Interesting Article from Hoopstv -- Pippen gets slammed

http://www4.hoopstv.com/daily_media/index.cfm?article_id=1138

By Dan Wetzel
CHICAGO - Scottie Pippen’s pathetic performance on Sunday night proved a number of things, not the least of which is Jerry Krause was right. Never has a six-time champ had less of a champion’s mentality. Never has a player named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest - and that seems like a stretch these days - showed less greatness in the face of an impossible collapse. Never has Pippen looked more overrated, more in need of Michael, more like a journeyman role player than he did as he stood around and let Portland get eliminated by the Lakers.
You think Michael Jordan would have let that happen?

Pippen took three shots in the nightmarish fourth quarter, one a terribly advised, chuck-it-up three with no teammate in any position to rebound. He didn’t play particularly good defense, he never huddled the troops and gave a pep talk and he never said, it’s "my game now and I’m leading us to victory."

Kobe Bryant did that. Shaq did that. Heck, even Brian Shaw did that.

Pippen? He was the Blazer most in need of a looser collar.

The Blazers spent a lot of money to bring Pippen to Portland to be the final puzzle that could deliver them through the brutal Western Conference. His physical talents are well known - a great defender and a tough open court talent. He was also expected to provide veteran leadership and a champion’s know-how to a team where the flake factor is high.

Pippen was supposed to be that lonely moments player that takes the series-winning shot, pulls out the great defensive stand when it has to happen and provides blood and guts leadership.

On Sunday, he was nothing but a shadow of his rep, a chunk of fool’s gold in the Wild West Finals. Even more than his meager playoff performance with the Bulls when MJ was hitting baseballs, this game showed that Pippen isn’t a champion of a player. He is just a player who won championships.

When he fouled out, it looked like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. He showed no remorse, no disgust at the terrible plight Portland was in. He just sort of meekly walked off the court. Afterwards, he talked about how the Blazers had more to be proud about then upset with. It was a line a coach of a youth team rightfully says.

Only for Pippen could a collapse of this magnitude be seen as a moral victory.

No Michael Jordan-led team, no Larry Bird-led team, no Magic Johnson-led team, no Isiah Thomas-led team blows a lead like that. Tough company to be compared to? Sure, but Pippen is supposed to be one of their peers, remember? You know he thinks so. Heck, even lesser talents, say a Patrick Ewing, a Reggie Miller or an Alonzo Mourning wouldn’t have let that debacle happen without at least trying to take the game over.

All of those guys - not to mention Kobe and Shaq - would have demanded the ball and told their shell-shocked teammates to climb on their backs. If they missed, if they blew it, if they dribbled it off their knee, well, at least they went down swinging. Pippen went down watching.

The one guy who owes Pippen a great big hug is Phil Jackson, who can keep his media driven rep in the stratosphere because of the Blazers’ choke job. But Pippen is as Pippen does.

Which brings us to Jerry Krause, the Bulls GM who caught more flak here in Midway than Mrs. Murphy’s Cow for "breaking up the Bulls" two years ago.

But what did he break up? Jordan was almost certain to retire, especially after he severed a tendon in his hand on a cigar cutter in the off-season (he can no longer palm a basketball). Jackson knew it and was set to take a sabbatical (he knew the capabilities of the others). But fans and critics still felt the Bulls should have kept the supporting cast together.

But two years removed, you see what Krause envisioned. Pippen is an average NBA player without Jordan to run with. Dennis Rodman is a wrestling sideshow who is out of the league. And the rest of the crew? Please.

The Bulls were going nowhere once Jordan left, so why not blow the thing up and start again? You can’t call the last two years in Chicago great ones - the Tim Floyd Bulls have been awful - but at least there is a plan to start a new. Chicago has Elton Brand, one of the rookies of the year, they have Ron Artest, they have a ton of cap room (hello Tracy McGrady) and they have two of the top seven picks in the draft.

That won’t win you six NBA Titles, but neither will Pippen. But Jerry Krause already knew that.

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