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Jim O'Brien
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ESPN.com NBA Insider Jim O'Brien has 30 years coaching experience. He has taken both the Celtics and Sixers to the NBA playoffs. Jim joined the ESPN staff in Sept. 2005 and contributes NBA analysis and commentary to the site.
O'Brien: Analyzing the Webber move 
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the Pistons' decision to bring in Chris Webber.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | January 15, 2007
Daily Dime: Coaching Allen
What will it be like for Allen Iverson's next coach? His former Sixers coach Jim O'Brien gives some pointers.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com | December 13, 2006
Sloan's serious about success
Jerry Sloan's players are prepared and focused in their work. Just like their coach, says Jim O'Brien.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com | December 7, 2006
Daily Dime: Watching the Bulls
If you expected big things early from the revamped Bulls, you are just a wee bit unrealistic, Jim O'Brien writes.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com | November 16, 2006
Classy Wade is head of class
When does training camp start? It is hard to fathom that the playoffs are over. They were great and we saw the emergence and dominance of Dwyane Wade as he led the Heat to the championship. He claims...
ESPN.com | June 21, 2006
Late mistake leaves sour taste
I have to admit, I did not stay up for the post-game press conferences. It was well past my bedtime and I had an early morning flight to catch. But I did go to bed with a sour taste in my mouth becau...
ESPN.com | June 19, 2006
The moment of champions
Just before tip-off last night I turned to my wife, Sharon, and told her Miami was going to blow Dallas off the court. She looked at me and sweetly replied, "You're nuts." I am not very good at predi...
ESPN.com | June 16, 2006
Wade's extra work pays off
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a series. It would have been a shame if the Dallas Mavericks went up 3-0 and ended up closing out the Miami Heat before they even got back to Texas. Admittedly, this is ...
ESPN.com | June 14, 2006
Heat turned cold in Dallas
If it had been a fight, they would have stopped it in the third round. That is how dominating the Dallas Mavericks appeared in their dismantling of the Miami Heat Sunday night. The question is, are t...
ESPN.com | June 12, 2006
Stay with the "Main Thing"
Stephen R. Covey, who is a prolific writer on personal development, makes a point in one of his books that really hits home: "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." Every team has a...
ESPN.com | June 9, 2006
The "Special" Motivation
My first head coaching job was at a small school in West Virginia named Wheeling Jesuit University. I left the University of Oregon where I was the top assistant to take over a team that was 3-25 the...
ESPN.com | June 7, 2006
Evolution of champions
In my first go around in the league, I was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks in the late 1980s. The standard idea was that you had to have at least three all-stars in order to have a shot at...
ESPN.com | June 6, 2006
O'Brien: Nowitzki like Bird?
The month of June signals the forthcoming of two highly anticipated events in the NBA: the NBA Finals and the NBA draft. After witnessing Dirk Nowitzki 's spectacular performances that led the Dalla...
ESPN.com | June 5, 2006
Physically taxing playoffs
Recently I was watching a replay of the Portland Trail Blazers championship-clinching game against the Philadelphia 76ers . I followed the Trail Blazers' season closely because of my relationship wit...
ESPN.com | June 2, 2006
Sweet Desperation
Last night I was doing a show with Peter Vescey and he posed the following question: If I had my choice would I rather coach a talented team, or a desperate team? I felt like a kid whose mother asked ...
ESPN.com | June 1, 2006
Precious Leadership
The scene that I remember most from Game 4 of the Heat-Pistons series is not the remarkable over-the-head layup that Dwyane Wade contrived. It is the scene at the end of the game, when Pat Riley subb...
ESPN.com | May 31, 2006
O'Brien: Disregarding defense
How many times in your life have you heard, "defense wins championships"? I have heard this glorious statement roughly 1,000 times, and have dreamt about it even more. Sick, but true. What we are wi...
ESPN.com | May 25, 2006
O'Brien: Why home court doesn't matter
The chase to solidify home-court advantage filled the headlines during the regular season. The Detroit Pistons' regular-season goal was to capture the home-court edge throughout the entire playoffs. ...
ESPN.com | May 24, 2006
O'Brien: Matter of style
It all came down to a matter of style. All three Game 7s were won by teams that played a certain style. The series were lost by teams that felt their only chance to advance to their conference's final...
ESPN.com | May 23, 2006
O'Brien: Game 7 success
We are being treated to a bunch of Game 7 clashes. This is just the third time in the last 25 years that three second-round series have gone to seven games. I received great advice from Bill Russell w...
ESPN.com | May 22, 2006
O'Brien: A team of two tempos
Tempo is a small word that has such huge significance in many areas. In music, it lets a musician know right up front the pace that the composer intends the piece to be played. In sports, it speaks t...
ESPN.com | May 19, 2006
O'Brien: Be of strong mind
Avery Johnson likes to describe his team as "strong-minded." It is a great term and descriptive of not only his team but many of the teams and players that are still battling it out for NBA supremacy....
