I think Phil made the right call. When has Pippen ever done anything in crunch time? He's always had to rely on MJ for that...Phil knew this limitation and put the best player in for the job, which wasn't Pippen. Really? I thought his favorite thing was to screw up in crunch time...remember when he dribbled the ball of his leg in the last secs. of our 99' playoffs VS. the Lakers, which ultimately lost the game for us? Snottie is horrible when he 'has' to get a shot off. He can't create his own shot under pressure and is even worse at trying to get the ball to the open man in a half court set, we saw that 1000 times when he was a rocket. He's the poster child for needing someone to feed off of. No. Its was the lack of #23 that hurt them.
So Phil made the call in 94 based on what happened in 99, yeah I bet. 99 was his year and I'm pretty sure he would have gotten it done had he been given the ball. 99 is a tough year to count anyways, he was frustrated with Rudy and his inability to properly utilize him. In regard to your lack of Jordan comment, what then would you say about Mj not winning a title till Pippen arrived. I openly disagree with Pippen needing to feed off of others, I feel that the team feeds off of him.
Pippen didn't get the ball in that play because Phil Jackson knew better. Pip has never been a go-to player in his career because he's not a particularly effective scorer or shooter in the clutch. In Chicago it was always Jordan shooting to win the game, and when he didn't shoot he passed it to Steve Kerr or John Paxson or someone who he knew they could hit an open shot. Even in 1994 Pip wasn't a one-man team. B.J. Armstrong and Horace Grant both made the All-Star team that season, and I believe Tony Kukoc was the 6th man of the year. The play call was the right one by Phil Jackson, because Kukoc was a player who could create a shot for himself or his teammates in a way Pip never did back then. (The shot went in, by the way).
Explain that one to me, how would Pippen have screwed up the play if he was in the game, thats an illogical speculation. Phil also did the wrong thing by not calling the play for his best player, if they lost all the blame would have been on Kukoc. Despite that not being the case, I'm simply stating that if you lose you want to know that your best player took the last shot. Like in baseball, in crucial situations, the pitcher throws his best pitch so that if they get a hit off of him, he knows he threw his best pitch. It's simple basketball to draw up the play for your number one option, he could have just had Kukoc spot up with all there other spot up shooters.
HaHa Kukoc could create his shot better than Pip, BS total crap, and Tony was a decent passer and playmaker but by no means at Pippen's level. I take offense to you writing his shot went in, I was obviously aware of that.
Equally as illogical as you speculating that he would clearly not force up a bad shot, and equally as accurate.
Uhhh, no. Phil didn't make his 94' called based on 99'. I don't know how you came up with that from what I said, but whatever. 99' is the first 'for instance' that came up in my mind about how unreliable Snottie is in pressure situations...i.e. dribbling off his leg. You have yet to tell anyone here any reason we should think Scottie isn't anything but a overblown roleplayer who's game was to feed off of the greatest player ever to play. A roleplayer who's veteran leadership consisted of whinning whenever he didn't have a player on his team that could take HIM to a championship. You say he was frustrated with Rudy and his ability to utilize him? Pffft. Snottie had more shots and scored more points in Houston than in Portland, yet Snottie was unhappy here and not there. Oh, but he was unhappy in Portland after it was clear they weren't contenders anymore. MJ not winning a championship until Pippen arrived? Hmmm, it took 4 years after Quitten's arrival before they won. How does that prove anything? And instead of answering questions with questions why don't you give a straight answer as to why Pippen never won a championship without MJ? He had a great chance with the blazers in 00' but his 'veteran leadership' didn't quite live up to your hype when he let his team collapse in the fourth quarter with a sizeable lead. Great Roleplayer...at best. Sorry.
I'm basing it on his previous record of passing ability, if we all know the guy would give it up in a split second if someone has a better shot, then I'd say its pretty safe to assume that he would not force up a bad shot. He would survey the defense, and take what they give him, I'm not arguing that he would not screw up if the play was called for him. You mentioned that by his simple presence in the play he could have screwed it up, which is plausible but not very likely at all. Obviously if the play was called for him theres a substantial chance he could have blown it but thats just a chance that has to be taken.
