THE LATEST LINE: JORDAN-LED BULLS WON'T BE DEFEATED

The Chicago Bulls might not be the best NBA team of all time, although they put together the best regular season in NBA history.

Arguments will now abound as to whether the Bulls indeed are the cream of the crop in the history of the league. Something like that can never be determined, but it sure makes for good conversation.

There are probably some people who don't rank Chicago among the NBA's all-time greats who think the Bulls might even be vulnerable as they enter the playoffs.

I'm not going to tell you that the Bulls are definitely the best team ever, although I think they'd give any of the previous great clubs a big-time run for their money. But don't count me among those who think Chicago won't win it all.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that the Bulls have a weakness in at least one area, although you couldn't tell it by their record-setting regular season. But their centers are marginal at best by NBA standards, which could pose some problems in the postseason.

But when you've got Michael Jordan on your side, that's enough to compensate for most shortcomings.

Scottie Pippen is a great all-around player, Dennis Rodman is a maniac on the boards and Toni Kukoc has come on in the past month to give the Bulls yet another major weapon.

But the main reason I believe the Bulls are upset-proof is His Airness, the greatest basketball player in the history of the world. I just don't think Jordan will allow his team to fall.

That's the great thing about Jordan. Not only is he supremely talented, he's also an ultimate competitor who will do anything to make sure his club comes out on top.

Who can forget the show he put on several years ago against Phoenix in the NBA Finals. The Bulls didn't have as strong a team then as they do now, but Jordan still was able to carry them on his back to the championship. Whenever it got down to crunch time, Jordan simply took over the game.

The Bulls are good enough and play so well together this year, they might not even need any superhuman performances from their leader to win the championship.

But it's nice to know that, if things get tight, Air Jordan will be there to save the day.

* Two observations about Greg Norman's stunning collapse at the 60th Masters.

First, since Norman has faltered so many times in the past in major events, you've got to say that the guy just doesn't perform well under the most extreme pressure. And that's kind of unusual for top-level athletes in any sport. Most of them simply thrive when things get really intense.

Second, to Norman's credit, he handled his final-round collapse with plenty of grace and style, refusing to offer excuses and never going off while being bombarded by questions about what went wrong. That was impressive.

* Former Jackson High basketball standout Ben Ressel received an award for best field-goal percentage during the recent Three Rivers Community College basketball banquet.

Ressel shot 60.2 percent from the field for TRCC.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian