33 Responses to “The G.O.A.T. (in Europe)”

1. September 21st, 2007 at 8:35 am

   Celts Fan says:

   Scottie or ‘Nique, are you kidding??? Scottie by a mile!

2. September 21st, 2007 at 8:44 am

   Lucky Lester says:

   I’ll go for Nique, not by a mile, but by a Nike Air Jordan Shoe… The first one. I would have liked to see Scottie take that Hawks team on his back - see how many ‘chips he would have now.

3. September 21st, 2007 at 9:03 am

   seth says:

   Celts Fan,
   I have mad love for Scottie too, but don’t sleep on ‘Nique! As a kid, MJ is the reason I fell in love with the game, and I literally watched every televised Bulls game for a decade, so I have great appreciation for the subtle nuances of Scottie’s game that made him so great. Greatest defensive wing player EVER. Perfector of the point-forward position. Robin to Mike’s Batman, and a damn fine Batman impersonation while Mike was gone, ‘lest anyone forget. But dude you gotta give Nique his due. Yes he was one-dimensional, but what a dimension it was! A lot of people forget, but before Mike put it all together and became the GOAT, there was a legitimate debate over who was hotter, him or Nique. Go back and watch the tapes of their old shootouts. Filfthy. Simply put, Nique was the nastiest two-foot plant dunker ever without question (sorry J-Rich). A 25 ppg career scorer including 2 seasons over 30. Put a weak Hawks team on his back for years in a brutal Eastern Conference and damn-near got them through a couple of years, but ran into the Legend. Yes Scottie has 6 rings, yes he’s one of the 50 greatest, but he got to play with Mike, Dream, Barkley and a LOADED but troubled Portland squad. Nique never had that luxury. His wingmen were guys like Spud & Kevin Willis. I’m not gonna touch who I think is better between the two, but I won’t stand for any ‘Nique bashing.

4. September 21st, 2007 at 9:27 am

   Kobeef says:

   I don’t know about you but generally, I think it is probably not a good idea to build a team with players who publicly state they don’t want to play on your team (Yi, Bell).

   Milwaukee’s GM must be one of those messed-up guys who becomes obsessed with girls who dump him.

5. September 21st, 2007 at 9:51 am

   E-ROC says:

   The Bucks GM doesn’t know how to conduct business, obviously. For whatever reason, he doesn’t know how to take a hint when someone doesn’t want to play for your organization. You throw dirt on Bell, then match his offer and expect everything to be alright?! That’s crazy. He should be fired or fined or given a nice a** kickin’ by somebody. LOL.

   I think I would have to take Pippen. Simply put, he makes his teammates better. Nuff said.

6. September 21st, 2007 at 9:58 am

   kobe aka dagger aka GOAT says:

   i think kobe will smoke anybody especialy the fruit cake of allen iverson

7. September 21st, 2007 at 10:01 am

   #3AI#3 says:

   yea i really doubt that kobe aka the dagger yeaa rightttt i thought daggers would win games for your team but according to kobes latest playoff records i guess not so i have no idea wtf this foo is talking about u’s a pompus individual kobe and ruben i mean kobe aka dagger and skottie is too old already thats it for him i dont expect for him to do much.

8. September 21st, 2007 at 10:04 am

   #3AI#3 says:

   and kobes gay and cant carry a team to the championship liek AI did in 2000 ho

9. September 21st, 2007 at 10:35 am

   Tbest says:

   AI carried a team to a championship? When was that?

10. September 21st, 2007 at 10:50 am

    João says:

    Nique vs Pip, thats difficult, and thats depends, if you have to start a franchise, I would go with Nique, if you already have a Superstar on your team (Bird, Jordan, Lebron, Wade, Shaq, Duncan, Kobe … ) I would go with Pip. The Bucks are just a @#$%¨&&* organization ,,, And my Miami Heat are in bad shape right now, not a good off-season … do something Riley, please !!!

11. September 21st, 2007 at 11:00 am

    Austin Burton says:

    You don’t think Jordan and ‘Nique on the same team would have won championships?

12. September 21st, 2007 at 11:47 am

    Hollowhustla says:

    My take on the ‘Nique vs Pip thang. Nique CARRIED the Hawks for years. Took em as far as he could dolo!!! Had classic battles against Bird, MJ, & Barkley. Was all that for the Hawks for a long time DOLO!!! Nobody could stop him, PERIOD! Pippen had his opportunity to do what Nique did when MJ retired. What was the result? We all saw the NY debacle when Kukoc was called on instead of crying Pippen. Never was it questioned who would get the rock in crunch time with Nique on the floor! Pip was a great team player who needed someone else to be the man to be successful. He always had someone to help carry the load (Kukoc, Rodman, etc). Pip was great but needed other greatness around him to do what Nique did for a career!

