Page 10A
Thursday, July 19, 1984
Jordan adjusts to new position
By MICHAEL PERSINGER
Sports Editor
GREENSBORO Midway
through the second half of last
Thursday night's Olympic bas
ketball exhibition, 6-foot-6 North
Carolina guard Michael Jordan
replaced Chris Mullin of
St.John's for the Olympic team.
"Hey, Michael," Jordan's UNC
teammate Sam Perkins called to
Jordan, now waiting near mid
court for the Washington Bullet's
Frank Johnson to shoot the
second of his two free throws,
"who have you got?"
"James," Jordan called back,
referring to former Tar Heel
James Worthy, who after his
performance in this year's NBA
championship series against the
Boston Celtics is recognized as an
NBA star in his own right.
That brought a smile from
Worthy, who's 6-9 and one of the
NBA's best power forwards. But
Jordan was able to hold his own
against Worthy, on both ends of
the floor, completing his transi
tion to forward in Olympic coach
Bob Knight's tenacious man-toman
system.
Jordan insists that the transi
tion wasn't difficult, and if his
performance in Greensboro was
any indication, Jordan is capable
of hanging with any player he
wants regardless of their size.
Jordan finished the evening
with 25 points, including 19
many of them from the high post
in the second half. He added
eight rebounds and three assists
while not committing a personal
foul in 26 minutes. In short,
Jordan took over.
"I wouldn't say 'take over,'" the
always modest Jordan said. "I
was getting a lot of garbage
baskets and a lot of layups. My
role is to get inside and penetrate
and hit the open man. "It's no
different from what I did at
UNC."
Well, maybe only a little dif
ferent. Guarding the likes of
Worthy in the NBA is a little
different from chasing Spud
Webb and Terry Gannon around
the perimeter in the ACC. Still,
Jordan is up to the task and said
the experience will help prepare
him for the future.
"I'm getting adjusted to it
(playing forward)," Jordan said.
I'm playing against a lot bigger
guys, and I think I have an
advantage over them in quick
ness. It's preparing me for what's
going to happen in the NBA,
because I'm going to have to play
a little small forward and play
against bigger guys.
"I feel comfortable with it and
I think I can produce at small
forward," Jordan said. "Wher
ever I can help the team, I'm
willing to do it."
Jordan said that it was Knight's
decision to move him to the high
post a decision made to give
Jordan more room to operate.
"In practice I'd been penetrat
ing and hitting the open man, and
he (Knight) decided to put me up
top where all the action is,"
Jordan said. "Whenever I get the
opportunity to penetrate and pass
then I go ahead and do it, and
when I have the shot I take it.
"It's something that I enjoy
doing, and I feel really comfor
table doing it."
Jordan said that defending
against bigger men inside was
where he was still having
problems.
"A lot of the big guys can shoot
from the outside, and I'm used
to guarding people on the out
side," he said. "My weakness is
guarding the bigger man inside,
so I just have to front him and
keep him from getting the ball as
much as possible, and hopefully
I can get help when I need it."
He certainly has the personnel
behind him to provide the help.
Patrick Ewing, Wayman Tisdale,
Joe Kleine, Jon Koncak, Perkins
and the rest of the Olympic front
line form a strong backbone for
Knight's man-to-man.
But just because Knight's pres
sure defense is supposed to lead
the Olympians to the gold medal
in Los Angeles, Jordan said that
the only pressure to win will come
from within.
"I know the American people
want us to win, and we want to
win, too, but we are not going
to let the American people dictate
our style of play," Jordan said.
"We don't want to live up to their
expectations. We want to set
expectations of our own and start
AS
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Photo courtesy of Tom Green
Michael Jordan, now part of US Olympic team
from there."
Wheje Jordan plays after the
Olympics will not be in North
Carolina, but with the Chicago
Bulls. Jordan gave up his final
year of eligibility to turn profes
sional. So, with Jordan coming
back to North Carolina to a warm
crowd clad in lots of Carolina
blue, the question had to be
asked; does he regret his decision?
"When I made my decision to
go professional, I always said I
wouldn't look back and say, 4I
wish I'd stayed,"' Jordan said.
"I'm happy with my decision, but
I know IH be missing out on a
lot of things and a lot of tradition
at UNC. But I felt I accomplished
a lot when I was at UNC, and
I can afford missing those
things."
If Jordan's Olympic and pro
fessional career are anywhere as
successful as his collegiate one,
you can be sure that he will be
able to afford almost anything.
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