The Bulls now appear to have little chance of overtaking Detroit, but they figure to play a major role this week in determining their playoff opponent.
First here.
Should the Bulls win Monday, they`d almost assure that Indiana won`t pass Milwaukee, and they would meet the Bucks-against whom they`ve won 17 of 19-in the opening round of the playoffs.
Then it gets more complicated.
The Bulls meet Boston twice this week, and should Chicago win it would certainly give Philadelphia the Atlantic Division crown and a second-round playoff matchup with the Bulls, assuming both teams make it that far.
Philadelphia is a team that concerns the Bulls because of its physical play. But Boston is no pushover either, having defeated the Bulls in Chicago earlier this season.
The Bulls still like their chances more against Boston than Philadelphia, but maybe not next year when Brian Shaw returns; while the Celtics are woefully short at guard, Shaw said he`ll return to the team from Italy next year.
It`s a surprise that he made that choice so quickly.
”I decided to go ahead and sign and get it off my mind,” said Shaw, who is averaging 25.2 points and 9.4 rebounds but has been under criticism-along with teammate Danny Ferry-all season for his team`s poor showing. ”It came down to deciding what would make me happiest or what would have filled my pockets the most.”
Shaw, who made $150,000 for Boston last year, signed for $1 million. But had he stayed in Italy another season, at $1.4 million, he could have become an unrestricted free agent and peddled his services on the open market.
– Meanwhile, this is what some of Shaw`s fellow Americans have averaged overseas this season: In Italy, Ray Tolbert, 20.7; Bob McAdoo, 25.1; Walter Berry, 31.4; Darren Daye, 23.3; Joe Bryant, 21.3; Dave Feitl, 20.9; Darwin Cook, 19.4; Mitchell Anderson, 28.8; Darryl Dawkins, 21.5; Terry Tyler, 20.5; Marques Johnson, 23.5; Jeff Lamp, 24.7; and Mike Mitchell, 33.4.
”The talent level isn`t the same,” said Shaw.
No kidding.
– It`s also a tough last week for the Atlanta Hawks, picked to win the division by Pistons coach Chuck Daly and fighting to make the playoffs.
”I never thought it would come down to this,” said Dominique Wilkins.
”I was sure we`d get on a roll. I never thought we`d have to get hot just to survive. It`s unbelievable what`s happened to us this season.”
It`s no mystery to Cliff Levingston.
”We keep thinking we`re a 50-55 win team, but we`re a 35-40 win team,” he said. ”We used to be a 50-55 win team.”
– Michael Jordan has never had much success, at least offensively, against the Washington Bullets.
They`re the only team he`s never scored at least 40 points against. He`s averaging 23.6 against Washington this season, more than 10 below his season average. The Bullets held him to 16 points in his first NBA game and to 13 in March 1987, his lowest total in the last three years.
Jordan has said it is due, in part, to their high-scoring guard Jeff Malone, who makes him work hard on defense. Jordan, historically, also has not scored well against Dallas, which has Rolando Blackman, another high-scoring guard.
”I think part of it is that we`ve got big guards who can stay with him,” said Bullets coach Wes Unseld.
Bulls coach Phil Jackson has a different explanation.
”It`s the company he has to entertain here that makes the difference,” said Jackson. ”It`s all the agents (ProServ, Jordan`s Washington-based representative firm) and friends and entourage (who often come up from North Carolina) and the expectations of him. It`s tough.”
– Chicago native Darrell Walker probably would be a star if he weren`t in Washington, where hardly anyone attends the games and the team hardly wins.
On Saturday against the Bulls, Walker got his eighth triple double of the season, trailing only Magic Johnson (10) and Larry Bird (nine). And five times Walker has missed a triple double by one assist. He also is the Bullets` leading rebounder at 8.8 a game, ranking him 20th in the league, along with Denver`s Fat Lever the only guard among the leaders.
But it has been a rocky pro career for Walker, who has spent several years getting over bitter confrontations with Hubie Brown in New York.
The difference now?
”Now I`m playing for a real coach,” said Walker. ”Before I was playing for a madman.”
