Re: Pippen Professional?

[opi@unesco.org]

Josh makes a strong case and one that's probably fair and accurate.
Still, my take is that the Bulls ultimately won despite Pippi's prissy
attitude, thanks granted to his stellar defense on his man but above all
because MJ was MJ.

If Walker was to somehow replicate Barkley's 1999 stats (4.6apg, 12.3rpg
and .478FG%), I would expect him to start in the millennial All Star
game. One thing I noticed about the Round Mound when reviewing his 1999
stats is that he really stepped up in the playoffs last year (23.5ppg,
13.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, .529FG%) even if poor Pippi insists it was
Chuck's fault that everything went wrong.

Give Phil Jackson credit for getting so much out of a guy who treats
quitting, pouting and whining as a perfectly natural ways to live a
life. Having said this, I think that the Flakers are a good notch below
Portland, Houston and the Spurs no matter where Pippen lands. I just
hope Pitino doesn't get swept back into the Pipi sweepstakes, because I
simply don't like that player and would have a bit of difficulty rooting
for him to succeed. Thankfully, a 14+ million cap slot may be too rich
for our blood no matter how highly Pitino values his game, regardless of
whether someone reports Scottie was spotted at Logan airport during
Ryder Cup weekend.

Go Celts!

Joe

p.s.  There's a photo and video gallery of Kevin McHale at NBA.COM which
I'm sure you will all check out. If anyone out there has a video of
Kevin's 56 point game please let me know. Celts video meister Ed Ag told
me awhile ago that he was able to actually contact McHale about it and
discovered that even Kevin doesn't own a copy of the video. I remember
listening to that game --and the 43 pointer against Detroit the next
night -- on the radio. I don't recall if either game was even televised.

---

Josh Ozersky wrote:

> I don't think this pippin bashing is quite justified.
> I have no particular attachment to him, nor do I
> consider him in any way a great big game player, etc.
> But in his defense:
>
> -- Barkley and he have a long history that was started
> by Barkley's public attacks on Scottie when in
> Phoenix.
>
> --At these respective stages in their careers, Pippin
> is obviously better, but even at their peaks Barkley
> couldn't defend his own shadow.  Worse, he often
> laughingly bragged about how bad he was on defense, as
> if were a genetic condition rather than laziness.
>
> -- Pippin is being asked to be a spotup jump shooter,
> when he is one of the most mobile big men in the
> league, and a born slasher.  Barkley's game is suited
> to Houston, since he basically just lives on the box.
> Obviously he would like it more in Houston.
>
> -- finally, the Bulls would not have won any
> championships with Charles Barkley, in my opinion.
> For all of Michael's brilliance with the ball, those
> teams won largely on defense, and Scottie was the
> defense star.   Furthermore, his great flexibility and
> fluidity on offense provided the Bulls with a
> magnificent resource allowing Jordan to do his thing
> without creating internal tension such as you see in
> Houston, LA and elsewhere.  No one with scottie's
> ONCOURT unselfishness and skills should be slammed as
> being a me-first player.  Whatever else he is (a baby,
> soft, etc.) he isn't that.
>
> --- Theresa Lee <tjoyce@mit.edu> wrote:
> > At least Charles Barkley admits he's not a role
> > model.
> >
> > Scottie Pippen has no conscience and even less
> > class. He talks about
> > professionalism as if he cornered the market, but
> > he's the least
> > professional of them all. He strikes me as a real
> > baby, whiney and selfish.
> > Everyone goes about things differently and just
> > because Barkley doesn't
> > work out like Jordan did, doesn't make it okay for
> > Pippen to PERSONALLY
> > bash him in public. He's lost his perspective. It's
> > all about HIM!
> >
> > He needs to bite his tongue!!
> >
> > Theresa
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> =====