The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 656 Nightmare
Pippen isn't someone who doesn't play hard, provided the Bulls give him a new contract.

During the regular season, when Pippen went on strike, Jerry Krause quickly drafted a new contract and presented it to Pippen.

After some struggle and deliberation, Pippen accepted the Bulls' terms and decided to sign the long-term contract to ensure his financial security.

However, even as the Finals began, the contract signing was still not finalized, with Jerry Krause citing tax reasons as the reason for delaying the signing.

Krause did this mainly because he still has hope for Toni Kukoc and really wants to bring him to the Bulls next season.

Krause is taking a gamble: he's betting that the Trail Blazers will make it to the NBA Finals, and that Kukoc's Croatian compatriot Petrovic can motivate him to come to the NBA and realize his dream.

At that time, the Bulls will have a versatile Croatian talent on the bench, as Pippen, the Bulls' sixth man on the wing, has never had a good backup.

If Kukoc were to join the Bulls, his salary would be higher than Pippen's. It's uncertain whether Pippen would still be motivated to play well for the Bulls at that point.

Krause kept stalling until the Finals, when, according to the collective bargaining agreement, it was time for him to make a decision.

Once the Finals are over, this season's salary cap will expire, and players' contracts will take effect next season. A new salary cap will be announced, at which point the Bulls will definitely be short of funds.

Klaus once again sought confirmation from the Croatian side regarding whether Toni Kukoc would come to the United States. Kukoc hesitated repeatedly, but the answer remained no; he wanted to wait a little longer.

Petrovic's success did not motivate Kukoc. On the contrary, seeing that the former Croatian prodigy could only play as a sixth man in the United States, Kukoc felt that he would only be a supporting player if he went to the Bulls, so he did not want to come for the time being.

Jerry Krause finally gave up hope, knowing that Kukoc would definitely not come to the Bulls next season. So, before the start of Game 2 of the Finals, he informed Scottie Pippen's agent, Jimmy Sexton, that he was ready to sign Pippen.

Jimmy Sexton asked Krause if the contract terms were still the same? Was it still the same amount and the same duration?
Klaus said, of course, nothing has changed, the contract can be signed, but it must be done in secret.

This is typical of Klaus's style—making it all mysterious, like he's doing some kind of underground work.

Klaus Sexton and Pippen discussed the contract in a private room at their hotel and signed it.

Sexton insisted on leaving the signing until before the third game, after returning to Chicago, at the Bulls' headquarters.

"We signed a player contract, not some unequal treaty. Why do we have to do it secretly? It should be made public, which would also boost the team's morale."

Klaus disagreed with Sexton's account, insisting on a secret signing because he didn't want reporters to ask too many questions about Pippen's contract.

"Making the details public is not good for our player recruitment and contract signing. This is my way of doing things. Let's respect each other."

With the two sides deadlocked, they eventually compromised, and Klaus agreed to return to Chicago to re-sign the contract.

Pippen and Sexton agreed not to hold a press conference, but to find a secluded corner and sign the contract privately.

At a crucial moment when the Trail Blazers and Bulls were battling it out, Jerry Krause was still preoccupied with salary cap and contract issues, causing his key player Pippen to be unable to focus on the game. This was a major mistake by the Bulls' management.

If the opponent isn't the Trail Blazers, the Bulls, with their strength, could easily beat anyone.

Pippen has performed exceptionally well in this year's playoffs, remaining consistent in crucial games and not faltering against the Pistons.

He deserved a good contract, but the Bulls were still calculating, and they kept calculating until the start of the Finals. When they couldn't wait for Kukoc anymore, they reluctantly and secretly tried to re-sign Pippen.

Pippen was obviously very unhappy, so he was somewhat resistant to the coaching staff's arrangement for him to go up against Forrest Gump.

I'm not getting paid properly, and there's no contract signed. Why should I risk my life for you?

If Forrest Gump elbows me and gives me a concussion, and the Bulls refuse to sign me to a new contract, what will I do?
Pippen is an excellent and dedicated player with outstanding abilities and impeccable performance on the court.

