[外電] Present catching up to the past
By Melissa Isaacson
ESPNChicago.com
原文 http://tinyurl.com/47x23az
Present catching up to the past
The frenzy inspired by the Jordan-era Bulls isn't out of reach for this
talented group
CHICAGO -- For one night, the comparisons were not unfair, the expectations
not premature, the images neither hackneyed nor embellished.
For a moment there, you really could turn to your son or daughter or much
younger friend and say, "This is it. Right here. This is how it felt 20 years
ago. Remember this."
With the advantage of modern plumbing and smoke-free concourses, the United
Center could have been the Chicago Stadium, Saturday night. Or from 1994 on,
the very best that this place was before canned music and scoreboard
entertainment drowned out the real thing.
And these Bulls could have been those Bulls as they trounced the Utah Jazz,
118-100, in a game over almost before it began.
With the anticipation of a halftime celebration and the specter of Michael
Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the 1990-'91 NBA championship team
literally hanging over them from a mid-court suite, these Bulls did what
those Bulls used to do on their best nights.
With a mixture of lockdown defense, transition offense and deadly shooting,
they did not merely dominate a much weaker opponent but thoroughly
demoralized them, leading 17-2, 30-10 and 57-27 before the halftime
festivities picked up where they left off.
"You guys are in store for a lot of other championships," Jordan told the
crowd. "You look at this team tonight. Don't be surprised if you don't have
six more coming . . ."
They greeted him with the same deafening ovation they always did, "MVP"
chants wafting through the place in an homage to both the old days and today,
when Derrick Rose is bombarded by the chant as he pours in 17 first-quarter
points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting.
You ask the former champs for their opinions -- "How good is this team?" --
as if they have some secret insight that the rest of us are still lacking, as
if reassurance is still needed.
"I was just talking to [John Paxson] and the guys, and you guys can be the
best team in the East if you play the type of basketball you guys have been
playing," said Jordan, majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. "I don't
think it's going to take them seven years to win [the time it took Jordan to
win his first championship]. I hope not. They have a good balanced team. And
again, I think they have the MVP in the league.
"I think this kid has come into his own. He's matured quite a bit. When he
came into the league, everybody said he had speed, he could get to the rim
but he can't shoot. Now he can shoot the three as well as pull-up shots. He
has very few flaws. I'm pretty sure the next thing they're going to say is he
doesn't play defense or he can't handle a double-team. Time will tell. The
kid works hard and I think he's a great piece for this franchise to be built
but they have some other pieces that help them quite a bit."
We are not likely to overlook the other pieces, particularly on a night in
which the Bulls played without Carlos Boozer, sidelined by a sprained ankle.
Luol Deng turned in still another special performance with 26 points, seven
boards, six assists and three steals. Joakim Noah did what Joakim Noah does
on a nightly basis with 16 points and nine rebounds. And the Bulls bench,
which has quietly become one of the best in the league, showed why with Kyle
Korver and C.J. Watson combining for 33 of 41 points.
They don't stand around and watch Derrick Rose anymore. It's tough to
remember when a different group sometimes did. And like the old Bulls teams
that learned, sometimes painfully, why it didn't work to let Jordan take
over, it is a pleasure to watch.
"Their offense this year is so much better than it has ever been," said
Stacey King, a reserve in '90-'91 and now a Bulls television analyst. "Two
years under Vinny [Del Negro], it was basically pick-and-roll for Derrick and
everybody get out of the way. There were a lot of guys who could score but
they never really got the chance. Luol Deng was just standing around in the
corners and shooting jump shots. Now he's cutting to the basket, he's become
a slasher and a very, very reliable scorer in what Tom [Thibodeau's] system
is designed to do. . . .
"And just like the old triangle offense, everybody's involved, everybody
touches the ball. Even though you may not shoot it, you honestly feel like
you're part of the offense when you can get the ball in your hands and make a
decision and that's what the triangle offense was when we played."
The comparisons extend to the defense, so different now from the Doberman
days, when Horace Grant was asked to defend the point on the full-court press
and then beat the offense downcourt, and yet so very similar.
"They get after you," said King. "They challenge shots, they rotate and if
you remember our teams, that was one of the things we were very good at
because we could gamble, play passing lanes, but we were athletic enough to
recover. And when you thought you had an open shot, it was always contested.
This team is the same way. They cover so much ground."
Thibodeau pointed to the fact that teams could be more physical in '90-'91,
but that rules changes allow his defenses to zone things up, to make it more
free-flowing. But the unselfish, get-after-it component never goes out of
style. You either get that or you don't. The old Bulls did. So too do these
Bulls.
It inspires their fans now just as it always has. But it is Rose who, more
often than not, brings them to their feet just as their last MVP still does.
"I watch this kid and I haven't seen anything like that in a long time,"
Grant marveled. "From a point guard perspective, who gets you eight, nine
assists, to score like he does and as humble as he is, that's one guy I want
to meet. I don't go and meet a whole bunch of guys but this kid I want to
meet. Heck, I want a pair of shoes from him."
For one night, the magic of two eras seemed to meld together, the old guys
supportive and gracious; the new guys appreciative and respectful.
"It's unbelievable to see how 20 years later, these guys get the love they
get. Very deserving," Noah said. "When we're on the road and we get the love
we get, a lot of it is because of what they did. The Bulls are a franchise
that is recognized all over the world and it is because of those guys. To be
a part of it is something very special.
"We're trying to do something special to respect the tradition."
Melissa Isaacson is a columnist for ESPNChicago.com.
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