Phil says best athlete was Rodman

[Reality]

No way do i believe this.  I mean I believe Phil was probably correctly quoted, but no way Rodman is a better athlete then Jordan.  I guess we could argue what "athlete" means....
http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2008/08/26/the-greatest-athlete-according-to-jackson/

[WayOutWest]

No way do i believe this.  I mean I believe Phil was probably correctly quoted, but no way Rodman is a better athlete then Jordan.  I guess we could argue what "athlete" means....
http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2008/08/26/the-greatest-athlete-according-to-jackson/

Hard to disagree, obviously PJ has coached players who are 10X better than Rodman but Rodman was a feat of nature, very few players come to mind who are better athletes.  MJ and Kobe were just as athletic but they did not compare to Rodman as far as strength.

[Reality]

Agility, coordination, sports IQ, more.
All things beyond just strength.

[WayOutWest]

Agility, coordination, sports IQ, more.
All things beyond just strength.

PJ said "athlete".  Rodman has all that you mentioned and while he may of acted like a clown he routinely got the best of guys 10X better than him so I'll even through IQ in there.  He did not have the skills of players like MJ and Kobe but he was just as good an athlete as anyone. 

Again PJ said ATHLETE!.

[westkoast]

Agility, coordination, sports IQ, more.
All things beyond just strength.

PJ said "athlete".  Rodman has all that you mentioned and while he may of acted like a clown he routinely got the best of guys 10X better than him so I'll even through IQ in there.  He did not have the skills of players like MJ and Kobe but he was just as good an athlete as anyone. 

Again PJ said ATHLETE!.

He still acts like a clown.  I see him in Costa Mesa just about every other weekend getting drunk and being a clown.  His problem always has been that he likes attention and will do anything for it.  That doesn't take away from what a quality defender he really was.

[Reality]

I hear another circular logic circle coming on.
Okay, define "athlete".  You have mentioned one thing and one thing only so far, "strength".

Whereas i said

Agility, coordination, sports IQ, more.
All things beyond just strength.

[Reality]

Agility, coordination, sports IQ, more.
All things beyond just strength.

PJ said "athlete".  Rodman has all that you mentioned and while he may of acted like a clown he routinely got the best of guys 10X better than him so I'll even through IQ in there.  He did not have the skills of players like MJ and Kobe but he was just as good an athlete as anyone. 

1988 Finals Gm 6 Detroit had the series all but won what with the ball, up 3 with 30 or so seconds left and plenty of time on the shot clock.  Get the ball to Zeke, who had put on one for the ages with 42 pts on a bum ankle and was nailing all of his fts.  Or one of the other Piston ft shooters.  Lakers had to foul.  Instead Rodman jacks up some ill advised long jumper just seconds into the shot clock.  LA gets rebound, scores and ends up sucking out with two seconds left.  Yeah no wonder you like Rodmans basketball IQ.

[westkoast]

Agility, coordination, sports IQ, more.
All things beyond just strength.

PJ said "athlete".  Rodman has all that you mentioned and while he may of acted like a clown he routinely got the best of guys 10X better than him so I'll even through IQ in there.  He did not have the skills of players like MJ and Kobe but he was just as good an athlete as anyone. 

1988 Finals Gm 6 Detroit had the series all but won what with the ball, up 3 with 30 or so seconds left and plenty of time on the shot clock.  Get the ball to Zeke, who had put on one for the ages with 42 pts on a bum ankle and was nailing all of his fts.  Or one of the other Piston ft shooters.  Lakers had to foul.  Instead Rodman jacks up some ill advised long jumper just seconds into the shot clock.  LA gets rebound, scores and ends up sucking out with two seconds left.  Yeah no wonder you like Rodmans basketball IQ.

Wasn't that his first or second year in the league?  He made a bad decision one time as a young player so that throws out all the other times he made right decisions?

[Reality]

When the discussion is "best athlete he ever coached", yeah i cannot picture Jordan doing anything remotely like that.

Nor the other truly greats, ie Bird, Magic Marketing, etc.

[WayOutWest]

1988 Finals Gm 6 Detroit had the series all but won what with the ball, up 3 with 30 or so seconds left and plenty of time on the shot clock.  Get the ball to Zeke, who had put on one for the ages with 42 pts on a bum ankle and was nailing all of his fts.  Or one of the other Piston ft shooters.  Lakers had to foul.  Instead Rodman jacks up some ill advised long jumper just seconds into the shot clock.  LA gets rebound, scores and ends up sucking out with two seconds left.  Yeah no wonder you like Rodmans basketball IQ.

Hey stupid!  PJ said athlete!

