It's not just his behavior that was/is the problem. The guy is just not that bright, either. At least not as a sports analyst... Obviously had great instincts on the floor. You can be a fuggin fantastic player, and still be incapable of putting together a worthwhile, coherent thought on TV.
These old school guys are always going to act like they had it too hard and if they were in today’s league they would put up these kinds of numbers. Even though Steph has been a media darling, he was also getting hated on by players from different eras, as if guarding him from full or half court is gonna make much of a difference. If anything, checking a guy from so far every time will likely burn out the defender. Point is these guys sound bitter and jealous. Might have to do with the money they are making too.
Scottie Pippen: "you see, this is how MJ and I solved the Detroit problem we had. He whined and nagged the league into creating a flagrant foul and I rode his coat tails to some championships. The rest of the league needs to do the same here. Whine about how Harden does this, then hope you have a teammate that can win something for you. Which brings us to our next segment, the Golden State Warriors."
Pippen didn't say "that one play". He said that Harden's step back is a travel that the refs are letting go these days.
Making Harden a driver is the worst thing you could do... Harden's bad games is because he can't drive then he resorts to chucking 3s the rest of the game. If he's driving and you don't have a good shot blocking center he's scoring at least 45 on you...at least.
None of that would work, Scottie Pippen hasn’t played in the NBA for over a decade. Harden has moves to beat all of that lol. Make him use his left hand? Hahahahahaa, put your big in foul trouble so capela can feast on some scrub?
There are so many ways to beat that, lol. Floater, oop to big once you draw in the big, bounce pass to big on a duck in if he is clogging the lane since the big cant go down to steal it, force the defender to stop chasing you and ride your back hip the way harden and paul do and drive into a floater, layup or oop if the big doesnt take away the lane, mid range j, side step j, etc. Pippen should shut up if he wants to keep his rep as the goat defender. The league has gotten smarter and changed. He would not be nearly as effective today because teams would screen him the way they do today and force him to switch off guys like curry, harden and durant who can shoot. his defensive prowess would be harder to notice and even he would not even know how good he could be because lf how smart the game is being played.
At end of the clip Pip said something like "great scorer, if you want to call him that", last I checked Harden IS a great scorer.
The truth is the defense back then was bullshit. the way it is played today is much better. Great defenders dont need to hand check, bump, reach, or push at any time during the drive. If the offensive player lowers the shoulder its a foul. The truth is if you do not have any holes in your game, great offense beats great defense more often than not, unless you are an amazing defender. But you would need a team of kawhis or pippens and that doesnt exist.
exactly. you want to force him to be exclusively a 3pt shooter. but there is one flaw in that plan, you actually can't stop him from driving unless you're kawhi, giannis, or a small quick PG like smart. there are only a handful of players who can turn him into an exclusive 3pt shooter. even then there is one remaining flaw in that plan... he can always get a screen and switch onto another defender. harden is so good offensively that the only way to stop him is a straight up double team or half court trap to force him to pass the ball. and even then he's a great passer with great court awareness and will find the open guy but technically then his teammates beat you and you did 'stop' him from beating you. so slowing him down doesn't actually slow down the offense unless you can guard 3 on 4 or the rockets just have an off shooting night.
If true, thats actually pretty good. Not all fouls are the same. My game should not change up because i am scared someone will take my head off and clothesline me on a drive, or udnercut me on a dunk or jumper to take away my ankles.
This is so much ****ing bullshit. "you know they let them travel these days" could someone please shoot ESPN a message? I know I am. That right there is blatantly false and slander in my opinion. Using that platform to take a dig at harden over something he knows isn't true should be called out. Its to make something that isn't true a talking point (see kerr earlier) in an attempt to officiate him unfairly
A young Kobe annihilated Pippen in our series against the Lakers. He couldnt guard him. Pippen was never that great of shooter either. Good shooter but not great. He was more of a slasher and driver. Kobe easily gets picked over Pippen. Or go with the athletic Hakeem even in today's game and tell him to just guard the paint and rebound, and he would give easily give you 5 blocks and 20 rebounds a game.
