Aren't you underestimating Pippen and overestimating Wade? Wade's like 6'3, Pippen's like 6'7-6'8. I know he punk'd Houston but Pippen was a great player in his own right, when MJ was gone he captained the same Bulls team that didn't have a dominant big man to a NBA Finals appearance. If didn't exist Pippen would probably be known as the Bull's greatest player today.
Its not that Rodman is inept offensively, he averaged 16 pts in college and double digits in the NBA at one point. Its just being so smart, he realized that MJ, Pippen and guys like Kerr were better scorers and decided to focus on what he does best. Also PJ's Triangle puts most of the offensive load on the wing players and the pg, so Rodman had to spend most of his offensively setting picks and passing to cutters. In a 3-on-3 with only Bosh guarding him Rodman would be able to score his own share of points.
in their prime mj- pippen- rodman is a no brainer while lbj, wade, and bosh wont have enough baskets to fill. and will all try to score and force passes and wonder who the closer will be in the game rodman knows his role and pippen can defend james very well and also score mj will destroy wade on offense. although wade and james are fun to watch they r still unproven while mj and pippen are winners.. rodman will defenitely shut bosh down.
As much as I hate to say it, Pippen is probably the best defensive SF in NBA history ... next to Rodman at Detroit. Much like billiards...3-3 make-it-take-it game comes down to who misses most. The Chicago team will not miss most.
See my other post regarding Pippen and Jordan (I gave Pippen his props), in his own right he was a great player but Wade and James can create a little more in the iso then the 6' 7" Pippen could. I'm not basing this off height, purely skill and offensive collusion.
Pippen is hated on this board. We all know that. If you can see past that though you'd see the truth. I think people underestimate just how good Pippen was. Especially on the defensive end. He's the greatest defensive small forward of all time and top 5 overall for me at the position. He's like Lebron James before there ever was a LBJ in terms of being long, athletic, make plays, versatile player that fills all the stats. Pippen could shut down any one of the three between Wade, James and Bosh. In a game of 3 on 3 played half court Rodman would score a lot of points as well with easy put back scores. He also had a nasty turnaround jumper that was pretty much automatic. Don't let the low career PPG fool you. He was never relied upon to score big points since that wasn't his strength and focus. If there were any rebounds to be had offensively or defensively Rodman would be all over those. I doubt the Heat 3 would even get the ball unless they started with it and or if the rules entailed the losing squad getting the ball on game point.
When did they make an NBA Finals appearance without MJ? They made the Conference Finals when MJ retired for the first time, and lost.
Some peeps are forgetting that Pippen is the best defensive SF (arguably the best perimeter player) of all time. Lebron and Wade (some of the time) are very good defenders but they are not even on the same defensive planet as MJ, Pippen and Rodman.
I was mostly following up on this comment : I see Rodman in a Battier/Chuck Hayes "no offense" label in that they aren't scorers but still help offenses. Moreso that than a Kendrick Perkins/Hasheem Thabeet COMPLETE ZERO on offense.
I was referring to Wade + Lebron+ Bosh TOGETHER in saying their combined athleticism is a little longer and stronger. Bosh is a little taller and higher vertical than Rodman, though Rodman way owns Bosh in lateral agility. Why I'm saying the Heat3's ONLY hope is to beat them in transition. Cuz in half court, their goose is cooked. Jordan's post moves would get the best of Lebron. He'd have height advantage over Wade. Lebron's crab dribbles won't work against Pippen. Wade better hope their's a referee to give him whistles.
Are we talking about streetball? If it's streetball we don't even need to analyze anything to know MJ, Rodman and Pippen will win. MJ will play ridiculously physical defense on any one of them, and Rodman.... He'll knock you out every time you get close to the rim.
Jordan, Pippen, Rodman. No brainer. You can even switch Pippen over to guard Bosh, and put Rodman on LeBron and totally throw him off his game. I think Jordan can hold his own defensively against Wade.
The Bulls would win in a runaway. LeBron is mentally fragile, and the likes of Pippen and Jordan would get so deep into his head he would go into hiding, even in a 3 on 3 game. Rodman would have Bosh literally on the brink of tears. Wade could hold his own, but he would be playing against the one player in NBA history that got more calls than he did.
