NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 30 The First Crown (1)

The Bulls lost to the Pistons in Game 1990 on Sunday. The next day, the Bulls coaching staff gathered in the office of the training hall to summarize the season.They came out of the meeting, looked across, and found that Grant and Pippen were practicing strength.Obviously, for them, the 1991-[-] season began immediately.

In the summer of 1990, all the Bulls players kept training.No one asked them to do it, but everyone was doing it. On Fourth of July weekend, a coach stopped by the gym and found the whole team there.The disappointment of the loss to the Pistons has dissipated, replaced by a sense of urgency.Everyone knows that they are very close to the championship, they all smell the championship, and they can't wait for the new season to start quickly.

Jordan had his own subject: strength.

A year ago, Jordan had already started to seriously train strength. After losing to the Pistons in 1989, Jordan told the media that he was tired of the "corporal punishment" of the Pistons and determined to train his body stronger.The reporters wrote the article, which was quickly read by a young local trainer in Chicago named Tim Grover.

Grover, who stands just 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters), also played basketball in college, is a basketball fan and fitness junkie.His parents both work in the hospital and hope that he will also study medicine, but he is obsessed with the world of sports and aspires to be a trainer. In 1989, when Grover learned about Jordan's needs from the newspaper, he was already a trainer in a fitness club. He felt that he would definitely be useful to Jordan, because he had been thinking about the field that Jordan needed help for six or seven years.

Through Bulls doctor John Hefron and trainer Mark Phil, Grover got in touch with Jordan, and one afternoon, he went to Jordan for an interview.For Grover, this may be the most important opportunity of his life, and of course he takes it seriously. He is preoccupied with all aspects of his fitness plan, and he doesn't care about the shoes he is wearing on his feet.The two met, and Jordan said to Grover, "You're younger than me. I've never worked with anyone younger than me before." Grover had 90 minutes to convince Jordan that he could do it again. Shaping Jordan's body can help Jordan raise his ability to new heights.He promised Jordan, I can make you stronger and prolong your career.

"He told me he'd try it for 30 days," Grover recalled. "Well, 30 days turned into 15 years."

The long-term wonderful cooperation began with the 90-minute interview in that afternoon.Grover temporarily gained Jordan's trust, but when the two parted, Jordan reminded Grover: "When you come back here, you'd better make sure that you are not wearing Converse shoes on your feet." How can Mr. Nike tolerate the trainer? Stepping into your home wearing Converse every day?Grover hasn't made that mistake since.

Grover became Jordan's personal trainer.He reminded Jordan that the sooner you train your body, the better, but there are right and wrong methods.They can't practice too much at once, it will take several years to gain a little weight and strength every year, step by step.

When he first entered the NBA, Jordan weighed 185 pounds (84 kg). When he first met Grover, he weighed about 195 pounds (88.5 kg).The two discussed Jordan's ideal weight in the future. Jordan thought it was 215 pounds (98 kilograms).Grover estimated that it would take three or four years to reach this optimal value. Gaining 215 pounds per year is an ideal goal, so that the body can slowly adjust, increasing muscle without losing skills."If we inflate your body too quickly, it hurts your game and you lose something," Grover said.

Grover also warned Jordan: If you do what I say, the first few months may be a bit dizzy because the new training regimen will affect your shooting.Basketball is a sport that tests muscle memory, and gaining weight can disrupt that original muscle memory. "You're going to have bad timing, you're going to miss your jumper, you're going to get pissed off," Grover said. Wan didn't care, he believed that his shooting would not be as problematic as Grover said, because he would keep practicing uninterruptedly, allowing his body and muscles to make uninterrupted adjustments.

Not everyone agrees with Jordan's physical strength training, and his close friend Howard White feels that this is a mistake.White said, "You're a thoroughbred, why mess it up? You might lose some speed." Jordan replied, "Howard, you're not the one that got hit. (Pistons) those guys put me in the I've got to get stronger."

At the beginning, Grover arranged Jordan's physical strength training time after the team training, but Jordan always devoted himself to the team training. The exercises were in place, so Grover then moved his strength training to the morning.Slowly, the morning practice developed into what became known far and wide as the "Breakfast Club"—in the mid-to-late 20s, Bulls players such as Pippen, Ron Harper, and Randy Brown all joined During Jordan's morning training, as long as the team didn't go out to play away games, they would go to Jordan's private gymnasium to practice every morning. After the practice, they would eat the breakfast prepared by the chef together. The breakfast was also made according to Grover's recipe. .

