NBA Archives Debunked: The Jordan Saga

Chapter 34 The Peak (1)

After the Bulls won the championship in 1991, people finally realized how good this team is, and the Bulls themselves finally realized how good they are.The strength, coupled with the confidence and tolerance bred after winning the championship, gave the Chicago Bulls a feeling of being in the NBA in the 1991-1992 season.The Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons are regressing, and the Los Angeles Lakers have been hit hard when Magic Johnson announces his retirement with HIV. No team stands in front of the Bulls. Now the Bulls stand in front of everyone else. The Bulls are the league benchmark.

But in fact, only when you are in it will you understand how big the resistance is. UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) great coach John Wooden said: "Winning championships depends on talent, and consecutive championships depend on personality." It was not until this season that Phil Jackson really understood the meaning of this sentence.As if overnight, the spotlight of the media was all projected on the Bulls, everything about the Bulls was magnified, and other people besides Jordan began to seek more attention. As Jordan said, "success turned 'us' back to the 'I'".

The first sign of internal discord came when Grant publicly accused Jordan of not attending the White House trip in front of the media.As NBA champions, the Bulls were invited to the White House to meet with President George HW Bush.Players' attendance is voluntary, and Jordan told Grant in advance that he didn't want to see the president and that he wanted to play golf. Grant didn't say anything at the time.But later, when the Bulls returned to Chicago from Washington, Grant told reporters that he was disappointed that Jordan did not go to the White House, which was tantamount to openly criticizing Jordan for specialization.Jordan felt betrayed by Grant. In his opinion, if Grant had any ideas, he should have brought them up when he told him. Since he didn't say anything at the time, he should have kept silent instead of stabbing him in front of the media afterwards.

Jordan did not publicly respond to Grant's accusations, and Jackson did not punish Grant.However, Jackson warned Grant: Be careful what you say to the media in the future, as this kind of thing may cause internal divisions.

Grant wasn't the only one on the team who was jealous of Jordan, but he was the most vocal.The feud between Grant and Jordan has a long history. Before the Bulls selected Grant, Jordan raised doubts about Grant's potential. Grant later heard about this and naturally felt dissatisfied with Jordan.

The turmoil in the White House had just subsided, and the "Jordan Rules", which caused greater controversy and had a far-reaching impact, were written. "Jordan Rules" is the work of "Chicago Tribune" reporter Sam Smith. It records the Bulls' winning process in the 1990-1991 season, reveals many inside stories, and tries to remove the mythical color of Jordan.Once the book was published, it quickly entered the bestseller list and became all the rage.Jordan is very dissatisfied with many details disclosed in the "Jordan Rules", but he believes that the content of this book will not have a major impact on his public image, so after a while, it will not be taken seriously.However, Bulls general manager Klaus, as an important figure involved in the book, cannot let it go like Jordan.

Krause felt that the "Jordan Rules" seriously disfigured himself and had a large number of inaccurate details, which made him extremely angry.Not long after the book came out, he called Jackson to his hotel room one night on a Bulls road trip and began berating Sam Smith.Krause said he has found 176 lies in the book.Immediately afterwards, he took out a fully marked "Jordan Rules" and planned to read it to Jackson one by one.Jackson interrupted him, saying, "You really don't pay much attention to it, Jerry."

Klaus couldn't do it.For the next several weeks, he was preoccupied with investigating who was Sam Smith's main Bulls informant.In fact, in Jackson's view, everyone is an informant, everyone is a source, because Sam Smith talks to almost everyone on the team every day, including the owner Leinsdorf, but Krause insisted on finding A so-called "culprit" came out.Ultimately, he concluded: Johnny Bach was the man.Jackson thought it was ridiculous, but he couldn't change Klaus' mind.Later, Bach left the Bulls coaching staff, which had a lot to do with this matter.

It was here that the first crack appeared in the relationship between Jackson and Klaus.

There are a lot of interferences outside the court, and Jackson had to remind his players: You must overcome these interferences, concentrate, and work hard to win the second championship.To achieve this goal, Jackson worked hard to turn the practice field into a sanctuary isolated from the outside world, where there was only the entire team and no distractions from the outside world.Pippen said it well: "We are a very popular team, so we have to protect each other, we can't let people bring friends to practice to get everyone's autographs, because, if you are with your teammates If you don’t have the freedom to live, where are you going to find freedom?”

