Is Ron Harper the most underrated player on the Bulls title runs?

[Reggie43]

Extremely smart player on both ends and plays the right way. Good all around player and a very underrated defender. Routinely took on the job of defending the best player on the other team. Always at the right place at the right time and understands the offense very well. He was basically on the same wavelength/ball iq with Jordan, Pippen, Rodman on both ends.

For the young guys think Andre Iguodala on the Warriors but with less hype.

[light]

Yes.

Ron Harper and John Paxson.

[72-10]

take your pick from the three pristine jump shooters - Armstrong, Hodges, Paxson - who helped on the 1991-92 Bulls squad, a team that clobbered opponents with nightly displays of mid-range jump shots

[Axe]

I like players who are humble or simple but part of several championship teams.

[72-10]

Harp has the makings of a Hall of Famer if you ask me, he was too effective defensively, he often made simple plays look difficult, and difficult plays look simple, and he was money from the corner three

[Reggie43]

I hate it that he had a hand in beating the Pacers in 98 and again in the 2000 Finals but you have to appreciate these type of players.


https://youtu.be/M9sqKY0VUvw

With Kobe barely playing mins because of the ankle injury.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

He was.

Harp's defense probably went underlooked. When dude played for LA, what was w/ that green thing he wore on his head? :lol

[72-10]

that's 2 and 1 over Harp's first 10 yrs in the league

[aceman]

I hate it that he had a hand in beating the Pacers in 98 and again in the 2000 Finals but you have to appreciate these type of players.


https://youtu.be/M9sqKY0VUvw

With Kobe barely playing mins because of the ankle injury.
Harper goes to show a team can be greater than the sum of its parts. On another team Harper may have been a streaky scorer or bench player but on Bulls formed part of the greatest perimeter defense which was main reason for championships.
At 6'6" seemed to always defend fastest guards but could switch to 2 & 3. Role called for him to be just as versatile as Pippen & Jordan. In addition increased team IQ as ballhander, ability to make right pass & smart put back.
Weakness was shooting to give space for Jordan, Pippen & Kukoc on offense - bulls stuck between playing Ron & Kerr. If you could combine the two...

[Roundball_Rock]

Harper goes to show a team can be greater than the sum of its parts. On another team Harper may have been a streaky scorer or bench player but on Bulls formed part of the greatest perimeter defense which was main reason for championships.
At 6'6" seemed to always defend fastest guards but could switch to 2 & 3. Role called for him to be just as versatile as Pippen & Jordan. In addition increased team IQ as ballhander, ability to make right pass & smart put back.
Weakness was shooting to give space for Jordan, Pippen & Kukoc on offense - bulls stuck between playing Ron & Kerr. If you could combine the two...

Good points. He also showed an ability to reinvent himself from a scorer (originally signed to be the second option they lacked in 94') to a defensive beast (after issues in 95', including getting benched for Pete Myers before MJ returned.).

He was integral to those title teams. He shut down Stockton in 98', limited Stockton in 97' and Payton in 96' as well as Miller when he guarded him in games in 98'.

[Reggie43]

Harper goes to show a team can be greater than the sum of its parts. On another team Harper may have been a streaky scorer or bench player but on Bulls formed part of the greatest perimeter defense which was main reason for championships.
At 6'6" seemed to always defend fastest guards but could switch to 2 & 3. Role called for him to be just as versatile as Pippen & Jordan. In addition increased team IQ as ballhander, ability to make right pass & smart put back.
Weakness was shooting to give space for Jordan, Pippen & Kukoc on offense - bulls stuck between playing Ron & Kerr. If you could combine the two...

Exactly. How weird is it that a perimeter based defensive team was able to win in an era dubbed as the golden age of centers/bigmen by some. They basically had a mismatch every night at center but I guess having Jordan/Pippen/Grant and Jordan/Pippen/Rodman + Harper in their runs really helped lol

[Roundball_Rock]

It should be noted Harper was a SG but Harper was able to start on teams that had MJ & Kobe at SG because those teams didn't need to start a PG because of their unique personnel.

