<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Dan Patrick: Coach, where would you put Dwyane Wade in the pantheon of great players in the game now? Phil Jackson: Well, you got it pretty well straight there, I think that four players are pretty much how you mentioned it - Kobe, Lebron and Dwyane, they are terrific players, all of them. But you know, it depends upon the mood and the refereeing and how it goes. Because if you get on the other side of the refereeing you could go with no fouls - you could get six foul shots in a game instead of twenty, and that makes a big difference. And I've seen the temperament turn a little bit on a player where everything that he does going to the basket there's no call. Those little things are strips all of a sudden instead of a two shot foul, or those little tips are let go because there's not enough to warrant a foul shot. But I thought they were very, very generous to Wade through this playoffs on free throws. It's amazing - I don't know if he set a record for most free throws shot in a six game series - it certainly had to be. But you have to say his determination, his accuracy, his efficiency - all those things were terrific. DP: How as a coach do you take advantage of what you consider preferential treatment for one of your star players? PJ: Well, I think Riley did it the right way - he gave him the middle of the floor. It used to that be the isolation came on the wing or the sideline. But with illegal defenses not being called or changed, so zones are available, the top of the floor seems to be the best place for players, and also it isolates in a way in which officials can then read the foul or the contact situations that happens. And that seems to be the place where you saw most of the isolation in this situation. DP: Your thoughts when Shaq said Pat Riley is the best coach he ever played for. PJ: That's good Shaq, I like the fact that he said that. You know, that's Shaq, that's his nature. Everything is always the best that he's with, immediately at that moment. But I think that's the right thing to say at that particular time. I mean, he doesn't have to say it, but that's good. And I agree, I think Pat's a terrific coach and a great motivator, did a great job. And one of the things I've mentioned in this series is that Dallas probably is a more talented team, a little better team overall as far as talent goes, but the Riley factor might have an effect, and it did in this series. DP: But Coach, that doesn't hurt a little bit? PJ: Not at all. Not at all. I mean, you know, there's all kinds of coaching strategies that fit different personnel the right way. It's like a marraige. Not everybody is going to be attracted to the same personalities and some of it's going to work. I think that Riley's motivational factors, the way he motivates players, helped Shaq get in better shape than he's ever been in in the past five years. I mean, you saw him out on the court, playing screen/roll defense - I mean I had trouble getting him out off the middle of the court to play that screen roll defense. So that shows me that there was a motivation - he got to Shaq in a way that got him activated and got him out there and doing the things that was best for the team. DP: But you're so good at reading people and you take pride in doing that. Do you look back and say "Why did Riley get this out of Shaq and why couldn't I get this out of Shaq?" PJ: Well we got it out of Shaq in a different way: We let him sit back until the time was necessary to do that, and it saved him for another option in the game, and that was his offense. And we needed his offense to carry us. But they really didn't need his offense in this series, did they? They needed his influence, the fact that he created double teams. But they needed his defense and his presence in the paint more than anything else. DP: Did the Lakers still make the right decision in letting Shaq go? PJ: I think so. I think that Dr Buss feels comfortable about the fact that he did that. I mean, I told Dr Buss that there's never been a trade in the history of the game of the three major centers, or the four major centers that have been traded, that's ever recouped the team that's traded him away the same amount - they've never gotten back in return what they've traded away. You're talking about Wilt, and Kareem, and Shaq? And even Bill Russel, when the Hawks had the right to take him and Red stole Russel from them. PJ: That's true. And, you know, those things have altered the chemistry of the game, or the strengths of the game and the league, and really changed the West alot. When Kareem and Wilt were in the same conference and there was a couple of years where Kareem couldn't get to the finals after getting to the finals in his second year and winning a championship. But those things changed dynamically the game. And Miami went for it and got the best of what they wanted to get out of it and that's a championship, and Shaq has to feel really good about it today.</div> Pretty good stuff.
