Pippen

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

I won't get into the debate about Pippen's character but it was mentioned
that Pippen wouldn't be one of the all-time greats if he didn't play with
Jordan. I don't think this is accurate. Let's look at the two seasons that
Jordan didn't play (except for the end of 94-95):

93-94: 22.0ppg, 8.7rpg, 5.6apg, 2.93spg, 49% from the field. 
94-95: 21.4ppg, 8.1rpg, 5.2apg, 2.94spg, 48% from the field.
These statistics also don't reflect Pippen's defensive prowess.

In 93-94 the Bulls went 55-27 behind Pippen. In 94-95 they were 47-35.
Pippen did not have much of a supporting cast in either of these seasons.
Of course, people will say Pippen didn't win the championship without
Jordan; but Jordan has also not won without Pippen.

Pippen will turn 33 at the beginning of next season so he probably only
has a few superstar seasons left, after which he'll probably still be a very 
good player. But if you added Pippen, the Celtics would be instant championship 
contenders for the next several years, with four All-Star caliber players. As 
for whether he could fit in the system, Pippen is a great open-court player 
and a tenacious, all-NBA defender. In the offseason, Pitino said something 
like, "If there was a single player for this system that we would covet, it 
would be Scottie Pippen." 

Alex Wang