Replace Pippen to Michael Jordan on 2000 Portland blazers

[Dragonyeuw]

Frankly, I don't see Jordan even allowing that kind of comeback like what the Lakers pulled on Portland. 15 down in the 4th quarter? And Jordan would have came up far bigger than Pippen did at the end of that game...even at 37 years old.

[AlphaWolf24]

No Pippen ......no win.

Jordan .424 winning % without Pippen and "0" winning seasons with "1" playoff win......that's "1" playoff game won in 10 tries...


sorry.....but Pippen brings so much more to a team then "stats"...the man was a great player that helped the Bull's become "winners"...

[Asukal]

sorry.....but Pippen brings so much more to a team then "stats"...the man was a great player that helped the Bull's become "winners"...

I agree. Pippen is better than Kobe as a sidekick.

[AlphaWolf24]

I agree. Pippen is better than Kobe as a sidekick.

Lebron says HI...


oh wait nevermind.............Pippen actually shot in the 4th sometimes after MJ was done ballhoggin

[Soundwave]

Anyone who doesn't think the Blazers win the title in this scenario has their head up their ass.

There's not a chance in hell Jordan would allow any team to blow a 20 point 4th quarter lead with a trip to the NBA Finals hanging in the balance.

He would've hit a few shots in the 4th (unlike Pippen) to stem the tide and take the Blazers home. That's what he does. He's the greatest playoff big-shot maker in NBA history.

Everyone knows what would've happened. That Blazers team was considerably deeper than any of the Bulls teams that won titles, I'm not even sure it would've even got to game 7 in the first place.

[JohnnySic]

If Portland had made just one more basket during that meltdown, they probably win that game. So, yeah, having MJ would have helped.

[StarJordan]

jordan swept prime shaq. portland woulda won in 5.

[32Dayz]

jordan swept prime shaq. portland woulda won in 5.

Third year Shaq swept Jordan (1995).

[Legends66NBA7]

Third year Shaq swept Jordan (1995).

He did ?

[32Dayz]

He did ?

Was it a sweep?

I know the Shaq led Magic beat the Jordan led Bullz in 95.

Thought it was a sweep but it might not have been I dont remember.



Ah nvm it went to 6 games.

[DJ Leon Smith]

No Pippen ......no win.

Jordan .424 winning % without Pippen and "0" winning seasons with "1" playoff win......that's "1" playoff game won in 10 tries...


sorry.....but Pippen brings so much more to a team then "stats"...the man was a great player that helped the Bull's become "winners"...

One "thing" that Pippen certainly "did" is "inspire" the overuse of "quotes" in certain forum "users".

[DaHeezy]

Actually I would beg to differ. I think older Jordan would have mentally rattled this collection of headcases and the overall team performance would have faultered. Similar too what happened in Washington. The reason Portland was almost able to beat LA was because a different player was able to step up and contribute their own clutch performance. A 37 year old Jordan would still demand the ball and force the rest of the team out of their comfort zone. This 37 year old version may steal 1 games, but would have stamina amd endurance to compare to his younger self and win 4 of 7.

Don't judge Pippen on a strech on one game his overall impact to the series was much greater

[ShaqAttack3234]

It's still a close series that could be won by either team.

Portland was a quarter away from beating them, and everyone remembers that meltdown. But don't forget that the Lakers were up 3-1. The team had problems putting teams away and let Sacramento right back into the series after leading 2-0 in the best of 5 first round, and Indiana almost took them to 7 games after the Lakers were up 3-1 vs them.

Portland was more talented than LA with Pippen, and that would still be the case with Jordan instead of him, but I don't know how much better they match up with LA.

Portland was a big team with every starter except for Damon Stoudamire being a player that could post up and exploit whatever mismatch was there. That was how Dunleavy liked to coach, and that team's strength was their balance and depth as well as their defense.

In that series, their biggest weapon was Sheed who absolutely feasted on LA's power forwards, particularly Green.

The Blazers with Pippen probably had a better chance of containing Shaq as they did. I don't see 37 year old MJ being a better defender than Pippen was in 2000. Pippen was still an elite defender, especially due to his length, and his help defense on Shaq in the post was huge, that was why he was assigned to Ron Harper who wasn't an offensive threat by that point, or a good shooter. That allowed him to double Shaq whenever he caught the ball. They also had Sheed for that, and sometimes both of them went to help out, but more often than not, it was Pippen.

Jordan was always one of the best help defenders on the perimeter himself so this strategy could still be effective with Jordan assigned to Harper.

Kobe guarded Damon Stoudamire most of the series and Damon was held in check and not as big of a factor as usual. Kobe himself was contained for the first 5 games until he played really well the last 2 games, so while Shaq and Kobe really didn't go off at the same time, neither were really shut down at the same time either.

Keep in mind that Pippen himself was having an excellent series until his injury, can't remember if it was a wrist or ankle injury, and looking at the numbers, he averaged 17 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 3.8 apg and 3 spg on 46.9% shooting through the first 5 games, yet LA was still up 3-2 so it's not necessarily a matter of getting more production in Pippen's place.

Jordan would be Portland's best scorer, but that in itself doesn't guarantee a huge difference because whether it was go to Jordan for most of their points or relying less on one guy and more for a variety of guys, they were going to be capable of scoring.

If they rely on Jordan more then Portland isn't getting the same balance and production out of everyone, which doesn't necessarily make them worse, but it probably would mean exploiting their biggest match up problem less, which was Sheed, so you're probably not getting the 23+ ppg from him that they got, and as it is, LA was able to beat Portland in Sheed's two 30 point games.

He would give Portland the go to guy in the 4th that many analysts felt they lacked, so that could put them over the top. On paper, I'd agree that makes them the favorite, but many predicted Portland would win the title that year anyway so basketball isn't played on paper.

People who are saying LA would have no chance are kidding themselves.

[PrimeJohnnyDepp]

Was it a sweep?

I know the Shaq led Magic beat the Jordan led Bullz in 95.

Thought it was a sweep but it might not have been I dont remember.



Ah nvm it went to 6 games.

Never happened. Your head is just spinning, you make up things to not feel embarassed at your life, at this point.

[PrimeJohnnyDepp]

Never happened. Your head is just spinning, you make up things to not feel embarassed at your life, at this point.

Holy guacamole, Jordan did lose that one year. Why.