Rodman: `It's All A Mind Game' -- Bellicose Bull Charges Into Heads Of Sonics, Frustrates Finals Foes With In-Your-Face Style

For a moment, Game 3 of the NBA Finals was upstaged by the madness in the middle and the man with the kaleidoscopic hairdo who orchestrated it all.

The fourth-quarter exchanges between Chicago's Dennis Rodman and Seattle's Frank Brickowski and Shawn Kemp had everyone at KeyArena on the edge of their seats.

The fixation was understandable.

Rodman has been baiting the Sonics since Game 1, when Brickowski was ejected after two minutes. The furor grew when Sonic Coach George Karl nationally berated the Chicago forward's "flopping" tactics to draw fouls and called him an "embarrassment to the league."

Throw in yesterday's humiliating 108-86 loss at home in Game 3 of the series, and it was easy to see why the Sonics appeared to be fraying at the mental edges. All of their frustrations seemed to come to a peak and it appeared the results would be volcanic.

Would the no-nonsense Brickowski blow his top and plant one firmly on Rodman's multicolored noggin? Would Kemp, who teeters on the emotional edge, go postal?

The answer was yes, and no.

Brickowski lost it and for the second time in the series he was ejected with 5:46 left after delivering a forearm that caught Rodman in the neck and sent him sprawling to the floor.

However, Kemp remained comparatively calm, though he gave in to an impulse to lay a hard, albeit unnecessary, foul on Rodman.

Kemp collected his fifth foul, negating his effectiveness the remainder of the game, and Rodman connected on both free throws,giving Chicago its biggest lead, 96-70.

"All of a sudden, the Seattle SuperSonics totally got out of their game. Totally," Rodman said. "They're weren't even trying to play. They were just so worried about what I'm doing, and that's why I kept saying that's it's all a mind game.

"It's all a mind game. If you want to get caught up in what I'm doing, you're screwed."

Oddly enough, the postgame attention was focused on a player who finished with just five point and 10 rebounds.

Perhaps this was Rodman's plan all along. Even when he's not effective, he's effective.

"That's his game, he does that all the time everyone knows it yet he still gets the call," Sonic shooting guard Hersey Hawkins said. "He's that type of player and if you play into it, you're playing his game."

It was as if Rodman extended an invitation to a world of madness and the Sonics, fatally so, accepted.

"They were trying to get into my head, but they don't understand you can't mess with the master," Rodman said. "Basketball is a physical and mental game, all they were trying to do is be physical and it ain't working."

Rodman's world is a place where nothing is as it seems. Where a foul is a matter of perception and a forearm in the back is a necessary tool.

It's a realm where The Worm burrowed deep into the Sonic psyche after a 20-rebound effort in Game 2 and Seattle seemed intent on keeping him off the glass in Game 3.

The extra attention worked as Chicago held the rebound edge, 33-32. But partly because he was focusing on Rodman, Kemp was ineffective. The Sonic forward scored 32 in Game 1 and 29 in Game 2 points, but had only 14 points and four rebounds yesterday in the face of Chicago double-teams.

"Seattle is a good team with good players, but they need to learn some things about basketball," Rodman said. "They need to focus on the game and quit trying to knock Dennis Rodman out of the game. If you worry about me, you're not worried about playing and right now they've got a lot to worry about."