Friday, October 03, 2003

Media Day Notes Yesterday was media day at the Berto Center, and the theme of the event was playoffs. The star of the day was Scottie Pippen, who undoubtedly had to answer such questions as "um....why do you want to be on the Bulls again?" , and "where's my tip from 6 years ago?!?". But he mostly talked about Jalen becoming a more complete player, the young guys stepping up.....that kind of stuff. Speaking of Jalen, here's Paxson's take:
Operations chief John Paxson signed Pippen to provide leadership. Pippen and Rose are co-captains, and their ability to play off each other will be an important factor in the team's success. "In talking to Jalen, he wants to do what's right and he wants to win,'' Paxson said. "He has shown his commitment by showing up in shape. I heard he came in around 230 last year, and now he's 215. "I want [the addition of Pippen] to make Jalen a better player in terms of how he approaches the game. Jalen will admit that last year he had the green light to do just about anything because we weren't winning, and he was the most legitimate threat we had scoring. Jalen can be a better player by sacrificing his game, and Scottie can help him do that. Jalen still has to score for us, but he can do it in a more efficient way.''
I think Jalen got a bad rap last year for his shot selection, especially at the end of games. What made me more angry though was that there seemed to be no direction at all at the end of games, it was as if the play called was "pass the ball to Jalen, and stand around". Now with Pippen on the floor that should definately improve. That Wacky E-Rob Eddie Robinson has become the odd stepchild of the Bulls. Nobody knows quite what to make of him. But you better make sure every time you write an E-Rob article you must mention how athletic he is. Well we know already he's athletic....lets see somethin else.

Looks like he had an eventful summer, foiling an attempted robbery in Chicago, ("I'm going to be street-smart and just stay at home from now on. I learned my lesson. I don't want to go to any more nightclubs. Not in Chicago. It's too dangerous.'') And of course being fined 50k by Paxson for not staying in contact with the team. As far as the fine goes, he sounded a little miffed, but respects what Pax is trying to do.

I'm one of those who really want E-Rob to do well. We'll just have to wait and see if he's as dedicated and healthy as he says he is. I think he'll be getting more minutes as the season goes on and Pippen is looking for bags of ice for his knees, so the Bulls will need him to produce.