Scottie Pippen's modern day equivelent?

[Joey3000]

I think Lebron James is pretty similar to pippen. Lebron is just better offensively, but their style of play is very similar.

[kmartshopper]

That person is still playing, just way past his prime. Grant Hill.

[BarberSchool]

Nobody.
Pip was a freakish combo of Turkoglu's composure and skill, Odom's unusual PG like attributes and defensive versatility, and a little bit of Gerald Wallace in there as well.

I don't see any of Iggy in there, Iggy is explosive, pippen was just smooth all the way thru.

[ShaqAttack3234]

I think Lebron James is pretty similar to pippen. Lebron is just better offensively, but their style of play is very similar.

Hmmm, well they are both point forward type players, athletic, around 6'8" and good rebounders, but they are also quite different. Pippen wasn't the 3 point shooter or the athlete James is, nor was he nearly as heavy and strong. But Pippen was 100X better defensively and probably a better rebounder as well.

[allball]

I think the Odom comparisons are coming from the fact that he's the sidekick to a superstar. who would have compared him to Pip before he played with the Lakers?

[allball]

That person is still playing, just way past his prime. Grant Hill.

yep prime Grant Hill was a better version of Pip

[allball]

Nobody.
Pip was a freakish combo of Turkoglu's composure and skill, Odom's unusual PG like attributes and defensive versatility, and a little bit of Gerald Wallace in there as well.

I don't see any of Iggy in there, Iggy is explosive, pippen was just smooth all the way thru.

Pip wasn't quite as skilled a ballhandler, shooter and driver as Turk.

[ShaqAttack3234]

yep prime Grant Hill was a better version of Pip

I'd take prime Pippen or prime Hill. Their rebounding and playmaking cancel eachother out because they were close in those areas. As a scorer, I guess Hill was marginally better, he did have a beautiful crossover and a sweet mid-range J, but Pippen was better in the post IMO with those little bank shots and jump hooks. Defensively, Pippen was in another league. Truthfully I think prime Pippen('92-'97) was as good or better than Hill or Hardaway). I'd also take Hardaway over Hill, actually.

[BarberSchool]

Pip wasn't quite as skilled a ballhandler, shooter and driver as Turk.

Pippen's smooth(read: acceptably slow yet composed) drive and dish game was startingly similar to Turkoglu's. Eeerily so when driving right and dishing to the corner or strong side wing.

[catch24]

Hmmm, well they are both point forward type players, athletic, around 6'8" and good rebounders, but they are also quite different. Pippen wasn't the 3 point shooter or the athlete James is, nor was he nearly as heavy and strong. But Pippen was 100X better defensively and probably a better rebounder as well.

Pippen was an exceptional passer too, just like Lebron. From '91-96 he averaged 6 1/2+ assists (years with 7, 8 etc). The overall game displayed from Pippen is eerily similar to Lebron other than "scoring". From '94-99 (94, 95, 96 the 3PT line shortened) Pippen had seasons shooting 36-37% from beyond the arc. When the 3PT line was back to it's proper "place", he shot around 34%, so I don't think there is much of a difference between the two when it comes to 3PT shooting IMO. Scottie was an underrated athlete as well. Dude could dunk from the FT line, an insane vertical at that (obviously he's not the specimen James is). Either or I never thought about the comparison 'till this topic lol.

[BarberSchool]

yep prime Grant Hill was a better version of Pip

FOH, what is this bias against Pip?
You clearly couldn't beleive this.
Were you a child in the D in 1995, wearing those Fila's?

[BrentISballin]

I think the Odom comparisons are coming from the fact that he's the sidekick to a superstar. who would have compared him to Pip before he played with the Lakers?

Regardless of the fact that they are both second fiddle, they have a lot of the same playing attributes. Both are tall, smooth, powerful, have a J , great passers and ball handlers.

[ProfessorMurder]

Were you a child in the D in 1995, wearing those Fila's?

Hahahah old school Fila's diss.

[Roundball_Rock]

yep prime Grant Hill was a better version of Pip

Yeah--on offense. On defense? Hill was a great player but he was never better than peak Pippen. Maybe he would have been had he been able to reach his peak but unfortunately we were robbed of that. Let's remember that Hill and Penny were the designated successors to Jordan and had all the hype and marketing that came with that. Pippen was the best SF in the game until 98', although Hill stole Pip's spot on the first team all-NBA in 97' due in part to the hype but also due to Pippen starting the year slow due to injury. Once he got healthy he was putting up 21 ppg alongside the league leader in scoring! In other words, Pippen was scoring as much as the "#2 option" as Hill was as the "#1 option." Once you factor in defense then Pippen>Hill. I won't even bother talking about 95' and 96' when Pippen arguably was a top 3 player and certainly was top 5, although clowns with an anti-Pippen agenda will compare him to Caron Butler and see Paul Pierce was far better than him today.

I think Lebron James is pretty similar to pippen. Lebron is just better offensively, but their style of play is very similar.

I agree they are similar, although Pippen was better defensively but Lebron's superiority on offense is far greater than Pippen's superiority on defense.

Nobody.
Pip was a freakish combo of Turkoglu's composure and skill, Odom's unusual PG like attributes and defensive versatility, and a little bit of Gerald Wallace in there as well.

I don't see any of Iggy in there, Iggy is explosive, pippen was just smooth all the way thru

Yeah, Lebron and Iggy or Wallace are similar but there is no replica of Pippen like there is with some other legends. There may never be another Pippen. He was that unique.

