NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 10 North Carolina (4)

In Jordan's sophomore year, Dean Smith moved him to the three to play small forward, while pushing Buzz Peterson to start at the two.Although Worthy left North Carolina to enter the NBA, this is still a good team, just a little younger and inexperienced, and Jordan's personal excellence has become more prominent in this team.

On February 1983, 2, North Carolina played against Virginia at home.In those years, due to the presence of top center Ralph Sampson, Virginia has always been a strong NCAA team; this time, in the strength rankings, they ranked first in the United States.Before halftime, Buzz Peterson injured his knee, and North Carolina's outside power was greatly reduced, while Virginia took advantage of their inside advantage and completely controlled the game in the third quarter, leading 10 to 56 at one point.North Carolina tried to chase back, and with more than four minutes left in the game, they were still behind 40 to 53.But since then, North Carolina has strengthened its defense and never allowed Virginia to score too much.

With 1 minute and 20 seconds left before the end of the game, North Carolina caught up with only 3 points. At this time, Sampson was fouled and had to execute a 1+1 free throw. As a result, he missed the first free throw (NCAA rules are different from NBA rules. If the team fouls more than 6 times but less than 10 times in the first half, if it is not a shooting foul, then the fouled player does not directly execute two free throws, but executes 1+1 free throws, that is, the first free throw is scored, and only then chance for a second penalty).Next, Braddock missed a three-pointer, and Jordan waited under the basket to make up two points. 62 to 63, North Carolina is only one point behind, and the opportunity for reversal has come.

Virginia guard Rick Carlisle dribbled forward from the backcourt and saw a North Carolina double-team, one of which was Jordan.Carlisle is confident he can break the North Carolina double-team, and he can get between them, as he's done before.This time, he did it again, he didn't drop the ball, he left two North Carolina defenders behind, and his eyes were empty.However, just when Carlisle thought the crisis was over, a terrible thing happened: he slapped the ball to the ground, the ball bounced, but did not return to his hands—Jordan had broken the ball from behind.Carlisle turned around to grab it, and fell to the ground. When he looked up, he saw Jordan going straight to the basket, jumped up, and soared into the air.

Jordan grabs the ball with his right hand and pulls his arm back full.For a moment, Carlisle felt that Jordan might be about to dunk.Dean Smith felt the same way on the sidelines. He asked Jordan after the game: "Michael, why don't you just layup? You might not be able to dunk." Jordan smiled and replied coolly: "Coach, I have no intention of not going in."

Cleave the buckle with one hand, piercing Changhong with air. 64 to 63, North Carolina overtook.

There are fifty seconds left, and Virginia hasn't lost yet.With about 5 seconds left, Carlisle made a three-pointer and missed it. Sampson raised his hands under the basket, trying to get the offensive rebound, but Jordan jumped up from him, jumping high and high, and forced Picked the ball off his head with one hand.Sampson is 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 meters) tall, and he has a pillar of the sky, but Jordan steals the key rebound, which is a sigh.At the end of the game, North Carolina narrowly won by one point and completed the reversal. The home fans were extremely happy.

After defeating Virginia, North Carolina has won 18 consecutive victories.But it turns out that without Peterson, their strength has been greatly affected.In the NCAA Tournament that year, North Carolina fell outside the top four in the United States and lost to the University of Georgia 77 to 82 in the division finals.This ending is quite abrupt, because Georgia is not very strong, and people always expect to see North Carolina beat a strong opponent in a major game. Unexpectedly, this time, they became the victim of an upset.

That game was played in Syracuse, and the loss to Georgia ended North Carolina's season.Next, most of the coaches have to invest in recruiting, so that night, Dean Smith assigned Roy Williams to lead the players back to Chapel Hill.Dean Smith gave the children only one instruction: don't relax in their studies, there are only five weeks left in this semester, and he hopes that each of them will be well.

Back at school, Jordan came to see Roy Williams the next afternoon. "Coach, I think I need a break, I think I'm tired," Jordan said apologetically, "I played basketball continuously, even in the summer, for two years. In fact, for a long time, I I haven't rested at all. I think I have to take a break." After listening to Roy Williams, he felt that Jordan's request was reasonable, and he encouraged Jordan to take a break to avoid overwork.

Later that day, Roy Williams went for a run.Losing to Georgia, he also had emotions to resolve, and he also had to relax.Roy Williams found it strange to see Jordan wearing a training vest and holding a basketball again.

"I thought you'd be resting for a while," said Roy Williams.

