Apparently, Lakers' Jackson does more than sit there

Back in November it seemed like a strange move, Phil Jackson who had yet to see Pau Gasol in a Lakers uniform and very possibly losing Kobe Bryant a year from now or sooner, signing a contract extension for two more years.

So what motivated Jackson? Two more cozy years with Jeanie? $24 more million?

The chance to pass Red Auerbach and win more NBA titles than any other coach -- but with a roster that Bryant didn't think was championship worthy?

"I got motivated by the whole situation that involved Kobe Bryant, trying to keep him part of this organization and trying to appease his desire to win," Jackson said Saturday after the team's final practice in preparation for today's playoff game with Denver.

That was quite the decision, Jackson once calling Bryant "uncoachable," and now deciding to stay around, and convince Bryant to do the same, so he could coach him.

"I was also energized by the potential this team showed at that time," Jackson said, "Andrew [Bynum] playing well, and our young players showing a natural gift for sharing the ball and playing together."

It probably shouldn't be a surprise that Jackson saw championship potential in the Lakers before most folks. If it's true, as some critics like to say, he will coach only the very best teams with the chance to win it all, then he really was clairvoyant.

He has won 70% of his regular-season games, a win today and he will have won 70% of his playoff games, and all his team has to do now is win 57% of every playoff series to give him 10 NBA titles.

It's an incredible statistic, seven wins in every 10 playoff games coached, every one of those games coming against the league's top talent, and every game meaning so much. And all he does is just sit there.

"Normally talent wins out," Jackson said, while explaining how much he still enjoys the adjustments that need to be made in a series. "But sometimes it's also just happenstance.

"We win two games in Phoenix in '93, go back to Chicago and on the way to Game 3 they're doing construction on the Dan Ryan and Eden expressways, we're on a bus for an hour and a half in 90-degree temperatures and we lose in double overtime and I've got players cramping up.

"If I had the Detroit series to do over differently, I'd probably do an entirely different thing," continued Jackson, while referring to the Pistons' 2004 championship win over the Lakers. "I wouldn't stay in Birmingham. I'd go to Flint and drive down to the game. Our fans were in our faces all the time at the Birmingham hotel. There were fans standing on the parking garage across the street and yelling at us at one o'clock in the morning."

That's one more thing the Lakers have going for them as they begin the playoffs, Jackson's experience and awareness in dealing with happenstance, as if the game's greatest coach needs one more edge.

STOPPED BY the Angels for the first time this season, went up to Gary Matthews, new year and all that, and he immediately turned away while slamming his locker shut. Don't know if paranoia is a side effect, but like I'd try to swipe HGH from his locker.

FIRST THING I see when I arrive at Angel Stadium is Mike Scioscia standing at home plate, helmet on and bat in hand. I had no idea the Angels were in this much trouble.

Scioscia hit against John Lackey, who is on the mend and who showed a remarkable ability to pitch and laugh at the same time. Scioscia grounded out weakly to short -- "It was a bullet," he protested -- and then struck out, swinging in a circle like he was auditioning for the ballet.

"Why must you dwell on the negative?" Scioscia asked, and OK, so on a positive note, Lackey now thinks he can get anyone out.

SGT. MARK Irwin from the Anaheim Police called. I wasn't surprised that he had already heard about Brad McKenzie, a consultant for the Los Alamitos Race Track.

I had golfed with McKenzie, he wanted to gamble, and I'm pretty sure that's against the law. He lost too, and left the course without paying the $5 he owed.

"I'm calling to tell you about the Anaheim Family Justice Center golf tournament Friday at Coyote Hills in Fullerton," said Irwin, supervisor of the family crime detail.