# Greatest Defenders of All-Time (5 - Scottie Pippen)



## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

So the current list looks like this:
Bill Russell
Hakeem Olajuwon
Tim Duncan
Dennis Rodman
Who's next?


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

Wilt.

His defense made the NBA change rules of the game.


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## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

Im going with David Robinson, based on his incredible career and the fact I actually saw all of it. Mr. Robinson neighborhood was a difficult place to offensive players to orchestrate.


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## GTA Addict (Jun 27, 2005)

Robinson. Turned a mediocre defense (13th) into the 3rd best defense in his first year and 1st in his second year. In 92 they're 1st again, but when he misses the playoffs the Spurs are 2nd to last defensively without him. When he goes down in 97 the Spurs finish dead last defensively. He comes back in 98 along with Duncan and the Spurs have the 2nd best defense. When Duncan misses the 2000 playoffs the Spurs are still #1 in playoff DRtg with Robinson. This is enough evidence for me to conclude Robinson could make an otherwise mediocre or terrible defense very respectable if not one of the best defenses in the league. Huge impact.

Then you look at the individual numbers. He defended the great centers extremely well, despite the rep he gets for getting destroyed by Hakeem in 95. Against Robinson from 90 to 96, Hakeem's FG% dropped by 6.6%, Ewing's dropped by 7.6%, and Shaq's dropped by 7% from their regular averages. Pretty amazing results.

I see Pippen is leading the vote. Still waiting to hear a compelling case for him to be ranked this high....


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

GTA Addict said:


> Robinson. Turned a mediocre defense (13th) into the 3rd best defense in his first year and 1st in his second year. In 92 they're 1st again, but when he misses the playoffs the Spurs are 2nd to last defensively without him. When he goes down in 97 the Spurs finish dead last defensively. He comes back in 98 along with Duncan and the Spurs have the 2nd best defense. When Duncan misses the 2000 playoffs the Spurs are still #1 in playoff DRtg with Robinson. This is enough evidence for me to conclude Robinson could make an otherwise mediocre or terrible defense very respectable if not one of the best defenses in the league. Huge impact.
> 
> Then you look at the individual numbers. He defended the great centers extremely well, despite the rep he gets for getting destroyed by Hakeem in 95. Against Robinson from 90 to 96, Hakeem's FG% dropped by 6.6%, Ewing's dropped by 7.6%, and Shaq's dropped by 7% from their regular averages. Pretty amazing results.
> 
> *I see Pippen is leading the vote. Still waiting to hear a compelling case for him to be ranked this high....*


I don't think there's none.
But he will get penciled in.
Strangely, that's how it works in this forum...


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## BobStackhouse42 (Oct 7, 2010)

I think it's clearly Wilt.


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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)




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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

Pippen was like Lebron defensively, only he was actually quicker and more instinctive. Great examples of Scottie matching up with everyone from Magic Johnson to Charles Barkley to Patrick Ewing in that video (and no I'm not arguing he could hold a 7 foot Ewing for an entire game). Scottie Pippen was an incredible on ball defender who had the ability to hound guys end to end... that ability was the basis for the Bulls "Doberman" defense that Johnny Bach developed and is one of the reasons why the Bulls were so successful. Off ball Scottie was incredible... he and MJ could take away 3/4's of the court. He played passing lanes well and he was a great help defender. He was as good a transition defender as there ever was, period. 10 all-defensive teams. I'll take Scottie.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

Dornado said:


> Pippen was like Lebron defensively, only he was actually quicker and more instinctive. Great examples of Scottie matching up with everyone from Magic Johnson to Charles Barkley to Patrick Ewing in that video (and no I'm not arguing he could hold a 7 foot Ewing for an entire game). Scottie Pippen was an incredible on ball defender who had the ability to hound guys end to end... that ability was the basis for the Bulls "Doberman" defense that Johnny Bach developed and is one of the reasons why the Bulls were so successful. Off ball Scottie was incredible... he and MJ could take away 3/4's of the court. He played passing lanes well and he was a great help defender. He was as good a transition defender as there ever was, period. 10 all-defensive teams. I'll take Scottie.


Still waiting to read about ACTUALLY comparing Pippen to guys like D-Rob.

