Paul George vs Scottie Pippen

[scm5]

Knowing what you know now, who would you take?

Keep in mind PG24 is only 23 years old and putting up 24/6/4 on 47/39/86 to go along with 2spg and playing some really good defense.

[NumberSix]

Pippen was better than George is right now, but George will probably get better.

[Jlamb47]

Pippen i believe the better overall player at the moment. I think Paul George can score better and he can be a better defender in time. PG in his prime will probably be like Tmac on offsne and Pippen on defense.

[imdaman99]

Pippen i believe the better overall player at the moment. I think Paul George can score better and he can be a better defender in time. PG in his prime will probably be like Tmac on offsne and Pippen on defense.
OK lets slow down. Anyone with those skill sets has a chance to be the greatest ever. TMac-lite on offense but not Pippen-lite on defense. He is a good defender, but if he is going to do that much on offense, he absolutely will NOT be nearly as good as Pippen on defense. Ease up on the overration :facepalm

[scm5]

Pippen was better than George is right now, but George will probably get better.

I agree with you, and it is a gamble on how much better PG will get. With Pippen, you know you're getting an all-time level defender to go along with solid stats across the board. He isn't a first option type player though, and we saw that with MJ's first retirement in Pippen's prime.

PG has the ability to be a 1st option player, but isnt' as good a defender (yet).

[Jlamb47]

OK lets slow down. Anyone with those skill sets has a chance to be the greatest ever. TMac-lite on offense but not Pippen-lite on defense. He is a good defender, but if he is going to do that much on offense, he absolutely will NOT be nearly as good as Pippen on defense. Ease up on the overration :facepalm


Yea i understand that but just saying if he maxes out on defense n offense. I do belive he can become very Elite the way hes been showing up. But well see

[sportjames23]

Scottie is a Top 50 player of all time.

Is this a serious thread?

[scm5]

Scottie is a Top 50 player of all time.

Is this a serious thread?

PG is averaging similar numbers to Prime Pippen at only 23 years old and he is an exceptional perimeter defender. He's not at Pippen's level yet and that's not what I'm asking. PG has a LOT of upside and it's definitely possible that he becomes a better player than Pippen.

[hitmanyr2k]

PG is averaging similar numbers to Prime Pippen at only 23 years old and he is an exceptional perimeter defender. He's not at Pippen's level yet and that's not what I'm asking. PG has a LOT of upside and it's definitely possible that he becomes a better player than Pippen.

Not really.

George - 23.5ppg (46% shooting), 6 rebs, 3.5 assists (2.7 turnovers), 2 steals, 0.3 blocks
Pippen - 21.0ppg (50% shooting), 7.7 rebs, 7 assists (3.1 turnovers), 2 steals, 1.1 blocks

George falls short in pretty much every category except scoring. His playmaking ability is nowhere near Pippen's yet and that's the main aspect of his game that needs a lot of work. Pippen's ability to run an offense would come in handy when you think of Indiana's point guard woes.

[Brizzly]

George is still young at 23 Pippen was averaging 14/6/3.


Compared to George this season averaging 24/6/3

Seeing how much improvement we have seen from PG two years ago until this season I think that playmaking will be on top of his list, he has already proven himself as a scorer, defender and a leader.

We saw the same development curve from Durant following his fifth season where he started emphasizing more on playmaking, especially after Harden left. I think PG can get 25/8/5 in his prime while playing great defense, I would rank that as better than the little ive seen from Pippen.

[SamuraiSWISH]

OK lets slow down. Anyone with those skill sets has a chance to be the greatest ever. TMac-lite on offense but not Pippen-lite on defense. He is a good defender, but if he is going to do that much on offense, he absolutely will NOT be nearly as good as Pippen on defense. Ease up on the overration :facepalm
People been overrating George for awhile now. He's been impressive, but the hyperbole around his abilities is absurd. He's actually most overrated as a defender, his most redeeming attribute. He's definitely not the team, intelligent defender Pippen was. He's a slightly better offensive ISO, shot creator I think. Easily a less intelligent player, and shot creator for others. Below average passing abilities. He's definitely not McGrady level on offense. But he's getting better.

[hitmanyr2k]

George is still young at 23 Pippen was averaging 14/6/3.


