When the NBA Finals open Wednesday at the Delta Center and the Bulls must contend with Jazz star Karl Malone, it’s expected that Dennis Rodman will be back in the starting lineup and Toni Kukoc will again be coming off the bench.
But coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday he’s not so sure.
“Most of the time, Luc Longley starts on (Malone) and until Luc gets in foul trouble, we save Dennis that problem,” Jackson said.
“The key to this series, Malone’s going to draw fouls, especially here in Utah. And we’re going to need two defenders and maybe three against a Karl Malone. Luc’s going to have to take the brunt of that for awhile and maybe save Dennis the early foul problems that would eliminate him from the game.”
Before Jackson decides, he will discuss it with his assistant coaches and possibly even Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Among their considerations are the feelings of Rodman, who is used to starting, and Kukoc, who hates coming off the bench.
“To some degree we do that,” said Frank Hamblen, one of Jackson’s assistants. “But . . . I would hope the guys are professional enough to put all that stuff behind them. We know Toni plays better when he starts, or feels he does. But we also need him off the bench against teams when they have potent benches (as Utah does).”
“I think both of them have a little bit of their ego attached to starting,” Jackson said. “Be that as it may, I want the best effort out of both of them.”
Touchy, touchy: At first, Kukoc said he wasn’t taking questions.
Just one question.
“What?” Kukoc said.
Do you know if you’re going to start?
“I have no idea,” he snapped as he walked away. “I knew you were going to ask me that. It’s the toughest question of all, and you come with that one. I’ve told you so many times that’s a question for the coach. I have no idea.”
Are you worried about Kukoc’s mood if he doesn’t start, Jackson was later asked.
“With Toni, it’s a confidence factor,” he said. “As a shooter, it’s great if a shooter can hit his first shot, and not feel like his hands are cold or that he’s stiff.”
Malone reaction: For Malone, it was about as close to trash talking as he gets.
While not guaranteeing that the Jazz will beat the Bulls, Malone said that he plans to lounge by his swimming pool for three days enjoying a championship.
“Didn’t he say that last year?” Pippen asked. “I guess he has to have confidence. You don’t want to go into this series thinking that you’re not going to win, so I can’t blame him for saying that.”
Jackson said Malone shouldn’t make plans just yet.
“Like Seattle, (Utah has) won a lot of games in the 1990s,” he said. “I’m sure they have dreamed about winning. But whether they’re capable of doing it is yet to be determined.”
Crowded: The Bulls are familiar with the Delta Center crowd, probably the league’s loudest. They complained about the noise–including a motorcycle-riding mascot and fireworks–after losing Games 3 and 4 here last June.
“It can’t be any louder than it was last season or as loud as previous arenas we’ve been in,” Pippen said. “We just have to go out and play and take their crowd out of the game.”
Cha-ching: Fortune magazine is reporting that Michael Jordan’s impact on the economy translates to $10 billion. Through his various endorsements and appeal, it states, Jordan has helped increase television ratings and attendance for teams as well as sales of NBA merchandise.
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Jordan is both amused by and skeptical of the article.
“It’s all speculation. I think that is the first thing stated in the report–estimation,” he said. “No one really knows and no one can really verify those numbers. I’ve always looked at it as enjoying the game of basketball, knowing there is a business surrounding the game I play. But I never knew there was that much business surrounding the way I approach the game. In some ways, it’s a privilege. But it’s (also) a burden. I’m not believing what I’m hearing.”
Look out below: Pippen is shooting just 42 percent for the playoffs and struggled throughout the Indiana series, managing 39 percent. In that series, he took on all defensive challenges, mostly swarming point guard Mark Jackson.
“The defense did wear me down,” Pippen said. “I was fatigued in a lot of the games, but I had to continue to do what I was doing defensively.”
A certain change: When Rodman wasn’t playing in Eastern Conference finals games at the United Center, he was exercising back in the locker room.
That will not happen again, Jackson said.
“I just think the drama of Dennis going to the locker room and riding a bicycle and not being part of the team the first seven, eight minutes of the ballgame, it looked rebellious, it looked obnoxious,” Jackson said.
“I will ask him not to do that when we go back to the United Center. I’d rather have him bring the bicycle out to the bench at least and have him close.”