2011 NBA Finals replace Bran....

[Jameerthefear]

Huh?

he's a kobe stan. he suffers from mental retardation.

[ImKobe]

they probably don't reach the finals given that wade had worse stats against the bulls than what lebron had in the finals even with that 8 pt game.

We're talking about the Finals match-up. And I have to say, a peak Pippen with a healthy Wade & Bosh? They're still the favorites & they still destroy Chicago because you know damn well Pippen would lock down Rose.

Prime Pippen could match Lebron number by number when it comes to rebounds & assists, Pippen just wasn't a 25-30 ppg scorer every game because 1) he was the 2nd option & 2) he put a lot of energy into playing defense.

[ImKobe]

Huh?

Wade had Shaq when he won his 2006 title. Shaq was still a 20 & 10 guy, who led the league in fg%. He also had a lot of veteran leadership with Zo & Payton on the roster.

Still, prime Pippen put up better stats than most elite perimeter players in his era. One of the most underrated players by far. People don't even want to list him in the top 50 these days. How can they not? A guy, who averaged what, 21 8 8 for his first 3 straight Finals while guarding the other team's best perimeter player (Magic, Drexler, Kevin Johnson)?

He gave a team everything you could ask for. Scoring, passing, rebounding, perimeter defense, low-post defense, on-ball defense.

[Rose'sACL]

We're talking about the Finals match-up. And I have to say, a peak Pippen with a healthy Wade & Bosh? They're still the favorites & they still destroy Chicago because you know damn well Pippen would lock down Rose.

Prime Pippen could match Lebron number by number when it comes to rebounds & assists, Pippen just wasn't a 25-30 ppg scorer every game because 1) he was the 2nd option & 2) he put a lot of energy into playing defense.

no, he won't. If he is the first option then he still averages lesser points than lebron while playing worse defense than he normally did during jordan years.
Lebron is a couple of tiers above pippen and offense includes playmaking.
As the first option he would probably average 22ppg 6assist during his prime years. it is not even like we have to guess that. jordan did take a break.

[guy]

I think the Heat would have won just without Lebron, let alone with Pippen. Bosh would have gotten the chance to step up more in his absence, and that probably would have been enough to tip the scale in Miami's favor.

I wouldn't go that far. But I would say they would've been better off if Lebron just got injured and couldn't play anymore after game 1. His attitude and sudden change in aggressiveness had such a negative effect on not just him but his team as a whole. They pretty much played the rest of the series wondering when the **** he was going to snap back into normal. I think if he just wasn't playing and his teammates knew they couldn't expect anything from him, mentally they would've been more prepared and things would've gone smoother. Maybe still lost, but would've increased their chances.

[ImKobe]

no, he won't. If he is the first option then he still averages lesser points than lebron while playing worse defense than he normally did during jordan years.
Lebron is a couple of tiers above pippen and offense includes playmaking.
As the first option he would probably average 22ppg 6assist during his prime years. it is not even like we have to guess that. jordan did take a break.

Obviously Lebron is better on offense when it comes to making plays, but Pippen's defense makes up for a lot of that. All in all, prime Pippen with Wade & Bosh would have rang in 2011.

[Rose'sACL]

Obviously Lebron is better on offense when it comes to making plays, but Pippen's defense makes up for a lot of that. All in all, prime Pippen with Wade & Bosh would have rang in 2011.

stop talking like Lebron is some harden-tier defender. he is one of the all time great perimeter defenders in playoffs. last year's finals were a great example. He made clutch blocks on duncan. i know that kobe stans don't consider anything other than a fadeaway 3 as clutch but it is the truth.

[hitmanyr2k]

I think Prime Pippen with Wade and Bosh pretty much take the 2011 Finals rather easily Pippen's help defense unshackled with these new rules would be on another level. He's not going to have to worry about Shawn Marion lighting anything up so he'd be free to roam which would put make Miami's defense lethal. And unlike Lebron, Pippen had a refined post game. If the Mavs dared put Kidd or Barea on Pippen they're getting posted up.

[Dresta]

Wade had Shaq when he won his 2006 title. Shaq was still a 20 & 10 guy, who led the league in fg%. He also had a lot of veteran leadership with Zo & Payton on the roster.

Still, prime Pippen put up better stats than most elite perimeter players in his era. One of the most underrated players by far. People don't even want to list him in the top 50 these days. How can they not? A guy, who averaged what, 21 8 8 for his first 3 straight Finals while guarding the other team's best perimeter player (Magic, Drexler, Kevin Johnson)?

He gave a team everything you could ask for. Scoring, passing, rebounding, perimeter defense, low-post defense, on-ball defense.

No he wasn't: he actually averaged 19-8 in the 04-05 playoffs, and 18-10 in the 05-06 playoffs, and his PER in both was below 20, which is far from elite. Moreover, he was a downright liability for large chunks of the 2006 finals, where he shot 25% from the line.

You say 'Pippen got 1 game from ECF without MJ' - so what? Wade got to the second round in his rookie nba season, and took a very good Indiana team to 6 games, again, as a rookie, with Lamar Odom being his best teammate.

[hitmanyr2k]

No he wasn't: he actually averaged 19-8 in the 04-05 playoffs, and 18-10 in the 05-06 playoffs, and his PER in both was below 20, which is far from elite. Moreover, he was a downright liability for large chunks of the 2006 finals, where he shot 25% from the line.

You say 'Pippen got 1 game from ECF without MJ' - so what? Wade got to the second round in his rookie nba season, and took a very good Indiana team to 6 games, again, as a rookie, with Lamar Odom being his best teammate.

The Heat got to the 2nd round by committee. Wade, Odom, Caron Butler and Eddie Jones were all instrumental to Miami getting to the 2nd round. They were all inconsistent but at least two of those guys were on each night.

[Dresta]

The Heat got to the 2nd round by committee. Wade, Odom, Caron Butler and Eddie Jones were all instrumental to Miami getting to the 2nd round. They were all inconsistent but at least two of those guys were on each night.

By the end of that playoffs Wade had cemented himself as the closer and best player on that team, as seen by the fact they traded the others (bar jones) immediately to build around Wade and Shaq. In that NO series, he was the best player and hit gamewinner in game 1, and was instrumental down the stretch in other games. After the Indiana series, he was the undisputed best player on that team (see the elimination game where he played well and no one else on his team shot over 30%).


We gonna pretend like Pippen didn't have any players of Odom/Butler/Jones's calibre on his team now?

[Rocketswin2013]

The Heat got to the 2nd round by committee. Wade, Odom, Caron Butler and Eddie Jones were all instrumental to Miami getting to the 2nd round. They were all inconsistent but at least two of those guys were on each night.

No.