NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 29 Triangle (2)

In this way, Jordan accepted Jackson's arrangement.Although it didn't take long for Jackson to finish talking with Jordan, Jordan told the "Chicago Tribune" reporter Sam Smith (Sam Smith): "I will give it (triangle offense) two games." But later, Jordan found that Jackson was serious. Yes, and he will definitely not back down, so he will really devote himself to learning the triangle offense.Jordan listened to the coach far more than Jackson imagined. This is mainly due to the "Dean Smith effect"-the experience of playing under Dean Smith made Jordan respect authority and accept training from the bottom of his heart.

Jordan hasn't completely changed. He sometimes plays in the system and sometimes can't help jumping out.He's often frustrated that it's not the way he dominates the game in the past, and he has to give the ball to teammates who he believes will let him down.However, Jordan enjoyed seeing his opponents often dare not double-team him.

The team just started using the triangle offense in the game, and Jordan's deterrence without the ball surprised Jackson very much.The opponent's defensive players couldn't ignore Jordan. When Jordan moved the air cut on the field, the opponent felt that he might catch the ball and launch an attack at any time, so he had to pay more attention, thus giving the Bulls some easy shooting opportunities.

In fact, for other players, the triangle offense also has a learning process, and it is not easy to get started.Center Will Perdue said: "It's like learning ballroom dancing." One obstacle Jackson had to overcome was the dependence of these supporting actors on Jordan.At certain important moments, they are still used to finding Jordan with the ball and letting him solve problems for them.Jackson warned them: If you learn to pretend to pass the ball to Jordan, but actually go the other way, you will get shots and relieve Jordan's pressure.

Occasionally, with Bach's encouragement, Jordan still jumped out to take over the game.Bach, who was in the Navy, would tell Jordan: "Michael, I'm not your coach, I'm just an assistant, but at times like these, Admiral Halsey would order his fleet to 'Attack! Attack! Attack!' '" Of course Jordan likes this, and then, in his own way, he made three or four jumpers at the end of the game to lead the team to victory, and then teased Old Winter: "Tex, I have to apologize to you, I ended up running out of the offense again."

In Jordan's mind, the system basically only cares about the first three quarters. "The triangle [offense] got us into the fourth quarter," he said, "and then it was a completely different game." What he meant was that in the fourth quarter, five guys spaced out the floor and one or two guys (Mainly he and Pippen) break through, and then rely on one or two people to create opportunities.Jordan said that in the fourth quarter, the all-round quality of a team was revealed, "I think that's how we win."Jackson had no objection to this.In fact, this is also part of his vision-players can expand their tactics and be flexible, and the system is just the starting point of everything.

Jackson's success is that he found a balance between Winter and Jordan, and the triangle offense did not destroy Jordan's personal offense. In the 1989-1990 season, Jordan averaged 33.6 points per game, a slight increase from the previous year.Winter also admired Jordan's dedication. After all, it is not easy to go against one's own nature and participate in a system that places great constraints on oneself.Winter believes that Jordan can score a B or B- this year.

As the core of the team, Jordan's leadership style is very different from Bird and Magic.Bird and Magician are good at motivating the team with their own unique charisma, while Jordan, as the "Los Angeles Times" columnist Mark Heisler (Mark Heisler) said, he is not a natural leader, he is a natural A man of action, he pushes the team with the sheer force of his own will, as if to say, "I'm going to get on, guys, I'm going to kick their asses, do you want to come along?"

Jordan is ruthless to himself, and he also has high standards and strict requirements on his teammates.Paxson said: "Michael is a strong teammate. As long as you are on the court, you have to do your job and do things right. Anyone who doesn't care about the game as much as him, he can't accept it."

To balance Jordan's personality, Jackson made Cartwright co-captain with Jordan.Cartwright was not good with words, but he wasn't afraid to confront Jordan when necessary. "Bill was a quiet leader," Jordan said. "He didn't talk a lot, but when he did, everyone listened. When he didn't think I was doing something right, he challenged me. It was OK, we have that relationship, we challenge each other."

With the joint efforts of everyone, the Bulls have become a different team.In the second half of the season, from February 1990 to April 2, 16, in nearly two months and 4 games, they scored 13 wins and 27 losses, and they were getting better.Among them was a battle in Cleveland, where Jordan handed over the peak data of his NBA career.

