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No one's questioning that Jackson is a great coach...getting MJ, and then getting Shaq and Kobe, to buy into his system and play "enough" team ball to win is not an easy thing. (I was also a fan of Jackson as a player, even though he played for the Knicks and I grew up a Celtics fan - to me, he was a "Celtics type of player," making the most out of intelligence, hustle and determination.)
But comparing eras is always a futile exercise. It also wasn't easy for Auerbach to meld 5-7 all-stars year after year while getting them to buy into his system and at the same time, deal with perhaps the most mercurial player ever (not to mention the best player ever, please don't argue if you aren't old enought to have seen them both) in Bill Russell. To me, the tie-breaker (other than the 9 titles in 10 years) is that Auerbach was much more of an innovator than Jackson; Jackson's one innovation (other than the whole "zen" thing, which was really just an approach, not an innovation) was implementing the triangle in the NBA - which was really somone else's offense, he just took it to the next level. Auerbach's contributions, ranging from introducing the sixth-man, to building a team around a dominant defensive center and getting superstars to sublimate their offensive numbers (and that isn't even mentioning starting the first all-black lineup ever) make him the clear winner as the *best* NBA coach ever.
(And yes, I think most observers think it's pretty obvious that facing a healthy Garnett, not to mention a healthy Powe and Perkins, Jackson's #10 would be very much in doubt.)
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