13. September 21st, 2007 at 11:50 am

    DOC says:

    Pip defense and handle makes him better than Nique to me. Nique can’t play the point.

14. September 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    J13 says:

    I believe that Nique was a better scorer,Pip a better all around player but if we’re playing in a game and I’ve got the first pick and those are the two best players,I’m picking Nique. As good as a defender Pip was he wouldn’t have been able to do NOTHIN with Nique,he couldn’t be stopped,he just didn’t have the luxury of playing with the G.O.A.T whose the clown who didn’t know AI took philly to the nba finals,he has an eastern conference title plus kobe’s a snitch.

15. September 21st, 2007 at 12:07 pm

    Bron42 says:

    so because nique didn’t have to play point ever pippen is automatically worse? You gotta go with nique on this one. Like everyone said, he was the lebron of his time. LEGIT superstar on a subpar team. I actually like him more than lebron but a bunch of can’t who have never even watched him play are gonna jump on that one so ya. Just think about his duel with Bird, droppin 50 on people, workin so hard for buckets that he was dunkin putbacks on his own teammates if they were too far under the basket.
    Pippen was good and served his purpose but without jordan he wouldn’t have won anything and jordan probably wouldnt have won without pippens (mikes own words, not mine) Also keep in mind, Niques whole career his team was weak. His second best player was what..spudd webb? doc rivers? And he pretty much helped create the jordan legacy with that dunk contest in chicago that jordan somehow won. Not taking ANYTHING away from pippen but like they said..if i was startin a team, I take the human highlight anyday. If I already had a star, then you probably still go with nique but wouldn’t argue with anyone takin pip.

    P.s: Nique is more than the best 2 foot dunker (sorry vince and j rich) hes probably the best IN GAME dunker ever. Carter has his dunks but it was mostly one hot dunk contest and about 10 posters. Both Nique and Jordan had crazy dunks every game not to mention multiple dunk contests.

16. September 21st, 2007 at 1:22 pm

    jay says:

    interesting with pip..he is what 43?? i actually heard houston had a great workout with the nets should be interesting..can the lakers please get JO already!!!

17. September 21st, 2007 at 2:52 pm

    Kudabeen says:

    Lester: “By a Air jordan shoe” LMAO

    Comments later…need to read.

18. September 21st, 2007 at 3:21 pm

    Osama says:

    Man, lets see.. On one hand there is the Human Highlight Film, that went on to win how many chips? hm, none. then there is Pip who learned everything from the goat himself and got how many chips? Yeah right u know that allready.

    If i was startin a team, I’ll go straight up with Pip, he played 207 Playoff games is the best Teamplayer of his age and his defensive skills were unique as nique was.

19. September 21st, 2007 at 3:28 pm

    João says:

    I didnt say that Jordan with Nique wouldnt have won chips … I think that they could have won, but sometimes put the 2 best players in the same team is not the best option, and Pip always undestood that was Mike team, and he should do everything else, and that, is PRICELESS ,,, I dont now if Nique would have done that ,,, Player by player I think that Nique was a Beast ,,, but the I still think that if I was starting a franchise I would go with Nique, if I already had a superstar I would go with Pip, peace

20. September 21st, 2007 at 4:08 pm

    Bron42 says:

    osama, we alll know pip won rings and was in playoffs with jordan, but how much did he carry them by himself? When jordan retired how many rings did he win as the one man show? Thats the pippen you need to look at. Not the sidekick pippen. If pippen was in the same shoes as nique, would he have been better? Statss say no. Is pippen probably the best sidekick of all time..ya..is he one of the best defensive wings..ya…is he a team carrying lone superstar that nique was? probably not. Like me and joao said, if you had to build a team from the ground up, chances are you don’t start with a defensive stopper who doesn’t have real star power or team carrying traits. How many epic showdowns do u remember pippen having against other stars when jordan retired? I can name a few off the top of my head that nique had to carry his team.

