Bulls buzz: Give 'em nothing to talk about
By Kevin Jackson
ESPNET SportsZone
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The Chicago Bulls didn't look good Friday night in dropping Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the Utah Jazz 104-93. And apparently they were in no mood to stand around and talk about it.
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As the door swung open allowing the media in, Ron Harper and Toni Kukoc ducked out another door into the team's private area. Never mind that both players were half-dressed as they scrambled for cover.
That left Kerr, Chicago's reserve guard who often plays the role of team spokesman, alone to meet the media horde of more than 50.
They wanted to know how a Bulls team that looked so good in shutting down the Jazz in Game 2 had gone into a deep freeze of its own two nights later.
The guy who played only 19 minutes tried to provide answers.
"I think you can explain it by the energy that the crowd gives them, and they just play with more confidence here (at the Delta Center)," Kerr said as he shook his head and pulled on a University of Arizona T-shirt. "They fed off the crowd, and it took us too long to get into the game."
Despite his teammates' avoidance of the issue, Kerr said the Bulls were not caught off guard by Utah's sudden transformation into a competitive opponent.
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Michael Jordan shot and missed often in the first and fourth quarters (above), going a combined 6 for 16. He was quiet in the middle quarters (below), shooting 3 for 6.
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"Did anybody expect a sweep in this series?" Kerr asked the assembled mass. "The Jazz are a great team, and we certainly didn't expect that we'd come in and sweep.
"We're still very confident that we're going to come back and win the next game," he added.
"I don't think it changes the tone of this series. This is kind of what's supposed to happen -- both teams are supposed to win at home. Obviously, they had to win. If they had lost tonight, it would have been over. They just held serve."
About 15 minutes later and 30 yards further down the hall, those sentiments were echoed by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the team's two stars who fulfilled their commitment to meet the press in the postgame interview room.
"We didn't have any type of intensity in tonight's game. We didn't stand up and challenge them in any way," Pippen said. "They pretty much kicked our butts the first half."
Jordan summed up the debacle as a case of the experienced Bulls losing their cool.
"They got the momentum, and we kind of lost our poise a little bit," he said. "We started rushing shots -- which is very typical coming into a situation like this -- where the team seems to be motivated with the crowd."
Pippen and Jordan both expect the Bulls to have a bounce-back game Sunday.
"I expect us to come out and play better, much harder and much more aggressive," Pippen said.
Added Jordan, "We finished the game on a strong note, which is very important going to Game 4."
The Bulls also were buzzing about:
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"Dennis didn't really give us much," Jordan said. "He never really got into the flow of the game, and his enthusiasm wasn't quite the same as we normally see with Dennis. Hopefully, he can bounce back for next game."
Pippen was asked whether Rodman's problem is with his injured knee or his head.
"I hope it's more of the knee," Pippen answered. "He didn't bring what we need -- the toughness, the intensity and his energy. He's professional enough to know he's going to have to be ready to bounce back."
Kerr did notice some new techniques Utah used to pump its crowd up early. The Jazz dropped thousands of balloons from the rafters, then had its mascot ride in on a motorcycle, and then shot off two ear-piercing cannons.
"I was wondering if they were actually going to play the game or not after all that stuff they did early on," Kerr said. "It was kind of smoky out there, too."
