The Last Dance – Episode 4
The Last Dance Episode 4
After episode 3, in which we learned about Dennis Rodman and the Bulls ascension to the top of the East, we learn more about the Pistons vs Bulls rivalry. We learn about the life of Phil Jackson, and how he replaced Doug Collins in Chicago.
Episode 4
After Rodman said that he wanted a vacation at the end if episode 3, he left for Las Vegas to let loose. The Bulls had given Rodman 48 hours, and he went way overboard. Rodman was well late for the 48 hour time, and the Bulls had to get Rodman out of bed to get him back to practice.
We learn about Phil Jackson’s ability to get the team together as one using Native American philosophies and Zen Buddhism philosophies, trying to bring the team together. We take a trip back to Great Falls, Montana, where we explore Phil’s past. As a kid growing up, Phil was different from the other kids. Sometimes Native Americans would stay with Phil’s family, and he was sort of friends with them, even though people treated him differently for it. His father was a pastor, and his mother was a minister. Instead of praying like his parents wanted, Jackson took an interest in sports, mostly basketball.
He played college basketball at the University of North Dakota. He was drafted by the Knicks, and was successful with them. They won 2 championships. Phil was like Dennis Rodman in the sense that he was different than most other people in the NBA, and he liked to try things. Red Holzman, the coach of the Knicks, suggested that Jackson go into coaching, particularly in Puerto Rico. After playing in the wild leagues in the South America involving chicken blood, rocks and fires, and people shooting officials, Jackson went to the CBA with the Albany Patroons. They won a championship there in 1984.
Jackson went to interview for an assistant coaching job with the Bulls under Stan Albeck. But, Phil did not dress well, and he was not given the job. But, Krause wanted Jackson as an assistant. So, the next time Jackson interviewed for the job, this time under Doug Collins, Krause told Jackson what to wear, and he got the job. So, Jackson was an assistant under Doug Collins for the Bulls.
Along with Jackson, Tex Winter was the other assistant for the Bulls. Krause’s plan was that Winter would be a mentor and Collins would follow his ideas and gameplans. Tex Winter is the basketball genius who invented the triangle offense, the most complex and perhaps the greatest basketball offense of all time. Jerry Krause wanted to see this offense put to work with the Bulls, but Collins would not have it. Collins was constantly giving the ball of Michael, but teams like the Pistons had built defenses around him. Collins and Winter had their problems over the offense.
So, Krause made Jackson and Winter work together. So, Jackson learned the triangle. So, just after the Bulls had made it to the Eastern Conference Finals under Doug Collins, the Bulls fired him. And Jackson replaced him. So now, the Bulls offense completely changed. It went from Jordan to the team on offense.
Jordan said that we was not a Jackson fan at the start because Jackson wanted to put the ball out of my hands, instead of in my hands like Doug Collins. Jordan wanted the ball in his hands to win the game, not somebody else. He did not believe in equal-opportunity. Tex Winter said, “There is no I in team.” Jordan responded with, “There’s an I in win.”
Michael eventually accepted the offense, even if it came at the expense of his scoring numbers. Scottie Pippen greatly benefited from the new offense, and he now become a lethal #2 option for Jordan on offense. Pippen made the All-Star team the 1st season that the offense changed. After a year of adjusting, going into the 1990 NBA Playoffs, the Bulls were confident they could escape the Eastern Conference, and finally beat the Detroit Pistons. After a great series, it was Game 7 back at the Palace. The winner would advance to the NBA Finals.
The Scottie Migraine Game
When Pippen woke up and had breakfast, he had a headache. He said he wanted to throw up. He said that while warming up, he could not see. As the game was starting, Pippen said that he could not focus, and that everything was blurry. He was seeing double, black. The Bulls struggled without a healthy Pippen, and they lost the game and the series. Jordan was devastated by the loss, and Bulls had lost again to their rivals. The Pistons won the Finals for the 2nd straight year.
Instead of going on vacation and getting away from basketball, the team went straight back to work, getting stronger. Jordan in particular made it his goal to put on some muscle and get stronger for the Pistons.