21. September 21st, 2007 at 4:52 pm

    Kudabeen says:

    Okay can we please get past the Jordan factor for a sec when evaluating Scottie. He came in the league as a rangy shooter who showed signs of being a capable role player, but with a questionable heart. He ended his career as a TOP 50 player! WTF! This is a guy who worked. He took his beatings in practice and early in his career and kept coming and getting better. He didn’t train with MJ and hang-out with him and learn everything from MJ. Mike said that he never hung with Scottie like people thought. Early it was Okaley. He hung out with BJ, JoJo and even ron harper more than Scottie. Not trying to infer that they didn’t have love for each other, but make the point Scottie was his own man.

    Scottie go HIS teams together to workout. Jordan worked out with Grover own his own. In practive Scottie did benefit from going up against Jordan, but why are we rewarding Jordan all that credit. You have to want it to be great in the NBA. jordan didn’t give Scottie desire to be better, talent, or endurance. Scottie was THE GREATEST ALL AROUND PLAYER TO EVER PLAY THE GAME…do people even know what that means? It means no matter what was needed to win Scottie Pippen got it done. Scottie never won games for the bulls. Scottie never was the difference maker on those Championship teams? come on get serious.

    Scottie was a shutdown defender and he was the ENABLER. He enabled MJ to be called a Champion. MJ didn’t have to carry a whole team ala Nique anymore, because he had a focused and hungry running mate of equal propensity to supply the kind of consistency and skill to win championships. He and Jordan had the same responsibilities, but Jordan was the more vicious finisher, so when it came time to bite down on the opponents neck Jordan was the big dog and would have been on any other team with any other player in NBA history, so why use this fact to minimize Pippen.

    I don’t think Nique in place of pippen produces the same success. Nique was a monster scorer, but he dominated the ball. I can’t see Jordan, being an Alpha-dog being able to deal with that or Nique being the glue guy that ties up the loose ends.

    Scottie Pippen deserved to be upset at Phil not trusting him to be the go to guy and rather going with a first year guy (a novelty at the time) Kukoc. I will never say he made the right move sitting out, but how insulting is that when you are trying to show and prove and you have been carrying the team for a year and you are a runner up in the MVP, but in the playoffs (aka Winning Time) your coach says hey “you aren’t really our go to guy, your no MJ, I’m not going even give you the chance to win or lose this for us” I can’t imagine that that couldn’t have been one of the hardest moments in Pippen’s career.

    Pippen was the first Mr Everything and showed it throughout his career. his numbers are incredible. He is everywhere. I love nique. He was probably the most explosive athletes the NBA ever seen, but that pales in comparison to what Pippen accomplished. This man WORKED for his. People got to stop acting like he was just a beneficiary. No Pippen, no championships. I think people needed to dig and find old bulls games and see how much Pippen effected the games. It’s crazy to see a guy’s fingerprints be all over a game like Pippen did. Some guys have good games or a playoff series or two doing this, but this HOF’er made a career of it…

22. September 21st, 2007 at 5:09 pm

    Jay says:

    Main argument I see for anybody on Nique’s side is that he carried the a weak Hawks team to respectability in a tough Eastern Conference. Not exactly true, sure the East had the best teams in the league, but they also had the worst. Also, he led them to only 4 consecutive good years, the rest were just mediocre.

    Then consider Pip’s 1st year w/o Mike, MVP-candidate and all, leading a mediocre Bulls team to a 55-win record. Factor in the 6 rings and the clearly superior all-around game, and it’s easy for me to say Pip > Nique.

23. September 21st, 2007 at 5:27 pm

    João says:

    Its difficult to think as a first option , players like Pippen, and I put Jason kidd in the same category, because they are not the go to guy, thats it. Scottie could do things that Nique couldnt do , like chase a small point guard for a entire series (like he did against Jackson in the Indiana x Chicago playoffs ). But for me, a Basketball team, needs a good point guard, a solid defender from the wing, a nice center that can grabe 12 rebounds a game, a nice bench and stuff like that, BUT , when the game is on the line, you NEED a guy that put the ball in the basket, a guy that can score 20 points in the 4° quarter, a guy that can make 5 field goals in the last 2 minutes of the game, and that, is not Scottie Pippen. Thats why there are a lot of guys that are saying that to start a franchise they would pick Nique, and I am with this guys. And by the way, I love Pippen, he was the best All around player, IMO.