But people are selfish and have their own agendas. As long as the contract issue wasn't resolved, Pippen would always have a knot in his heart.

Given his professional attitude, he can play at 100% capacity, but it would be difficult for him to perform at 120% or even 150%.

Therefore, before the start of the second game, the victorious Trail Blazers decided to make some adjustments to their tactical arrangements.

Despite losing the game, the Bulls continued with their defensive setup from Game 1, only requiring Jordan to make more changes on offense.

Meanwhile, Phil Jackson demanded before the game that Buck Williams and Bill Cartwright must score at the start and hurt Forrest Gump.

The interior players must put enough pressure on the Trail Blazers, whether by drawing fouls on Forrest Gump or scoring directly, they can no longer be inactive and let Forrest Gump dominate them.

"I know it's difficult, but the Finals are difficult, beating the Trail Blazers is difficult, and we have to do it!"

On the night of the game, in the Bulls' locker room, Phil Jackson banged on the whiteboard, giving the Bulls' interior players a firm order.

Cartwright, Williams, and Grant were under immense pressure. To be honest, they had never encountered a more dominant interior player than Forrest Gump in their careers.

Excellent defensive centers like Hakeem Olajuwon, Parish, Gilmore, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are far inferior to Forrest Gump.

Forrest Gump's defensive aggression was very strong, and he put tremendous psychological pressure on his opponents—this came from the accumulation of experience during the regular season.

If a defensive player doesn't play well on defense during the regular season, lets his guard down, and allows the opponent to have some great games and relieve their psychological pressure, then it will be much more difficult to defend him in the future.

Gan Guoyang is different. He maintains dominance over all the interior players in the league, using his strong desire to win, his powerful and explosive physique, his amazing skills and superb psychological tactics to make the interior players who are matched up against him more or less suffer from "Gan Guoyang phobia".

Cartwright is a player with a severe "Gantz phobia," and his performance against Agnes Crawford has always been abysmal. Why should we believe that tonight will be an exception?
Believe it or not, Cartwright is a very important inside offensive weapon for the Bulls. He has to play, whether he wants to or not.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Jackson led his players onto the stage of Memorial Arena once again—just like two days prior, the relatively small arena was filled with deafening cheers.

Tang Jianguo arranged for beautiful cheerleaders to dance on the court tonight, and also invited a short basketball team to perform, making the atmosphere exceptionally lively.

To be honest, Jackson was unsure about tonight's game. Although he is naturally optimistic, after losing the first game, he comforted his wife, saying, "We've only lost one game, and the advantage is in our hands for the next one."

But Jackson knew that to beat the Trail Blazers, he had to beat Forrest Gump and cause him a lot of trouble on both ends of the court.

Jackson vaguely sensed the Trail Blazers' weakness—that was Forrest Gump.

That's right, Forrest Gump was the Trail Blazers' strongest point, terrifyingly strong.

But precisely because he is the strongest point, it often means that he is also the breakthrough point.

When Pat Riley was compiling "The Forrest Gump Principle," he mentioned an important principle: the principle of avoidance.

The avoidance principle requires not to challenge or provoke Forrest Gump; it's best to avoid him when attacking and prevent him from participating in the attack when defending.

These rules were widely used by coaches across the league and initially worked, but in the playoffs, they proved to be completely ineffective.

Avoidance is never the solution to the fundamental problem.

The teams tried to cut off Forrest Gump's connection with his teammates or use special double-teaming strategies, but none of them worked.

Jackson pondered deeply, and by reviewing the Suns' game against the Trail Blazers, he realized something.

Bach's suggestion makes sense; perhaps Pippen really should be allowed to attack Forrest Gump.

The Trail Blazers are strong, but they are also very dependent on Forrest Gump; they operate everything around him too much.

Jackson recalled that in Eastern philosophy, strength and weakness are relative; your strongest point may become your weakest point, your most fatal weakness.

