The questions came from all directions, and Phil Jackson, he of the Zenlike disposition, calmly answered each one.
Inquiring minds wanted to know how Jackson would handle the arrival of Dennis Rodman. There were questions about Rodman’s mental state, hair color and moody attitude. There was talk of psychological testing, and Rodman’s fitting in with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Jackson just smiled and kept answering the questions. He was clearly enjoying himself. This season is supposed to be a challenge for the Bulls coach. Phil Jackson doesn’t mind it one bit.
“One of his strong points is the blending of different personalities and talents to where they have one vision,” Jordan said. “He’s one of those philosophical type of coaches who deals more with the mental aspect of the game, your evolvement into one–how you contribute to being just one. He uses different methods. Those Zen formats of philosophy. . . . He truly believes it. He uses a lot of psychology to make you feel like you’re a piece of the puzzle. If you fulfill your piece, the puzzle can be a beautiful picture.”
Perhaps that is the best way to describe this Bulls team: a puzzle. If the pieces fit together perfectly, that puzzle could turn into a colorful mosaic come playoff time. But for now, this Bulls team is a puzzle with several distinct pieces.
Jordan, whose return to the Bulls last March ended up doing more harm than good, will be back for a full season. He must learn to play with his teammates who, in turn, have to blend with his talents. Nobody realizes this more than starting center Luc Longley, who had his problems meshing with Jordan during the playoffs.
And Jordan, who will turn 33 in February, is out to prove that his talents haven’t faded much during his hardwood hiatus and flirtation with a second career in baseball. Ron Harper, too, is out to prove that his talents aren’t on a downswing. He will be in the starting lineup despite coming off his worst year as a pro.
Toni Kukoc, a starter last season at power forward, will have to adjust to life off the bench.
Pippen, who turned into arguably the league’s best all-around player as the team’s leader in Jordan’s absence, has to adjust to life in Jordan’s shadow–again.
Pippen–who led the team in scoring (21.4 points per game), rebounding (8.1), assists (5.2), steals (2.94), blocks (1.13) and minutes (38.2) last season–also has to learn to work with Rodman, who, during his days as the Detroit Pistons’ ultimate “Bad Boy,” made life rough for Pippen, mentally and physically.
Jackson’s chore will be to keep all those delicate egos in check. His Zen-based coaching techniques will be tested, daily. But all involved believe he can pull it off.
“That’s Phil’s strength as a coach, really,” said reserve guard Steve Kerr. “He’s a very interesting guy who has different interests himself, and he’s pretty broad-minded. As a result, he handles players very well. He understands that everyone is different and everyone comes from a different background and lives a different lifestyle, and he knows how to blend people together. He knows how to accept people and to help them to play together. That’s one of the reasons they decided to put this team together the way they did. They felt it could work with Phil.”
The blending just might begin and end with Rodman.
The 34-year-old Rodman was brought to the Bulls for two reasons: to rebound and play defense for a front line that has struggled in those departments since Horace Grant bolted for the Orlando Magic after the 1993-94 season. If the Bulls are to come out on top in the Eastern Conference, the 6-foot-8-inch Rodman must provide the physical presence needed to help them get past Orlando, Charlotte, Indiana and New York–the four teams that stand in their way.
That’s why the Bulls brass, turning its back on everything it believed to be good and decent, took a chance on a player with a history of bizarre actions, most of which surfaced while the San Antonio Spurs were making runs at NBA titles the previous two seasons.
Never mind the handful of suspensions for breaking team rules. Never mind the notorious incident in last season’s playoffs in which Rodman took off his shoes and refused to join a Spurs huddle during a timeout.
Four straight rebounding titles have a way of sugar-coating that kind of stuff.
“He’s extremely individualistic,” Jackson said. “He’s into his own individual nature. He likes to have the freedom and the expression that it gives him. We think that’s OK as long as it stays within the team confines of playing ball together.”
Rodman arrived in town with good intentions. He had a head of red hair, complete with a dyed-in Bulls logo. He has shown up for practices and has missed nary a team bus or plane.
And he has said all the right things.
“People are expecting me to get all the rebounds,” he said. “So, basically it’s going to be easy for Jordan to average 35 points a game this year, and Pippen can average 25, and then everybody else can just do their jobs. They can just leave all the dirty work to me.”
Rodman is willing to do all that for a couple of guys with whom he hasn’t even had a normal conversation. That doesn’t seem to matter. What happens on the court is all that Rodman, Jordan and Pippen are concerned about.
“I’ll make sure they do what they’ve got to do, and I’ll make sure I do what I’ve got to do,” Rodman said. “I’ll take care of all the unfortunate fouls and technicals, and they can do what they can do to be free. That’s my job.”
Apparently, the guy just wants to earn his money. Sounds like a good plan.