Like, D-Rob:

#4 ever in Defensive Rating (Pippen #66);
#10 ever in DWshares (Pippen #16);
WHILE
#9 in Winshares (Pippen #35).


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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

PauloCatarino said:


> Still waiting to read about ACTUALLY comparing Pippen to guys like D-Rob.


ok.... Scottie took over a game more defensively than David Robinson did. There's a reason why the Bulls were unbeatable in the playoffs, they were incredible defensively. I mean, they showed basketball in Portugal in the 90's, right? David Robinson was great, don't get me wrong, but I've seen guys do what David Robinson did.... I haven't really ever seen anyone control the game defensively from the 3 spot like Scottie did.


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## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

Dornado said:


> ok.... Scottie took over a game more defensively than David Robinson did. There's a reason why the Bulls were unbeatable in the playoffs, they were incredible defensively. I mean, they showed basketball in Portugal in the 90's, right? David Robinson was great, don't get me wrong, but I've seen guys do what David Robinson did.... I haven't really ever seen anyone control the game defensively from the 3 spot like Scottie did.


Come on, Pippen is great, but let's not get carried away. It weakens your argument when I see you writing flat out lies. The Bulls lost in the playoffs with Pippen during his career. I'll list them for you. 


Playoffs
1987-88 Lost NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (4-1) versus Detroit Pistons 
1988-89 Lost NBA Eastern Conference Finals (4-2) versus Detroit Pistons 
1989-90 Lost NBA Eastern Conference Finals (4-3) versus Detroit Pistons (Scottie Pippen/migraine game 7)
1993-94 Lost NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (4-3) versus New York Knicks 
1994-95 Lost NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (4-2) versus Orlando Magic

More Pippen playoff history for record. 

1998-99 Lost NBA Western Conference First Round (3-1) versus Los Angeles Lakers.
1999-00 Lost NBA Western Conference Finals (4-3) versus Los Angeles Lakers
2000-01 Lost NBA Western Conference First Round (3-0) versus Los Angeles Lakers
2001-02 Lost NBA Western Conference First Round (3-0) versus Los Angeles Lakers
2002-03 Lost NBA Western Conference First Round (4-3) versus Dallas Mavericks
2003-04 Finished career back with Chicago Bulls (didn't make the playoffs).

While Pippen was a great defender, an argument can be made that Jordan was a better defender. And actually won the DPOTYA. As we all know Jordans/Pippen Primes were not exactly in sync perfectly, as Jordan had put in four years in the league prior to Pippen being drafted. Also add to the fact Pippen took time for his game to develop.

Lets take into consideration other guys not just Jordan, that helped Pippen grow as a player , and defender along the way. I still remember that video where Charles Oakley is bitch slapping Pippen around. Pippen was notorious for being soft early on in his career, and hardly a hell of a defender. But other than the obvious in Jordan, we have to give just credit to Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, and several of the journeymen bigs that were part of the championship teams for the Bulls. They all played pivotal roles defensively, rebounding, and over all grit. 

I've seen someone do what David Robinson did defensively to, and his name was Bill Russell. My gut tells me you must not have actually watched David Robinson through out his career. The Guy had is own unique set of intangibles that he brought to the game defensively. From chase down blocks on the break, stealing the ball in a half court set, and running the fast break off it going coast to coast for a dunk. Robinson had a great set of handles for a 7'1" center. Robinson would close off the paint single handedly. By all measured statistics Robinsons value and impact was superior to Pippen. There is a reason why a guy like Robinson won the Defensive Player of The Year Award, and MVP.


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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

23AJ said:


> Come on, Pippen is great, but let's not get carried away. It weakens your argument when I see you writing flat out lies. The Bulls lost in the playoffs with Pippen during his career. I'll list them for you.
> 
> 
> Playoffs
> ...


So.... you took the Bulls being "unbeatable" literally and decided to list all of their playoff losses? Your inability to interpret hyperbole does not make me a liar. I'm sorry that you wasted your time doing that.

And somehow I doubt that you saw enough of Bill Russell to make that comparison, just a hunch.

