Even though he is the national spokesman for the Positive Coaching Alliance, Phil Jackson makes use of criticism to improve his teams. Sometimes he motivates players with comments made to the media, while at other times he deals with his concerns in a more private setting.

Below are edited excerpts from his interview with ESPN.com senior writer Tom Farrey:

Q: As a coach, did you always emphasize the positive and the complimentary?

	Until Phil Jackson became his coach, Shaquille O'Neal used to joke "I've won at every level, except college and pro."

A: Never. In fact, even to this day, I'm probably one of the people (who struggles with that). When I first came here, Shaquille (O'Neal) was worried that I'd never give him enough compliments. I finally had to say, "I think you can play above the limits that you've ever played before. I don't want you to just play at the limits you've played at. I want you to play above those limits. And when you play beyond that limit, that's when I know you're doing more than you've ever done before and that's what we have to have to win a championship." And that's what he's provided this team for the last three years.

I have a driving place in me that a lot of times won't (allow me to) go out of (my) way to tell somebody they're doing something good if it's not up to the levels that I expect them to do. So I do have a limit, a gauge for people, and I sometimes have to break that down and say, you gotta give a positive aspect. I usually do it in the group, though, rather than on the individual level. That is probably my one weakness, but I'm better than I was before. Prior to that there was a time when compliments would be given as a group or as a team, rarely as individuals.

Q: So inside you wrestle with this stuff?

A: People live their lives between boredom and anxiety. We all do. That's just a normal activity. What you try to do as a coach is you try to provide the amount of tension that brings the anxiety level up to a position where you're not too lackadaisical or bored with the game, otherwise you become lazy, you become bored, you become sloppy, your execution falls apart. So you have to hold a standard as a coach. To hold a standard, you have to have discipline. To have discipline, how do you create the discipline if you are too good a guy? So you have to have the ability to pat (the player) on the back and you have to provide enough support or enough discipline so that they know there are standards that have to be met. So that's the balancing act that coaches get into. Now if you just get into it so that your comments become acerbic and demeaning and you're cutting and you're taking players apart, then you lose your team obviously and then you lose your job. If you're able to support and build -- and as you do, players play above their normal level and teams congeal and get to be units -- then you've done more than you're expected to do, perhaps. You can win or have a chance to win championships.

	“	... to win championships you have to develop something that's beyond just having great talent. You have to have chemistry. And when players and coaches really resound with each other, respond to each other, that's when you win championships. ”
		— Phil Jackson

Q: Has the "Magic Ratio" helped you win championships?

A: I think the combination of things has. Now, just talent will help you win in this professional game. But to win championships you have to develop something that's beyond just having great talent. You have to have chemistry. And when players and coaches really resound with each other, respond to each other, that's when you win championships.

Q: I imagine this is the perfect year to test the "Magic Ratio" ratio, right?

A: Yes it is. And it's terrific to see it happening or watch it go on. … Watching them go through this process in which they're going to work in trying to build or establish the fiber of their community really gives me a lot of pleasure. And I don't have to do anything. I mean, I think it generates itself because there's a certain motivational level within them that's kind of going at it and it's inertia that keeps it going forward. We always say that about good energy. If the energy's clean and it's good, in a group, the inertia will move the group forward.