Compared to George this season averaging 24/6/3

Seeing how much improvement we have seen from PG two years ago until this season I think that playmaking will be on top of his list, he has already proven himself as a scorer, defender and a leader.

We saw the same development curve from Durant following his fifth season where he started emphasizing more on playmaking, especially after Harden left. I think PG can get 25/8/5 in his prime while playing great defense, I would rank that as better than the little ive seen from Pippen.

Pippen was only in his 2nd NBA season at age 23 and coming off back surgery on top of that. Not a good comparison. And let's hope Paul George isn't on Durant's development curve when it comes to his playmaking ability because it took KD until his 6th season to start averaging more assists than turnovers. George's playmaking skills this year have actually regressed from last year if that's possible.

[scm5]

Not really.

George - 23.5ppg (46% shooting), 6 rebs, 3.5 assists (2.7 turnovers), 2 steals, 0.3 blocks
Pippen - 21.0ppg (50% shooting), 7.7 rebs, 7 assists (3.1 turnovers), 2 steals, 1.1 blocks

George falls short in pretty much every category except scoring. His playmaking ability is nowhere near Pippen's yet and that's the main aspect of his game that needs a lot of work. Pippen's ability to run an offense would come in handy when you think of Indiana's point guard woes.

I said similar numbers to a prime Pippen, not peak Pippen. There's a difference.

Pippen in his prime averaged something like 20/7/5 which IMO is similar enough to 24/6/3.

[Dragonyeuw]

PG in his prime will probably be like Tmac on offsne and Pippen on defense.

Sheesh thats like GOAT level if that happened. I think we're so eager to find that next superstar that we're overrating the hell out of this guy.

[bizil]

In the all around sense on both sides of the ball, Bron, Pippen, Hill, and Hondo are the premier SF's of all time in that regard. So if George keeps getting better and lives up to his potential (which it looks like he's doing CLEARLY), he will be in a very elite class of SF's historically. Scoring skillset wise, he reminds me more of T-Mac than anybody. So George is indeed a unique kind of player.

[97 bulls]

He could end up being better than Pippen. But not yet.

[TheBigVeto]

If I already have Jordan, I'll take Pippen. Otherwise I'll take George.

[Black and White]

Too early for these kind of comparisons

[Lebron23]

Pippen is still the superior player. Scottie in today's league would be a 25/6/6 player if he's the no.1 scoring option, and 23/7/6 as being the Robin of his team, but shooting over 50% from the field. + elite defense.

[MrC1991]

Man I miss the days of watching my boy Pip lock down people on a full court press.

[LAClipsFan33]

Let's be real...In a one on one matchup Prime Pippen would take Paul George's soul

[ihoopallday]

:lol Well that ended quickly. Remember kids. Strap up!

[Smook A.]

2 VERY similar players

Both are black
Both were/are in the NBA
Both play SF
Both have a face
Both have hands
Both have touched a basketball
Both can dunk
Both have ears
Both have teeth
Both have made a 3
Both got a woman pregnant
... I could go on forever and ever.

[hitmanyr2k]

There's not many similarities in George and Pippen's offensive games. Not only is Pippen the superior playmaker which I touched on before it's also clear that PG is in love with the 3 point shot. The majority of his offense is long jumpers. His slashing and development of his midrange game (Pippen's strengths) have suffered because of it. Until George gets a bit more diversified in his offensive game he's going to stay an inefficient player. Maybe he can take that next step if he works at it in the offseason.

[kshutts1]

I agree with you, and it is a gamble on how much better PG will get. With Pippen, you know you're getting an all-time level defender to go along with solid stats across the board. He isn't a first option type player though, and we saw that with MJ's first retirement in Pippen's prime.

PG has the ability to be a 1st option player, but isnt' as good a defender (yet).

We saw that by his leading his team to within one bad call of the ECF? And to 55 wins? So the only way anyone is a certifiable "first option" is if their team makes the CF? Or they win more than 60 games?

So that means Melo, Harden, Love, Kobe, Dirk, Curry, Aldridge... none of those guys are first options?

[DuMa]

Pippen never relied on funnelling everything to the shot blocker like Paul George and his overrated defense does.

but this comparison is dumb. PG is too young to be compared to any of the greats

[WWRWestbrookDo?]

PG is a good player but he'll never be Pippen status