The Bulls are a tough team to beat when everyone's focus is on the inside and on the court.Grant was having his best season, averaging 14.2 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 57.8 percent from the field.Pippen was selected as an All-Star for the first time as a starter. He averaged 21.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game this season, shooting 50.6% from the field, comprehensive and beautiful.Jordan's scoring is still declining, but his average of 30.1 points per game is enough to continue to lead the scoring list, and his rebounds and assists are both kept above six.Jackson believes that in terms of overall combat effectiveness, his current team is one of the best and most outstanding teams in modern basketball. It is deep, comprehensive, and confident. Jordan, Pippen, and Grant are all at the peak of their personal abilities, while BJ Armstrong Young guys like (BJ Armstrong) are coming out and steadily rising, which can be very useful.

BJ Armstrong joined the Bulls in 1989 as a rookie with the 18th overall pick in the first round.In the first year of joining the team, Armstrong wanted to replace Paxson in the starting lineup. He was confident that he could handle the ball better than Paxson, and his ability to create scoring opportunities was stronger than Paxson.But Jackson felt that because of his proud singles skills, he would not fully integrate into the triangle offense.Jackson wanted Armstrong and Paxson to share point guard minutes, with Paxson starting more effectively and Armstrong a qualified sixth man who could dominate the second unit's offense.

Jackson was by no means unappreciative of Armstrong.Among the meditations he advocated with the Bulls, Armstrong is one of the most devoted.Since he took over the Bulls in 1989, Jackson has been teaching the players to do some Zen exercises. He is not particularly serious, nor is he trying to convert everyone, but in training, especially before group watching tape, let everyone gather around Sit together for ten minutes.Some players thought it was weird, and some players simply took a nap during this time, but most of them complied with the head coach’s request. They may not really devote themselves, but they know that meditation is a very important part of Jackson’s life, sit with him It's not bad for ten minutes.Armstrong gradually became interested in this method, and he also studied it himself, and occasionally asked Jackson for advice, and he was considered half of Jackson's bosom friend.

In the 1991-1992 season, the Bulls started the season with 15 wins and 2 losses, and reached 37 wins and 5 losses in the middle of the season. The player won 67 more games; 10 wins and 67 losses, breaking the best record in team history they just set the year before.At the beginning of the playoffs, "Who can stop the Chicago Bulls" has become the theme of the entire NBA.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Bulls faced the eighth-seeded Heat in the Eastern Conference.In the first two games in Chicago, the Bulls won by 19 points in one game and 3 points in one game without bloodshed.The third game was transferred to Miami. The Heat went very smoothly in the first quarter, leading by as much as 0 points at one point, but the Bulls woke up after a nap, and the ending was still not suspenseful.Just after the first half ended, Heat center Ronnie Seckley said to Cartwright: "I wish you luck in the next round." The Bulls came back to win 18-119 and swept the Heat 114-3. Jordan scored 0+5 points in this campaign. , Pippen also scored 6 points, and the two added up to nearly 31 points.

The ease of the first round does not mean that the Bulls have no challenges defending their title.Their next opponent is the most difficult enemy they have encountered after the Pistons-the New York Knicks.This season, the New Yorkers invited out former Lakers coach Pat Riley, who had been a TV commentator for a year, and Riley hired former Pistons assistant Dick Hart.Hart used to be in charge of defense in the Pistons. Through the joint efforts of him and Riley, the tough and iron-blooded style that the Knicks are now showing is in line with the old Pistons.The Knicks have become the new version of the "Bad Boys" in the league. Like the Pistons, they are fierce and tough, with a lot of physical confrontation, and no one wants to fight them.Although there is no backcourt like Isaiah Thomas + Joe Dumars, the Knicks have a strong penalty area composed of Ewing and Oakley, and two strong small forwards who are actually more like power forwards, Xavier Mack Daniel (Xavier McDaniel) and Anthony Mason (Anthony Mason).

Compared with the Bulls, the Knicks' advantage lies in their muscles.Before the start of the Knicks series, Phil Jackson was very anxious. His wife, June, said that she had never seen Phil so anxious before a round of games.Grant found out, too, saying Jackson looked more nervous than ever.Others don't understand why, some media and fans even think that this Bulls will not lose a game in the playoffs and will win the championship with all victories.But after the first game against the Knicks, they understood Jackson's concerns: Not long after the start, Oakley knocked Cartwright to the ground and was called a flagrant foul, and the Knicks finally won 94-89 in Chicago. A good start to the series.

When Oakley fouled Cartwright that time, Jackson immediately jumped up and yelled at Oakley: "You don't have to prove how tough you are, we all know." Oakley told Jackson that he didn't want to hurt anyone.Later, Jackson heard that Oakley was fined, not because of the foul, but because he talked to Jackson.Riley stipulated that Knicks players were not allowed to speak to anyone on the opposing bench.