Pippen was closer to a title in 2000 than Jordan ever was without Pippen, Period. Now what happened with him was something that happens to every great team when they are on the brink of success, they don't just win it right away, you lose a couple first, much like the Bulls did. If not for the incompetent management, they could have kept the team together and the Blazers would have continued to succeed. Pippen is a great player and they don't like to lose, he saw that this Portland ship was going nowhere so he decided to go somewhere were he could have more of an impact. Yeah he is a great roleplayer, his role is the team leader, the team catalyst. I've discussed that while he did not win a title without Jordan, he came awful close in the post Jordan-era and could have continued to contend barring ignorance on managment's part. Now its your turn, please to explain why Mj was unable to win without Pippen
ugh, wish I had an edit button. LOL, passing ability? His CAREER A/TO ratio is on the Steve Francis' level...which is nothing to boast about.
Thats not why they won, they lucked out because Kukoc got lucky by making that shot in. If the play was called for Pippen their chance for success would have been greater because they'd have more options on the floor, instead of focusing on Kukoc, they'd pay more attention to Pip and he would in turn have created a higher percentage shot for Kukoc or whoever else might have been open.
Pippen is small forward, your comparing his A/TO ratio to that of a point guard, he is the point forward for his team. If you compare his ratio to that of other sg's and sf's it doesn't look nearly as bad. But there is a huge difference between Pip and Steve, Pippen is willing to give up the ball up or make something happen. While Steve on the other hand is content dribbling out the clock, going one on one and occasionally giving it up when the shot block is just about run out. Yes I realize he averaged 6Apg but with his penetrating skills he could do much better than that, his game is pretty similar to a younger Marbury's who averages about 2 more per game. Lets just hope Francis can see the light and embrace the team concept, perhaps Ming will rub off on him.
Should have given the ball to Pippen because he was the team's best player? Please. There are some guys who are money players, who take and make the big game shots. And those players aren't always superstars. Mad Max, back in the day with the Rockets, was a straight-up assassin when the game was on the line. He might be 5 for 15, but I'd still bet on him in the clutch situation. Bobby Horry up until last season hit big shot after big shot after big shot in the playoffs, despite being a mediocre player during the season. Scotty just didn't have that ability in him. Rudy knew it too - why else would Cuttino Mobley have taken the last shot in that playoff game the year Quitten was here in Houston? As for Pippen creating more options on the floor than Kukoc - remember that Kukoc has always been an excellent passer. Nicknamed "the Waiter" for his ability to serve up passes to his teammates.
My turn? You've explained nothing about why Pippen is anything other than a great roleplayer, and you certainly don't have any facts, just your own opinions about why others screwed quitten out of his chance to win(lord knows it couldn't have been his own fault ) . Pippen had a stacked team in 2000...STACKED, and couldn't do it. Pippen was riding the coat tales of Steve Smith, Rasheed Wallace, Dale Davis, Sabonis, Stoudamire, and other great players I can't remember(I guess you're just conviently forgetting this). You credit Quitten for getting this far, but you don't give him the credit for the collapse(Quitten's Speciality) in Game 7? Its just "a team on the verge of greatness"? As stacked as that team was, it was also getting old. Management knew it and knew something had to be done, thats what I remember from a non-Scottie Pippen biased fan's perspective. The 'team on the verge' concept would work with a young team but not the 00' Blazers.
Riiiiiiight. Just like when the play was called for Quitten in 99'? all that higher percentage shot for others and opening the floor went right out the window when he dribbled the ball off his leg...typical Quitten in pressure situations. Thank god he had Kukoc and MJ to win for him...
You're right...shame on me for trying to compare him with some of the better passers in the league, I should've known he's no where close to them...after all, he's just a great roleplayer.
It was on the verge of the contending for the next couple of seasons after that. A bit more possibly because Wallace was still young, you had Wells and of course the minimally used O'neal. You know I give you my explanation, and still you've got nothing, you may feel that I'm not accurate but I've at least stated my case. Kukoc may have had some little cake nickname, I'll give you that he was a good passer, and a pretty alright player in his time, but I'm not quite sure that he was as you put it "money". Now you want to talk about role players, Kukoc was one of the best, a good pure shooter with pretty decent passing ability.
