Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:30 pm EDT
Phil Jackson: Rodman is the greatest athlete I've ever coached

By J.E. Skeets

Phil Jackson sure had plenty to say during a speech to the University of North Dakota as part of the convocation in which he received an honorary degree. Of the course of an hour, P-Jax criticized his school's nickname, told funny stories about Shaq swimming, and picked Dennis Rodman as the greatest athlete he ever coached. From the OC Register: "[Rodman] could probably play a 48-minute game and play the 48th minute stronger than the first minute of the game," Jackson told the crowd at UND. "He was that terrific an athlete." Video "proof," after the jump.

Would you agree? Or are you surprised?

xbay wrote:

Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:30 pm EDT
Phil Jackson: Rodman is the greatest athlete I've ever coached

By J.E. Skeets

Phil Jackson sure had plenty to say during a speech to the University of North Dakota as part of the convocation in which he received an honorary degree. Of the course of an hour, P-Jax criticized his school's nickname, told funny stories about Shaq swimming, and picked Dennis Rodman as the greatest athlete he ever coached. From the OC Register: "[Rodman] could probably play a 48-minute game and play the 48th minute stronger than the first minute of the game," Jackson told the crowd at UND. "He was that terrific an athlete." Video "proof," after the jump.

Would you agree? Or are you surprised?

yeah rodman is a gamer......i heard tobert saying on the radio the other day, that when he played against the worm that " rodman was super fast but if he tangled up with a big that rodman was easily pushed off balance as rodman had no weight to hold his position"

rodman had heart and was a hustle player that played with a passion. when i was younger i tried to model my game after rodman's, but with the teammates that i had, i turned out to be more of an alonzo mourning (who happened to be my second favorite player at the time).

side note: speaking of tom tolbert...i saw him on sunday at stonridge and took a pic of him...im bouta put it in my sig

E-Man wrote:rodman had heart and was a hustle player that played with a passion. when i was younger i tried to model my game after rodman's, but with the teammates that i had, i turned out to be more of an alonzo mourning (who happened to be my second favorite player at the time).

side note: speaking of tom tolbert...i saw him on sunday at stonridge and took a pic of him...im bouta put it in my sig

nice sighting of tolbert he seems very cool

Haha... another sig with Tolbert in it.


Now, back to topic, it's interesting to notice that Jackson talks about athlete, not player. In that case, I can agree with having Rodman as the best he's ever coached.

Rodman was a great athlete, he had jumps for sure, but I can also remember him conserving his energy and walking around the paint a lot.
His job was to box out and rebound, so I can see maybe why he'd still have energy at the end of a game, vs the superior player MJ who was doing a lot more running, leaping, and landing hard. Rodman may have been in great shape, but I remember the way he moved looking very strange. Almost awkward. not smooth and natural like most athletes.

But..............Rodman wasnt THAT athletic in the all round athlete sense.............he didnt jump very high, wasnt particularly quick, wasnt overly strong, and at times looked very athletically awkward.

He just had incredible instincts and stamina............as well as the desire to never quit and fight for everything.........something that you usually find in those players who arent that athletically gifted.

For me, MJ was the greatest athlete and player ever...........to have the physical skills he had, be quick, jump high, very nimble, long, strong, tough...........and to keep it all up deep into his 30's............and then come back and average 20-22 ppg into his 40's!!!.............THAT! is an athlete.

Jackattack wrote:Rodman was a great athlete, he had jumps for sure, but I can also remember him conserving his energy and walking around the paint a lot.
His job was to box out and rebound, so I can see maybe why he'd still have energy at the end of a game, vs the superior player MJ who was doing a lot more running, leaping, and landing hard. Rodman may have been in great shape, but I remember the way he moved looking very strange. Almost awkward. not smooth and natural like most athletes.

Bigs pretty much said what i was going to say, but id like to add a couple of points. MJ did a lot more runnin and leaping and all that, but it takes a lot more energy to box out a guy and rebound than it does to shoot or dunk...and on the offensive side it takes more energy to post up than to run without the ball, catch, and shoot.

that's something that i dont think a lot of ballers nowadays dont realize...im talking about the guys at the courts that just shoot and handle the ball. they tell you to rebound, rebound, rebound, and then expect you to go post up on the other end of the court every time down. having friends that are all a different heights, ive played every position from point guard to center and i can honestly say that big men use a lot more energy at given moments, whereas the small guys can spread their energy throughout the game cuz they dont have to bang with other big guys.

that said, rodman's role was to defend and rebound, both of which he excelled at without being terribly athletic. in fact, as far as athleticism goes, he wasnt. if what you look for in an athlete is the competitive spirit, the work ethic, the passion for the game, playing with heart, hustling, and excelling at your role, then jackson was right to claim rodman as the greatest athlete he ever coached. if all you look for is someone who is a great player, then MJ would be the obvious choice.

The Worm was a beast...

Im surprised that Jackson picked Rodman as the greatest athlete he's ever coached... I would think he would pick Jordan...

Here's a video on Rodman... he was good

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icJLs4t0lLo[/youtube]

The only thing we differed on was the stamina thing, but we're pretty much in agreement on everything else.
It takes a lot of energy to play bball period. Rodman was in great shape.
I would still bet MJ expended more energy per game. Don't get me wrong, I loved Rodman's game.


edit: and my god, watching that video, I've forgotten how he would just throw his body around like that.. maybe you are right after all eman...

not surpirsed at all...

he was always on my all-nba-regardless-of-era team, along with MJ, Dumars, Pippen, and Shaq...

just gotta love a player like rodman... i mean, cross-dressing aside...

he's a tough cookie... but a wierd tough cookie... but a tough cookie nontheless... but boy is he a wierd tough cookie...