Apart from Forrest Gump, the Trail Blazers' other players are far behind him, including Sabonis. They don't have a true second core player.

This is the Trail Blazers' problem. However, with the game about to begin, Jackson can no longer change the game strategy and can only take it one step at a time.

This is a problem caused by a lack of experience, something the Trail Blazers have more of than the Bulls' seasoned veterans.

When Forrest Gump stood at center court again and jumped for the ball with Bill Cartwright, he smiled at Cartwright and said, "Tonight, Phil Jackson will let you go first, right? I'll be waiting for you, Bill."

Judging from Bill Cartwright's expression, Gan Guoyang knew he had guessed correctly.

The Bulls' strategy of starting with their inside players to attack first, then combining inside and outside play to allow Jordan to gradually take center stage, has become a "path dependency" for the Bulls.

Although the Bulls lost the first game, it was due to their rhythm rather than their tactics. They also did a good job with the details, so Gan Guoyang bet that Jackson would not change his opening strategy.

Cartwright was under immense pressure, so much so that he was called for a violation during the jump ball because he tried to get ahead, giving possession to the Trail Blazers.

"You're too nervous; you won't be able to make your shots like that," Gan Guoyang said.

Then, on his first offensive possession, Gan Guoyang held the ball at the high post and faced Buck Williams, hitting a powerful mid-range jumper.

He demonstrated his excellent shooting touch, which put pressure on the Bulls.

As expected, the Bulls started with Cartwright and Buck Williams combining inside.

However, during the offensive, Cartwright was hit by a chair-pulling attack from Gan Guoyang. When he turned his back and pushed backward, he lost his balance and landed hard on his buttocks, resulting in a traveling violation.

Gan Guoyang's defense is characterized by feints and deceptions, maneuvering from multiple angles to drive his opponents to the brink of collapse.

Porter then hit a pull-up jumper, and Buck Williams' layup after a pick-and-roll was blocked by Agan.

During the counterattack, Porter hit another pull-up jumper, and the Trail Blazers' offense was like a whirlwind.

Jackson did not call a timeout, intending to let the Bulls players solve the problem themselves.

This time, Jordan was more patient than in the previous game. The Bulls used a triangle formation to repeatedly pass the ball, penetrate, and distribute it repeatedly.

But Jordan soon discovered that Sabonis was like a ghost, always hovering around him, blocking his path to the basket whenever he received the ball.

Jordan tried to pass the ball to Buck Williams, who did have a number of offensive opportunities, but they were limited to mid-range jump shots on the wings.

Once he tried to drive to the basket, he would be blocked by Forrest Gump. Passing to Cartwright was also not an option. Forrest Gump could defend two opponents and then turn around to block Cartwright again. Forrest Gump contributed 4 blocks in the first quarter, making the Bulls afraid to drive in.

Therefore, the Bulls' most effective scoring tactic became Buck Williams receiving the ball on the wings and making mid-range jumpers.

He did make a few shots, but that's not a long-term solution. Williams can't kill the Trail Blazers with mid-range shots.

Jackson finally realized they were in big trouble. The Bulls trailed the Trail Blazers by a whopping 9 points, 24-33 after the first quarter!
The Bulls' offense became completely disorganized, and the Trail Blazers' defense forced them to rely entirely on mid-range shots from the wings, with no long-range shots or drives to the basket.

Paxson and substitute Armstrong both had no three-point shooting touch, and the Bulls missed all three of their three-point attempts in the first quarter.

Jordan endured it for one quarter, but in the second quarter he finally couldn't take it anymore. He knew that if he continued playing like this, he would definitely lose.

So, just like in the first game, Jordan started to attack with the ball himself—of course, he didn't play like a lone wolf, but rather he took charge of the offensive organization, with the ball in his hands most of the time.

Even though Jackson emphasized during the timeout that he should still trust his teammates and the team's cooperation, Jordan's mind was made up.

In his view, the lessons learned from the first game were profound, but the Bulls players did not learn from them at all, and Pippen even disagreed with attacking Forrest Gump, the fortress.

