Who is/was the better player: Scottie Pippen or Pau Gasol?

[elementally morale]

Serious question.

I know the positions and playing styles don't match. However, there was a dynasty that had Pippen as 2nd fiddle and we have a team with potential of winning a few more titles in the next 4-5 years. On that team, Pau Gasol is 2nd fiddle.

So who is the better player of the two? Which would you rather have? Who would you choose to build around? Which one of them is the better complimentary player?

Tell me what you think.

[TROLL_HUNTER]

its just funny how somebody starts a reasonable post and all the trolls start coming out like snails after the rain. 2 replies and still no reasoning on why Pippen is that incredibly much better than Gasol. Anyways its still very soon to make a judgement on this as the Kobe-Gasol Lakers have a few years ahead and only by the time they are done we will all know the outcome of this.

Again, this has a lot to do with popularity. Pippen was popular besides being a great player so nobody questions him. On the other hand, Gasol is just a skinny white euro ,uncool, and no matter how great performances he has and how many rings he manages to win, people will not even admit a comparison to Kevin Garnett, either. well, when i said people i meant haters and trolls, obviously.

As for my opinion, they are both great players and its extremely hard to make a choice. Only because of career success logic clearly says Pippen. However, time will tell, in the end.

[Roundball_Rock]

Troll, it is a laughable question. Comparing them is like comparing Derek Fisher to Dennis Rodman. @ "Troll Hunter" vouching for this thread.

Gasol has made one all-NBA team (barely--the third team and he never made it before wearing the *purple and gold*), 0 all-Defensive teams, has never received a MVP vote, and made two all-star teams in his entire career. He is closer to Horace Grant than Scottie Pippen.

[Cyclone112]

Troll, it is a laughable question. Comparing them is like comparing Derek Fisher to Dennis Rodman. @ "Troll Hunter" vouching for this thread.

Gasol has made one all-NBA team (barely--the third team and he never made it before wearing the *purple and gold*), 0 all-Defensive teams, has never received a MVP vote, and made two all-star teams in his entire career. He is closer to Horace Grant than Scottie Pippen.

Gasol >>> Pippen... jk. At least it isn't a Bulls/Jordan fan making this thread or else this would be a disaster.

[elementally morale]

Comparing them is like comparing Derek Fisher to Dennis Rodman.

Not really. Gason lead a Spanish team to great international success. He took a team to the playoffs with no marquee 2nd option. He is an integral part of a campionship team and he is the 2nd most efficient player in the league this year after LeBron, based on efficiency numbers at nba.com

Gasol had more than decent success and he is a very good player. Pretending like it's out of the question comparing him to Pippen tells me you have not seen that much of Pippen live and you let thos rings blur your vision.

Pippen vs. Gasol is a legitimate question, even if Pippen turns out to have been better. (I think I'd vote Pippen myself, but I really want to know what you guys think. And why.)

[elementally morale]

At least it isn't a Bulls/Jordan fan making this thread or else this would be a disaster.

It could turn out to be a disaster this way, too.

Gasol is the 2nd best player on the Lakers. Some people say he is the MVP of the Lakers. (I disagree but you hear the voices.) But let's just agree he is the 2nd best player on that team. Pippen was the 2nd best player on Jordan's Bulls.

So you are basically saying that Jordan had a MUCH MUCH MUCH better 2nd option thatn Kobe had last year and has this year.

Are you sure?

[Roundball_Rock]

Not really. Gason lead a Spanish team to great international success.

Yeah, and Pippen was--according to Chuck Daly--the second best player on the Dream Team, the GOAT team international competition.

He took a team to the playoffs with no marquee 2nd option.

And did nothing when he got there. Pippen took a team to within one horrendous foul call from the ECF and likely was on his way to the finals wihtout a marquee 2nd option.

Gasol had more than decent success and he is a very good player.

Yeah, so is Boozer. The funny thing is Boozer was considered better than Gasol (as was Bosh, Stoudemire, Duncan, KG, and Dirk) as recently as the end of the 2008 season. Gee, what changed?

Pippen vs. Gasol is a legitimate question

It is a laughable question. If you are as intelligent as you think you are you are simply engaged in trolling. Pippen is top 20-25 all-time according to most people. Gasol is barely top 15 today. How are they comparable?

So you are basically saying that Jordan had a MUCH MUCH MUCH better 2nd option thatn Kobe had last year and has this year.

Are you sure?

Ah, I see your point now. Yes, Jordan had a far better second option than Kobe has. Let's compare #3, #4, and #5 options, though...I can't do this until purple and gold fans clarify their hierarchy. Who is your #3 option anyway? The great Bynum who is benched in crunch time? Is it Odom? Artest?

[Carbine]

If Pippen was a basketball team and Gasol was a basketball team, Pippen would be about 10 points better than Gasol.

Make sense?

[elementally morale]

Oh snap, you just unleashed the Roundball_Rock fury! ISH is done any minute now.

