Without Pippen, Kukoc would have never had that one chance to advance, it was one jumper, get over it. Wallace and company should thank Pippen for using his veteran leadership to guide that team to the playoffs. Stoudamire at pg, how disgusting, they should have just let Pippen handle the duties full time, which they did last season and got pretty good results from.
Sabonis was the reason Oneal didn't have Huge games VS. the Blazers...he was getting old. Steve Smith abused Kobe over and over again on offense...he was getting old. Wells? O'neal? I fail to see the point of mentioning these guys when it was apparent Sabonis and Smith were BIG parts of the blazers success, but they were getting old and weren't going to contribute up to their 00' level...and Quitten sure wasn't getting younger either. LOL, I've still got nothing? I guess I'm just like Quitten without MJ...
I'm sure they would've if quitten could stay health for more than 60 or so games a year. He's missed almost a quarter of each season in the past 3 years.
Sabonis and Smith still had a few years in them, they both performed greatly, I was making a case that the whole team wasn't old. Even if they didn't quite perform up to 00 ' standards, there were other players ready to contribute. That it was really quite possible for them to contend the whole 4 years Pip was there, the deal to get Kemp, what a joke. I'd view it like this, your like MJ without Pippen, you've got nothing.
So your acknowledging his abilities then, He was sufficiently healthy and the with exception of this past season he was ready to go during playoff time. This year if properly treated, he should stay healthy the whole way through, that means not over using him unless its an important game. So that he'll be ready to go for the playoffs.
Not Selfish: YAO! Wilks.. Selfish even though they try not to be: Mobley and Francis Plain sucky: Moochie
but PiPdAdY33 i still heaven't heard when pippen showed that he can play good under pressure when the game is on the line? please just one example. and as for staying on the bench when jackson said that kukoc should take the shot. that is just unacceptable. do you really think he did the right thing?? if so say it then i will not discuss pippen with you because then you are to baised (not that that is wrong just not good for having a discusion about him).
He has 6 titles, isn't that enough pressure for you, hes played in the 2nd most playoff games of anyone. And his numbers are pretty respectable in the playoffs, he does more than simple scoring in the clutch. He plays that tough defense, he gets those crucial rebounds, make that all important pass, and occasionally make that big basket or slash. To directly answer your question, I cannot give you a specific instance in which hes been in a last second pressure situation in which hes come through and his team actually won. For example last year with the Blazers, he excelled vs the Mavs, the only problem was that he was not a 100 percent. But I do feel that hes faced the most pressure of anyone, being in the playoffs for so long, and performing pretty well in most games.
Uh-huh...Kind of an extreme instance though, no? It's the last seconds of a playoff game...you know, that thing you try and get to all year...and what's Scottie most worried about? Winning? Team play? being a leader? Listening to the coach? No...his ego. Honestly, I liked Scottie until that moment; I didn't like Jordan, and used to spend a lot of time telling people that Jordan got all the glory cause Pippen did all the grunt work, and I still believe that, but that was the single most selfish, unbelievably chidish display I've ever seen a pro basketball player make, let alone a 'leader'. To refuse to take the court with seconds left on the clock?!?!?!? In a playoff game!?!? Because the coach didn't call your number? Remember the context...it's obe of those scenes where the tema get's the ball down 1, with seconds left, crowd screaming, blow your last timeout, coach on the sidelines with a board, trying to yell the play above the roar of the crowd...and Scottie then won't take the floor!?!? What was he, 5 years old? Actually, if a 5 year old did that, it would be punk. To say that that one action didn't invalidate his position as a leader, team player, etc. is to say that someone's not a murdered just because of one killing spree in an otherwise pleasant life... Are you kidding me? A) Any kind of team player, hell 99.9999 % of normal players, at that moment, aren't really focusing on " Hmm..how does this affect me?" let alone even contemplating bailing on my team in a crucial moment because I don't like it. B) Seriously, have you ever played team sports? If you wouldn't blame a guy for doing that, I sure as hell wouldn't ever want you on my team. I have played team sprts, at a failry high level, for years, and I was seriously astounded...I honestly couldn't believe it was happening. I still have a hard time so doing...it's just so far out of the realm of team sorts behaviour, or adult behaviour in any sphere, that it baffles me. C) The fact that you don't blame him for being selfish doesn't really back up your argument that he's selfless.
Here's some guys that haven't been mentioned (I don't think)... unselfish: Brand, Webber(to a fault), Nash, B.Barry selfish: Marbury, Vince, Stack
The most common criticism of Vince by Toronto management is that he defers too much, doesn't take enough shots. How is he selfish?
Let's get the definitions straight before we get busy labelling players as selfish or unselfish. If you are talking about playing style, then maybe you can say people like Iverson and Kobe are selfish because they take a lot of shots, and guys like Kidd would be unselfish because they are "pass first" players. I think PiP was referring to this aspect about Pippen's game when he said that Pippen was the most unselfish player. But to take the word "selfish" at face value as we use it everyday, then it should mean "putting oneself's benefit first while disregarding the benefit of other people (i.e. the team)." If that is the case, shooting a lot may not be selfish. How much one shoots have factors other than selfishness such as talents and roles on a team. In this regard, Pippen is one of the most selfish players. So is Jordan. Yao is one of the most unselfish, both in playing style and in the real meaning of the word. Let's hope that he remain so on the latter and change some on the former.
Sorry about not responding, I was on the injured list for a while there, but I'm feeling moderately better now. MacBeth I got exactly what I wanted out of your post, I heard all I wanted to hear, that you felt he did most of the work for Jordan. After reading that, nothing else you said meant much to me, your one of the few to acknowledge what Pippen actually meant to the Bulls. On a personal note, I sure have not played at a high organized level, I'm a selfless player too but I'm not happy if I'm not playing. Easy pretty much hit what I 1st mean, but I just started arguing because it's a force of habit when it comes to Pippen being discussed on this board. I still believe he's unselflish, a simple mental lapse is all I'll say, emotions are a huge part of the game and when you play and contribute as much as he does, you tend to take the game more personally.
