Harper's Injury Hurts Bulls -- Forgotten Bull's Absence One Reason For Chicago Slump

CHICAGO - For much of the season, he was the Forgotten Bull, for reasons he will admit are plainly obvious.

"I don't dress up like Dennis (Rodman) or lead the league in scoring like Michael (Jordan)," Chicago's Ron Harper said. "It seems like everybody on this team has a book deal. Everybody. I think Jack Haley is signing one next week.

"I'm just me, a basketball player. No schtick. No gimmick. I play ball and nowadays you have to do more than that to get noticed or get a shoe commercial."

Harper is the fifth Beatle who missed his chance at fame early in his NBA career.

He doesn't fit into the mold of many of his star-studded teammates and was never quite as appreciated as he is now. After a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals, Chicago lost consecutive games and the cause may be traced to Harper.

Impending problems

Ten days ago, a sore knee limited him to one minute of playing time in Game 3. The Bulls won 108-86, but Chicago Coach Phil Jackson sensed impending trouble with Harper out of the lineup.

"We're just a little bit thinner when Ron Harper is not in there," Jackson said afterward. "We lose one man in our rotation and everybody moves up. . . . Ron does so many things for us, we have to find someone who can match his defensive output."

Jackson is still searching.

Without Harper, whose primary responsibility was to defend Sonic guard Gary Payton, the Bulls have struggled in the past two games to slow Seattle's offense.

The Sonics scored 107 points in Game 4 and 89 in Game 5. Payton finished with 21 and 23 points, respectively, which is a far cry from his 13 points on six-for-17 shooting in the series opener.

"I think Ron Harper was effective in Games 1 and 2. . . . He's a veteran, he knows how to do things," Payton said. "They might miss him a lot. He's been in the rotation. He's been starting. Now they don't have all that rotation."

Without Harper, the Bulls are defending Payton with Jordan, which tires him late in the game. For brief stints, reserve Randy Brown is assigned to Payton, but he's unable to guard Payton in the low post.

Ideal Payton matchup

At 6 feet 6, Harper is the ideal matchup for Chicago. He is big enough to keep the 6-4 Payton out of the lane and quick enough to keep pace with him on the perimeter.

However, the injury "cuts down my side-to-side movement," Harper said. "I couldn't keep up with him right now, not for long minutes, anyway."

Toni Kukoc, the NBA's sixth man of the year, starts in place of Harper, which moves Scottie Pippen from small forward to shooting guard, where he must defend Seattle's Hersey Hawkins.

"He's running me through a lot of screens and picks and it's difficult to keep up with him when you're not used to something like that," Pippen said of Hawkins. "We're having to play out of position right now. . . . I'm more comfortable at small forward."

Pippen, Jordan and Rodman were each voted to the first team all-defensive team, yet Harper may be the most important player when defending the Sonics.

"He gives us a lift defensively as well as offensively," Jordan said. "Without him, that means we have to play a little bit more - Scottie and myself - myself on Gary Payton . . . and we have to utilize a bigger guy on guarding Hawkins.

Said Jackson: "Ron gives us a big defender and he gives us a player who plays without the ball."

Status day-to-day

Harper, who started 80 regular-season games, played just one minute in Game 5 and 15 minutes in the past three games. His status is said to be day-to-day, but he is optimistic about playing in today's Game 6 at the United Center.

If he returns, he could provide the Bulls with an emotional lift much like Nate McMillan did for Seattle when he returned in Game 4.

"I think our guys ran out of gas from Harp not being out there," Jackson said. "I think that's what McMillan can do a little bit for them, take a breather, give the guys a breather that were handling the ball."