[Roundball_Rock]

Exactly. How weird is it that a perimeter based defensive team was able to win in an era dubbed as the golden age of centers/bigmen by some. They basically had a mismatch every night at center

In theory--in practice those centers didn't do much against the Bulls, whether it was Cartwright or Longley (Perdue started two games in 95, got roasted by Mourning but the party was over when Longley started the final two games).

They won by holding those centers to their normal averages or much below it. Cartwright was a good defender (the reason the Bulls traded for him--especially with facing Ewing in mind), Longley had size. Plus, they had little offensive responsibility and they weren't the primary or secondary rebounder (the forwards did that), so they could focus on defense.

Ewing 88': 21/10/3 50%
Daughtery 89': 11/9/2 36%
Ewing 91': 17/10/2 40%
Ewing 92': 22/11/2 49%
Daughtery 92': 18/10/4 47%
Daughtery 93': 16/10/4 56%
Ewing 93': 26/11/3 53%
Ewing 94': 23/12/3 53%
Mourning 95': 22/13/3 42%
Shaq 95': 24/13/4 48%
Mourning 96': 18/6/1 49%
Ewing 96': 23/11/1 47%
Shaq 96': 27/11/4 64%
Mutumbo 97': 13/12/2 54%
Mourning 97': 16/9/1 47%
Smits 98': 16/5/1 55%

Ewing 93' appears to be the lone series where one of these centers exceeded his normal production.

[97 bulls]

I always say, Harper still had the ability to be a high teens scorer. The league just wasn't playing that type of game any longer. That high pace, open court, fast break style.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

I always say, Harper still had the ability to be a high teens scorer. The league just wasn't playing that type of game any longer. That high pace, open court, fast break style.

After that injury, Harp was never the same. He looked good on offense prior to Mike returning. but don't remember him having the same explosion. Not like he did with Cleveland and LAC anyway.

He definitely hit big shots though. With the Lakers too. There was a game-winning baseline jumper dude hit against POR in the 2000 WCF. A series that came down to the final possessions.

[TheMan]

Loved Harp, always humble and hardworking...the way I see it, the 5th best player on the second threepeat Bulls, behind Toni Kukoc.

[Marchesk]

Loved Harp, always humble and hardworking...the way I see it, the 5th best player on the second threepeat Bulls, behind Toni Kukoc.

Harper as a rookie: 22.9/4.8/4.8 with 2.5 steals and 1 block for 82 games. Dude was legit. Had three other seasons 22+ ppg, and a fifth 20 ppg. Injuries slowed him down.

Serious question, what makes Penny Hardaway better? He gets way more love, but looking at their career stats, I'm not so sure. Maybe Penny had the higher ceiling early in his career, but people forget what Harper was like early on for the Cavs.

[aceman]

Exactly. How weird is it that a perimeter based defensive team was able to win in an era dubbed as the golden age of centers/bigmen by some. They basically had a mismatch every night at center but I guess having Jordan/Pippen/Grant and Jordan/Pippen/Rodman + Harper in their runs really helped lol

Harass guards & eat time from shot clock - limits time post player has to back down defender

[GimmeThat]

he understood the opposing offense well enough to drop his TO when playing for the Bulls. He was the luxury to the Bulls where he was setting up the defensive play on the next possession of the opposing team.

in chess term: he's a piece being hidden as he guards the threatening tradeable piece. the gap widens everytime your team can't make up the ground in time.

[Jasper]

Extremely smart player on both ends and plays the right way. Good all around player and a very underrated defender. Routinely took on the job of defending the best player on the other team. Always at the right place at the right time and understands the offense very well. He was basically on the same wavelength/ball iq with Jordan, Pippen, Rodman on both ends.

For the young guys think Andre Iguodala on the Warriors but with less hype.

Ron was one of my favorites .... scorer to become a stopper ... when he made a bucket , announcers would say " Ron used to score !! "
Dahh

[Jasper]

Loved Harp, always humble and hardworking...the way I see it, the 5th best player on the second threepeat Bulls, behind Toni Kukoc.

ditto

[97 bulls]

Harper was a high teens scorer that took a lesser role offensively to focus on what the team needed in defense.

[insidehoops]

Ron Harper definitely deserves more attention.