A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, or in the case of the Bulls’ self-proclaimed drive for five, a clumsy lurch.
The direction is, at least and apparently, forward. There is only the final score to indicate that: Chicago 98, Washington 86, although those numbers could be missed shots.
They also could be excuses, but then it would have been the other way around.
This one was ugly. Gheorghe Muresan’s passport picture cannot be as ugly as this one.
“It may be ugly, it may be beautiful,” Michael Jordan said. “Doesn’t matter. No one in that locker room wants to give it back.”
Oh, sure, the Bulls won, will win Sunday and probably will sweep this whiny bunch from Washington, a team that might play better if it took its thumb out of its mouth.
“We had no control over the handicap we had,” Washington coach Bernie Bickerstaff said.
Meaning what?
“You know what’s going on,” Bickerstaff said. “I’m not going to insult your intelligence.”
Our intelligence tells us that he is blaming the game officials, never mind that more fouls were called on Chicago than on the Bullets and Dennis Rodman was tossed out of the game, which may be more from habit than merit.
“Dennis hadn’t seen refs for a while, they hadn’t seen him,” Jordan reasoned. “He has to learn again how tight his reins are.”
Not to defend Rodman, classless as he is usually, smugly strutting off the court, sarcastically applauding the officials, tossing his game shirt in the stands, but Juwan Howard and Chris Webber could give Rodman lessons in sniveling.
Each foul called on them was taken as a personal insult. Howard reacted as if his gums were being scraped, Webber like someone had just run over his cat.
Between them, the two were decidedly un-fabulous. Paine Webber and Moe Howard could have done better.
“I feel I had a bad game,” Webber said, grasping the obvious with more conviction than the basketball.
“Chris didn’t have a chance to play,” Bickerstaff said. “And Juwan was in foul trouble early.”
Why not blame it on Hale-Bopp? Or Bill Clinton.
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“President Clinton is the reason they lost the last time,” Bickerstaff said.
This was a reference to Phil Jackson’s rather ungracious contention that the one Washington victory over the Bulls this season was because the Bulls had visited the White House on game day and thought they were still in the Lincoln bedroom.
“Herky-jerky,” Jackson said, describing the flow of the game and not, though he could have been, the return of Toni Kukoc and Rodman, Kukoc as herky as he has ever been and Rodman familiarly jerky.
After 13 games off with injury, Rodman has the movement of a lamppost, except when strutting out of the arena, ejected and martyred. Otherwise Rodman is most useful as a hazard. The trick is to make it less to himself and more to the opponents.
Kukoc has the touch of a backhoe. In other words, he seems in typical playoff form.
“Dennis gave us good defense and energy,” Jackson said, “until he ran afoul of the refs in more ways than one. Toni didn’t look sharp, but other parts of his game were good for us.”
Like inbounding that ball to Washington?
When the Bulls have to explain away winning, things are not as they should be. But let’s not get confused here. Washington’s job is to be a nice little lab rat and let the Bulls test themselves for greater glory later.
When the Bulls play awful, the Bullets must play more awful. Nice job, Bullets.
“They didn’t get our best shot and we didn’t get theirs so this ought to be a hell of a series,” Bickerstaff said.
Brief, anyhow.