Phil Jackson also didn't understand how to deal with Forrest Gump, or what kind of belief to have when playing against the Trail Blazers.

In order to win, he must use his personal energy to motivate the whole team, stabilize the situation with points, and only then will there be a chance to turn the game around.

The game quickly became intense, with the pace suddenly accelerating in the second quarter. The players ran around the court like madmen—because Jordan was running like a madman.

Gan Guoyang also started running. Tonight, he still dominated both ends of the court. After he delivered 4 big blocks in the first quarter, no one on the Bulls except Jordan dared to challenge the paint.

The match once again became a fierce clash between the two, with them exchanging blows and constantly tearing apart the defense on the offensive end.

But tonight, Jordan found it much more difficult to attack the basket. He was guarded by Lewis, Sabonis at midcourt, and Forrest Gump in the paint – three lines of defense.

Jordan then began taking a lot of mid-range shots. Tonight, his mid-range shot was very accurate. In a one-on-one matchup against Lewis, he used a series of crossovers followed by a sudden stop, which Lewis found difficult to defend.

However, his mid-range shooting efficiency was very low, and he couldn't cause enough damage to the paint. Gan Guoyang only committed one foul in the entire first half.

Jackson was extremely frustrated by the result; the team's plan had not been realized at all, and they were still chasing after the Trail Blazers.

It's very difficult to gain the initiative in the game and to win in this way.

In the second half, Jackson's worst fears came true—the Bulls' entire offensive system collapsed.

Because the inside players couldn't find any shooting opportunities, and the outside players were completely out of form with their long-range shots tonight, only Jordan was left to keep taking mid-range shots.

This was the worst offensive situation ever, even worse than Jordan dominating the paint alone; the Bulls' offense collapsed.

At this point, the best course of action is to revert to defense, stabilize the situation, and then gradually reorganize the offense from the beginning.

If things stabilize in the third quarter, the Bulls will still have a chance to turn things around in the fourth quarter.

However, the Bulls lacked Finals experience, and Jackson was frustrated that he couldn't convince Jordan.

During the timeout, Jordan and Jackson had a heated argument, while Pippen just watched from the sidelines.

An enraged Phil Jackson said, "Michael, you said you wouldn't regret it even if you didn't win the championship. Yes, that's right, just keep attacking without any regrets!"

Wu Zhixiong's interview with Jordan after the first game dominated the headlines of major media outlets. Even though they lost, Jordan still stole the show, and his magnanimity and composure were admirable.

But at this moment, this became Jackson's pretext to attack Jordan. Jackson had no other choice but to provoke Jordan in this way.

Jordan glared at Jackson and said, "You're taking things out of context. Just because I'm not disappointed doesn't mean I wanted to lose the game! As a coach, you need to find a solution, not blame the best player!"

Jordan and Jackson rarely argued. Jackson, a former player, was very good at handling relationships with star players.

The entire Bulls team, from Jordan to Pippen, and even minor players like Armstrong and Paxson, were all completely subdued by Jackson.

But tonight he was really desperate, seeing the situation about to collapse, a situation the Bulls had never encountered before this season.

At this point, the Bulls were unable to stabilize their position with their defense, and the Trail Blazers once again used the "Forrest Gump off-peak method" (Forrest Gump kept attacking), launching a fierce attack in the second half of the third quarter, going on an 11-1 run and widening the gap to as much as 16 points.

Jordan returned to the game in the fourth quarter and persevered, but when the Trail Blazers started to execute the Princeton offense and open up backdoor layups, it showed that the Bulls' once-proud defense was beginning to crumble.

This collapse was neither technical nor physical, but psychological.

They were completely unprepared and were overwhelmed by the Trail Blazers.

After the game, Phil Jackson said in an interview, "This game was like a nightmare for me, a terrible nightmare."

However, Phil Jackson didn't realize that their real nightmare was yet to come in this Finals.

(End of this chapter)