“I was getting brutally beaten up. And I wanted to administer pain. You know, I wanted to start, you know, fighting back,” said Jordan about the weight training.
After the Bulls and Jordan started training, they were determined to be the better team the next season. The pain of losing to those Pistons years after year, that fueled them to work even harder.
Jordan became obsessed with perfection from his teammates. He would get mad at them if they fell short of that mark, said both Pippen and Horace Grant. Jordan was especially hard on Pippen, and they started to form the iconic duo that we know today.
“The thing about Pip, you know, if you stand next to him, you make him stronger. All the Detroit times, when Rodman wanted to pick on him, he needed someone there to stand there and say “hey look I’ll fight with you,” just fight. Scottie and I bonded, you know, because he felt like, okay, he has someone that he can count on. And I’m looking at it like I have somebody who I can actually count on. And then Horace came right behind that,” said Jordan.
In 1991, the Bulls were determined, after the all times they had lost to the Pistons, all the pain and the hurt that they had dealt with, they were ready to finally beat them. The Bulls swept the Pistons in the Conference Finals. But, just before Game 4 ended, the Pistons left the bench with 7.9 seconds left, without shaking the Bulls hand. Jordan has not forgiven Isiah Thomas for the incident. It was viewed as petty and that the Pistons were sore losers. Jordan had shook hands with the Pistons in each of the last two seasons that they had beaten him. Jordan said, “There was a certain respect to the game that we pain them. That’s sportsmanship, no matter how much it hurts.”
But, the Bulls did not care at that moment in time because they had established themselves as the best team in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls players were celebrating like they had won the NBA championship. Now, they were in the Finals for the first time in franchise history. They would be facing Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers.
Jordan guarded Michael in Game 1. The Bulls were nervous and they lost the game 93-91 after Sam Perkins hit a 3 to win the game. “The Bulls lose Game 1, and everybody, including me, says that the Lakers are going to win this thing,” said David Aldridge.
In Game 2, Jordan went off, and he brought us one of the most iconic Finals moments of all time, when he glided in mid-air and he switched hands and he flipped it up and in. In Game 2, Pippen was guarding Johnson instead of Jordan. And he pressured Magic all night. He even picked him up from the back-court, and he never let him get into a rhythm. The Bulls won 107-86, and they had tied the series 1-1.
The Bulls never looked back. They won Game 3 106-94 in OT, leading the series 2-1. The Bulls won 97-82 in Game 4, making it a 3-1 series. Now, being just one game away from their first championship in franchise history, Game 5 would be LA. The game was tough on both teams as it went back and forth. Going into the 4th quarter, the game is tied 80-80.
During a timeout, Phil asked Michael who was open. MJ said Paxson. Jackson said, so get him the ball. This was the triangle offense. Giving everybody an opportunity instead of forcing a bad shot. Michael had to find the right shot. And he gave it to Paxson. Paxson hit shot after shot from Michael. The Bulls won the game 108-101 because Jordan trusted his teammates.
Jordan and his teammates celebrated their first championship, they were amazed what emotions that Michael was showing. They were used to him being mad, screaming and yelling. But, yet here he was, crying tears of joy as he had finally started to join the ranks to Magic and Bird and Isiah as winners.
Flash forward back to January of 1998, and the Bulls are playing the Jazz in Utah. It was widely believed that the two would mean again in the 1998 NBA Finals after there 1st meeting in 1997 in which the Bulls won.
But, before the game, Jerry Krause made it clear once again that Phil Jackson would not be back next season. He also said that the Bulls would love Michael to be back, but Phil would bot be the coach. Jordan had said that we would not play for another coach other than Jackson. The Bulls said that if Michael chooses to leave, then that is his decision.
Not a very smart thing to say just before a game, but he said it anyway. The Bulls jumped on the Jazz early, leading 47-24 with 5:26 left in the 2nd quarter. But, the Jazz roared back and they won 101-93. At the All-Star Break, the Bulls were 34-15. But, with the loss to the Jazz, and the comments made by Jerry Krause, people started to speculate if this really was the end, the Last Dance.
What was your favorite part of this episode, and what were you most surprised about? Leave all of your comments down below.
Follow my Instagram: @hoopnotions