Plus the Pistons would NOT have been in a postion to win withouth Rodman.  He played excellent defense, including Bird in the previous round, and was one of the reasons the Lakers had a hard time with the Pistons.  Plus the Pistons were not up 3 with 30 seconds to go, the last time they led by 3 in game 6 there was over a minute left on the clock.  The shot Rodman took was on a fast break where the Pistons had an advantage, that is how the Pistons played all series long and that is how they were in a postion to win.  I wouldn't expect you to understand the game beyond ONE possesion.

[WayOutWest]

When the discussion is "best athlete he ever coached", yeah i cannot picture Jordan doing anything remotely like that.

Nor the other truly greats, ie Bird, Magic Marketing, etc.

Fugg you're stupid.  End of discussion.

[westkoast]

When the discussion is "best athlete he ever coached", yeah i cannot picture Jordan doing anything remotely like that.

Nor the other truly greats, ie Bird, Magic Marketing, etc.

Athlete's dont have to be smart or make good decisions.  You are mixing up "best basketball player" and "best athlete"  they are not one in the same.  Ill put it in Laker terms so you can get it since you follow them so much.  Jordan Farmar is a better athlete then Derek Fisher is but he is not a better basketball player.  Get it?

lol @ Magic marketing.  The sad part is you don't realize how bad it makes you look when you try to act like his skill wasn't the reason he got so much attention.  This is why a lot of people around here don't take you all that serious when it comes to your opinion on basketball.  You know he's a good player yet for some reason you want to take the legs out from under yourself by taking a shot.

[Skandery]

Reality, 

Athlete:  One who is able-bodied, acrobatic, agonistic, energetic, gymnastic, pancratic, robust, stalwart, strong, vigorous, and vital.  A physical freak of nature.

Did you notice how it didn't say skillful, smart, intelligent, patient, etc.

. . . and you know what.  I believe Phil Jackson.  Its not hard for me to believe Dennis Rodman is the greatest athlete (not basketball player) he ever coached.  It was said that Dennis Rodman would go into the locker room to sprint/spin on the exercise bike as hard as he could in between minutes on the court.  And that was at the age of 38.  From a purely physical standpoint, Rodman was a FREAK ATHLETE.

On the basketball IQ level, he wasn't missing much either.   

[Reality]

Reality, 

Athlete:  One who is able-bodied, acrobatic, agonistic, energetic, gymnastic, pancratic, robust, stalwart, strong, vigorous, and vital.  A physical freak of nature.

Did you notice how it didn't say skillful, smart, intelligent, patient, etc.

. . . and you know what.  I believe Phil Jackson.  Its not hard for me to believe Dennis Rodman is the greatest athlete (not basketball player) he ever coached.  It was said that Dennis Rodman would go into the locker room to sprint/spin on the exercise bike as hard as he could in between minutes on the court.  And that was at the age of 38.   From a purely physical standpoint, Rodman was a FREAK ATHLETE.

On the basketball IQ level, he wasn't missing much either.   

As to spinning between minutes on the court and after games, it's called methamphetamine. 
Bolded acrobatic and gymnastic, no way is Rods in the same catagorie as Jordan etc.

Freaky strong, robust, workout freak along with being able to take coke longer then anyone and not crash?  You got it.

As to his alleged IQ, you know as well as i do what a marketing tool he became.  His flopping was on a Derek Fisher level and was tolerated by CBS-Bulls-Stern Marketing.  Finals vs Sonics was only part hoop.  Part marketing.

[westkoast]

Reality, 

Athlete:  One who is able-bodied, acrobatic, agonistic, energetic, gymnastic, pancratic, robust, stalwart, strong, vigorous, and vital.  A physical freak of nature.

Did you notice how it didn't say skillful, smart, intelligent, patient, etc.

. . . and you know what.  I believe Phil Jackson.  Its not hard for me to believe Dennis Rodman is the greatest athlete (not basketball player) he ever coached.  It was said that Dennis Rodman would go into the locker room to sprint/spin on the exercise bike as hard as he could in between minutes on the court.  And that was at the age of 38.   From a purely physical standpoint, Rodman was a FREAK ATHLETE.

On the basketball IQ level, he wasn't missing much either.   

As to spinning between minutes on the court and after games, it's called methamphetamine. 
Bolded acrobatic and gymnastic, no way is Rods in the same catagorie as Jordan etc.

Freaky strong, robust, workout freak along with being able to take coke longer then anyone and not crash?  You got it.

As to his alleged IQ, you know as well as i do what a marketing tool he became.  His flopping was on a Derek Fisher level and was tolerated by CBS-Bulls-Stern Marketing.  Finals vs Sonics was only part hoop.  Part marketing.

Tim Duncan is only good because the NBA makes him look good.  Marketers at the front office needed to make a star out of a small market guy to give the impression that the NBA cares about small markets.

Really Duncan is only half as good as it looks on TV.  The other half if marketing.