A lot has changed since Dennis Rodman last came to town.
When the Bulls last faced the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center last Jan. 15, Rodman kicked courtside cameraman Eugene Amos.
The NBA subsequently suspended Rodman for 11 games and he was fined $25,000. Amos threatened to file battery charges but Rodman eventually settled the matter out of court, paying Amos $200,000.
Amos wasn’t on hand Tuesday night. Last fall he left the video company he had worked for.
Rodman, meanwhile, has been making news around the league because he has been behaving himself–Rodman has just five technical fouls this season.
“Like I said, `Whatever goes around comes around,’ ” Rodman said. “I hadn’t really thought about (the kicking incident) it until somebody brought it up to me a little while ago.”
The flu bug: Luc Longley rejoined the team after missing Monday night’s game with the same flu bug which has hit assisant coach Tex Winter, Jud Buechler and Randy Brown. Neither Buechler nor Brown saw action against the Timberwolves.
“It was like a stomach flu,” Longley said. “It went through my system real fast. Buechler had it but he had it on an off day.” Longley didn’t seem to feel the after-effects. He scored eight first-quarter points against his former team and ended up with 16.
The Bulls could have used Brown against Minnesota’s Stephon Marbury, who had 23 points and eight assists.
“With Randy not in there, that put a lot of pressure on Steve (Kerr) and Ron (Harper),” Jordan said. “Randy gives us some quickness and his defensive presence certainly could have given us some help on Marbury. Marbury did a good job penentrating and that really hurt us when he could get inside and create the way he creates.”
Missin’ Pippen: Tuesday night’s game also showed how much the Bulls miss Scottie Pippen, who normally guards Kevin Garnett. Garnett scored the Timberwolves’ first eight points of the third quarter to spark a comeback. Toni Kukoc was a step too slow to guard him.
“It’s tough,” Jordan said. “Garnett’s a tough offensive player and he’s going to target Toni as much as he can on the offensive end. Scottie certainly could have given him a different look.”
Strange play: The Bulls trailed 97-93 with 7.6 seconds left when Jordan was fouled by Minnesota’s Terry Porter on an inbounds pass. The referees didn’t know whether to give Jordan a foul shot and then give the Bulls possession. They eventually ended up letting Jordan shoot a pair of free throws. Jordan hit them both to pull the Bulls within 97-95. They got no closer. Even Jordan was confused.
“The first suggestion was we get one free throw and then the ball on the side,” he said. “Then they said the ball was in play. I didn’t think the ball was in play until it touches someone. There was a lot of confusion going on.”
Strange bedfellows: The referees appear to be in Rodman’s corner. Rodman said ref Tommy Nunez was complimentary during the Bulls’ victory over the Mavericks Monday.
“I was surprised that (Nunez) came up and said, `We’re proud that you’re not out here trying to make us look bad,’ ” said Rodman, who has just five technical fouls this season. “And then (the referees) kept saying, `Way to hit your free throws.’ Maybe the referees are giving me more cushion now than they gave me before.”
