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Phil Jackson sets the bar low for 2005
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-29 13:35
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Championships have always been the goal for Phil
Jackson's teams. Now that he's back with a different Los Angeles Lakers team,
it's a matter of simply making the playoffs.
Phil Jackson said
Wednesday that the playoffs are the goal for this year's Lakers.
[John
W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated]。 | Jackson did
his best Wednesday to lower expectations, defining postseason qualification as
the goal for a young, rebuilt team coming off a horrible season.
Back as coach of the Lakers following a year off and an unlikely series of
events that preceded his return, Jackson talked publicly about a team that
barely resembles the one he left after the 2004 NBA Finals.
"I have my hopes as to how we can grow as a basketball club," Jackson said.
"It's like baking a cake -- you have to put it all together and see how things
work out.
"We definitely want to make the playoffs -- that's a goal for us. We won't
know how far we can go in the playoffs for a long time. To make the playoffs is
a goal we think we can accomplish. This is going to be a process. You're not
going to see a finished product for a while."
Jackson touched on several other topics, saying he felt good physically,
anticipates having a good working relationship with Kobe Bryant and believes
newcomer Kwame Brown could be a difference-maker. On the subject of a rumored
trade for Latrell Sprewell, Jackson said: "I don't think that's going to
happen."
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