"I can't rest, Coach," Jordan said. "We didn't win. I gotta work on my game, I gotta get better."

Roy Williams thought at the time that nothing could stop Jordan from becoming a champion.This season, Jordan performed terrifically, harvested various honors, was selected to the ACC League's best team of the year, and was selected to the first team of the best team in the United States. He is the best player, and none of these can satisfy him.Jordan is not only talented and intelligent, but more importantly, he has a never-ending ambition.

Jordan's third year in North Carolina looked good, but turned out to be disappointing.

After knee surgery, Buzz Peterson never returned to his pre-injury level, and his playing time was given to Steve Hale and others.Hale's style of play is tough and his defense is fierce-years later, someone always asks Jordan: Who in the NBA can defend you better?Jordan used to say that in Chapel Hill, Hale defended him in practice as much as anyone in the NBA since.

Peterson felt that he had worked hard, but Jordan didn't think so.Jordan believes that Peterson has a psychological shadow after the injury, and he is not as devoted to playing as before, and he seems hesitant. "You're missing something," Jordan said to his good friend. "I feel like I punch you where your heart is, and the hand will come out the other side." At the time, Peterson thought Jordan was talking nonsense, but later , When he looked back at himself at that time, he found that he was really hesitant, and there was a subconscious fear of getting hurt again.Jordan is good at finding the opponent's weaknesses in the game, so he was the first to discover Peterson's weaknesses.

Peterson had a rough year.His previous dreams, the heights he could reach, were all shattered in front of his eyes bit by bit.For a while, he left the team and returned to his home.When he went back to school, he found that the person who was looking forward to his return the most was Jordan.Jordan put Peterson's clothes in order, with pants hanging on hangers and jerseys meticulously folded. It was a special gesture of welcoming his friend back and showing that he cared about Peterson.

This season, in addition to Perkins, Jordan has Brad Doherty and Kenny Smith beside him.These four people all became high-ranking rookies in the NBA in the future. Among them, Jordan, Perkins, and Doherty were all selected by NBA teams in the top five in the first round, and Kenny Smith was the sixth rookie in 1987.Dougherty is the most talented North Carolina pure center in the Dean Smith era. His improvement this year is predictable, and Kenny Smith is the fifth player in team history to enter the starting lineup as a freshman. , Therefore, the strength of North Carolina is widely recognized.Before the start of the season, there was a saying that this team would not only win the championship, but also be one of the five or six best teams in NCAA history.Steve Hale later said: "We have a feeling that we can win 6 times against any team in the United States 10 times." During the season, North Carolina once won 9 consecutive victories, but finally stopped in the NCAA Tournament conference semifinal, lost to Bob Knight's Indiana University.

Later, there was a consensus in the basketball circle: Bob Knight beat Dean Smith in that game.Knight sent a player named Dan Dakich to guard Jordan.Dakic's qualifications are mediocre, but Knight gave him simple and clear instructions: "You don't let him run back, don't let him go to the basket to score easily, you have to keep him away from the rebound. Don't let him do anything easily. Give him a jumper if you need to." According to Knight and Dakic's later retelling, Dakic rushed into the bathroom and vomited just after receiving the task assigned by Knight.

Regardless, Knight's strategy worked.Indiana played steadily, and Jordan received two fouls early on, which affected his subsequent games. In the end, Indiana won 72-68.A few months later, Jordan and Bob Knight were playing together on the U.S. national team. Knight still taunted Jordan from time to time, threatening to recruit Dakic to the team and make him special against Jordan.

The defeat against Indiana made every player in North Carolina feel ashamed.Many years later, Steve Hale has become a doctor, but that game is still an untouchable pain in his heart.Hale said he never watched tape of that game again.But he clearly remembered one thing: the next day, he saw Jordan practicing alone in the arena, throwing one ball after another, one ball after another.

Jordan is not reconciled, he still needs to improve and become better, but at this time, Dean Smith decided to let Jordan leave—college basketball can no longer make Jordan better, and can no longer accommodate this giant dragon. Time for him to play in the NBA.

1981-1982 season
34 games, 13.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, shooting 53.4%
NCAA All-American Championship
1982-1983 season
36 games, 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, shooting 53.5%
NCAA All-American First Team

1983-1984 season
31 games, 19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, shooting 55.1%
NCAA All-American Player of the Year

NCAA John Wooden Award

NCAA Naismith Player of the Year Award

NCAA All-American First Team

(End of this chapter)