引用 "Pippen's restricted effectiveness touched every part of the Bulls' strategy, from rebounding to defense, from offense to Jordan.
Without Pippen, Jordan was left to fight the fatigue of this long series and long playoff run. Somehow, he made up the void. Jordan stripped the ball from Karl Malone with 18.9 seconds left, then hit the game-winning shot with 5.2 seconds left to give the Bulls the title."
"Jordan has always known how important Pippen has been to his success and to his team's.
''I think Scottie Pippen is a major reason why we're here,'' Jordan said before Game 5. ''I think he's a unique and creative player. The harmony between us is incomparable. You can't compare it to anything. It's just a rhythm you build with another player. To play without him is like a slap in the face for me.''
This was Jordan wondering how he would play next season if Pippen bolted from Chicago as a free agent. Pippen wouldn't commit to anything tonight."
教練Phil Jackson的觀點 Last running of the Bulls, part 4 可以從這段開始讀下去 "I talked to Michael in the locker room before Game 6 in Utah. He was the last one to get taped, and Scottie was lying on a table near him getting ice and electric stimulation for his bad back. Scottie had hurt himself taking so many charges from Malone and others. I said, "Mike, do you think you can go 48 tonight?"
最後三分鐘到底發生什麼事 "Scottie was really hurting, so Michael became our offense. I told him to go to the hole because he didn't have enough energy for his jump shot. The Jazz were just smacking him every time he drove, and he was making his free throws. When Stockton made that three to give the Jazz a three-point lead with 41 seconds to play, I called time and told the players we had a two-for-one situation: If we stopped them and scored twice, we'd win.
No matter how confident you are as a coach, you really don't want to go into a seventh game on an opponent's court. We've never played a Game 7 in the Finals, and there was no reason to start now.
Michael hit a layup to make it 86-85. And then he came from the backside and stole the ball from Malone. At that moment, I think we were of one mind. I was waving for him to go downcourt. I think he saw me out of the corner of his eye waving off a timeout. The flow was the right thing at the moment, so we didn't want to stop.
We spread the floor, and Michael waited until Bryon Russell reached for the ball, and then he went up for a jump shot near the free throw line. I was really surprised, because I thought he would take it to the hoop again, because his legs were gone. I didn't know if he could do it, because he was so tired. But Michael always rises to the occasion. He cleared himself, and you can see in the video that he put extra stuff on the shot, and it was perfect."
關於Jordan對於最後一擊的心態,可以參考 Phil 對於 Game 5 最後一擊,設計給Tonic,Jordan的反應是那無所謂(若Toni進了,那Jordan生涯就此結束的意思) 還有,實際場上執行時,因為爵士防守選擇讓Harper看不到Toni而傳給Jordan。因此最後由Jordan出手而後失手。事後Jordan對自己心情的描述是這樣的: "He said the moment was "cute." He was the mistress of the moment, and he was fascinated by it." (可以跟某些人意圖描述的自私自大形象比對一下,這是當事人的描述)
完整描述在此 "I actually diagrammed the last play of the game for Toni Kukoc, who had shot 11-for-13 from the field. As much as I wanted Michael to have that crowning glory, I figured it was a wonderful time to use him as a decoy. And Michael wasn't bothered by that. But the Jazz threw Greg Ostertag on Ron Harper when he inbounded, and Harp couldn't see. I might have used Pippen, because he's taller, but he had fouled out and I had nobody else tall who was used to doing it. So Harper got the ball to Michael.
Michael had that off-balance three-point shot from the right corner to win it. Not a great shot, but a shot. Afterward, he talked about how much he enjoyed that. It was a Hail Mary shot, and he had a very Zen-like comment about it. He said the moment was "cute." He was the mistress of the moment, and he was fascinated by it. If that had been the winning shot, it would have been like cheating the Devil, or God. For him to go right on to another chapter, another critical game, was remarkable."
Pippen無論是能力或天賦都是一哥 只是MJ太強 但巔峰Pippen跟Dream Team其他人比都不會輸 過去20年來有資格當一哥的去當二哥都成就霸業 Pippen to MJ Drexler to The Dream DRob to Duncan Kobe to Shaq Shaq to Wade Wade to LBJ