Newsflash: Coaching good players is easier than coaching bad players.

Coach Larry Brown.

Sounds simple, right? Even obvious? Not to some people.

If you’re a basketball fan you’ve heard the argument whenever the name Phil Jackson comes up, and more recently Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat. It usually goes something like this:

“Oh sure, Phil had talent in Chicago with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin, and then at Los Angeles with Shaq and Kobe, but it takes a helluva coach to blend that talent and get them to play together.”

And now we hear virtually the same thing with Spoelstra and the Heat:

“Hey, it’s not easy to get three superstars to play together. The way Coach Spoelstra has persuaded LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to play together requires a special talent.”

Uh, let me break something to you – it’s not that hard. Ask any coach if they’d rather have the “challenge” of getting good players to play together or trying to win without talent and I think you know what the answer will be.

Truth be told I’m not that impressed with Phil Jackson’s coaching abilities. In fact, there are any number of coaches who could’ve won 10-titles coaching Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippin, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, all in their primes. Sorry but it’s true. Same for Spoelstra today. I can name 100-coaches who could win with the Heat.

I’d love to see Phil Jackson take over the Knicks today and see how he’d do. Or put Spoelstra in Milwaukee coaching the Bucks and see what happens. Even better, put them at a high school or college that hasn’t won in years and see the results.

Bottom line? Give me guys like Rick Carlisle of the Dallas Mavericks or Tom Thibodeau of the Chicago Bulls any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Even better? Larry Brown. That guy has coached and won at virtually every level, including college and pro. Now there’s a coach.

So spare me the bullshit of telling me how it takes a “special” coach to coach talent.

I’m not buying it for a second.