那是3月28日，公牛赛季第69场常规赛，乔丹轰下69分，抢下18个篮板—69分是他在NBA的单场最高得分，18个篮板则是他在NBA常规赛的单场最高篮板（与另一场并列）。此役乔丹37投23中，命中率超过60%；23次走上罚球线，罚进21个；另有6次助攻、4次抢断、1个盖帽。

In terms of numbers alone, it was the greatest fight of Jordan's career.He himself said at the time that this was his "best game so far".Like ordinary people, Jordan also legendized this game because of his gorgeous numbers. In fact, it was just a regular season after all.

In Ohio's Tomita Stadium, the Bulls and the Cavaliers once again fought in the dark.In regular time, Jordan scored 61 points. It seems that the only ball he missed was a three-pointer forced by the two Cavaliers at the end of the fourth quarter.The goal was missed, and the two sides entered overtime with a score of 105.Jordan was not regarded as a lore hero, but in the end, the victory was still locked by him.

With less than 8 seconds left in overtime, the Bulls led by only two points. Grant missed both free throws. Fortunately, the rebound fell and was grabbed by Jordan. This was the last of his 18 rebounds.The Cavaliers could only foul. Jordan made two free throws, his personal score was fixed at 69, and the score was also fixed at 117 to 113. The Bulls narrowly won.

Before the game, Jordan caught a slight cold, but apparently his hands were not cold. "I got an early shot and it felt good," he said. "When you have that good feel for your shot, every part of your game is activated, rebounding, stealing, defense, every part."

Jordan's 69 points were evenly distributed, with 16 points in the first quarter, 15 points in the second quarter, 20 points in the third quarter, 10 points in the fourth quarter, and 8 points in overtime.He was keenly aware that he was in good shape, and Jackson didn't deliberately suppress him. "It was a great show," Jackson said. "I've seen Pete Maravich score 68 or 69 one time, which was horrible, but Michael was as good as it gets."

Because of the victory, Jordan couldn't hide his pride: "I think I only missed one shot in the first quarter and four in the half. I could feel myself making the ball. Once in the fourth quarter, I was about to hit the shot clock. Hit a three-pointer, you know, when that kind of thing happens, everything starts to get into your rhythm. I haven't had that since Boston. Such a feeling. Everything seems to be in order, I just try to ride the momentum and ride it as best as I can."

Cleveland fans were perhaps the luckiest and saddest witnesses of that era.Less than a year ago, Jordan just made The Shot here, and since then, the Cavaliers have become Jordan's favorite opponents to ravage. The 69-point battle was the fourth time the Bulls met the Cavaliers this season. The Bulls won all four of these encounters, while Jordan scored 54, 38, 41 and 69 points, averaging 50.5 points per game.

Oh, don't lament that it's always Cleveland that gets hurt.No, it's not just Cleveland.

Two days later, in the Bulls' 70th regular-season game of the season, against the New York Knicks at home, Jordan scored 49 points and 12 rebounds.This season, the Bulls played against the Knicks four times and won the last three games. Jordan averaged 41.7 points per game in these three victories.

The Bulls played 55 wins and 27 losses in the regular season, second only to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference. Due to the relationship between the divisions, they entered the playoffs as the third seed.In the first two rounds, the Bulls defeated the Bucks and the 3ers with a total score of 1 to 4 and 1 to 76, and entered the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year.The familiar figure stood in front of the bull again.

Defending champion, Detroit Pistons.

This is the third straight year the Bulls have met the Pistons in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and they hope they are ready.Before the start of the series, Jordan predicted that if the Bulls want to win, they must score 10 points. As a result, in the first game, Jordan personally scored 0 points, but apart from him and Pippen (3 points), the Bulls No one scored in double figures, and the whole team was defended to only score 4 points, so they were naturally defeated.Jordan also injured his hip in this battle, and it hurts when he turns over at night when he sleeps.

The next training Jordan was absent, but he still insisted on playing.At the halftime of the second game, the Bulls trailed by as many as 15 points. Jordan was furious and denounced his teammates for not being tough enough.In the second half, the Bulls' mental outlook improved, but they still lost after all, trailing 0-2 on aggregate.

Back in Chicago, teammates gave Jordan more support, and the Bulls' defense finally made the Pistons feel the pressure.In the third and fourth games, Jordan scored 47 points and 42 points respectively, leading the team to keep the home court and tie the total score at 2-2.

Jackson believes that the Bulls are more talented than the Pistons, but they lack confidence and experience. At the same time, he also believes that Jordan's overly competitive personality made the Bulls often fall into the trap of the Pistons.Pistons coach Daly always made Jordan feel "I have to beat them by myself, I have to beat them with my body", so Jordan always competed with the Pistons' aggressive defense.In the game against the Pistons, Jordan did play a lot of gorgeous statistics, but the results of the game are often as Daly wishes.