Grover not only trained Jordan's upper body muscles, but also Jordan's lower body strength.The program he arranged for Jordan was to train his upper body one day and his lower body one day, alternating between the two.

According to the agreement between the two, Grover will not be interviewed by the media because Jordan does not want others to know what he is doing.Looking back many years later, Grover felt that one of the important reasons why Jordan was willing to cooperate with him rather than Al Vermeer was that Jordan wanted a trainer who was completely and absolutely loyal to him, not a trainer who was completely loyal to him. Trainers in charge of the Bulls management.Vermeer was the head of strength training for the Bulls, but Jordan always guarded Vermeer because no matter how good Vermeer's expertise was, he was working for Krause.

The long-term benefits of Jordan and Grover's partnership didn't become apparent until years later.Jordan retired from basketball to play baseball, then came back to play basketball, and in his thirties, his competitive state was still very good.You know, in that era, when most basketball players reached their thirties, their state began to decline significantly, and injuries began to increase. After Jordan cooperated with Grover in 1989, he played for the Chicago Bulls for seven full seasons. He has only missed 6 games in total, and in the three full seasons after returning to the NBA from the baseball field, Jordan has been in full attendance every year.

The short-term effect is obvious.Jordan got stronger and more powerful, and his shoulders and arms reflected that.Every year, Jordan happily complains to Grover: "You cost me a lot of money!" Throw out the wardrobe. I can't wear any of my clothes."

After working with Grover for the first year, Jordan's body has become significantly stronger, and his ability to play "2+1" on the court has improved significantly.In the past, once Jordan broke through to the basket, once he was fouled violently, the ball might not be able to score, because the people who hit him were often taller than him.Now, Jordan is fouled again at the basket, and he can often have enough strength to continue to score the ball.

The 1990-1991 season was a truly reborn season for the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan is still the same as in the past, excellent, motivated and competitive.After the Bulls played a preseason game in Seattle, rookie guard Gary Payton ran into Jordan at a nightclub.Payton was the No. 33 pick that year, and he loved to talk trash. He told Jordan: "I have earned millions, and I also want to buy Ferrari and Testarossa (a classic Ferrari sports car)." Will Jordan just laugh off the provocation?Not long after the start of the season, the first official confrontation between the Bulls and the Sonics came.The first time Payton took the ball, he was intercepted by Jordan, and Jordan was fouled for a layup; Payton took the ball for the second time, Jordan stole it again, and this time he succeeded in a fast break dunk; Payton took the ball for the third time and dribbled Destroyed by Jordan again, Pippen intercepted the ball and assisted Cartwright for a layup.The Supersonics coach is KC Jones, who had coached the Celtics. When he saw something was wrong, he immediately replaced Payton.After three quarters, Jordan has 7 points and [-] steals in hand.

At this time, Jordan has already developed a mature post-up singles and fadeaway jumper skills.According to himself, he has always been able to use the fadeaway jumper-in North Carolina, the coach taught everything-but there was no need to use it early in his career, because at that time he had good physical fitness, one-on-one, and he could get rid of it purely by speed and explosiveness. other side.Later, it was the Pistons' defense that changed his offense.The Pistons use the "Jordan Rules" as their guiding ideology, and don't give Jordan a one-on-one chance. They are ready to pinch him from the first second he catches the ball.Facing the new situation, Jordan has a new approach.He began to hold the ball with his back to the basket and used a turnaround jumper. The purpose was to avoid directly facing the defensive formation like a face-to-basket attack, thereby delaying the time for the defense to react.When he holds the ball with his back in the low post, he is already in a dangerous area, and before the opponent has time to double-team, he can make moves to launch an offense.

Jordan is changing, Pippen and Grant are changing too.Compared with the previous season, the two of them have become stronger physically, and more importantly, their minds are more devoted and their spirits are more concentrated. In the Eastern Conference finals in 1990, when the Bulls fell behind the Pistons 0-2, Jordan also saw Pippen and Grant laughing and laughing in training, not paying attention to the difficult situation of the team at all. Jordan was very angry at the time, thinking that they treated The game is not serious enough.But when the new season starts in November, looking at Pippen, it's a completely different look.

In the fourth year of his career, Pippen averaged 17.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, and has become the league's top defensive player.Pistons coach Daly saw the Bulls this season and knew that time was working on their two teams. Everything was developing in a direction that was not conducive to the Pistons but beneficial to the Bulls. The most prominent point was Pippen's progress.

