Red vs. Phil

I live in the Northeast.  When I drive around in my car I occasionally listen to sports talk radio.  Combining both of these factors means than in the past 12 hours I have heard someone tell me that Red Auerbach was a better coach than Phil Jackson approximately 118 times.  If I had the misfortune of living on the opposite coast (shudder) I’m sure that this morning my radio dial would be buzzing with support for the Zen Master.  Although both sides can craft compelling arguments for their candidate, I’ve yet to hear anyone construct the argument in the proper way.  The question isn’t; who is the better coach?  The question is; what is a more impressive accomplishment, Jackson’s 10 championships in the modern era, or Red’s 9 championships including 8 in a row?  Let’s break it down.

 

The Competition:

This factor is pretty clearly in Jackson’s corner.  Red coached in the NBA when it had only 10 teams, whereas Phil has won all his championships in an era with 30 teams plus. Red also coached before the advent of free agency, meaning that once you put together a dominant team it was easier to keep it together every year.

The Bottom Line: The bigger the league the harder it is to win.

Advantage Phil

The Franchises:

Red was at the helm of the most dominant franchise in the history of professional sports.   The 8 championships in a row is unlikely to be matched in any sport.  In his 20 years on the bench Red won eleven Eastern Conference titles, nine NBA championships, and 938 games.  In addition to the 9 championships Red won as a coach, he collected 7 more rings as a General Manager.

Phil has won his 10 championships with two different organizations: two three-peats with Jordan’s Bulls, another three-peat with Shaq and Kobe, and this latest title with Kobe and Pau Gasol.

The Bottom Line: Red’s loyalty to one team wins out here.

Advantage Red. 

 

The Nuts and Bolts:  

Red coached in a time before there was the specialization we see in the NBA today. Red had no assistant coaches; he was coach, the GM, the traveling secretary, and probably the janitor.  He was expected not only to buy the groceries, and cook the dinner, but do the dishes afterwards as well.

Phil has guided his teams in an era of big money where every organization carries multiple assistants and has advance scouts who ensure that the head coach’s job is as specialized as possible.  In fact long-time assistant Tex Winter developed Phil’s greatest strategic advantage, the triangle offense.   However this point also works in Phil’s favor. Red coached in a time when he just had to be smarter than a dozen other people.  Phil has to outthink hundreds.  Today every play from every player is broken down dozens of times before every game.  Coaches know the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, and mid game adjustments are more important than ever.

Bottom Line: Although Red had more on his plate, the job of an NBA coach is tougher today.

Advantage Phil.

 

Legacy:

In 1950 Red was the first coach/GM in the NBA to break the color barrier when he drafted Chuck Cooper.  By 1964 he became the first coach to start an all black starting five, and when he retired from coaching in 1966 he hired Bill Russell as the first black head coach of an NBA franchise.  And let's not forget that the backdrop for all of these accomplishments was the notoriously racist city of Boston.

Championships and the progressive ideals aside, Red is perhaps best known as a gregarious, dominating and engaging personality.  The image of Red sitting on the bench contentedly puffing on the ever-present victory cigar is indelibly impressed on the mind of every NBA fan. 

It is a little early to judge Phil’s legacy, but beyond the titles he will be remembered for the hippy zen stuff, calling Kobe “uncoachable” in his autobiography, the triangle offense, and this basketball card.  Yet ultimately Jackson’s legacy is too tied up in the players he coached.  Twenty years from now, in a game of word association the name Jordan will be recalled more than Jackson when discussing the Bulls.  The same goes for Shaq and Kobe with the Lakers.

The Bottom Line: When Red died, Paul Pierce cried.

Advantage Red.

 

Damn, that leaves it at 2-2 . . . I need a tie breaker.  This'll do. 

Good enough for me.

 

-Jesse