Chances Are He Left Nothing to Chance

Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, commenting on Phil Jackson and the Lakers’ recent winning surge:

“I have no idea what Phil has done. Or not done. But whatever it is (or isn’t), it’s working. Either Phil is a genius, who waited for the right time to explain it all to his team. Or he’s Chance the gardener from ‘Being There,’ and it all just worked out around him.

“It doesn’t matter. Once you’re the Zen Master, every success you have reinforces your reputation.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Laker playoff record for rebounds in a game?

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Bring it on: Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, commenting on Annika Sorenstam’s five tournament victories this year:

“There really is only one American who can hang with Sorenstam now. But he’s going to have to play from the back tees--or maybe the parking lot.

“ ‘I would love to play Tiger,’ Sorenstam said. Their dominance of their respective worlds is quite comparable. Both have the season’s first major in storage. Both are playing to the exact same stroke average (68.89). Both are as close to givens as golf allows.”

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More Sorenstam: She said she plans her approach to golf rounds very carefully, the way well-organized managers plan a busy workday.

“It’s just the way I am, pretty much. At home, I write lists and drive my husband crazy, and that way I keep track of my life.”

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Neon lights: Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post, on Deion Sanders, who got an $8-million signing bonus from the Redskins last year, but who now is playing baseball:

“Giving a signing bonus to Deion Sanders is like giving jewelry to a starlet. You may get lucky, but the diamonds are gone. . . .

“Prime Time blew through town so fast and left so little behind that we probably ought to do a quick inventory of the presidential monuments. Maybe he bagged a couple of them too.

“If you see Deion in a new suit made out of $10,000 bills, check the designer label. It’s a Dan Snyder original. Strictly one of a kind. The Redskin owner has abruptly discontinued that fashion line. Seldom has one man paid so handsomely for one pretty-good season from a lost-a-step star.”

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Role model: Cincinnati Red first baseman Sean Casey, after Sanders enjoyed a three-hit return to baseball after a three-season absence:

“I think you’ll see a lot of football players taking BP [batting practice] in the off-season, and a lot of baseball players start returning punts.”

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Come again? “The playoffs are my time of the year--it’s part of the year I get up for,” says Charlotte Hornet forward Derrick Coleman, who advanced past the first round for the first time in his career.

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Relief at last: Comedy writer Earl Hochman: “While baseball’s new strike zone may not be popular with players, it has proven to be a real boon for overweight umpires. Now they don’t have to bend over so much when calling high strikes.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, the Phoenix Suns beat the Lakers, 112-104, in overtime, becoming the first NBA team to lose two playoff games at home, then come back to win three in a row in a five-game series.

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Trivia answer: Wilt Chamberlain, 33, against Chicago on April 4, 1971.

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And finally: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Cliff Rozier, the Warriors’ top draft pick in ‘95, is arrested in Florida on charges of stealing a deputy’s car.

“News reports say Rozier has been a fugitive, ‘on the run for a month.’ Warrior execs shake their heads, thinking, ‘With us, Cliff couldn’t run for five minutes.’ ”