The new Michael Jordan is going to be difficult to watch, more difficult than I could ever have imagined. Who knew that a basketball game featuring Jordan could make you want to sing the blues?

This sadness has nothing to do with Jordan's physical abilities. He is 38, not 88, so it's not as if varicose veins are preventing him from touching the rim. He still stalks the court like a panther, making his opponents wonder if their next flinch or facial expression will set him off.

Michael Jordan can still play. No one should question that. When he decides to leave the game for good, he'll take his ball?and most likely a final-season 20-point average?and go home.

His game is not the biggest problem. His present company is. Jordan and his new band, the Washington Wizards, opened their season Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. After the first quarter of an eventual 93-91 Washington loss, it was obvious something was wrong:

A game involving Michael Jordan was ? boring.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

With both of the Bulls' small forwards, Eddie Robinson and Ron Artest, out with injuries, coach Tim Floyd may try to compensate by using more zone defenses. This season is the first since the shot clock was introduced in 1954 that zones will be legal in the NBA.

"Thank goodness for zone defenses," Floyd said. "It could happen because of the matchups. Tyson (Chandler) at 7-foot-1 guarding Latrell Sprewell at 6-5 might be tough. Marcus Fizer guarding Vince Carter might be tough. A.J. Guyton at 6-1 guarding a 6-6 Allan Houston might be tough. Fred Hoiberg guarding Glenn Robinson might be tough.

"So we're going to have to be creative. We're going to have to go about it in different ways. Zones provide a means for tackling this in a team manner."

The Bulls have shown brief moments of zone defense in each of their four home preseason games. It has been addressed more frequently in practice the last few days.

"I hate playing zone because your man-to-man gets worse every time you hop into a zone," Floyd said. "A lot of standing, you don't rebound out of them as well. But you have to survive, also. We may play it more minutes than what we'd like, but we're still going to be basically a man-to-man team I would hope."

...and potential...and problems.  While the Bulls are once again expected to lose much more than they win this season, Coach Tim Floyd is once again preaching patience - this being the third straight season.  While the potential is there with young studs Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, the Bulls have already had more than their fair share of problems with injuries to key players Eddie Robinson, Jamal Crawford and Ron Artest.  Crawford is expected to be out for the season.

One thing the Bulls do have this season is veteran leadership, leaning on the sturdy shoulders of power forward Charles Oakley and point guard Greg Anthony, two of seven new players to the team.  Anthony himself has question marks over his head, this season will be the first he will be playing starters minutes in more than four seasons.

So how will this team mould together, and will they grow as the season progresses?  Charles Oakley.  Two High School Rookies.  Diluted lineups in an already inferior lineup.  And this is before the season even begins...  The ride begins today, so buckle up and hold on.

Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune, perhaps the reporter with the most exposure to his airness, puts his thoughts on Michael Jordan's first official game.  While he is still a great player in his own right, drawing a double team in the games first seven seconds, he is not Michael Jordan of 1998.  While the old Michael Jordan would challenge the defense and soar to the hoop, this is is quick to give it up and settles for jumpshots.

Jordan missed 14 of his 21 shots in the game, but his six assists and four steals shows he was trying to get his teammates involved.  But how far can a Chris Whitney, a Tyrone Lue, or a Christian Laettner get you?

Smith reports that he thinks Jordan is still in the top 10% of talent in the league, which at his age and with 40 months of absence behind him is a feat in itself.  The problem is he wasn't the best player on the court tonight, and in a game that featured no superstars - himself being the exception - it is going to be a long season.  Michael Jordan is one that has always strived for challenges, now he has the ultimate.

Eddie Robinson's silver Bentley was parked in a handicapped spot at the Berto Center Sunday, sitting alongside the gutted wreckage of what was his enthusiasm for the upcoming season.

Hobbling on a fractured left toe that's likely to require surgery and a six- to eight-week rehabilitation period, Robinson chose not to speak with reporters.

But coach Tim Floyd will take the podium today at the Bulls' Tip-Off Luncheon, and he'll try to encourage fans who weren't that optimistic even with Robinson healthy.

''Not good at all, not good at all,'' Floyd said after practice Sunday.

