The Master Reveals His Secrets Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. To what does the title, "Eleven Rings" refer?

Answer: World championships

Phil Jackson was the first NBA coach to win eleven championships.

2. Chapter 2 is entitled "Jackson's Eleven" and relates the basic points of Phil's philosophy. To what two Eastern thought systems does he make several references in this chapter? Hint: think riddles and Lao Tzu.

Answer: Zen Buddhism and Daoism

Often associated with riddles which are used to help in meditation, such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?", Zen is a form of Buddhism most often associated with Japanese culture. Daoism, founded by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, focuses on uniting one's existence with nature and is much more mystical than China's other dominant philosophy of Confucianism, which is concerned with maintaining a well-ordered society.

Shinto is a Japanese religion dominated by ancestor worship. Zoroastrianism was founded in Persia by Zoroaster and is a monotheistic religion. Hinduism is the dominant religion of India which features countless gods and their avatars. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant form in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Shamanism is a religion that takes many different forms in many parts of the world, featuring the roles of spirits in all forms of nature.

3. Chapter 3 is titled "Red." Around which NBA coach, under whom Jackson played and earned two rings with the Knicks, does this chapter revolve?

Answer: Red Holzman

Holzman was an All-American at City College of New York in 1942 and played on two professional championship teams, first with the NBL's Rochester Royals in 1946 and then with the same team as NBA champions in 1951. He coached the Knicks to two NBA titles, both with Phil Jackson as a player, in 1970 and 1973.

Red Auerbach won nine NBA titles as coach of the Boston Celtics.

Red Grange was a three-time football All-American at Illinois and helped the Chicago Bears win NFL Championships in 1932 and 1933.

Red Schoendienst was a Hall of Fame second baseman who played on two World Series Championship teams: in 1946 with the St. Louis Cardinals, and in 1957 with the Milwaukee Braves.

4. In Chapter 5 of "Eleven Rings," Phil Jackson discusses the basketball strategy he adapted from Tex Winter's team philosophy, which Phil used to such success as a coach. What is the name of this geometrical system used by Jackson's teams in their winning ways?

Answer: the triangle offense

Unfortunately, Jackson does not explain this offense well enough for me to actually understand or visualize it, but then, I was a wrestling coach. The main thing is that his players understood it well enough to win eleven NBA titles, although the incredible talent of the players Jackson was able to coach no doubt also contributed to his, and their, success.

Tex Winter, innovator of the triangle offense, was very successful as head coach of the Kansas State Wildcats for 15 years, with a winning percentage there of .689 and a record of 261-118. He also held head coaching positions at Marquette, Washington, Northwestern, and Long Beach State, before serving as an assistant coach in the NBA. He is the member of several basketball Halls of Fame. His overall head coaching record is 486-235 (.674).

5. In Chapter 6, "Warrior Spirit," Jackson touches on the philosophy and world view of a Native American society of the north central areas of the U.S., including Montana, where Jackson was born and spent much of his youth, and North Dakota, where he graduated high school and played college basketball. As a matter of fact, the mascot of the University of North Dakota is a reference to this people. By what name does Jackson refer to this tribe?

Answer: Lakota

Also known as the Sioux (UND's athletic teams are known as The Fighting Sioux), the Lakota are one of the more western cultures of several Sioux peoples, who ranged from the Great Lakes to Montana in historic times.

A great spokesman for the Lakota world view was Black Elk, whom Jackson quotes.

6. In Chapter 9, "Bittersweet Victory," Jackson relates a trip he took his team on to the office of his former New York Knicks teammate, a former Princeton All-American. The location was the nation's capital where the former basketball star was a United States Senator from New Jersey. Who was this Rhodes scholar who served in the Senate from 1979 to 1997?

Answer: Bill Bradley

Jackson relates that Bradley had in his office a photograph of himself taking a shot in an NBA finals game, which he missed as his team lost the game and the title. Jackson said it was a reminder to Bradley of his fallibility, which, of course, we all have.

Of the three incorrect answers, only McMillen played in the NBA. He served in the House of Representatives from Maryland from 1987 to 1993. He played for four NBA teams from 1975 to 1986. Like Bradley, McMillen was also a Rhodes scholar.

Kemp, a seven-time All Star quarterback in the American Football League, was a member of the House from New York between 1971 and 1989 and also served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1993.

A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bunning was a 9-time major league All-Star pitcher with five teams from 1955 to 1971. He served in the House from 1987 to 1999 and in the Senate from 1999 to 2011, representing Kentucky.

7. Also in Chapter 9, Phil tells how he attempted to help his players achieve self-actualization by using his interpretation of the theory of hierarchy of needs, originated by one of the founders of humanistic psychology. Whose "The Farther Reaches of Human Nature" did Jackson cite for the key steps for reaching self-actualization?

Answer: Abraham Maslow

Jackson saw Maslow's theory as a way to identify and address players' physical, psychological, and spiritual needs to, as he put it, "develop a new way of motivating young men." With "self-actualization," Jackson felt players would be able to perform more creatively and closer to their full potential.

8. Chapter 12 includes several references to Jackson's coaching of, and relationship with, an eccentric NBA icon who, despite his infamously erratic behavior, nonetheless played a key role on five title-winning teams. Sometimes called the NBA's all-time best rebounder, who was much of the subject of the chapter entitled "As the Worm Turns"?

Answer: Dennis Rodman

Nicknamed "The Worm," Rodman was a true character. Often dying his hair different colors, he was also known for his many tattoos and body piercings. In 1996 he wore a white wedding dress to publicize his autobiography, "Bad As I Wanna Be." Following his NBA career, during which he was named to seven First Team All Defense teams and won seven rebounding titles, Rodman also dabbled in professional wrestling. Most recently, he made news by taking trips to North Korea.

9. In Chapters 11-13 ("Basketball Poetry", "As the Worm Turns", and "The Last Dance"), Jackson chronicles his accomplishment of coaching his team's second "Three-Peat." Which team did Phil Jackson lead to this notable achievement?

Answer: Chicago Bulls

It was the second three-peat for Jackson and the Bulls, who first accomplished the feat with the 1991-1993 titles. Chapters 11-13 cover the titles won from 1996-1998. Sandwiched between the two three-peats was Michael Jordan's first retirement from basketball and his foray into professional baseball.

Following the end of the 1997-98 season, Jackson left the Bulls in what he would call in "Eleven Rings", "... a bittersweet moment."

10. But Jackson would have one more three-peat in him. Beginning with Chapter 15, "The Eightfold Offense", and continuing into chapters 16, "The Joy of Doing Nothing", and 17 (title withheld), Phil chronicles his journey to titles in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Which team did he lead to this achievement?

Answer: Los Angeles Lakers

Chapter 17's title is "One-Two-Three-Lakers!". The accomplishment of winning his ninth NBA championship tied Jackson with the Celtics' Red Auerbach for the most coaching titles, at nine. But Phil would go on to take the Lakers to two more championships, in 2009 and 2010.

His last year with the Lakers and as a coach was 2011. In the last three pages of his book, Jackson talks about the beginnings of his new position as president of the New York Knicks. His NBA coaching record stood at 1,155-485, for a winning percentage of .704.

Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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This quiz is about "Eleven Rings," a memoir by Phil Jackson. If you know who Phil is, you should be alright on this quiz about his 2013 set of recollections of, and reflections on, his coaching career. Have fun.

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