Pippen not only became a star himself, but also changed Jordan, making Jordan a better team player.Both Jordan and Pippen became more and more comfortable with the triangle offense. This system gave them both opportunities to control the ball. As a result, it was much more difficult for the Pistons to encircle Jordan as they had in the past.

Meanwhile, something went wrong inside the piston.The previous season, their restricted area general Rick Mahon was taken away by the NBA rookie Minnesota Timberwolves in the expansion draft, and the Pistons were no longer as aggressive as before; now, Lambiel has lost the past few years. Motivation, he has been heard complaining several times that what used to drive him hard is no longer there.

In the first half of the season in 1991, the Bulls had a very good record, with a winning percentage close to 70%.The last game before the All-Star weekend is an away game against the Pistons.The Bulls have lost 13 of their past 12 games at the Palace of Auburn Hills.Phil Jackson thought: To win here, to break the curse of Auburn Hills, now is the ideal moment.The Bulls are in good shape, and the Pistons' main player Thomas missed the game due to a wrist injury. The Bulls are not winning at this time, when will it be?The people of Detroit were also aware of the situation at the time. Daly said before the game that this game is very important and may determine the home court advantage of the two teams in the playoffs.

Don't look at it as just a regular season, in fact, it has great symbolic meaning and psychological implications behind it.The Pistons player Sally told the local reporter in Chicago bluntly: "They got the syndrome, just like we used to play Boston, and there was a feeling in my heart, 'Every time we go there, we will lose'. But one day we suddenly realized You know, they’re just human, like the rest of us. Chicago (the Bulls) have to feel that way when they’re here to play us.”

It's still a tough game.In the third quarter, Cartwright asked for the ball from a low position and slightly raised his elbow. The movement was not big, but Lambiel reacted exaggeratedly to being hit. The referee called Cartwright a foul. Cartwright protested and was immediately kicked out .In the fourth quarter, the physical confrontation between the two sides became more and more intense. During a timeout, the coaching staff even worried that Grant would collapse. As soon as the opponent bumped into him, he turned to look at the referee and begged for help. Cleamons, this is a surefire sign.Coaches know what referees are thinking.In a game like this, away to the defending champion, you have to prove to the referee that you are tough enough that you can win the championship on your own.If you want to take the crown from the opponent's head, you have to work harder. You can't rely on the referee, the referee will not hold the crown and give it to you.The more you complain to the referee, the less likely the referee is to help you.This world is so unfair: the champion does not need to complain to the referee, the champion will naturally be taken care of by the referee.So, at the next timeout, Clemons warned Grant: "Play hard! Don't complain!"

With about 4 minutes left in the game, the Pistons still led by 5 points.In the past, the Pistons' ability to end the game has always been stronger than the Bulls, but this time, Pippen hit a jumper and Jordan used Grant's offensive rebound to score. The Bulls did not relax at all.For some reason, in the last 2 minutes, the referee's whistle suddenly turned slightly towards the Bulls. Now it was the Pistons' turn to be anxious. Daly stood on the sidelines and roared at the referee, as if to remind the referee: This is our home court.

In the end, the Bulls narrowly won 95-93.After this game, the Bulls seemed to break free from the shackles, with frequent success reports.After the All-Star break, they won 9 games in a row, and if you count the two games before the All-Star break, they have a total of 11 consecutive victories; after Indiana lost one game to the Pacers, they played another wave of 9 consecutive victories.

After the regular season, the Bulls had a record of 61 wins and 21 losses, winning 6 games more than the previous year, setting a record for wins in a single season in team history.In the East, the Bulls topped the list, while the Pistons only won 50 games, ranking third.One went to a high place, and the other fell to a low place. The trajectories of the two teams finally intersected and moved in different directions.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls swept the Knicks 3-0. In the second round, they beat the 4ers headed by Charles Barkley 1-76. In the fifth game against the 76ers, Jordan scored 38 points and grabbed an amazing 19 rebounds and 7 assists.Finally, the Chicagoans got the opportunity they wanted most: a reunion with the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals with home court advantage.

The time for revenge has arrived.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Bulls have played against the Pistons in the playoffs. In the previous three seasons, they lost to the Pistons 1-4, 2-4, 3-4.Today, in May of 1991, the Pistons still look menacing, but their fangs have worn off.

Before the series started, Jackson sent the league office a carefully edited videotape full of dirty tricks the Pistons had used against the Bulls in past games, which served the league's purposes.In fact, NBA executives are also very dissatisfied with the public image of the "Bad Boys Corps". They don't want the NBA to leave the public with the wrong perception that "brute force is better than technology", and they also want to cure the Pistons.

(End of this chapter)