Craig Sager), here's what Kobe did in the third quarter alone: 10 for 10 from the line (no big deal, I suppose), nine for nine from the floor (what?!?), including two threes, for a grand total of 30 points. In one quarter. Seriously. He tied his own franchise record for points in a q, and came within three of the all-time record (held by the Iceman), and more importantly, helped his team blow out the best team (so far) in the West. Not too shabby for a guy who's playing below capacity. He finished with 52 in just 34 minutes and on just 26 shots (yes, that was more than the rest of the starting lineup combined, but come on, he was feeling it).
Kobe's pretty much the most competitive guy alive right now, and Jackson still has the ability to light that extra fire under him, which is unbelievable. It makes sense that a guy like Brian Shaw or Ron Harper would have an extra level and be able to play over his head for Jackson, but Phil has also been able to get more out of the best that have ever played, and that's what makes him the best ever.
MJ was better than everybody before Phil got there, but Phil helped him buy into the team, lean a little bit on Scottie, take over when he needed to, and they won six titles. The number of egos on that team was incredible (MJ, Scottie, Rodman, Kukoc at the very least), and besides a few Jordan punching guys in practice stories (and Scottie sitting out the Kukoc game-winner), Phil never allowed them to let those egos get in the way of winning.
By the time he got to L.A. (and several years before, I'm sure), he actually was one of those egos himself, which made the break-up of the big three (no, Rick Fox was not one of those three) inevitable. Shaq was dominant before Phil got there, but he too learned the trusting teammates thing, and took over when he needed to (then let Kobe handle the ball in the last few minutes so he didn't have to shoot free throws).
Now Phil's got Kobe locked in, totally trusting him (did you see the high five when Kobe checked out last night? These guys are boys now), and he's working on Lamar Odom. He thought he could figure out Kwame Brown, but he might have just moved on to Andrew Bynum, who seems to be picking up things very quickly. And I can't resist a plug for my boy Farmar, who earned steay praise from Marv and Kerr last night for his quick adapatation to the triangle. If he could play defense, he'd be starting right now (sorry Smush); as it stands, he still might take over by the end of the year, especially if he keeps shooting well.
The fact that Phil has this Laker team (whose only improvement was supposed to be the addition of VladRad, currently averaging a robust 4.9 points per) alone in first place in the Pacific division is remarkable, and it's the second straight season in which the majority of pundits (including too many to name that work on my show) ranked them well outside the top eight in the conference), yet we're in the early stages of another playoff appearance, and they're only going to get better. Thank goodness for Jeanie Buss, right?