“Rebounding, energy and an opportunity for us to get out on the break–that’s what Dennis gives us,” Jordan said. “He’s also a good anchor to our defense. On the basketball court, we’re all relating very well to him.”
Relating off the court has been more difficult. Rodman has kept to himself. His teammates have let him be.
“He’s going to open up whenever he wants to open up, and when he opens up, we’ll be right there to support him,” Jordan said.
Rodman said that may never happen. But he is prepared to relate to the Bulls fans who once loathed him. Rodman fed off their positive energy during the preseason.
“You don’t pay $200 to come out here and see nothing,” he said. “You want to see them win, but you want to see some entertainment and some excitement. Maybe an altercation here and there.”
That could be a problem. Jackson has said he wants his team to be aggressive and physical, but that fighting is a whole different thing. The players feel that way, too–especially Pippen, who still has a scar on his chin from when Rodman, then with the Pistons, shoved him from behind and into some chairs during a 1991 playoff game.
“I’m his teammate now, and I’m going to back him,” Pippen said. “But I’m not going to go out and back him when he goes out and does something that’s got a lot of stupidity to it. As long as he’s out there and he’s being competitive and he’s trying to win–trying to clog the lane and stop guys from coming to the basket–we’re his teammates and we’re going to stay on his side.”
There are other worries besides Rodman’s fitting in. The Bulls will have three players in the opening-day starting lineup–Rodman, Jordan and Longley–who weren’t originally starters last year.
“Just that fact alone changes the chemistry of our ballclub,” Jackson said. “The style we play, that’s up to the individuals who are on the floor.”
One of the players on the floor will be Harper. When the Bulls signed him to a five-year, $19 million contract to take Jordan’s place last year, he had a career 19-points-per-game scoring average in eight seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers. But Harper averaged just 6.9 points and 19.9 minutes for the Bulls, at times looking awkward and lost on the court.
There were questions about Harper’s ailing knee, which caused him to miss 88 games over two seasons in 1990 and 1991. But Harper says he’s healthy. With Jordan back and part of a three-guard offense that includes Pippen and Harper, Harper’s role will be limited.
“I may have an occasional 20-point game, but I know I’m not going to get 17 shots a game,” he said. “I know that every shot I get is going to count. I’m going to have to go four of five or five of eight. I know that I’m not going to have a chance to shoot 17 times a game. That’s fine with me.”
Jordan, the Bulls’ all-time leading scorer with 21,998 points, looked good during the preseason and appears ready to challenge for another scoring title. His career scoring average of 32.2 points per game is highest in NBA history.
“I expect by the end of the season, if he is not the MVP, he is going to be among the top three or four guys in the league,” Jackson said.
There already are signs that this season’s experiment will work. Pippen has benefited the most from Jordan’s return and the addition of Rodman. He was consistently strong during the preseason while running the Bulls offense. He’s content to spend the season in Jordan’s shadow after being pushed into a leadership role with Jordan’s surprise retirement in 1993.
Kukoc, who started 55 games and averaged 15.7 points last season, has given the team the spark it lacked off the bench last year. Rookie Jason Caffey from Alabama was the surprise of the preseason. He played so well Jackson has pondered using the 6-8 forward as Rodman’s main backup. Caffey can also play the post.
With all those ingredients, the Bulls should be in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference race.
Jackson has experience at blending personalities. During the 1990-1991 season, he guided a distinct group of individuals to the first of three NBA titles. There was the superstar, Jordan. There was Pippen, who had to grow up and help Jordan. There was the ultra-sensitive Horace Grant. There was the fatherly Bill Cartwright. And there was the ultimate role player, John Paxson.
“It’s a little bit different, though, because you don’t have those players like Bill Cartwright and John Paxson who were role players,” Pippen said. “Now you have guys who are more established players in the league. Guys with bigger egos.”
But Pippen thinks Jackson can handle it.
“He’s got experience with it,” Pippen said. “He’s been able to put a championship team together in the past, so I don’t really see it as being any different than any other teams that he’s had to work with, except for the egos. We realize what we have as a team and what our strengths are, and if everybody is willing to sacrifice and do what it takes, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
Things have worked out so far.
“It’s a great bunch of guys, and everybody has been playing hard and works hard,” Kerr said. “Obviously, everyone is going to talk about Dennis being different, but there are other guys on this team who are different and may not hang out all the time. But we play together, and that’s the important thing.”
Jordan thinks Jackson views this team as more of a challenge to work with, even more so than the championship teams or the Jordanless teams of the past two seasons.
“The players and the personalities on this team are a little bit more diverse than the teams that won the championships,” Jordan said. “When Phil took Rodman on, he knew it was going to be a challenge for him and he looked at it as a challenge. It’s not something he didn’t think he could conquer.”
