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 Inside the NBA
Posted: Tuesday June 22, 1999 03:19 PM Around The Rim Phil Jackson digs O'Neal in the triangle By Jackie MacMullan
As far back as three years ago, when Phil Jackson was coaching the NBA's best team (the Chicago Bulls) and the league's best player (Michael Jordan), he'd break down film on opposing teams and catch himself daydreaming about Shaquille O'Neal. "Phil and I used to talk about how nicely Shaq would fit in the way we played," says longtime Bulls assistant Tex Winter, the architect of the triangle offense that helped Jackson win six championships. "Phil always used to tell me, 'I'd love a chance to coach Shaq.'" He'll have that chance now. Jackson was introduced as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers on June 16 after signing a five-year, $30 million contract that will give him all the time he needs to implement the triple-post offense. While Jackson's hiring instantly sent expectations through the roof of the Staples Center, the new 20,000-seat arena that the Lakers will play in next season, it also left observers speculating about how O'Neal would adjust to the triangle, which demands offensive sacrifices from each player and requires the pivot man to be a deft passer -- something that Shaq has never been. Jackson expresses little concern over how his new superstar will adjust to the complexities of the system. "It doesn't take a chemical-engineering degree to figure out how to play basketball, that's for sure," he says. Winter says that O'Neal is a perfect fit for the triangle and that it's a mistake to think he will have the same role in the system that the Bulls centers had. Chicago, with Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley as its starting pivotmen, never had a dominant player in the middle. "As a matter of fact, this offense is far more effective with a dominant center," Winter says. "The center is the apex of the triangle. He is really the first option of the offense. He accepts what we call our 'priority pass,' from the wing into the post, and if he's in a good position to get to the basket, he'll go." Because the Bulls didn't have a center of O'Neal's caliber, their big men passed the ball to players cutting through the key. "If those cutters are open, it's the center's job to pass them the ball," Winter says. "If they are guarded, they will take their defenders with them as they cut through the middle, which leaves that area open again for the big man, giving him a second look at the basket." Winter and Jackson point to past NBA clubs as evidence that a dominant center can flourish in the triple post. The Lakers used a variation of this offense in the early '70s with Wilt Chamberlain, and Philadelphia coach Alex Hannum featured Wilt in a similar vein when the Sixers won the 1967 championship. Winter says Milwaukee coach Larry Costello also implemented parts of the triple post with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help the Bucks win the championship in 1971. O'Neal has heartily endorsed the choice of Jackson, whom he dubbed "a legend" late last week. Sources close to Shaq say he is willing to adjust his game now that there's a clear strategy -- and a long-term coach -- in place. "The one thing Shaq should be prepared for is, it could cut down on his scoring," Winter says. "On the other hand he'll have plenty of opportunities." The player who may have the most trouble adjusting to the triangle is Kobe Bryant. Although he possesses all the tools to flourish in this offense -- quickness, good shooting range, ball-handling skills -- he might have to battle the urge to catch and shoot rather than continue the flow of the triangle by making the extra pass. According to Winter, Jordan struggled with that urge right up until the end of his career. "When you take a player with the skills that Jordan or Kobe has, he wants to score every time he touches the ball," Winter says. "That's understandable. But in this offense, you can't make spectators out of your teammates." Jackson concedes that the offense will take time and patience to teach. No wonder there is so much speculation about the Lakers' acquiring former Bulls swingman Scottie Pippen, who spent an unhappy year in Houston as a third option in its offense, publicly pining for the triangle. The bait might have to be shooter Glen Rice, although Lakers boss Jerry West dismissed talk of dealing him late last week. Jackson will break down film and study his new team before he decides what's best. That won't prevent him, however, from daydreaming about Pippen between tapes.
Odom's Flip-Flop: Lamar Odom's only visit to an NBA team -- Vancouver, on June 3 -- was like a trip to Disneyland. He bonded with smiling general manager Stu Jackson and coach Brian Hill, who own the No. 2 pick in the June 30 draft. Odom was impressed by the sparkling city and was encouraged by the young Grizzlies lineup, which includes Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Mike Bibby. Even Odom's workout, which got off to a rocky start because he was very nervous, had one of those sticky-sweet happy endings. "His shots in the beginning weren't going down," says his former attorney, Jeff Klein, "but he sucked it up and suddenly found it. That's what the coaches were talking about afterward. They were struck by his poise." Yet there was Odom last week, unraveling in full view of the NBA. He announced that he would ask the NCAA to allow him to return to Rhode Island even though he had signed a player-agent agreement with Klein, which ended his college eligibility. Odom's about-face came after he failed to show up in Chicago on June 12, where top prospects underwent physicals and were officially weighed and measured. Odom was also a no-show at workouts for the Hornets and the Bulls, who have the third and first picks, respectively. By then, Klein, who found out after the fact that Odom had failed to show in Chicago, had resigned as his agent. Odom's bid to become a college kid again was doomed from the start. The NCAA is inflexible on eligibility once a player has signed with an agent. Besides, even if Odom were cleared to return to the Rams, he would probably be academically ineligible, because last spring he disappeared from campus for several days, even during exams. By the time Rhode Island announced, last Friday, that it would not ask the NCAA to reinstate Odom's eligibility and that he would remain an early-entry candidate in the draft, questions were swirling around the 19-year-old. Had he balked because he was feeling like "a commodity," as Rhode Island officials suggested? Was he hiding something or was there some other explanation for his actions? Will he take a physical? "We like guys we are considering for the draft to have taken a physical," Bulls general manager Jerry Krause says drily. While general managers throughout the league speculated that Chicago would cross Odom off its list, especially with attractive alternatives such as Maryland point guard Steve Francis, Krause says, "I don't think that we can do anything until we meet and talk to the young man. Let's see what happens." At week's end Odom was making arrangements to reschedule workouts with the Hornets and Bulls. He is such an enticing talent -- 6'10" and a terrific passer -- it's unlikely that he'll fall out of the top three. His recent behavior will "have no bearing" on what Vancouver does with the No. 2 pick, says Jackson. "I don't think it would affect our thinking," concurs Charlotte G.M. Bob Bass. "The only thing I would like to do is get the kid in here and talk to him." That line forms on the left. Newly named Washington coach Gar Heard wasted little time telling G.M. Wes Unseld what he wants. "I told him that re-signing Mitch Richmond should be our Number 1 priority," Heard said on Friday night. "I look out there, and I don't see anybody like him." But will the Wizards pay Richmond what he wants, which is a deal similar to Rod Strickland 's four-year, $40 million package?... League sources say Toronto is trying to work out a deal with Vancouver to obtain the No. 2 pick in the draft, but only if Maryland's Steve Francis is still on the board. Toronto has discussed offering the No. 5 choice and Doug Christie .... Two Western Conference G.M.'s say the medical report on UCLA point guard Baron Davis 's surgically repaired left knee shows that the joint is not as "tight" as they would like it to be, but the consensus around the league is that Davis is worth the risk, given his considerable skills.... The woman who alleges that Clippers center Michael Olowokandi raped her has offered to settle her claim for $3.7 million, according to a source close to the case. Olowokandi's reply: See you in court.... Small forward Wally Szczerbiak 's stock continues to go up, up, up. Some teams' mock drafts project him going in the top five. That's bad news for Cleveland, which has the No. 8 selection and desperately wants Szczerbiak, a Miami of Ohio star, to help inject new life into a franchise whose attendance dropped 16.7% last season.
Issue date: June 28, 1999
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