3ba11
07-27-2024, 11:42 AM
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Pippen 101
Pippen was never a "franchise player" that was required to build anything, and instead he was handed the keys to the most well-oiled machine ever in 94'.. It wasn't remotely surprising that once opponents woke up in the playoffs, Pippen was exposed and the "real" Bulls without MJ were borderline .500 in 95' before MJ returned.. It's intuitive that any team with Pippen as the best scorer will fall out of contention QUICKLY due to lack of talent, even a 3-peat dynasty as we saw in 95'.
The 93' Playoffs was the lowest combination of PER, BPM, VORP, WS/48, and TS for any winning sidekick since the 3-point line was instituted - he averaged 15 on 33% against Dominique in the 1st Round, while getting 0% on threes and 59% on FT's in the Finals (46.9 TS)... Meanwhile, the 96' and 98' runs showed the worst shooting splits ever for a playoff run of 15 games and 35 MPG, which means MJ won with the goat bricklayer/lane-clogger at sidekick.. Pippen afforded opposing coaches the rare luxury of sagging off into the paint and his low peak scoring capability meant that he didn't require double-teaming, so he simply wasn't on scouting reports (a fact that Shaq confirmed publicly). . Pippen averaged 19 on 42% for his Finals career and 17.6 on 41% for the 96-98' Playoffs, so imagine if AD achieved these numbers - there's no amount of defense that would save him from getting destroyed by media and removed from top 75, while getting traded in that offseason.. Pippen's true shooting was below league-average for every year of his playoff career except 89' or 01-03' (no burden in these years), and 91'.
Many people use Pippen's passable play in the 91' and 92' Playoffs to show that Pippen was viable, but they were massive exceptions to the rule that Pippen had bad playoff efficiency such as true shooting or shooting splits, and weak playoff numbers overall - he was a historic bricklayer/lane-clogger and low-scorer with zero clutch and low peak capability (not on scouting report according to Shaq)..
And even though the 91' and 92' Playoffs stick out as viable runs for Pippen, he actually wet the bed in the 92' 2nd Round when he was dominated by X-Man, which nearly caused massive upset loss.. People forget the many debacles by Pippen because no one tracked Pippen's play - he was not held accountable or blamed for wins and losses.. This is because no one thought Pippen was a "go-to" player and they knew not to expect big scoring nights.. Pippen was mostly a dunker in the Derrick Jones mold, except he got 4 years to learn a role in a system that yielded 15-20 ppg.. Otherwise, he was worse than Jeff Green outside this system by averaging 14 ppg on 43% in 1989 and 1999 - the Houston debacle of 14 ppg was just a few months after averaging 20 in the system for the Bulls - Pippen was only a 2nd option alongside MJ, otherwise he was a tertiary option.. Houston HATED pippen and couldn't believe this was the guy that won 6 rings.. History shows that Pippen never played above a Larry Nance or peak Iguodala level, but the winning spotlight inflated him to all-time status and media accolade..
Pippen's foundation of "just a dunker" gave him a low peak capability.. Teams never worried about him going off and he wasn't on scouting reports according to Shaq, which forced MJ to defeat max defensive attention (carry scoring load) in virtually ever series of his career.. This is unprecedented by a long shot because everyone in history needed teammates to lead the team in scoring for entire playoff runs, so Jordan leading every series by 10-30 ppg is unparalleled and GOAT.. (edit: there are 3 series where MJ led Pippen by "only" 9, 8, and 4 ppg... every other series was 10-30 ppg more than Pippen).. Furthermore, many 1st options enjoyed all-time floor generals as sidekicks that averaged 10 assists like Payton, Stockton, KJ or Hardaway, while MJ was forced to tolerate Pippen's 5 assists and lead him in assists for 6 of 9 playoff runs (3 title runs).
Sidenote - Pippen was outscored by the majority of opposing SF's in his playoff career - people lose sight of this when they see that he sometimes outscored opposing 2nd option guards that were underperforming against MJ, such as Stockton, Porter, Starks, Dumars, Isiah, Price, Harper, Majerle, Steve Smith, etc, etc.. Guys like Terry Porter dominated with 26 ppg and 8 assists in the WCF but then cratered to 16 ppg against MJ - this is standard and the clear-cut trend of opposing guards against MJ - the double-teaming schemes and greater onslaught wears them out defensively, so they have less capacity for offense.
