Coach as psychologist

HoopsHype has a good interview with Vladimir Radmanovic from earlier this week.

Here's what Radmanovic had to say about coach Phil Jackson:

"His charismatic personality, the ability to reach out to every single player on his team, and achieve all that he wants to accomplish with that particular player are things that clearly set him apart from other coaches that I had a chance to work with in the past.

I think that a coaching ego is something that jumps too often out of the other coaches, and I believe that is one particular thing that doesn’t allow them to be better coaches.

I think that a successful coach, especially on this level, first and foremost has to be a successful psychologist. There are 12, 13, or 15 players on any given team in the NBA, and all of them want to play all the time.

The coach needs to be able to calm down every single player, and explain to him his role on the team, so that the player ends up being grateful for it. On top of that, wins heal all the wounds.

When you know that you are being coached by a guy who won nine championship rings, you know that he knows what he’s doing. You know that there is a reason for what he’s doing, and that is, in my mind, what separates coach Jackson and other basketball coaches."