With all due respect for the Chicago Bulls, and recognition for basketball as a team sport, let's make one fact perfectly clear: Michael Jordan IS the Bulls.
Face it, without Jordan, this is just another good team.Without Jordan, Luc Longley would have to work his tail off just to be "Big Country" Reeves.
Without Jordan, Steve Kerr is another slow guy with a one-dimensional offensive game.
Without Jordan, Ron Harper is an aging shooting guard without a shot.
Without Jordan, Jud Buechler isn't in the league.
Without Jordan, Phil Jackson plummets from genius to just another coach. He might get the Golden State job that nobody wants.
And so on.
There are maybe 10 teams - or more - that, if they had Jordan, would be playing for the title.
Jordan is the best player in the game, which takes nothing away from Karl Malone's credentials as the league's Most Valuable Player. Malone earned that with his regular-season productivity and consistency.
But as a power forward, dependent on someone else to get him the ball in a position to do something positive with it, Malone is at the mercy not only of his teammates, but of double- and triple-teaming defenses.
Jordan, meanwhile, can catch the ball on the perimeter and get off a shot, usually a good shot, even against a double-team. If you had one game to play for all the marbles, and one guy to pick to start your team with, there's no question he'd be the guy.
ANDERSON'S DAD DIES: Willie Anderson, the father of Utah Jazz rookie Shandon Anderson, died prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals. He was 47.
Willie Anderson had been suffering from throat cancer, and doctors gave him only 2-3 days to live more than a week ago.
"I've said goodbye many times," Anderson said earlier this week. "It was in remission, then it wasn't, then all of a sudden three months ago it was under control, then a month later they gave him 2-3 days. That's how tricky cancer can be."
The finals are "a time when you're supposed to be having the most fun in your life. Lucky for me he's still survived, so I could see him a couple days ago," Anderson said.
Anderson played 26 minutes in Game 2, the most of any Utah reserve. He had five points, two rebounds and two steals.
Anderson planned to spend the night in Chicago before flying home to Atlanta today. His availability for Game 3 on Friday night is uncertain.
Anderson's brother, Willie, plays for the Miami Heat.
SHOOTING BLANKS: The Jazz had some long stretches of Game 2 in which they simply couldn't put the ball in the basket.
They had four field goals in the second quarter, an 11-point effort that tied them for the all-time NBA Finals record for fewest points in a quarter.
They scored their 29th point of the game with 5:17 left to play in the first half, then didn't notch another field goal until the 8:49 mark of the third quarter. That's eight minutes and 28 seconds without a hoop.
KNOCKDOWN TIME: Sloan hinted that if he'd been out there, Jordan would have paid a price for hitting all those shots. As a player, he never believed in a double-standard for opponents.
"I still think you have to foul people instead of just giving it to them, no matter who they are," he said.
BARON OF BOO-HOO: Despite the victory, Bulls coach Phil Jackson whined that the only reason the Jazz got as close as they did was poor officiating.
"The referees were refereeing the score tonight, instead of the game, and I didn't like that," he said.
Cry us a river, Phil. Mikey attempted 21 free throws. And he wasn't whistled for his first foul until midway through the fourth quarter.
COSTLY CLINIC: Jazz guard John Stockton, in crediting the Bulls for putting on a defensive clinic, said it's not enough just to attend the clinic.
"It was a defensive lesson tonight, maybe something we needed to learn," he said. "And I hope we learned something, rather than just getting beat by it."
OH, GOLLY: Scottie Pippen offered a warning that the kinder and gentler Dennis Rodman of Games 1 and 2 in Chicago may revert to raving lunacy in Utah.
"I think Dennis is looking forward to going on the road and getting after the fans in Utah," Pippen said. "He's going to get more calls (fouls) in Utah, and I'm sure he's going to be more frustrated."