Jordan’s Day Is Par for the Course

The best gauge of the Chicago Bulls’ confidence Saturday was Michael Jordan’s hurry to get out of practice.

After the team held a quick, light workout in preparation for today’s Game 4 against Charlotte, Jordan planned to spend the rest of his daylight hours chasing a golf ball.

“We’ll be ready,” Jordan told reporters before hurrying out of the Charlotte Coliseum and heading to the course. “I like our chances.”

Jordan and his teammates had every reason to be positive after defeating the Hornets, 103-89, on Friday night.

The victory gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern semifinal series, and recent history shows the odds are squarely in Chicago’s favor. The Bulls have not blown a lead in any playoff series since 1989.

Still, Jordan didn’t want to sound overconfident--at least not quite yet.

“A lot of things could happen,” he said. “They win another game and it’s back tied up again and the conversation could change. But if we get the game Sunday, I think we really put them in a deep hole, and we like to have teams there.”

The Hornets’ Game 2 loss was punctuated by another verbal confrontation between fiery forward Anthony Mason and Dave Cowens, his equally passionate coach. Their latest clash was a profanity-laced shouting match late in the game that revolved around Mason’s lack of playing time in the fourth quarter.

Mason said after the game that he considered the matter closed, and Cowens offered a similar sentiment Saturday.

“We go through this stuff all the time,” Cowens said. “He’s a volatile kind of guy and hardheaded, and I’m the same way, so we butt heads often. But it’s already squared away.”

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Connecticut sophomore Richard Hamilton, the Big East’s player of the year, said Saturday he has decided to stay in school another year rather than leave for the NBA.

There had been speculation that Hamilton would forgo his final two seasons of eligibility and make himself available for the NBA draft on June 24.

Hamilton averaged 21.5 points and led the Huskies to a 32-5 record last season.