I'm not saying David Robinson wasn't a terrific defender, I'm just saying I'll take Scottie. Obviously he never won a title without MJ and MJ never won a title without Scottie, they are intertwined no matter how you slice it. And I saw Hakeem Olajuwon do the things you just described at close to the same time David Robinson was doing them, only better.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

Dornado said:


> ok.... Scottie took over a game more defensively than David Robinson did. There's a reason why the Bulls were unbeatable in the playoffs, *they were incredible defensively*.


Are you talking about individual ou team defense, afterall?
Yes, the Bulls were pretty good defensive-wise. They had Pippen. AND Jordan. AND Grant. AND a great defensive coach.
I thought we were tlaking about individual defense, here. 



> I mean, they showed basketball in Portugal in the 90's, right?


In the 90's? Sure. But in the 80's i had to keep up with the NBA through TV Galizia (spain) and buying USA Today to check out the box scores  



> David Robinson was great, don't get me wrong, but I've seen guys do what David Robinson did....


In fact, i believe you haven't.

From a quick search, and using D-Rob's DPOY season, there's only one player who can match (not equal) Robinson's season, and that's Hakeem (who is, off course, one of the greatest defenders ever). But if Hakeem's stats compare to D-rob's 23,2ppg/12,2RPG/2,3SPG/4,5BPG, team-wise DRob gets the edge. Playing with notable non-defenders in Strickland, Anderson, Elliot and Cummings, he had the Spurs #1 in Opp FG% (Hakeem #5 in 1989-1990), #4 Opp Pts/g (#9), #1 Drt (#1) and #3 Opp Efg% (#12).

Many people (including myself) criticize D-Rob for, as great as a player he was, couldn't deliver adequately on the biggest stage (playoffs).
But let's not forget that, pre-injury, he was an excelent defender who was hakeem's par. (What about that Spurs/Warriors playoff round where Nellie had to play Tolbert as C and station him in the 3point line all game long so that D-Rob had to stay out of the paint on defense?).

So, regarding "guys do what Robinson did" you are talking about a prime Hakeem Olajuwon. Who, himself, was a much better defender than Pippen.



> I haven't really ever seen anyone control the game defensively from the 3 spot like Scottie did.


Even if it was true (Bad Boy Rodman), that doesn't mean Pippen > D-Rob.
A center has a greater defensive impact in a game than non-center (whatever position).


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

I voted for Scottie because of his versatility (specifically how successful he was at guarding PGs and disrupting teams' entire offensive strategies), but if I were choosing between the two bigs who are also battling in the vote... how did DRob make more of an impact than Wilt?


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

RollWithEm said:


> I voted for Scottie because of his versatility (specifically how successful he was at guarding PGs and disrupting teams' entire offensive strategies), *but if I were choosing between the two bigs who are also battling in the vote... how did DRob make more of an impact than Wilt?*


I don't think he did.
that's why i voted for Wilt.


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## GTA Addict (Jun 27, 2005)

I think both Robinson and Wilt have a case here. Wilt might have peaked higher defensively (largely due to era differences IMO, much easier to impact the game defensively when there's no 3 point line and thus less offensive spacing), but he was a little less consistent than Robinson.

As you guys might have noticed my approach in these threads has been entirely impact-based, i.e. how much a player's presence actually improves his team. Best way to look at this IMO is to simply look at the results - examine team DRtg (points allowed per 100 possessions) relative to league average with and without the player in question over their careers and analyze trends.

Negative relative DRtgs are good, positives are bad. e.g. If the league average in a particular year is 100 points allowed per 100 possessions, and a team allows 95 points per 100 possessions, their relative DRtg that year is -5

Warriors' Defensive Rating relative to league average:
1959: -1.3
1960: -4.5 *Wilt joins
1961: -1.5
1962: -0.4
1963: +1.7
1964: -5.8

Wilt has an immediate -3 impact his rookie year. From 61 to 63 we see the defense suffer, coinciding with the huge offensive load that Wilt has to carry. Then in 64, by most contemporary accounts this is the first year Wilt puts tremendous effort on the defensive end (emphasized by new coach Hannum) and the numbers reflect that - one of his best defensive years at arguably around -5 impact.

1965: -0.7 *Wilt's last season w/ Warriors, plays only 38 games
1966: -0.2

An expected drop in 65 given he plays only 38 games. Without him in 66 they drop a little further.

