"It was just a coach's gut feeling," Jordan said of inserting Christmas. "I knew he had a 'three' hidden in there somewhere. I just thought it was time to put him in. We were down 15 at the time, and he had nothing to lose. It's not like the game was tied and the game was gonna be swayed due to his performance. There was no pressure."
Well, when you're an undrafted player trying to make the team at a position where there is an abundance, there certainly is pressure. Throw in the fact that Christmas had "lots of aunts and uncles, my grandmother, lots of friends" in the stands, and you're talking about blow-your-top pressure.
But Christmas handled it with the calm and coolness that made him a star at Temple. He hit that three-pointer, which trimmed the lead from 15 to 12, grabbed a rebound and a steal, and provided a much-needed lift as the Sixers scored 38 fourth-quarter points to post their third win in as many preseason games.
"It means a lot to my confidence for coach to have enough confidence to just put me out there," Christmas said after practice yesterday. "In a situation like that, we were down 12 and he put me in and I did what I did. That gave me tremendous confidence that I can play in this league and I can compete with these guys."
His work ethic and determination have gone a long way to making an impression on Jordan.
"I like him, I like him a lot," the first-year coach said. "I've loved him since the Summer League - his enthusiasm; he's always inquisitive about everything, the history of the NBA, what I did. He's always asking about the offense, about the defense. He's great."
There is a very good reason for Christmas' enthusiasm, according to Temple coach Fran Dunphy.
