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Bulls have to solve Utah's pick and roll
Posted: Thursday June 04, 1998 12:24 PM
SAN ANTONIO (CNN/SI) -- In every playoff series, no matter what level --
first round or finals -- the first game is always a huge game. It’s maybe
the best chance the visiting team has to try to steal one.
The Chicago Bulls had
their opportunity Wednesday night in Salt Lake City to snatch a Game 1 win
-- and the homecourt advantage -- from the Utah Jazz in the
best-of-seven NBA Finals. It didn’t happen.
And now the fun really begins.
Lots of people talk about setting a tone in the first game. The fact is,
Game 1 is just a battle in a number of battles you have to win. You don’t
care how you win, or by how many points. You just care that you win.
The thing that changes during the series are your defensive coverages. And
that’s where the Bulls figure to make their adjustments for the rest of the
series.
The Bulls generally have very good success defending the pick and roll.
They love to jump on the high side of the ball and force the ball to the
sideline or the baseline, shutting off the middle of the floor.
But the Jazz run the pick and roll like no one else. Wednesday night, they
ripped the Bulls’ pick-and-roll defense apart.
The key to Utah’s success in Game 1 was the Jazz went back to the pick and
roll even when it didn’t work the first time. The Jazz were very patient.
When they didn’t like it, they came back and ran it again.
Malone and the Jazz aren't worried about how they won Game 1, they're just glad they beat the Bulls (AP) | |
And Chicago didn’t rotate from the weakside of the floor quickly enough.
There were a couple of times late in the game when no one rotated to Karl Malone on
the pick and roll, so he just split the defense and went in for a dunk.
The rest of the Bulls’ defense, their switching, was awfully good. The
Jazz, after all, scored only 88 points -- and it took them an overtime
period to get that many. But there was some obvious confusion on defending
the pick and roll. That’ll change.
Utah probably has a pretty good idea of what adjustments the Bulls will
make. After all that time together, the Jazz can forecast what’s coming.
The bottom line is they still have to have a guy who can make those kinds
of shots. And they have to make them a lot more often than they did
Wednesday night.
Utah has to feel a huge relief after Game 1. The effects of their long
layoff showed, especially with Malone, who had a miserable shooting night
-- 9-for-25.
Malone’s shots were missing on different spots on the rim -- left, right,
long. When a guy is just tired, his shots will hit front rim. Malone’s
shots were missing all over the place. He said it himself: He just couldn’t
find his rhythm. And when you don’t play in 10 days, your rhythm is going
to be a bit off.
Still, because of John Stockton
(24 points, 8 assists), Malone could be off. Stockton hit a huge shot with
43 seconds left in overtime, a floater over Steve Kerr in the
lane, and the Jazz held on for the win.
That’s not the type of shot the Jazz want to live by. They want to stick
with what got them to where they are -- the pick and roll -- no matter what
the Bulls do.
It worked well enough Wednesday. We’ll see what happens in Game 2.
Bob Hill, a former head coach of the Indiana Pacers and the
San Antonio Spurs, is
the NBA analyst for CNNSI, the 24-hour sports news network from CNN and
Sports Illustrated. His column appears each Thursday throughout the
playoffs on CNNSI.com.
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NBA Finals
