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Summary: Jed Davis, Girls' Basketball Coach, AD, jlori81@qwest.net
Review: Phil Jackson is in a class by himself. He understands that the essence of success in basketball is not Xs and Os, but rather the relationship that the coach cultivates with his or her players. Kobe and Shaq could not win until Phil Jackson came along and he showed them how to give up part of themselves for the good of the team.Phil takes you through his life and transition. I like his honesty and vulnerability because it makes him believable. You notice that he talks very little about Xs and Os but is more focused on the relationship with his players -- allowing them to develop and play to their full potential. The first part of the book is the best. The latter part of the book is too focused on Michael Jordan and at times, you feel as if you are reading a behind the scenes account of Michael Jordan. This slows it down a bit. But overall, the book offers tremendous insight into basketball success and life success. I always tell me my players that what happens on the basketball court is a mirror of life. Phil's story and the successes of his teams are an excellent example of this point of view. The book is highly recommended.
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Summary: Motivational, inspirational glimpse inside another world
Review: Phil Jackson is the great motivator of supermen. How does he do it? He treats them as individuals inside the team/system. How does he keep himself in ballance? He's a Zen master. He'll motivate you to see inside your own spirituality and show you how he kept the Bulls' egos in check. A great read for sports fans and students of life.
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Summary: Another autobio/how to improve your life book.
Review: Phil Jackson seems to be one of the more intelligent coaches in the game. His ability to get people to work together...his knowledge of what buttons to push and when to push them is to be admired. He writes of a season with the Bulls and how they overcame their trials and tribulations--not unlike Pat Riley's book "The Winner Within." However Jackson takes a deeper philosophical look at why and how things happened. Good as a retrospective of the season, very good as a book on life.
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Summary: Thorough Review of Sacred Hoops
Review: Phil Jackson's autobiography Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior, can inspire all people on every level. It illustrates mindfulness along with Jackson's Zen technique of living in the "NOW". He gives true-life examples from his experience of coaching the famous Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s. His details of coaching such players as Michael Jordan and others bring excitement to the novel, while also intertwining spiritual and mindful lessons with the action. Jackson teaches ways to broaden and strengthen one's mind, and he explains his truly unique gift of using your maximum potential everyday. His book focuses on the strength of the mind when it is clear and not bogged down with unhealthy emotions like anger, frustration, and hate. He shows that you can make everyone around you better by having calm emotions and working with each other to make everyone more successful. He speaks on a very deep and symbolic level which is sometimes hard to understand and comprehend, but his basketball similes and metaphors clear a path to understanding his true meaning. This National Bestseller demonstrates truly thought-provoking reading which proves the importance of control and mindfulness.
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Summary: a great book
Review: phil's an original guy and here he outlines how his life was spent trying to synthesize and resolve conflicts from competing disciplines such as christianity, american indian philosophy, zen buddhism and sports competition. it's amazing that phil's coaching philosophy is so directly decended from his buddhist teachings, so much so that even has players meditate during practise. prior to reading this book i used to think that phil was a bit lazy as a coach because he never seemed to be doing any real coaching during games. however, the book reveals that it's a part of phil's approach to empower players during the game and increase their own awareness and sense of responsibility rather than relying on the coach for micro-managing them. phil proved the merit of his approach by winning the nba championship the first year he returned to the league with the lakers after his many rings with the bulls. a different, fascinating and instructional sports book that, like it's coach, is a head and shoulders above the competition.
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Summary: Controlling your Mind
Review: Sacred Hoops is about Phil Jackson. It is about his search for enlightenment and also about his accomplishments as a player and as a coach in the NBA. He was a basketball player in his time, before becoming a coach. He played all through high school and college. He eventually went on to play in the NBA. He played for the legendary New York Knicks of the 1970's. While playing Phil often searched for a way to clear his mind and to execute. He eventually found his method while dabbling in the Zen religion. Zen focuses on clearing your mind and that is what he needed. He often described himself as a "Zen Christian". The practice of Zen led him to be more aware on the court. HE figured that if you play with a jumbled mind then you will obviously make mistakes. The object was to clear your mind in order to help you execute to your highest capabilities. He often said that focusing on something that happened in the past (such as a recent turnover) was not worth dwelling over. The more that you dwell on a mistake, the farther removed from the game you become. Therefore, clear your mind and the rest will come naturally. Phil then translated everything that he had learned while practicing Zen into his coaching career. He taught his players about selfless team play and playing with a clear mind and he built a dynasty. Obviously, there was also a key to his dynasty. The key was Michael Jordan, but even dealing with that wasn't a walk in the park. By the end of his coaching stretch in Chicago, Phil had amassed 6 championships. He attributes most of his success to the fundamentals starting with team play and extreme focus. I have never read a book like this and I was rather impressed with his ideas. The idea of meditation and Zen isn't very widespread, so it was something that interested me. I really liked the idea of just clearing your mind and letting your game flow. I am a basketball player and I know that sometimes even the slightest hesitation or even just something on your mind can really throw your game off. It isn't quite as easy as he says to clear your mind and let your game flow, but it is definitely something to shoot for. I really liked this book. It was a little different because of the practicing of Zen, but I have always been interested in meditation. Just being able to clear your mind would really help sometimes. On page 48 he says ,"The thoughts themselves are not the problem; it's our desperate clinging to them and our resistance to what's actually happening that causes us so much anguish." This seems true because I am sure everyone, including myself, has had a problem that they couldn't get off their mind. Just being able to compartmentalize your thoughts would be nice. Not so much to not care about the problem, but just to not let it affect your judgement or demeanor. That should allow you to think rationally about the explanation to your problem and make a decision unaffected by emotion. This book was good, but may not be for everyone. The idea of meditation and Zen isn't really that common. The practice of Zen, I am sure, is even less common. Obviously there will be people that won't have a thing to do with another religion. They may be mad even that he could try out another religion, but I think he was just trying whatever worked. He searched for a long time for this religious mix that he and his team practices and he just happened to find what works. It isn't a sacrilege, it is more just utilizing an effective method from another religion. Even if someone is not interested in the Zen part of the book, they can still read about all the accomplishments in his life. From being the NBA player to possibly one of the greatest coaches of all time he definitely has alot to write about.
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Summary: Sacred Hoops - a basketball metaphore
Review: Sacred Hoops is not really a basketball book. Basketball becomes merely a metaphor for our life journeys. Each of Jackson's basketball seasons has its life of its own, and thus its own lessons. This is a great introductory book for those interested in Buddhism.
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Summary: Zen and the art of Basketball
Review: This book by Phil Jackson offers an interesting insight into how he has successfully managed to incorporate Zen and Native American philosophies into his coaching style. The traditional Zen concepts of 'compassion and selflessness', 'living in the moment, 'emptying the mind' etc. might not appear to have any place in the modern sports world, but after reading this book, I am convinced that they can be applied to almost any walk of life. Phil also talks about his own internal conflicts with his very Christian upbringing and his fascination with Zen concepts and how he has finally managed to embrace both, and now considers himself a 'Zen Christian'. He walks us through the Chicago Bulls championship years using some very interesting anecdotes and aphorisms, and overall the book is a great read.
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Summary: Great theme, a little repetitive.
Review: This book explains why such a quiet coach has such impact. I felt that many of the main points were repeated, but they were good points, so no big deal. A great read, especially for Bulls fans.
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Summary: Every hoopster needs to read this
Review: This book helped me find peace with myself on the basketball court. Concepts of teamwork and selflessness have never been drilled home so well. My attitude on the court completely turned around after I read and understood this book. I wouldn't go so far to say it changed my life, but it definitely changed my life between the lines of the court.
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