Grant’s role is to be the enforcer; he is heavier and taller than Pippen and Buck, which plays an important role in stopping Ah Gan’s big strides down the middle.
In practice, Jackson had Pippen simulate Ah Gan carrying the ball from the backcourt across the entire court.
As a result, Jordan and Grant were always able to stop Pippen near mid-court, forcing him to pass the ball or even lose it.
"No, Scottie’s dribbling skills aren’t good enough. He can’t protect the ball. Ah Gan wouldn’t easily stop dribbling or pass."
After several successful defenses, Jordan complained that if they could achieve this effect during the game, they wouldn’t have lost the third and fourth games.
"Then you might as well invite Ah Gan over to be our sparring partner." Pippen also complained.
Pippen made great sacrifices in figuring out how to deal with Ah Gan.
In the third and fourth games, he got beaten up badly, and it still had no effect.
Jordan’s comment made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
"The important thing isn’t successfully stealing the ball, but the strategy effectively delaying Ah Gan. If it can cause him to make a few more turnovers in a game, such defense is feasible."
Phil Jackson timely prevented the two from possibly having an argument.
Meanwhile, he mumbled under his breath, "Oh God, can someone tell me why we’re practicing stopping a center from dribbling across half-court?"
Surrounding Gan Guoyang to control the Trail Blazers’ first pass was just one part of the defense.
How to handle Sabonis’s hard post moves and passing in the low post, solve the defense against Petrović and Reggie Lewis on the perimeter, and what kind of performance Porter would produce without Jordan’s help defense.
A single tactical change in one area leads to changes throughout the whole team.
The more rehearsal in practice, the more anxious Jackson became. On the eve of the fifth game, he suffered from insomnia.
Because he realized that in this match-up with the Portland Trail Blazers, they had fallen into a definite disadvantage.
Jackson loves Eastern culture and knows that in the game of Go, often one brilliant move can completely change the situation on the board.
Originally, after leading 2:0, Jackson believed the Bulls had taken the upper hand.
Even if they tied 2:2, with adjustments in the fifth game, the Bulls still could win an away game and then return to Chicago to win the championship.
He sensed the Trail Blazers’ fatigue; from the regular season to the playoffs, they were no longer so perfect.
The Princeton offense was mostly ineffective, with the offense increasingly relying on Ah Gan’s individual plays.
In 1987 and 1988, the Trail Blazers could win championships through Ah Gan’s individual plays because their opponents were the Detroit Pistons and Washington Bullets.
The overall strength of these two finals opponents was far inferior to that of the 1992 Bulls.
The Trail Blazers attempting to rely on Ah Gan’s brute force to escape unscathed and achieve a three-peat seemed unlikely.
Jackson even simulated how he would break the situation if he were the Trail Blazers’ head coach.
Honestly, he couldn’t think of it; he felt that winning the third title of a three-peat was too difficult, and it was no longer a matter of just motivating the players or making a few adjustments to have an effect.
Not to mention it being the second three-peat, with only one season in between.
The long journey was exhausting, and the joy and passion of winning the championship were already depleted.
At this point, victory was just an inertia, a mechanical muscular memory, and failure seemed like a reward, meaning you could finally fall from the deity altar and return to the beautiful human world for a rest.
They still had to face the vengeful, championship-seeking Chicago Bulls.
This year’s Bulls appeared almost perfect in Jackson’s eyes, more perfect than the 1970 and 1973 New York Knicks.
A more mature Pippen, Jordan, and Grant formed an iron triangle.
The inside force of Cartwright and Buck-Williams reached an optimal state of experience and form.
The group of shooters on the perimeter had their career-best performances.
Even those at the end of the bench could contribute their strength.
Jackson was convinced that if they wanted, they could easily achieve 70 wins in the regular season.
The shadow left by Ah Gan in the regular season vanished in the first two games of the finals.
Jackson truly could not see how the Trail Blazers could turn the situation around.
But the Trail Blazers, or rather Ah Gan, made a divine move.
A change in position and play style completely reversed the situation.
After the third game, Jackson was still a bit at a loss.
After the fourth game, Jackson began to feel a bit afraid.
Before the fifth game started, after figuring out, understanding some problems, Jackson couldn’t sleep.
He made a phone call, managed to get some leaves through some means, and hid in the bathroom alone, turning on the exhaust fan, continuously smoking to calm his nerves.
When the fifth game officially started at the Rose Garden Arena, Jackson felt like he was floating on clouds.
He was quite excited, constantly cheering on the players, urging them on, and conducting meditation sessions in the locker room before the game, burning sage to ward off evil spirits and rid bad luck.
He tried all kinds of methods to get the players focused and win this game.
The Bulls did focus, they remained as determined as ever, and they possessed strong combat power.
For the Trail Blazers, winning the fifth game was by no means easy, and by this point, the effect of the system and tactics was declining.
Moreover, the Trail Blazers were also last-minute, catching the Bulls by surprise.
At this point, the Bulls surely figured out some ways to respond.
The Bulls changed their starters, with the young, tall Horace Grant replacing Buck-Williams as the starting power forward.