Chapter 787: Chapter 19 Just Want to Play Ball_3
The Heat clinched the victory, and now some people think Drexler might be the better one.
Jordan is stronger at scoring, but Drexler is more all-rounded, and he has three Championship Rings on his hand.
Even though those rings were won with Ah Gan’s help, Drexler played a very important role in the process.
This kind of talk really irks Jordan; he has never regarded Drexler highly, seeing the Glider as nothing more than Ah Gan’s sidekick.
Now, one of Ah Gan’s little helpers has come to the South Coast to form a team and managed to defeat him, which is even more upsetting to Jordan than losing to Ah Gan.
Phil Jackson explained after the game, "The floor in Miami is a bit too slippery, we’re not quite accustomed to the court here."
Tonight, Bulls players fell countless times, half because the floor was slippery, the other half because the Heat played quite rough and aggressive.
But Jordan might not have grasped the subtext of these words, or perhaps, he believes that no reason can be an excuse for losing.
So, after hearing Jackson’s words, he stood in the locker room and shouted out: "Don’t look for any excuses, we lost!"
This loss had a positive impact on the Bulls; Jordan was annoyed, but that often means he’s determined to make more changes rather than just complain.
He accepted Phil Jackson’s decision to reduce his playing time to 37 minutes or even less, and he demanded more freedom to shoot in the first quarter.
Because he needs to get into a good offensive rhythm early, he told Jackson: "You can’t expect me to just pass the ball in the earlier part of the game and then be able to score when it counts. I need to shoot, I need to find my rhythm."
In this respect, Jordan and Ah Gan are similar; they could play longer, but for the betterment of the team, they make adjustments.
Then, Jordan expressed his willingness to play more as a team during other times, to play as a traditional Shooting Guard, dedicating himself entirely to the team.
"When I play off the ball, I’m stronger than any other Shooting Guard in the League," Jordan said to Jackson on the flight back to Chicago.
Jackson knew Jordan wasn’t just talking big; he had seen Jordan play at North Carolina, under Dean Smith, where Jordan was a thoroughly team player.
Three years in college cultivated his good playing habits, he is skilled in various tactics, has great court awareness, excellent off-ball movement, and his fundamentals are extremely solid.
Becoming a solo player with the Bulls was a last resort since the Bulls were so bad, because the NBA encourages one-on-ones, because no one guided him to be both a team and individual player.
Phil Jackson believes that this is the year Michael Jordan will transform.
On December 25th, the Bulls faced their old rivals Detroit Pistons at home in the year’s only Christmas Day battle.
The Chicago Bulls faced the Detroit Pistons with vengeance in their hearts; without them, the Bulls might have been on the Finals stage last year.
This season, the Pistons showed signs of aging; they lost to the Trail Blazers in November, and they were heavily defeated by the Bulls at Auburn early December.
With the League’s new targeted rules, fortunes seemed not to be on the side of the Detroiters anymore.
Isiah Thomas wore a mask before the start of the game; the elbow from Ah Gan caused not only physical injury but also a psychological shadow.
Even though his cheekbone had healed, he decided to keep wearing the mask until he felt relaxed enough to take it off.
There’s a heightened animosity when enemies meet, and despite new regulations against malicious fouls, both teams still played quite roughly.
Horace Grant got ejected from the game for a level-two malicious foul for knocking Joe Dumars down.
But that didn’t stop the Bulls from maintaining their lead; they held the Pistons to just 14 points in the third quarter, choking the Detroiters with their strong defense.
Jordan went 14 for 23, scoring 37 points with a sixty percent shooting rate, helping the Bulls easily defeat the Pistons by 15 points.
However, defeating the Pistons did not excite the Bulls players much, Hodges said in a postgame interview: "Winning at home is to be expected, and besides, we beat the Pistons three times last season, it doesn’t signify much."
Everyone at the Bulls remained calm, knowing the season has just begun, and that the regular season and playoffs are two different beasts.
The Bulls’ marketing staff were also unsatisfied with this sole Christmas battle, as they had hoped to have the Bulls players wear red jerseys at home for Christmas, instead of the mandated white.
But the League rejected this request, not wanting to make exceptions for the Chicago Bulls.
As for revenge, when the League wanted the Bulls to wear green holiday jerseys for St. Patrick’s Day, the Bulls refused as well.
Why be green Bulls instead of the good old red Bulls.
Phil Jackson despises such peculiar business tactics of the League.
Including home cheerleaders, mascots, and the Bruce dancers performing at the opener, and so on.
Jackson complained, why can’t it be like the Boston Celtics, where only basketball serves as entertainment at the Garden Arena?
The response Jackson got was, this is the NBA now, this is business.
Meanwhile, someone told Jackson, "The Portland people do the best marketing, and it doesn’t affect them winning championships."
This comment made Jackson and everyone at the Bulls quite angry, yet they had nothing to say, as the Portland Trail Blazers continue to be a thorn in the Bulls’ side.
