Without knowing whether they’d face the Detroit Pistons or Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the playoffs, the Bulls had an interesting practice Friday.
“We’re really focusing on ourselves,” coach Phil Jackson said. “Right now we’re working on what we can do better as a basketball team. A lot of that has to do with timing and rhythm and playing together as a team.”
That was a problem in the Bulls’ first-round series sweep of the Washington Bullets. It was a tough series, mostly because the Bulls were out of sync, Jackson said, working Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc back into the rotation.
Before facing the Bullets in Game 3, the Bulls hadn’t had their regular starting lineup on the floor since March 25 against the Dallas Mavericks. Rodman had missed the final 13 regular-season games with a knee injury. The bench also suffered, with Kukoc playing off and on during the last month because of a foot injury.
So Jackson put his players through an exhaustive film session Friday, focusing not on the Pistons, Hawks or Bullets but on themselves. They shot 38 percent in Game 1, 53 percent in Game 2 and 49 percent in Game 3.
“We just watched our offense,” Jackson said. “We took segments of that tape apart and just watched our offense and how we played–some of the good things and some of the things we can improve on.”
Either way is OK: Jackson insisted he had no preference for a second-round opponent. Detroit and Atlanta each beat the Bulls once during the regular season.
But Rodman and Luc Longley said they’d rather face the Pistons, thus avoiding Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo. And Longley averaged 14 points a game against the Pistons’ troika of Don Reid, Theo Ratliff and Terry Mills.
“I’d rather see Detroit because the matchups are better for us,” Longley said. “But as a team, I don’t think it matters.”
Jackson said either team could be dangerous, especially the Pistons, who beat the Bulls in Auburn Hills on April 13.
“They have to have some confidence about having that game under their belts,” he said.
“Atlanta has a strong inside game in (Christian) Laettner and Mutombo, and they’ve been difficult for us because of that.”
Rest period: The team was in limbo on Friday because it didn’t know when the next game would be. Jackson wanted to take advantage of the off time.
“Every day we think is a grace-period time in which we can get ourselves organized and playing and doing some things we have to do to be better as a basketball team,” he said.
“We know we have to be better in the next series and subsequent series if we have them.”
Ouch, ouch: Jackson said Scottie Pippen is recovering from the hard fall he took on his game-winning dunk in Game 3.
Pippen landed on his back, which has been sore off and on all season.
“Scottie’s got soreness from the bang, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong,” Jackson said.
An evening at home: Longley said he planned to take his wife out to dinner on Friday, but she insisted they stay home and watch the Pistons-Hawks game.
Said Longley: “That’s sort of the focus in my household, which, believe me, is not normal.”