ESPN.com | May 18, 2006
O'Brien: Your foul strategy
We have been treated to some heart stopping action in these playoff series. In every game there are great performances by teams hungry for advancement to the next level. Effort from tip off to whate...
ESPN.com | May 17, 2006
O'Brien: The Imitators
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. You have heard it a million times. Now, you are seeing it in the NBA playoffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers are starting to look like the Detroit Pistons . Th...
ESPN.com | May 16, 2006
Walker: From wiggle to wink
After knocking down yet another 3-pointer against the New Jersey Nets , Antoine Walker trotted up court and winked at a teammate. A wink? That's a long way from the wiggle that used to accompany big ...
ESPN.com | May 15, 2006
O'Brien: Mental divide
The first time I heard the 'ratio' was my sophomore year in college when Bobby Knight was giving a clinic at St. Joe's in Philadelphia. He said that basketball was four parts mental to one part physi...
ESPN.com | May 11, 2006
O'Brien: A foul philosophy
Every coach has little sayings that communicate to his team a principle of basketball that he finds to be of utmost importance to success. When I was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks in th...
ESPN.com | May 10, 2006
Hustle stats don't lie
It is my contention that certain statistics rarely lie in an 82-game schedule. Or, for that matter, in the playoffs. There are statistics like offensive and defensive field-goal percentage, reboundin...
ESPN.com | May 9, 2006
Playoff balancing act
I spent the weekend in Louisville at the Kentucky Derby. A friend asked me if there was anything in sport that compared to the Derby and all the pageantry that is part of this great weekend. I told hi...
ESPN.com | May 7, 2006
Managing the collision
As we progress through the playoffs, you will see the teams that continue to advance are the teams that have players who know the importance of not letting the ball get to the rim. It is a simple con...
ESPN.com | May 4, 2006
O'Brien: LeBron, Arenas must lead way
LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas are stars, but they'e not the keys to the series, writes Jim O'Brien.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com Insider | May 3, 2006
Fratello, Karl feeling lost
The end of any season is one of the most painful things that a coach can experience. When it comes to playoff basketball only one team ends their season with a win. If you are in the profession of co...
ESPN.com | May 2, 2006
7-seeds showing stamina
There is a concept that is rarely talked about in the NBA -- it is called team stamina. I am not referring to game stamina, where one team outlasts their opponent over a 48-minute game. The stamina ...
ESPN.com | May 1, 2006
The joy of Game 2s
My Boston Celtics team won a knock-down, drag-out war against the Pistons in Game 3 of the 2002 playoffs. Neither team even approached the 70-point mark. It resembled a rugby match more than a baske...
ESPN.com | April 28, 2006
Playoff psychology
There is a certain psychological and physical dimension to the NBA playoffs that is unique to the postseason. The NBA tries, with some success, to keep the physical element under control. The psycho...
ESPN.com | April 28, 2006
LeBron impressive in defeat
The word is precocious, as in "your child is very precocious." Webster's dictionary defines it as: "early in development and especially in mental development." Sometimes we forget LeBron James is only...
ESPN.com | April 28, 2006
Team comes first
In my jobs in Boston and Philadelphia, early in the season I would write two words on the board. These two words and our players' ability to understand the difference between the two concepts and how...
ESPN.com | April 28, 2006
Play D and shoot the 3
It will come as no surprise that I embrace the 3-point shot. I was mentored by Rick Pitino when he was the coach of the New York Knicks and the 3-point shot was relatively new to the basketball scene...
ESPN.com | April 28, 2006
O'Brien Playoff Diary: Playoff psychology
The playoffs bring a certain physical and psychological dimension to the NBA game.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com Insider | April 24, 2006
O'Brien Playoff Diary: Team first
Kenyon Martin fails to understand the two key concepts critical to success, and thus the Nuggets are paying the price.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com Insider | April 24, 2006
O'Brien Playoff Diary: The joy of Game 2s
For the NBA playoffs, preparation is taken to a whole different level.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com Insider | April 24, 2006
O'Brien Playoff Diary: LeBron's learning
Even in defeat, LeBron James has been impressive so far in the playoffs, writes Jim O'Brien in his playoff diary.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN.com Insider | April 24, 2006
Get better soon, Suns
Every once in awhile in the NBA, a team just plain gets blown out of a game. There is nothing it can do right and nothing the opponent can do wrong. No matter how hard the losing team tries, it real...
ESPN.com | March 29, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Portland Trail Blazers and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Denver Nuggets coach George Karl
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Denver Nuggets and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Memphis Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Memphis Grizzlies and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Houston Rockets and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Suns coach Mike D'Antoni
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Phoenix Suns and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Utah Jazz and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
O'Brien: Assessing Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy
Former NBA coach Jim O'Brien takes a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Los Angeles Clippers and the challenges that lie ahead of them.
Jim O'Brien, ESPN Insider | March 6, 2006
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