24. September 21st, 2007 at 5:33 pm

    Kudabeen says:

    Nique carried his teams where? Don’t get me wrong Nique was a beast, but the Pippen lead Bulls competed. He was the Leader on the Portland Team and the alway lost to a better team, just like Nique. Nique was limited in how he can effect the game. Nique Never played with another HOF caliber and I have to give that credence as it is due, but looking at those teams. The other guys didn’t really take shots. His career looks to be more like Iverson’s, in that his team was constructed with “all we need is guys that can defend rebound, and play smart and Nique will score for us. Needless to say that isn’t a winning formula. Especially when you look at all other championship teams.

    I don’t know what star power has to do with winning. I don’t know what carrying a team really means if you aren’t taking them any where by comparison. Nique hasn’t achieved anything Pippen hasn’t other than a scoring title. 55 games on a team where you are the only All-star is pretty damn good in my book. Nique also won 57 games (I think), but neither guy won a Chip, so let that go. Pippen enabled the Bull’s players to play to their strengths. Pippen made it so that none of Chicago players were asked to do something they weren’t comfortable doing. He made so that Kerr could get on the floor, BJ wasn’t dominated, the centers weren’t asked to box out and get the rebound or block shots, MJ wasn’t asked to play full throttle all game long and be burnt out when it was winning time like his early years. If the GOAT drops 50 60 pts in a game is still losing, he needs help carrying the load. You say side kick. I respect the game, so I say Teammate and Partner. Let me hear Jordan or another NBA player/coach describe Pippen as a sidekick, but that will not happen, because he is respected more by those who know what it takes to be what Pippen is to Basketball. Fan’s and pundits use word like ’sidekick’ to describe a Hall of Famer and a Top 50 player. MJ won games for the bulls, but he didn’t hold Pippen up to the rim to allow him to roll the ball in. He didn’t coach Scottie on how to play the game. He and Scottie realized they weren’t going until they got stronger and the BOTH hit the gym and developed in to a two headed monster. It’s just a shame that saw one head is recognized for wrecking beautiful havoc on the basketball court, while the other is treated like he is lucky to share the same stomach or else he just wouldn’t eat.

    I ride with actual NBA players and officials opinions about Pippen. He was the reason I gravitated to the game. Quite Strength that opponents felt, but fans could quite appreciate…

25. September 21st, 2007 at 5:42 pm

    Kudabeen says:

    http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/scottie_pippen.html

26. September 21st, 2007 at 6:33 pm

    mavid says:

    Wow, just think if Nique played with Jordan.

27. September 21st, 2007 at 6:51 pm

    Kudabeen says:

    Great videos of the Bulls 87-88 season (Pippens rookie year)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kF58vR4GOY&mode=related&search=

28. September 21st, 2007 at 8:42 pm

    Austin Burton says:

    In regards to Pippen’s one season as The Man in Chicago, keep in mind that the entire roster had something to prove that year. Everyone wrote them off w/o Mike, and they were motivated to show they could win without him. You have to factor that into how they performed as a group.

29. September 21st, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    Lee says:

    Nique would have won a championship the year he was traded from Atlanta - they had the best record in the East … better than Pippen’s Bulls.

    It was terrible he never got the chance that year.

30. September 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 pm

    Kudabeen says:

    If he could have won a championship, why was he traded?

    Cool note. Espn classic just happen to be playig a random 1989 game of the Bulls vs Hawks. Nique, Moses Malone, Reggie Theus, Big Dog Carr and Doc Rivers vs Jordan, Scottie, horace, and Cartwright (JORDAN JUST DUNKED ON NIQUE AND MOSES AS I SPEAK…CRAZY!!)

    Clyde Frazier just said, “This year they say the top three players in the league are Jordan, Magic and Bird…I’d say it is Nique, Jordan and Magic”

    Good Stuff

31. September 24th, 2007 at 4:17 am

    Lee says:

    Well … it’s the Hawks … they hardly get the GM of the decade award.

32. September 24th, 2007 at 9:35 am

    alex says:

    Why was it even considered that Nique was better than Pip? Because he had a higher scoring average?

    Handles - Pip
    Passing - Pip
    Offensive Awareness - Pip
    Defensive Awareness - Pip
    Outside shooting - close, but I’d still say Pip
    Inside scoring - Nique
    Dunking / Espn highlights - Nique

    To everyone saying that Pip was lucky that he was playing with MJ, I’ve always thought that MJ was lucky that he didn’t have to worry about Pip guarding him.

33. September 27th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

    Eisengrim says:

    Ummmm, Scottie wins because he participated in a little thing called defense. And he could use his left hand. And he could shoot a jumpshot.

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