Hmmm, well they are both point forward type players, athletic, around 6'8" and good rebounders, but they are also quite different. Pippen wasn't the 3 point shooter or the athlete James is, nor was he nearly as heavy and strong. But Pippen was 100X better defensively and probably a better rebounder as well.

Good post. The only thing I disagree with is the 3 point shooting comment. Pippen from 94' onward was similar to Lebron in 3 point shooting. From 1994-2002 Pippen was at 32-37%; Lebron has been at 32-36% since 2004. Pippen was aided by a shorter 3 point line when he shot 37% but he shot 34% without it so it wasn't that big of an aid to him.

Pippen's rebounding was better, but not much better than Lebron's on its face but it was much better when you factor in the era. He was pulling down 9 boards a game when the other top SF's were averaging only 5-6. Keep in mind Pippen sometimes played the guard position so that deflated his rebounding numbers slightly too. Lebron is at 7 rpg, which is on par with other top SF's and even a SF like Deng.

I think the Odom comparisons are coming from the fact that he's the sidekick to a superstar. who would have compared him to Pip before he played with the Lakers?

That is the problem with Pippen comparisons. Many people forget that Pippen himself was a superstar player (where was ISH in 94', 95' when MJ was retired?). All many see is the simplistic "sidekick! sidekick! sidekick!" neon sign. What a joke. "Sidekick" just means a player had a better teammate. And? Other than Lebron every other player in the league today would be a "sidekick" to Jordan (Lebron would be 1a/1b). Does that mean anything? Does that suddenly mean Wade, Carmelo, Dirk, and yes, Kobe suddenly is an inferior player? "Sidekick" causes some to have tunnel vision.

Here is a good article on the sidekick/Pippen equivalent question from a few years ago.

Over the years, Scottie Pippen's legacy has become that he was Michael Jordan's great sidekick, a guy who was a good 2nd option on offense and who did all the little things as MJ did his superhero thing and got his team championships. To call Scottie Pippen simply a "glue guy" and mention him in the same breath as a guy like Josh Howard or Shane Battier is simply insulting.

Scottie Pippen was an extraordinary offensive player; playing with one of the biggest ball-dominating players of all time, he scored 20 points a game, not simply by making cuts or knocking down open shots, but by using his ball-handling and athleticism to drive to the hole and finish resoundingly, scoring with his back to the basket using his height, wingspan, and a huge collection of post moves, and an outside shot to boot. And he could also hit open jump shots and move without the ball for easy scores, but again, to say he simply took advantage of the opportunities given to him by MJ is underestimating his offensive arsenal. And his chief role on offense wasn't even to be a scorer; he was a true point forward, whose court vision, passing (he averaged 6 or 7 assists per year during the Bulls championship years), and understanding of the offense was crucial to working the legendary triangle offense that won Phil and MJ all those championships.

Then, of course, there was his defense. He was the best defensive player on one of the best defensive teams of all time, and probably the best perimeter defender of all time; while the Jordan mystique dictates that he evolved into one of the best defenders around, it was always Scottie who got to shut down the other team's best scorer, as well as rotate over to provide help defense better than just about anybody. He regularly made more steals than anybody in the league today, and made enough blocks to put him on par with most centers.

When Jordan was off playing baseball, Scottie put up MVP numbers and led his team to 55 wins and within one game of the Finals. Simply put, he was no sidekick.

So when we talk about adding a "Pippen," what are we saying? We're asking for someone who plays on-ball defense like Ron Artest and help-side defense like Shawn Marion, as well as an offensive player with the scoring ability of Carmelo Anthony, and the passing ability of the kind of true point guard we so desperately wish we had. There's honestly no comparison for the kind of player Scottie was-the closest I can come is Artest, Tayshaun, or Marion, but he was far more skilled offensively than any of those players, and had point-guard like passing ability to boot.

Jordan and Pippen was an amazing coincidence, the kind of thing that shouldn't be able to happen-putting the greatest player of all time alongside a top-5 player that took absolutely nothing away from the team is extremely rare. The closest thing we've had to a "Pippen" situation since MJ left is when Kobe Bryant was paired up with Shaq in his prime, or Shaq just past his prime was paired up with Wade. So when we hope that Larry Hughes can come along into an effective defender and scorer, or that we can land a low-level star like Michael Redd or Joe Johnson, know that we aren't adding a "Pippen"; we're not doing that unless we add Tim Duncan.

So by all means, let's hope we can find a 20-point per game weapon to put next to LeBron, that Larry Hughes will get healthy and together and become the player we're paying him to be, or that we can find a point guard to run the offense smoothly and unleash LeBron, but don't think that those players can deliver us to six titles. Only one man would be capable of doing all that-This Man.

http://morekrolik.blogspot.com/2007/...ie-pippen.html

"Sidekicks" don't do this at their peak:

All-NBA finishes from 1994-96: 1st, 3rd, 2nd (behind MJ)
All-Defensive finishes from 1994-96: 1st, 1st, 1st

Is that the record of a "sidekick"? Oh wait. It is. He finished behind MJ so him finishing 2nd means nothing.

"Sidekicks" are not the #1 choice when Dream Team III players are asked who they would most like to be. Superstars want to be like a mere "sidekick"? That is idiotic. Superstars want to be a superstar--a superstar they think is better than them.

[BarberSchool]

Hahahah old school Fila's diss.

Wasn't really dissing Fila per se, just saw that the only way dude could think prime hill was better than prime Pippen was that he was an 8 year old in Detroit when Hill was prime is all.

I LOVED the high top FX-100's when I was little:


but I knew better than those $85 Grant Hills:


C'Mon son.