Fitch, who coached the Gophers from 1968-70, has been “zinging” Jackson for years, going back to North Dakota days in the mid-1960’s. It was there that the Fighting Sioux were among the elite of Division II basketball teams and Jackson, 6-10, became an All-American before starting a pro career with the New York Knicks.
Fitch, who also had a background in baseball, had known of Jackson when he was not only a basketball player but an imposing pitcher in Williston, North Dakota. The location of Williston helped Fitch steer Jackson to North Dakota, even though Jackson’s basketball skills would have transferred well to bigger schools.
“…Not too many people east of the Mississippi (River) can tell you where Williston is, let alone get there,” Fitch said.
He admired Jackson as a person and player in college. He never speculated that the studious and philosophical Jackson would become a coach. “I thought he would end up probably being a college professor and president of a college somewhere,” Fitch said.
Instead Jackson became a great NBA coach, perhaps the best of all time. Fitch said that success is based on Jackson’s extraordinary basketball knowledge and his full faith in using his assistant coaches and their abilities. Obviously having talented players has been a huge factor as well.
What has characterized Jackson’s profile, too, is a calm on-court demeanor, at least somewhat a product of his Zen philosophy. While coaching in a game, Jackson seems to accept player performance failures and sort of mystically store those failings away for teaching moments later.
“I don’t know one coach who could sit there and be that calm. …He’s a master of it. He’s proven there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” Fitch said.
Jackson has been able to associate himself with Zen philosophy when others in the NBA wouldn’t have dared to try or been successful. “He’s on a different street there,” Fitch said. “If nine other coaches tried to get by with it, out of the nine probably half of them would fail.”
Jackson has seldom failed and undoubtedly doesn’t plan to do so in 2011, likely his last magical ride.