Coach's Corner

The NBA has suffered a tedious year. The scoring outage, or, if you prefer, tighter defense -- brought into vogue in the late Eighties by the Pistons, refined by Phil Jackson and Pat Riley -- has spread throughout the league. The difference? Detroit, Chicago and New York were all excellent teams, perfectly capable of blitzing out 120 points if they so chose. They chose not. The Cleveland Cavaliers, a team of modest talent, has demonstrated how ugly -- and effective -- this philosophy can be in the hands of a pedestrian team; not shooting until the 24th second is ticking off of the clock, obeying school yard rules: never running when they can walk, putting everyone to sleep in the process.

Coaches don't care if a game's interesting. They only want a chance to win. It's why NFL coaches are universally in favor of the instant replay. They're unconcerned if a ruling takes an hour, as we freeze in the stadiums or flick the remote to Senior Bowling. They're paid to win; not to be interesting. Same thing in basketball. The Cavs would rather lose to Houston 65-59 and have a chance, than get blown out by 30 points. Good for them, bad for us.

Then there's the Chicago syndrome. The Bulls have been so good, for so long, they too are putting everyone to sleep. Playing at such a stratospheric level, the season, in the East at least, has been over since December. The result of all this, for me anyway, is a noticeable lack of enthusiasm for my favorite sports time of the year, the NBA playoffs. So the questions are these: Will the turgid pace of the regular season accelerate to a watchable level? Can anyone beat the Bulls? The answers are: Yes and Yes.

When the Mavs and the Celtics play slow, it's a sight more gruesome than a head-on traffic wreck. When Cleveland plays against Los Angeles, it's frustrating; like watching a leopard pacing in a cage. When Miami and Chicago play, the suffocating defense can be an intense experience on par with watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -- very stoned -- for the first time. Impostors don't survive long in the supercharged intensity of the playoffs.

The difference between the Eastern Conference this year and years past is its depth. Recently, the East had one superteam and a few okay ones. This season, you glance all the way down to the 10th team (Indiana) to find a sub-.500 team. This promises to be a competitive playoff season. Competitive or not, however, who's going to beat the Bulls?

If a team loses only 13 out of 82 games, it would be difficult to convince impartial onlookers the season was a struggle, but for the Bulls (69-13) it was. With an unbroken torrent of injuries to starters, this year's accomplishments are more impressive than last season's record-breaking campaign. The Bulls beat opponents by a league-best 12 points per game. Normally, this suggests that crucial players are resting as the scrubs mop up in the fourth quarter. Because of rampant injuries, this year that theory went in the toilet. Jordan and Pippen (I guess you could call them crucial players) averaged more minutes this season than any time since their rookie years. Chicago looked old against Seattle last year. They look tired now. In the season-ending finale, a loss at home to the Knicks, Chicago recorded only five offensive rebounds. Rodman averages 16 boards per game. Rodman and Kukoc must come back from serious injuries and play well for Chicago to do its thing.

The Heat are a nasty bunch. Picked to finish in the middle of the conference, Miami turned in the third best record in the league (61-21). Typical of a Pat Riley team, they give nothing away, they are relentless, they are big, they are talented. Hardaway breaks you down off the dribble or kills you from behind the blue line. Mashburn, reprieved from the dungeon in Dallas, plays 40 minutes a night, and Mourning controls the center. The Heat beat Chicago in their two meetings this year, the only team in the league to do so.

The Knicks (57-25) are an odd team. They can't beat New Jersey, but play well against the elite teams. This is propitious, since New Jersey and its ilk are not in the playoffs.

The Hawks won 56 games?! How did this happen? I hate looking at those awful uniforms. People in Atlanta must feel the same. The Hawks are not a good draw. Let's take a look. Hmmm, well, clever off-season pickups of Dikembe Mutombo and Christian Laettner, both released from jails (Denver and Minnesota) almost as dank as Dallas, combined with Steve Smith, the Mook and Ty Corbin, gives Lenny Wilkins a pretty nice -- very nice -- starting five.

Any of these three teams could beat Chicago. And the bottom four seeds aren't exactly chopped liver, either.

For the last two weeks, the word "Bullets" was always closely followed by the adjective "fodder." As in fodder for Chicago. Fodder perhaps, but with Webber, Howard and big Gheorghe Muresan, they're tall fodder; the kind which could tire Chicago out. Charlotte, Detroit, and Orlando are all good teams, as well; no weak sisters, but clubs capable of upsetting their higher-seeded brethren, certainly capable of extending their opponents to the far limits of their abilities. Maybe this will be more fun than I thought.