Sixers' DRtgs:
1964: +2.5
1965: +0.4 *Wilt joins, plays only 35 games
1966: -3.4 *Wilt plays full season

In 65 Wilt improves the defense by -2 playing only half the season. When he plays the full season in 66 he improves them by -6 compared to 64. Further evidence that Wilt can be at least a -5 defensive impact player (when he's not focusing as much on offense, as his scoring is starting to dip here).

1967: -2.4
1968: -5.6 *Wilt's last season w/ Sixers
1969: -1.6

The defense stays fairly consistently great. I think we can say he's still having around -4 to -5 impact in 67 and 68. Indeed, in 1969 when he's gone we see the defense get worse by 4 points.

Lakers DRtgs:
1968: +0.5
1969: -0.1 *Wilt joins
1970: -1.5 *Wilt plays only 12 games
1971: -1.4
1972: -4.4
1973: -3.7 *Wilt's last season
1974: -1.1

Less impressive changes on defense here from 69 to 71. Perhaps harder to impact the defense of the much more offensively-oriented Lakers here (they led the league in Offensive Rating). Not to mention this is Wilt past his prime.

Notice the -3 change from 1971 to 1972, however. This coincides with Wilt's offense dropping from 15 FGA / 21 PPG in 1971, to 9 FGA / 15 PPG in 1972. When he's focusing less on offense, the defense improves greatly. We saw that on his previous teams and we see that here. Coincidence?

Then in 1974 without Wilt the defense falls by 2.6 points.

This is pretty clear evidence that Wilt, when focused on defense rather than offense, is a -5 DRtg impact player, if not higher, during his best defensive seasons. Outside of his best defensive years, he's around -3 to -4 impact which is still excellent. And in years in which he focuses more on offense (e.g. 61-63, 69-71), the defense suffers. I don't think these are coincidences.

A similar analysis of Robinson shows he was a -4 to -4.5 DRtg impact player for almost his entire career. I won't do another lengthy breakdown but you can see right from the start of his career that he improves the Spurs from +0.1 to -3.9 his rookie year (-4 impact), and he stays around that kind of impact for pretty much his entire career, even alongside Duncan. Defensive metrics support Robinson having similar impact to Duncan when he's on the court from 98 to 03.

An analysis of Pippen, at his absolute peak, shows he approaches -3 impact (arguably -3.5 in 1995, the best defensive peak of any perimeter player ever), which is absolutely HUGE for a perimeter player but that's about as high a perimeter can impact the game. If you're doing an honest assessment of these players' defensive impacts, I think that's pretty clear. Elite defensive bigs simply have more impact than the best perimeter defenders due to the nature of their positions.

If more people took a more fact-based approach rather than a reputation or highlight video approach, I don't think we'd see Pippen getting voted this high IMO.


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## GTA Addict (Jun 27, 2005)

By the way, Russell is one of the easiest and most clear cut players to analyze in this fashion.

Celtics relative DRtgs
1956: +0.9 (6th of 8)
1957: -5.0 (1st of 8) *Russell joins
1958: -5.5 (1st of 8)
1959: -5.6 (1st of 8)
1960: -6.2 (1st of 8)
1961: -7.6 (1st of 8)
1962: -8.7 (1st of 9)
1963: -8.8 (1st of 9)
1964: -10.9 (1st of 9)
1965: -9.8 (1st of 9)
1966: -6.8 (1st of 9)
1967: -4.8 (1st of 10)
1968: -4.9 (2nd of 12)
1969: -6.4 (1st of 12) *Russell's last year
1970: -0.3 (7th of 14)

They improve by 6 his rookie year, they fall by 6 after he retires, and in between he's having around 7-8 defensive impact.

The ridiculous 62 to 65 numbers coincided with Russell playing 3 more minutes per game, as well as KC Jones and Sanders (both called the best defenders at their positions in the mid 60s according to news articles at the time) getting 2000-2500 minutes per season starting in 62. Not to mention the addition of Havlicek in 63.