Jackson felt the Bulls would be slowed down by the league and officials allowing the Knicks to use rough play with impunity.The triangle offense is all about movement, and once the movement is blocked, they are very dangerous.

In this first game, Pippen also encountered trouble. He had a pain in his ankle, complained of a pain in his back, and a pain in his left wrist.In addition to his physical injuries, he also had to deal with McDaniel's entanglement.McDaniel is a ruthless character. The Knicks played against the Pistons in the first round. McDaniel did not suffer at all in the muscle battle against the Pistons.Lambiel predicted: The Knicks beat the Bulls in the second round. If they are allowed to use their bodies, the Knicks have the ability to create upsets.Few people believed Lambir's words at the time, but McDaniel believed it. He promised: "If the referees let us play, we can beat them." At the beginning of the game, McDaniel pushed Pippen hard and saw Pippen Pengzhi dodged back and yelled at Pippen: "Don't babble, play your damn game." Since then, McDaniel has continued to provoke Pippen.Teammates began to worry about Pippen. No one dared to joke about it with him, and Jordan privately told a friend: "We felt that we might lose him."

The Bulls can't afford to lose Game 86.They won 78-[-] two days later.It became a pattern for this series.Grant said: "We won every game we had to win. As the game progressed, I knew that we would win any Game [-] we had to win, so we didn't worry about losing. However, we did Not as strong as last year to win."

In Game 94 to New York, the Bulls beat the Knicks 86-[-] to regain home-court advantage.The essence of this game appeared more than four minutes before the end. Jordan plunged into the penalty area like a sharp knife and was about to dunk against Ewing. He was fouled fiercely by Ewing and McDaniel in the air, but before he fell, Jordan still sent the ball into the basket abruptly.Both Ewing and McDaniel fell down, Jordan refused to let go, his eyes spewed fire, he waved his fists, and approached the two opponents on the floor step by step, shouting: "Yeah! Yeah!" At that moment, Jordan said: "This is the kind of ball that can inspire." Jackson said that it was a "playoff ball."

In the fourth game, the Knicks kept their home court, and the two sides drew again.Near the end of the third quarter, Jackson was ejected by referee Dick Bavetta.Bavita is a native of Brooklyn, New York. After several controversial whistles, Jackson shouted at Bavita: "Are you afraid they won't let you go home?" Bavita heard that and immediately gave Jackson the second technical foul.Before leaving the court, Jackson added: "I see, this series will play seven games."

Jackson was right.In the fifth and sixth games, both sides won on their own turf, and a tie-break was needed for a decisive battle. If the Bulls lost, the title defense would fail before the finals.

On the day of the tiebreaker, Jordan had been discussing with his father, James Jordan. "I have been discussing with my dad all morning, what kind of state should I use to meet the game, whether I should play aggressively when I come up, or be cautious first, and see the situation of other people," Jordan later revealed , "His advice, like most parents, is to be positive, give it your all, and others will follow you. And it did."

In Game 18, Jordan scored 29 points in the first quarter and 25 in the first half; he alone accounted for 16 of the Bulls' first [-] points. "I'm just thinking in my head, get into it quickly," he said. "Everybody's a little bit nervous, and I'm a little bit nervous, because this series is already a one-and-done game, and anything can happen."

He rushed the ball to the basket without hesitation, constantly causing damage to the New Yorkers' penalty area.Drawing fouls is an important strategy for the Bulls. Jackson kept putting pressure on the referee, and the referee on duty happened to be Jake O'Donnell, who is known for his strictness.The first quarter was like a testing ground. Jordan made 8 free throws in a single quarter and made all of them. He began to understand the referee's scale and use it.

Gerald Wilkins, who was in charge of defending Jordan, said: "Michael is Superman today, he has more power and energy, but at the beginning of the game, (the referee) did not allow us to touch him, and we were not allowed to use our bodies. Not like what we've been doing the whole series...Hey, Mike knows the game. When he knows the refs are blowing loose and encouraging us to do the moves, he's not going to do those flashy moves, dunks. This whole series , We haven't seen him do that. But today, he saw the referee playing tight, and he kept breaking through. I understand, and he understands."

The decisive moment came in the third quarter.The Knicks once scored 6 points in a row, catching up to 57 to 60. Jackson called a timeout. Since then, the Bulls have settled down and played championship-level defense.Riley praised after the game: "We couldn't get in, it was okay before. Their defense worked at important moments. Quite frankly, this is the defense I haven't seen from them throughout the series. "Jackson certainly knew it well: "Our entire defense in the second half has been raised to a new height."

(End of this chapter)