JIM LITKE Jackson deserves big bucks to motivate Lakers' talent

The $6 million the Lakers are paying Phil Jackson isn't nearly enough.
Not when you consider owner Jerry Buss has 10 times that much invested in the talent Los Angeles puts on the floor, but no guarantees he will get his money's worth every night.
The Lakers in full flight are the best team in the NBA -- four likely Hall of Fame members were in the starting lineup Tuesday -- but don't kid yourself. It requires heavy lifting to get that much ego off the ground. That's where Jackson comes in.
"I go along with what he's doing," Gary Payton said moments after Los Angeles notched a 100-89 win over Minnesota in Game 3 of the Western Conference final.
Payton had all but four of his 18 points in the opening half when he logged the lion's share of his 36 minutes, and both his production and his willingness to sit quietly on the bench during crunch time were as much a tribute to Jackson's motivational genius as Payton's still-formidable playing skills.
Different visions
Go figure. By this time, I thought the Lakers would be making tee times and Jackson and Payton wouldn't be on speaking terms. Instead, a few more weeks like this and the only argument will be who drives to the jewelers when they get fitted for championship rings.
All five Los Angeles starters, in fact, finished in double figures and somehow still managed to dish out 25 of the team's 29 assists. If all of Jackson's distribute-the-wealth sermons work this well, he could make good on his threat to leave at the end of the season and walk right into a cushy job at the United Nations.
Not quite three weeks ago, these same Lakers spent more time fighting among themselves than against their opponents. Trailing San Antonio two games to none, they couldn't share the ball and wouldn't play defense.
Adding Payton and Karl Malone at the start of the season made the Lakers better, but it also ensured some new ripples for the long-running soap opera that began with Shaq and Kobe. What no one figured is that the drama would continue into the playoffs.
In contract squabble
Jackson, meanwhile, was caught up in a contract squabble of his own with Buss, and he looked and sounded like a coach near the end of his rope. When someone asked whether he and Payton were ever going to be on the same page, Jackson's response was curt.
"I don't have to be on Gary's page," he said. "He has to be on our page."
That statement turned out to be only half-true, which proves just how smart Jackson really is. Soon after making it, he adapted and even abandoned his beloved triangle offensive scheme for long stretches of the San Antonio series, and leading by example got through to his players in ways that his words only hinted at.
But the reason Jackson is the best coach working in basketball -- in any sport, arguably -- is that the mind games don't stop at the end of his bench. After the Lakers beat up a tired Minnesota squad in Game 1, the Timberwolves came out for Game 2 with a ferocity that caught the Lakers unprepared and unwilling to match. The pushing and shoving reached a crescendo near the end of a Minnesota blowout -- there were seven technical fouls in the final 8 1/2 minutes -- and afterward, Jackson called out his own players.
"Minnesota kind of upped the ante. They came out to play a physical game, and they were good at it. Now," he said, "there are some things that are personal about this series."
Challenging officials
Jackson didn't mention the officials, but he was challenging them to raise their game every bit as much as his own players. He began playing "Spin the Ref" during his stay with the Chicago Bulls, and became a master at it after years of facing the New York Knicks and Pat Riley.
Malone, who got ejected from Game 2 after delivering a flagrant foul on the Timberwolves Darrick Martin late in the game, walked into the Staples Center for Game 3 wearing fatigues. It would have been appropriate if he kept them on during the game, considering all the hand-to-hand combat he engaged in with Minnesota's Kevin Garnett.
The league MVP finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but went 16 1/2 minutes between field goals in the second half and eventually fouled out.
"I tried to stay active as much as possible, but I got a couple of fouls, and that made me a little stagnant," Garnett said.
Fouls galore
Ineffective might be a more accurate description, but maybe the Timberwolves should have seen it coming. After picking up just two fouls in the first two games of the series, Garnett picked up six in 42 minutes.
"I've never been one to overreact to those situations," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said, trying to choose his words carefully, "but I think that's pretty ironic."
It's hardly coincidence, but unless he comes up with some slick countermoves -- and fast -- Saunders and his team are staring at checkmate. Getting physical won't work and there isn't enough time to wait for the Lakers to self-destruct. Jackson finally has his pieces lined up on the board and now he's got the refs peering over everybody's shoulder.
It's a neat trick, and considering what it cost, the only way Buss gets to see it again is to shove some serious money across the table and into Jackson's lap.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org