Jackson decided early on that if the Bulls want to win the Pistons, they cannot expect to have an advantage in physical strength. They must outrun the Pistons and at the same time defend against the Pistons, because no one in the Pistons can keep up with Jordan in the fast break except for Rodman. , Pippen, Grant.Jackson hopes that his men will play smarter, make full use of their speed advantage, avoid the edge of the Pistons' defense, reduce frontal conflicts, pass the ball in time, and find the best shooting opportunities.In the third and fourth games they won this time, they did exactly that. Especially in the fourth game, the five main players of the Bulls all scored in double figures.

In the next two games, both sides won at home respectively, and the total score became 3 to 3.The life-and-death tie-break will start at the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Pistons, where the Bulls have yet to win a playoff game.

In the most critical game of the year, the Bulls actually declined without a fight.First, Paxson, who sprained his ankle in Game 42, was determined to be unable to play, and then Pippen had a migraine before the game.Pippen was in so much pain that he could barely see, he took some aspirin, but the pills only made the headache worse.Pippen told trainer Mark Phil that he had serious problems with his eyesight.Phil asked: "Can you fight?" Pippen was about to answer "No", but Jordan snatched the words: "Of course, he can." Phil put an ice pack on Pippen's head, and Pippen came on later. He played for 10 minutes, but was completely out of shape, making only 1 of [-] shots.Afterwards, Pippen revealed that he couldn't even distinguish the color of the jersey on the court, and couldn't figure out who was a teammate and who was an opponent.

Jordan struggled to support, he took 2 shots, scored 7 points, sent 31 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds.In addition to him, the Bulls only scored in double figures with Grant (8 points, only 10 of 17 shots), and the team shot 3% from the field.The final score was 31.1 to 74, and the Bulls ended in a disastrous defeat.

Before the tiebreaker, Daly said: "We worked hard all year to get home court advantage, and hopefully it will help us." As a result, home court advantage did play a key role.In the seven games of the Eastern Conference finals, both sides kept their home courts.In Detroit, the Bulls' scoring was suppressed at 81.75 points per game, while in Chicago, they scored 107, 10+8 and 10+9 points.

The failure of the tiebreaker dealt a great blow to the Bulls mentally.Jordan was overwhelmed with pain and began to doubt everything.He questioned the fighting spirit and attitude of his comrades again, and Pippen inevitably became the first target.Jordan didn't care how bad Pippen's migraine was, where it came from, whether it was caused by nervous tension.In Jordan's eyes, there is only one result that matters: Pippen once again dragged the team's hind legs at a critical moment.

After the game, Jordan ended the interview early, left the media room, walked to the team bus, and met Pistons general manager McCloskey in the parking lot.McCloskey was standing in the entrance, and when he saw Jordan, he told his wife to wait for him while he consoled the young superstar on the opposing team.

Jordan asked, "Mr. McCloskey, can we step over the Pistons once? Can we win once?"

McCloskey replied: "Michael, your time is coming, and it will come soon."

Jordan boarded the bus and sat in the back, with his father, James Jordan, by his side.This was probably the most emotional moment in Jordan's career. He cried. He couldn't stand losing to the same enemy for three consecutive years. He felt deeply helpless.Why?Why am I so good, working so hard, and dedicating so much, but I still get this ending?

In fact, the ending of 1990 was not as unbearable as Jordan felt.Less than two weeks after the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons evened the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference in just five games and achieved two consecutive championships.This means that for two consecutive seasons, the Chicago Bulls are the team that poses the greatest threat to the championship in the league.In the finals of the previous year, the Pistons swept the Lakers 4-0, and the Bulls let the Pistons eat the only two losses in the playoffs; in this year's finals, the Pistons defeated the Trail Blazers 4-1, and the Bulls lasted until the tiebreaker only to lose.For three consecutive seasons, the Bulls challenged the Pistons, from 1 to 4 to 2 to 4 and then to 3 to 4. Their talent is no worse than that of the Pistons. There is only a thin layer of window paper between them and the Pistons. Paper is not a physical gift, but a mental and psychological one.

On the day of Game [-] of the Eastern Conference Finals, some fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills put up slogans, which was both a demonstration and a little encouragement.

"Maybe Next Year Michael." (Maybe Next Year, Michael.)
1989-1990 season
Regular season: 82 games, 33.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.8 steals, shooting 52.6%
Playoffs: 16 games, 36.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 2.8 steals, 51.4% shooting
NBA All-NBA First Team

NBA Defensive First Team of the Year

NBA scoring champion

NBA steals leader

(End of this chapter)