Their hearts tell them they are still the champs.
They still wear the uniform, after all. And the rings are at home just in case they need reminding. The bravado will even reappear in flashes as a way to convince themselves that what is in their hearts must also be in their souls.
But they can’t be sure.
Just as easily as a basic knee stretch can turn into a torn patellar tendon, that hope can turn into despair. And as much as they try telling themselves that while Michael Jordan cannot be replaced, his retirement can be overcome, reality tells them differently.
Should they be thankful for the three gleaming trophies that sit in the lobby of team headquarters downtown? Reflective of past success and somber about future possibilities? Or should they dig down for every sports cliche they can find to demonstrate that a fourth straight title is merely out there waiting for them to claim?
“Do I feel like we’re the favorites?” said the Bulls’ new leader, Scottie Pippen. “Yes, I do. But common sense says no. We’re still going to go out and play hard and I still feel we’re one of the top 10 teams in the league. But to say we’re going to go out and win another world championship, I’d be lying to you and everyone else.
“I don’t want to feel sorry for ourselves and I don’t want anyone else to either. We’re not the Bad News Bulls. But to lose a 35-point scorer? To lose Michael? It’s going to be a very long, very tough season.”
Indeed, it was a long, tough preseason with the Bulls failing to finish above .500 for the first time in seven years as coach Phil Jackson shuffled and reshuffled his deck. And even as he addressed the media some four weeks ago, Jackson’s words reflected the uncertainty that clouds the upcoming season.
“As a championship team and current title bearer, we still have to maintain that attitude,” he said. “We have to go out on the court and we say that’s why we’re here, to win basketball games. But we do know we had one of the greatest road players to ever play the game and the great support we’ve had on the road has helped us win so many games the last two or three years. And that’s where we’ll probably be missing most of our resolve and the temperament of this team, the cocky stance we’ve had the last three years.”
That cockiness is what separates the great teams from all others. It is what helped the Bulls squash a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who most certainly should have put up a better fight than four and out in the conference semifinals last season. It is what eventually carried the Bulls past the New York Knicks when the odds were clearly stacked against them. And it is what surged through the team and into John Paxson’s jump shot that Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
“I think we’ll still be a confident group,” Paxson said, “but (Jordan’s retirement) certainly changes a lot of things. It makes our jobs a lot tougher. But only time will tell. We’ll find out as we go along.”
Gone will not only be the 34.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.8 steals per game that Jordan contributed but the shots at the buzzer-shot clock and game clock. The 20-point fourth quarters and the clutch ability that seemed an inalienable right rather than a gift.
Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter, who has been preaching the importance of team ball for longer than Jackson has been on this earth, is confident this team can flourish if it adheres to the tenets of the offense.
“It’s certainly going to put the system to the test,” he said. “But whether we win or lose is not going to be the result of the system but how well guys can execute the system. In the final analysis, it comes down to how quick are we? How high can we jump? And of course we lost a lot of that with Michael Jordan. Guys like Michael, with his reflexes and quickness, didn’t have any problems executing the skills necessary in creating opportunities for he and his teammates.”
In other words, are the Bulls talented enough?
That question will begin and end with Pippen, who says he welcomes the challenge.
“It’s not nerve-wracking for me,” he said. “I’m going to try to have some fun and look at it like there’s no added pressure. I’m not going to go out and take 25 shots a game. I’m just going to play to win.”
Despite the rhetoric, however, Pippen will have to be the leader on the floor, Jackson said.
“Although Scottie knows how to score in this game and does it well, a different type of scoring is going to be needed from Scottie than has been in the past,” he said. “He’ll be the primary scorer, which presents a different difficulty.”
If that is to happen, Pippen said, then it will have to come naturally.
“I’m going to try to be the same type of player,” he said, “and try to create things for guys like B.J. and Pax.”
Pippen will start the season at small forward as he always has, but there will be times, possibly frequent, when he will have to step into the unfamiliar shooting guard spot. In the absence of a deal to bring someone else in at that position, which all the returning Bulls favor, including Pippen, that could well be an obstacle.
“Scottie is a moody person,” said Horace Grant, “and some days he’s going to be hot and some days he’s going to be cold. But knowing him for seven years, he has to stick with it and when it’s time to ease into that position, Scottie should do it at his own pace.
“We have confidence in Scottie as the go-to man, but I don’t think we’ll put as much of a burden on him as we did on Michael.”
In other words, it can’t be a burden if the Bulls are to survive.
“It’s still going to be an overall team game,” said Stacey King. “Scottie’s our leader, but realistically, he’s not going to be able to go out there every night at a consistent level like Michael and play at that level all the time, so other guys have to step up and help out. That’s why I think we may have a better team.”
Pippen said he hopes the Bulls can retain a valuable intangible.
“If we use the knowledge we’ve had the last few years of how to play together and how to win, that’s how you survive in this league,” he said. “It’s not always the teams with the best athletes but the teams who know how to win, and I feel we know how to win. Yeah, Michael was a big plus, but he didn’t go on the road and beat anyone by himself.”
B.J. Armstrong said the Bulls’ intestinal fortitude will be tested as much as anything.
“When Michael first announced his retirement,” he said, “my initial reaction was, How is it going to affect our team? How are we going to respond? And that’s still a question I want to know the answer to. So many times before, when a guy had an injury, we could afford to rest him. Now we have to fight through the aches and pains. We have to fight harder than we ever pushed ourselves before. And everyone has to be on the same page as far as that goes.”
That will be Jackson’s recurring theme.
“More than ever, we’re going to have to work hard,” he said. “More than ever, we’re going to have to be better picking up in the full court and playing defense. More than ever, we’ll have to finish strong on plays. More than ever, we’re going to have to get by on effort instead of all on talent.”
And more than ever, they will have to believe in themselves.
“I honestly think we can do it,” said Grant, “and I’m talking about winning a championship. I’m very optimistic. Of course we’ll probably get off to a slow start, but as the season progresses, I’m serious. We’re just like our fans. We’re used to winning and we’ve spoiled ourselves.”
The Bulls have gravitated naturally to the underdog role and Jackson says it is theirs to embrace.
“This (season) has its own uniqueness, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “This is one where all our individual efforts are going to be focused on. Everybody’s going to say, `He can’t play without Michael. He can’t general manage without Michael. He can’t coach without Michael.’ All those things are going to be thrown out at us. But we’re kind of excited about having an opportunity to prove ourselves.”
Armstrong said a recent talk with his grandfather put things into perspective.
“He told me that sometimes problems disguise themselves as opportunities,” he recalled, “and this could be disguised as an opportunity that’s good for all of us. We just have to search to find that. I took those words to heart.”
