CHICAGO - At first glance it seems to be a perfect vision of the jubilation that comes with a last-second victory. There was a near-impossible pass toward the free-throw line, followed by a great catch by a rookie forward, who spun and jumped in the same motion, making a fallaway jumper from the top of the key to win it. It doesn't get much more dramatic - or difficult - than that. There's no surprise the Bulls were ecstatic following Toni Kukoc's dramatic shot.
But something seemed wrong - why did Bulls coach Phil Jackson actually look upset, almost angry, as he walked off the court? And come to think of it, why wasn't Scottie Pippen, the Bulls' undisputed best player, not on the court for that final shot? Seems weird that the game was trusted to Kukoc, a rookie who had scored all of 6 points before that shot, while Pippen had scored 25. What was going on there?
Then the story came out - Jackson had drawn up the final play for Kukoc to take the shot, with Pippen inbounding. Pippen didn't like that, thinking he should be the one shooting, so he refused to leave the bench for the final shot.
If you look at it from Pippen's point of view, it makes sense. After years of playing second banana to Michael Jordan, the Bulls were finally Pippen's team, and he took advantage, leading the team both on the court and in the locker room all season long. He took his leadership role seriously. So when Jackson told him that the Bulls' biggest shot of the season to that point - the shot that would prevent them from going down 3-0 in the series - was going to somebody else, Pippen got upset. He wanted that shot.
Where Pippen got in trouble was when he refused to enter the game. If he wanted the ball, he could have spoken up, even not letting Jackson continue until he got his way. Or, failing all that, he could have run the play as designed, then taken his issues up with Jackson after the game. But instead he sulked, and he sat on the bench while a rookie took the biggest shot of his life, and he was forever branded as a guy who quit and who couldn't be a team leader.
It's unfair to remember Pippen for this play. He was a truly great player his entire career, and while he was often overshadowed by Michael Jordan, nobody ignored Pippen's all-around brilliance. In fact, many people put Pippen among the top 5 defensive players of all time. And Jordan would never have won six titles without Pippen.
But unfortunately, people remember the time Pippen wouldn't enter a game because the play wasn't called for him. Then they see that the Bulls lost that series and draw the conclusion that Pippen couldn't lead a team by himself. Fair or unfair, that's the perception.
Pippen, and all the Bulls, should have been able to enjoy this shot by Kukoc. Instead, they had fences to mend and alpha-dog issues to deal with. They could have won a title even without Jordan that year, but after this moment, that dream seemed impossible.
Showing posts with label Scottie Pippen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scottie Pippen. Show all posts
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
April 21, 1996: 72
LANDOVER, Md. - There was no reason for the Bulls to give their best effort in this game. They had already set the NBA single-season win record and had reached the milestone 70-win mark. They were playing on the road, so they didn't have a home crowd to fire them up. The playoffs were starting in a few days, and that's when the games really started to matter.
Perhaps its a microcosm of their remarkable season that Chicago sent four of its five starters out at the start of the regular-season finale against Washington. Led by their hyper-competetive leader Michael Jordan, the Bulls never let off the throttle, never took any opponent lightly, never took a day off.
The Bulls' 103-93 victory was not very remarkable in itself, just one of 72 they had that season. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Toni Kukoc all started, but nobody played more than 30 minutes. But even in limited playing time, their dominance showed. Jordan scored 26 points in 24 minutes, Pippen scored 20 in 30 minutes, and Rodman grabbed 11 rebounds in 24 minutes. But the Bulls showed how dominant they could be, easily beating the Bullets even though their stars played barely half the game.
In retrospect, it's easy to see the formula the Bulls' roster used to make a record-breaking season. Offensively, few in the game have ever been as dynamic as Jordan, and Pippen was a legitimate star who fit perfectly as a second banana. Kukoc, Steve Kerr, and Ron Harper provided just enough outside scoring to keep teams honest with Jordan and Pippen. Defensively, though, is where they excelled. Jordan deservedly made nine all-defensive teams, but Pippen might have been the best defender in the league that year. The addition of Rodman gave them outstanding low-post defense and a historically efficient rebounder.
Add it all up, and you had a team that went 72-10, an .878 winning percentage. They won at almost the same clip in the playoffs, going 15-3 to cruise to their first of three straight titles.
HONORABLE MENTION
April 21, 1951: TORONTO - Bill Barilko of the Maple Leafs scored at 2:53 of overtime in game 5 to give the Leafs their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. Every game of the final series against the Canadiens went to overtime. The goal was Barilko's last in the NHL, as he disappeared during a fishing trip that summer, with the wreckage from the plane being discovered 11 years later.
Perhaps its a microcosm of their remarkable season that Chicago sent four of its five starters out at the start of the regular-season finale against Washington. Led by their hyper-competetive leader Michael Jordan, the Bulls never let off the throttle, never took any opponent lightly, never took a day off.
The Bulls' 103-93 victory was not very remarkable in itself, just one of 72 they had that season. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Toni Kukoc all started, but nobody played more than 30 minutes. But even in limited playing time, their dominance showed. Jordan scored 26 points in 24 minutes, Pippen scored 20 in 30 minutes, and Rodman grabbed 11 rebounds in 24 minutes. But the Bulls showed how dominant they could be, easily beating the Bullets even though their stars played barely half the game.
In retrospect, it's easy to see the formula the Bulls' roster used to make a record-breaking season. Offensively, few in the game have ever been as dynamic as Jordan, and Pippen was a legitimate star who fit perfectly as a second banana. Kukoc, Steve Kerr, and Ron Harper provided just enough outside scoring to keep teams honest with Jordan and Pippen. Defensively, though, is where they excelled. Jordan deservedly made nine all-defensive teams, but Pippen might have been the best defender in the league that year. The addition of Rodman gave them outstanding low-post defense and a historically efficient rebounder.
Add it all up, and you had a team that went 72-10, an .878 winning percentage. They won at almost the same clip in the playoffs, going 15-3 to cruise to their first of three straight titles.
HONORABLE MENTION
April 21, 1951: TORONTO - Bill Barilko of the Maple Leafs scored at 2:53 of overtime in game 5 to give the Leafs their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. Every game of the final series against the Canadiens went to overtime. The goal was Barilko's last in the NHL, as he disappeared during a fishing trip that summer, with the wreckage from the plane being discovered 11 years later.
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