It's obvious to me Russell is a -6 to -8 defensive impact player, which puts him in a tier all by himself.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

GTA Addict said:


> This is pretty clear evidence that Wilt, when focused on defense rather than offense, is a -5 DRtg impact player, if not higher, during his best defensive seasons. Outside of his best defensive years, he's around -3 to -4 impact which is still excellent. And in years in which he focuses more on offense (e.g. 61-63, 69-71), the defense suffers. I don't think these are coincidences.
> 
> A similar analysis of Robinson shows he was a -4 to -4.5 DRtg impact player for almost his entire career. I won't do another lengthy breakdown but you can see right from the start of his career that he improves the Spurs from +0.1 to -3.9 his rookie year (-4 impact), and he stays around that kind of impact for pretty much his entire career, even alongside Duncan. Defensive metrics support Robinson having similar impact to Duncan when he's on the court from 98 to 03.
> 
> ...


a couple of interesting posts, GTA. Props. I didn't think you had it in you


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## DaLegend (Aug 19, 2012)

I'mma go with Wilt.


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## Larry Legend (Aug 8, 2013)

Jordan, Payton, Cooper, Alvin Robertson, Sidney Moncrief, Garnett, Eaton, David Robinson, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, Artest, and more ,than won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, are better defenders than Pippen.


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

WHo else could put the brakes on Jordan? Scottie couldnt...Gary Payton could. He is the best perimeter defensive player of all-time.


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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

Larry Legend said:


> Jordan, Payton, Cooper, Alvin Robertson, Sidney Moncrief, Garnett, Eaton, David Robinson, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, Artest, and more ,than won the Defensive Player of the Year Award, are better defenders than Pippen.


Winning DPOY doesn't necessarily make them better defenders.



Mamba v2.0 said:


> WHo else could put the brakes on Jordan? Scottie couldnt...Gary Payton could. He is the best perimeter defensive player of all-time.
> 
> Gary Payton Tribute Video - YouTube


Put the brakes on him to the tune of 30ppg over their careers head to head and 27 ppg in the playoffs... I think Scottie could have done that in his prime.


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## 27dresses (Nov 5, 2009)

I think Gus Johnson, Wesley Unseld and Willis Reed should be on that list


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

Dornado said:


> Winning DPOY doesn't necessarily make them better defenders.
> 
> 
> 
> Put the brakes on him to the tune of 30ppg over their careers head to head and 27 ppg in the playoffs... I think Scottie could have done that in his prime.


Yeah jordan shot .415% in the 96 finals. You call that efficent? Look at his field goal percentage from the other finals he was in...This is by far his worst performance. Gary Payton gets absolutely no respect at all. How many free throws did Jordan shoot in that series? I'll help you out, and tell you his percentages. And comparing the two is almost unfair, as scottie is about 4.5 inches taller than Gary and had at least 25-30 pounds on him too. 

!990-1991: .558%
1991-1992: .526%
1992-1993: .508%
1995-1996: .415%
1996-1997: .456%
1997-1998: .427%

So are you telling me Gary didnt defend well aganist Mike? He shot 67 free throws in that series and made 56 of them. He gave mj a harder time than anyone else had in the other 5 apperances he made. 61.5% of his points that series, came from the free throw line. He was 51-123 from the field, which means if he attempted 24 shots, he made less than ten of them. He didnt play too great in the 98 finals, but he was drained at that point. Before the 27 ppg in the finals, Michael averaged 36 ppg in the finals and was taken down 9 ppg with gp guarding him. He didnt put the brakes on him? He held him to nine less ppg than his career average of 36. What else do I need to do to proove my point? Jordan, numbers wise and statistically, did not play very great. If he had not averaged 11 free throws a game, he would have averaged somewhere between 16-20 ppg in that series. 

http://guillaumesport.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/gary-payton-498x3132.jpg


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

I, am also of the opinion, that protecting the rim (camping) is not as skilled as playing perimeter defense. If I had to choose the best PERIMETER defenders I have seen, in no particular order: Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Bruce Bowen, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant. Perimeter defense and defending the rim, are two different things. Your center is your last line of defense. Shot blocking is all about timing. How many centers and PF's can you name that were dominate paint defenders? Alonzo Mourning, Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaq (Decent) Kareem, Dwight Howard, Ibaka, ben wallace, david robinson, patrick ewing, the dream...How many DOMINANT perimeter have there really been? Not very many because defending a dominate scorer and blocking shots, are two different Timing vs. skill.


