Chapter 42: The Phil Jackson era

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN INDEX

Last chapter: Pistons, round 2

A change at the helm

Although Michael Jordan and the Bulls did not reach their goal of an NBA championship, the season could be considered a success. The Bulls reached the Eastern conference finals for the first time with Michael Jordan, and defeated their highly favored opponents the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks. The Bulls were eventually eliminated from the playoffs by the Detroit Pistons, but had proven their ability to go toe-to-toe with the NBA champions by pushing the series to 6 games.

The Bulls had plenty to feel good about for the next season. They had a popular coach in Doug Collins, an up and coming batch of young players (Pippen, Grant), and the best player in the game in Michael Jordan. And due to good moves by management, the Bulls also had three first round picks in the upcoming draft. Which is why it came as a shock to everyone when managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf fired coach Collins and replaced him with assistant coach Phil Jackson.

The rumor at the time was that Michael Jordan had initiated the firing, which was not true. The owners told Jordan of the move beforehand, but Jordan was unsure about it due to the strong season the Bulls just had. However, both Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause believed that the team had peaked under Collins and a new coach was needed to bring the team to the next level. Michael was also uncertain about the choice of Phil Jackson, since Jackson had told Michael on several occasions that he was scoring too much.

The former Knick

Phil Jackson first joined the NBA in 1967 as a player for the New York Knicks. Although not a great offensive threat, he used his intelligence and hard work to become an integral part of the team. Jackson missed the 1970 championship season due to a spinal surgery but helped the Knicks to a championship title in 1973 as a top reserve. In 1978 he joined the New Jersey Nets and retired from playing in 1980.

It was interesting to note that Phil Jackson tied for the league lead in personal fouls in the 1974-75 season with 330, which helps to explain his focus on defense as a coach. He also had the nickname of “Head ‘n’ Shoulders” due to his pointy shoulders and herky jerky movements.

Coaching career

Following Jackson’s retirement as a player, he became a coach in lower level professional leagues. He had a few coaching stints in the CBA (continental basketball association) and the BSN in Puerto Rico. He had his first coaching championship in 1984 with the Albany Patroons, which also earned him the CBA coach of the year honors. His coaching successes gave him an opportunity at a position in the NBA.

Back to the NBA

Phil Jackson finally reentered the NBA and joined the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach in 1987. He worked along with fellow assistant coach and creator of the triangle offense Tex Winter. Jackson quickly became a devotee to the triangle offense and began teaching it with Winter to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

In addition to the triangle offense, Phil Jackson became known for a unique coaching style heavily influenced by Eastern philosophies. Jackson considers Robert Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as one of the major guiding forces in his life and would often hold meditation sessions with his players, earning him the nickname “Zen Master”.

Becoming head coach

Phil Jackson learned a great deal while working under the fiery Doug Collins. However, there always seemed to be a fair amount of tension between the two coaches.

On Dec 17th, 1988, Doug Collins was ejected early in a game against the Bucks. Phil took over as coach and put more focus on defense while leaving the offense alone. The players responded well to the changes and finished the game with a big win. Horace Grant said later in an interview “It was like we were let out of a cage. We won the game because we were so relaxed — and we knew that Phil should become a head coach.” Phil Jackson had his first taste of being a head coach, and he liked it.

Collins became worried that the Bulls were grooming Jackson to replace him, and he was right. The move to replace Collins did come as a surprise to most people, but it had been in the works behind the scenes.

The first win

Just like with Doug Collins, Michael Jordan wanted Phil Jackson to win his first ever game as head coach. The Bulls were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team Jordan had eliminated from the playoffs the previous season with “The Shot”. Jordan came out firing and scored 54 points in a thrilling overtime win, and made sure that every Bulls coach he played for won their first game.

Getting that first win definitely helped Jackson’s confidence. But the big question on everyone’s mind was if Jackson can really take the Bulls to the next level. However the season turned out, this was the beginning of an entirely new chapter in Michael Jordan’s career.

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN INDEX

Chapter 41: Pistons, round 2

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN INDEX

Last chapter: MJ rolls over the Knicks

The Rivalry

The Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls had one of the best rivalries in all of basketball in the late 80′s. Here is a little background on that rivalry.

The “Jordan Rules”

During Michael Jordan’s first playoff meeting with the Pistons in the 1987-88 season, the Pistons used a set of “Jordan Rules” to shut down the Chicago Bulls which relied mostly on Michael for its offense. Jordan was held to under 30 points per game for the series, which the Pistons won 4-1.