Robinson will have the toe re-evaluated today, but Floyd can't afford to wait for further test results. With Ron Artest out another eight weeks with a surgically repaired right ring finger, Floyd will have no true small forward on his roster when the Bulls open the season Wednesday by hosting the Indiana Pacers.

''It sets you back a little bit,'' Floyd understated. ''It certainly looks more like last year's roster with [Ron Mercer at shooting guard, Fred Hoiberg at small forward and Brad Miller at center].''

Smile Bulls fans, because this is your lucky day.  Not only did RealGM just release a new layout and a few new toys, but Eddie Robinson also got some good news from the doc.  Surgery is not longer considered definite, and ERob should be back before that eight week timeframe even gets close. Robinson set to visit foot and ankle specialist Armen Kellikian on Tuesday, which will give the Bulls more answers.

One of the players expected to benefit from Robinson's injury is Marcus Fizer, but he seems to have mixed feelings about the task.  "It's like asking [point guard] Jamal Crawford does he want to play off guard or small forward," Fizer said. "Power forward is my natural position, and it's the position I'm best at. I may have some small forward skills, but I'm a true power forward."  With Charles Oakley and High Schooler Tyson Chandler outplaying the second year forward in the preseason Fizer should be happy with any opportunity he gets.

NBA.com reports that the Phoenix Suns today swapped centers with the Chicago Bulls, receiving Jake Voskuhl and sending Soumaila Samake and a second-round pick in the 2003 NBA Draft to Chicago.

A friend from Washington was incredulous.

"Do you realize," he said, "that the [Washington] Post had seven stories on [Michael] Jordan when he decided to come back?"

"Seven stories?" I replied. "If Jordan came back to the Bulls, we'd be doing seven straight days of special sections."

Indeed, Washington has a long way to go to beat Chicago when it comes to going overboard on Jordan. When asked if it was possible for his paper to do too much on Jordan, Post sports editor George Solomon said, "Your paper once did 21 stories off a Bulls [NBA] Finals game, so let's not go there."

Make no mistake, however, the Washington media is very excited about having the use of Chicago's favorite icon.

While the town is plenty occupied with more important and critical matters, Jordan isn't going unnoticed. His full magnitude could be seen on the day of his coming-out press conference, when he became the first non-terrorist story to run on the front of Post since Sept. 11.

Bulls coach Tim Floyd says the best way for the team to recover emotionally from the loss of forward Eddie Robinson to a fractured big left toe is to have spirited practices.

But the intensity level Sunday at the Berto Center seemed subdued, if for no other reason than the number of available healthy bodies keeps dwindling.

Trainer Fred Tedeschi said a bone scan scheduled for Monday would determine the course of action for Robinson. But X-rays and a magnetic-resonance-imaging test have confirmed a fracture, and surgery and a six- to eight-week rehabilitation period are likely.

The simple reality is this: With the season opener only two days away, the Bulls are without a true small forward, having already lost Ron Artest until at least mid-December after surgery on his right ring finger.

"And Eddie arguably was our best player in the preseason," said guard Fred Hoiberg, whose minutes will increase if the tendinitis he's battling in his right knee allows it.

"To lose a guy that brings that kind of scoring and that kind of athleticism every night is very tough.

Michael Jordan is dominating the NBA again, but at an unusual time of year. This time it's not spring forward, it's fall back. Jordan is the story in October and November when the NBA normally isn't much of a story at all.

Nobody knows whether he will even be around in March, and only those who truly believe Jordan to be some kind of deity give his team, the Washington Wizards, the slightest chance of being around in June.

So while accepting Jordan's third coming as a totally unanticipated media and marketing blessing, the NBA is a little wary of placing too much emphasis on it. Jordan has walked away from basketball twice before under conditions far more favorable than the current ones.

Jordan has said he wants to play two more years. But he will be 39 in February, and there is no precedent for a basketball player coming back at his age. There may be no stopping him, but there is also nothing to stop him from walking away.

We know he can drop 40 points on the New Jersey Nets with fresh legs in October.

But we don't know yet how he will react with his knees and his back aching and his team going nowhere in March.