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

GP mastered the art form of steals on his man while not give him clear shot.He was so outstanding that he put the playoffs' top scoring machine,Michael Jordan to just 27 points per game while holding him in 5 games under 30 points,once on 22 and worst shooting percentage in his career.


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## letsgoceltics (Aug 19, 2012)

I'm obviously late on this but why is Tim Duncan a better defender than KG?


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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

Mamba v2.0 said:


> WHo else could put the brakes on Jordan? Scottie couldnt...Gary Payton could. He is the best perimeter defensive player of all-time.





Mamba v2.0 said:


> And comparing the two is almost unfair, as scottie is about 4.5 inches taller than Gary and had at least 25-30 pounds on him too.


I believe you made the comparison.


And you're right that they held MJ to less efficient shooting percentages, but if you watch the games it was a team effort - nobody covers MJ on their own - that included plenty of stretches with Hersey Hawkins on Jordan (and others), switches on nearly all screens, and double teams on drives and post-ups... George Karl is no dummy. 

Here's one of MJ's worst shooting performances of the series (5 for 19, lowered his series FG% by three whole points)- to his credit Payton, (who is an excellent defender, don't get me wrong) does a great job of fronting MJ in the post... but watch the double teams on posts and drives, the amount of time Hawkins plays MJ (Hawkins played 41 in the game and spent about as much time on MJ as anyone), and frankly, the number of open looks MJ missed. 






Anyway, my point is not that Gary Payton isn't a good defender, just that Scottie Pippen could have done that (and was a better overall defender)... and honestly, you'd have had to double team less.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Obviously Pippen was better at defending guys like Jordan, but GP was better than Pippen at staying in front of the Jason Kidds, Kevin Johnsons, and Tim Hardaways of the world. I do agree that Pippen was more versatile, but GP and Mookie were the best dribble-drive preventers of their time period.


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## BBallMind (Aug 1, 2013)

Some of you have said it already, but Pippen could guard 4 positions, was quick and athletic, and covered ground faster than anyone besides maybe LeBron.

You could make a case for Wilt, but I would take Scottie.


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## BBallMind (Aug 1, 2013)

Perimeter defense is tougher than interior defense, but interior defense has a greater impact towards the game. That's why everyone wants to pick the big guys.


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

in a pinch Pippen could get away with covering a proper pf (like a Malone or Duncan) or a small pg (like Zeke or KJ) situationally (so can LBJ) but it's not ideal over the course of a full game so that seems a little hyperbolic


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

Scottie is overrated, and must be taken off of the 50 greatest players list... I think that Pippen was overrated and was not better than Kobe, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd just to name a few. Scottie was a good defender, but I certainly dont think he was a better defender than GP. TO each its own though.


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

e-monk said:


> in a pinch Pippen could get away with covering a proper pf (like a Malone or Duncan) or a small pg (like Zeke or KJ) situationally (so can LBJ) but it's not ideal over the course of a full game so that seems a little hyperbolic


I dont think that pip could guard tim duncan. too big.


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## doctordrizzay (May 10, 2011)

Mamba v2.0 said:


> Scottie is overrated, and must be taken off of the 50 greatest players list... I think that Pippen was overrated and was not better than Kobe, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd just to name a few. Scottie was a good defender, but I certainly dont think he was a better defender than GP. TO each its own though.


Pippen 6 rings though...better than Kobe.


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## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

I think most people consider Kobe Bryant a better overall player than Pippen.

We're talking about defense... and if you think Kobe, Ray Allen or Jason Kidd are in Pippen's category on that side of the floor you are mistaken.


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## Mamba v2.0 (May 27, 2013)

A 12-time all defensive team selection isnt on pippens level? First team 9 times. THe guy also is the go to scorer on his team, and he defends the other teams best player. 1,785 career steals. pippen was only selected to the all-defense team 10 times. idk man, kobe is a tenacious defender, even in old age.


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## BBallMind (Aug 1, 2013)

Im the biggest Laker fan but even ill admit that Kobe's defense has slipped these last few years. On some possessions he doesn't even try...


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

good call


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