Re: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V5 #202

[Tom Bisson <tbisson@doe.state.vt.us>]

Let me see if I understand...

The reason some people on the list don't like Michael Jordan is because
he's too much like Dr. J? Because he's not about team basketball and
passing but rather the triangle offense? 

Is there a better implemented team concept in basketball than the
triangle which requires all the players to be involved in passing,
cutting, screening, etc. and an offense that depends on every player to
be a scoring threat? The Jazz are a great team and execute the pick and
roll very well, but when that play gets clogged up, they have two
players on the weak side wing picking their nose because they are
virtually out of the play.

I'm a Celtic fan but also a basketball fan. The Bulls are a tremendous
TEAM. They are all very unselfish (the fact that a few players score
most of the points does not contradict their unselfish team play).
Scottiie Pippen has been remarkable in the playoffs. I loved the
strategy of having him play a weak player (Ostertag, Keefe) in order to
trap and clog up passing lanes. Playing that strategy requires that
Pippen plays with high energy and extreme intelligence. Did you see how
many time he sacrificed his body for the charge?

People who think that Jordan and the Bulls don't play TEAM basketball
certainly have a far different concept of what a team is.

- tom