Pippen 101
Pippen was never a "franchise player" that was required to build anything, and instead he was handed the keys to the most well-oiled machine ever in 94'.. It wasn't remotely surprising that once opponents woke up in the playoffs, Pippen was exposed and the "real" Bulls without MJ were borderline .500 in 95' before MJ returned.. It's intuitive that any team with Pippen as the best scorer will fall out of contention QUICKLY due to lack of talent, even a 3-peat dynasty as we saw in 95'.
The 93' Playoffs was the lowest combination of PER, BPM, VORP, WS/48, and TS for any winning sidekick since the 3-point line was instituted - he averaged 15 on 33% against Dominique in the 1st Round, while getting 0% on threes and 59% on FT's in the Finals (46.9 TS)... Meanwhile, the 96' and 98' runs showed the worst shooting splits ever for a playoff run of 15 games and 35 MPG, which means MJ won with the goat bricklayer/lane-clogger at sidekick.. Pippen afforded opposing coaches the rare luxury of sagging off into the paint and his low peak scoring capability meant that he didn't require double-teaming, so he simply wasn't on scouting reports (a fact that Shaq confirmed publicly). . Pippen averaged 19 on 42% for his Finals career and 17.6 on 41% for the 96-98' Playoffs, so imagine if AD achieved these numbers - there's no amount of defense that would save him from getting destroyed by media and removed from top 75, while getting traded in that offseason.. Pippen's true shooting was below league-average for every year of his playoff career except 89' or 01-03' (no burden in these years), and 91'.
Many people use Pippen's passable play in the 91' and 92' Playoffs to show that Pippen was viable, but they were massive exceptions to the rule that Pippen had bad playoff efficiency such as true shooting or shooting splits, and weak playoff numbers overall - he was a historic bricklayer/lane-clogger and low-scorer with zero clutch and low peak capability (not on scouting report according to Shaq)..
And even though the 91' and 92' Playoffs stick out as viable runs for Pippen, he actually wet the bed in the 92' 2nd Round when he was dominated by X-Man, which nearly caused massive upset loss.. People forget the many debacles by Pippen because no one tracked Pippen's play - he was not held accountable or blamed for wins and losses.. This is because no one thought Pippen was a "go-to" player and they knew not to expect big scoring nights.. Pippen was mostly a dunker in the Derrick Jones mold, except he got 4 years to learn a role in a system that yielded 15-20 ppg.. Otherwise, he was worse than Jeff Green outside this system by averaging 14 ppg on 43% in 1989 and 1999 - the Houston debacle of 14 ppg was just a few months after averaging 20 in the system for the Bulls - Pippen was only a 2nd option alongside MJ, otherwise he was a tertiary option.. Houston HATED pippen and couldn't believe this was the guy that won 6 rings.. History shows that Pippen never played above a Larry Nance or peak Iguodala level, but the winning spotlight inflated him to all-time status and media accolade..
Pippen's foundation of "just a dunker" gave him a low peak capability.. Teams never worried about him going off and he wasn't on scouting reports according to Shaq, which forced MJ to defeat max defensive attention (carry scoring load) in virtually ever series of his career.. This is unprecedented by a long shot because everyone in history needed teammates to lead the team in scoring for entire playoff runs, so Jordan leading every series by 10-30 ppg is unparalleled and GOAT.. (edit: there are 3 series where MJ led Pippen by "only" 9, 8, and 4 ppg... every other series was 10-30 ppg more than Pippen).. Furthermore, many 1st options enjoyed all-time floor generals as sidekicks that averaged 10 assists like Payton, Stockton, KJ or Hardaway, while MJ was forced to tolerate Pippen's 5 assists and lead him in assists for 6 of 9 playoff runs (3 title runs).
Sidenote - Pippen was outscored by the majority of opposing SF's in his playoff career - people lose sight of this when they see that he sometimes outscored opposing 2nd option guards that were underperforming against MJ, such as Stockton, Porter, Starks, Dumars, Isiah, Price, Harper, Majerle, Steve Smith, etc, etc.. Guys like Terry Porter dominated with 26 ppg and 8 assists in the WCF but then cratered to 16 ppg against MJ - this is standard and the clear-cut trend of opposing guards against MJ - the double-teaming schemes and greater onslaught wears them out defensively, so they have less capacity for offense.