The series

The Detroit Pistons were the heavy favorite in this series. They had won 63 games that season, 16 more than the Bulls. However, now that Michael Jordan was playing as a point guard, he was in a good position to get his teammates more involved in the offense. It had worked against Cleveland and New York in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but would it work against the Detroit Pistons?

Shortly before game 1, Jordan predicted a victory in Detroit. He went out and scored 32 points and delivered on his promise with a 94-88 win. The Pistons fought back and won game 2 100-91, evening the series before heading to Chicago.

Michael’s best performance of the series came in game 3 where he scored 46 points. The Bulls were behind by 14 with 8 minutes remaining, but with Jordan leading the rally the Bulls battled back and won the game 99-97 on a clutch game winner by Jordan over Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman.

You can watch the entire game here.

The Bulls were now up 2-1 with one more game left in Chicago. However, the “Jordan Rules” proved effective once again as Jordan was held to 5-15 shooting and 23 points in game 4 and 4-8 shooting and 8 points in game 5, both Detroit victories.

Game 6 was in Chicago and the Bulls were looking to tie the series. Unfortunately Scottie Pippen took an elbow to the head from Bill Laimbeer and had to be sent to the hospital. Missing their all-star forward, the Bulls battled to within 2 points in the fourth quarter. But the Pistons and Isiah Thomas proved to be too strong and pulled away in the final minutes, winning the game 103-94. Jordan scored 32 points and had 13 assists in that game.

The Pistons once again eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs, and would go on to win their first NBA championship. Losing to the eventual champions was little consolation for Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Jordan had still not found a solution for defeating the Pistons, and that would become his focus for the next two years.

Next chapter: The Phil Jackson era

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN INDEX

Chapter 40: MJ rolls over the Knicks

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN INDEX

Last chapter: Game 5 and “The Shot”

Meet the Knicks

This was the first meeting of Michael Jordan’s Bulls and the New York Knicks in the playoffs. Jordan, always one to play well under the spotlight, was looking to put on a show in the legendary Madison Square Garden.

Game 1

The Knicks came into the Eastern conference semifinals with a full head of steam. They had swept the 76′ers in the first round of the playoffs and held home court advantage against the Bulls. The Bulls on the other hand, had just played an exhausting five game series against Cleveland and only had one day of rest. How the two teams would play in game 1 would determine the tone for the rest of the series.

The Bulls did come out a little sluggish in game 1 and was behind by eight points late in the fourth quarter. But with Michael Jordan on the court, no lead was safe. Jordan, who had been rather quiet till this point, stepped up his game and tied the score. Mark Jackson had the ball for the last shot and forced up a long 3 which missed, allowing the game to go into overtime. In overtime, the Bulls again dominated and finished off the Knicks with a final score of 120-109. Michael finished with a triple double of 34 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds.

The Bulls stole home court advantage and were now in the driver’s seat.

Game 2

The Knicks bounced back in game 2 and kept Michael Jordan to his lowest scoring game of the season. Jordan scored only scored 15 points as the Knicks blew out the Bulls 114-97. The series was even at 1-1 as both teams headed to Chicago.

Game 3

The Bulls were re-energized as they played in front of the hometown crowd in game 3. Jordan led a run and gun game and looked unstoppable on his way to 40 points and a 111-88 victory over the Knicks. He barely missed a triple double by 1 assist.

Game 4

Jordan suffered a groin strain in game 3 and was resting at home when he heard New York Knicks coach Rick Pitino remark that Jordan might have been faking the injury. That small remark was enough to motivate Jordan to his best performance of the series in game 4. Jordan scored 47 points in another convincing win over the Knicks.

Game 5

The Knicks, facing elimination, had their best scoring game of the series and beat the Bulls 121-114.

Game 6

In a classic finish, Jordan scored 8 out of the last 10 points for the Bulls as the Bulls pulled off a close win 113-111.

Pistons, again

For the first time in his career, Michael Jordan led the Bulls into the Easter conference finals. But awaiting them were their long time rivals the Detroit Pistons, who had eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs the year before. The Pistons had created the “Jordan Rules” to shutdown Michael, which proved fairly successful at limiting Michael’s scoring. But now that Michael was playing as a point guard and distributing the ball, would the “Jordan Rules” still work?

Next chapter: Pistons, round 2

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN INDEX