How old is this Roundball Rock guy? In his mid twenties, I guess. When did Pippen sart playing? 1987? How old was RR back then? 2 years old? 5 years old?

[TROLL_HUNTER]

[QUOTE=Roundball_Rock]Troll, it is a laughable question. Comparing them is like comparing Derek Fisher to Dennis Rodman. @ "Troll Hunter" vouching for this thread.


please, come back with a more elaborated reasoning. Playing alongside somebody who is considered God by most people plus being white and foreigner and coming from a crap team like Memphis is not the best path to ever getting a MVP vote, regardless your performances on the court. And please...all Lakers fan will always vote Kobe cos they know that hes the only one who can win the MVP. No matter how good Gasol is they will never split the votes so none of them is a serious candidate for the MVP. Even a blind man can see that. and it was impossible he would ever get a vote playing for Memphis, unless some people start saying you look like Kobe Bryant. I will give you just 1 example: OJ Mayo. I see lots of posts about this guy, only cos many people see some future KB on him. If you compare his performance last year and this year to Gasol's game back in Memphis, Gasol did much better than him but Today people appreciate OJ Mayo much more than they did with Gasol back then. Why? Again, its just a question of popularity and what you look like, not what you really are.

But anyway,there are people who hate on Bryant or even on MJ so anything is possible in this world...

[elementally morale]

Yeah, and Pippen was--according to Chuck Daly--the second best player on the Dream Team, the GOAT team international competition.

When? In 1992? He may have been, but I doubt it. However, 1992 Pippen is prime Pippen and neither Bird nor Magic were in their primes then. And there was Robinson, Malone... I'm not buying what Daly said.

It is a laughable question. If you are as intelligent as you think you are you are simply engaged in trolling. Pippen is top 20-25 all-time according to most people. Gasol is barely top 15 today. How are they comparable?

Pippen is not top 25. He is overrated on this board. He was a very good player but nowhere better than Dirk Nowitzki. Who is also not top 25.

Ah, I see your point now.

It took you a while.

[TROLL_HUNTER]

All this said, I go for Scottie Pippen, by the way. he was great and has achieved more so far. Thats my opinion Today.

I just wanted to express my surprise at people outraged at the question. I dont think the Inquisition should burn Elemantally Morale for posting this..

[Roundball_Rock]

Playing alongside somebody who is considered God by most people plus being white and foreigner and coming from a crap team like Memphis is not the best path to ever getting a MVP vote, regardless your performances on the court.

Yeah, because being white kills you in MVP voting.

.all Lakers fan will always vote Kobe cos they know that hes the only one who can win the MVP. No matter how good Gasol is they will never split the votes so none of them is a serious candidate for the MVP. Even a blind man can see that.

Obviously you don't know how MVP voting works. Jordan and Pippen finished top 5 in voting the same year once. Five players receive MVP votes on a given ballot. Gasol has never even received a single fifth place vote. That says it all...

The funny thing is Boozer was considered better than Gasol (as was Bosh, Stoudemire, Duncan, KG, and Dirk) as recently as the end of the 2008 season. Gee, what changed?

All these players were all-NBA that year, except for Bosh and he was considered superior to Gasol by most. Again, what changed?

When? In 1992? He may have been, but I doubt it. However, 1992 Pippen is prime Pippen and neither Bird nor Magic were in their primes then. And there was Robinson, Malone... I'm not buying what Daly said.

Okay. Your opinion>that of the guy who coached the team. How about Michael Jordan? According to MJ Pippen was the best guard on the team, better than absolute peak Drexler, better than prime Stockton. They SAW Pippen from the best seats in the house. Did you?

It took you a while.

at your delusions of grandeur. I rarely read your posts. I can detect the agenda of people who I read often but on a site with hundreds of posters am I suppose to know the agendas of every poster?

Troll Hunter, why did you select that name?

[cotdt]

These two seem pretty even individually, and on offense. But Pippen created a lot of plays for the Bulls so that Jordan didn't have to do too much of it, whereas on the Lakers Kobe has to do that. That said, Kobe/Gasol will massively outrebound Jordan/Pippen, small/big combos are simply better as D-Wade has recently said.

[Roundball_Rock]

These two seem pretty individually, and on offense. But Pippen created a lot of plays for the Bulls so that Jordan didn't have to do too much of it, whereas on the Lakers Kobe has to do that. That said, Kobe/Gasol will massively outrebound Jordan/Pippen, small/big combos are simply better as D-Wade has recently said.

I don't recall Jordan-Pippen ever losing by 40 in Game 6 of the NBA finals. 1-1 in the finals>6-0 in the finals? 6-6 in the finals>24-11?

These two seem pretty even individually, and on offense.

How? Gasol was considered the 6th-7th best PF until he began wearing the *purple and gold*. You know--as recently as 2008. Pippen was the best SF of the 90's and a top 5 player for years in his prime. Do LAL fans really think Gasol is top 5????