I suppose the real test would be if Shaq retired at the end of this year, and Kobe and Jackson stayed on. They we could get some comparison to Jackson and Pippen taking the Bulls to the Eastern Conference finals, where we all remember what a pussy Pippen was. And how quickly we forget Scottie's "migranes."
Granted about Pippen...but Im prety sure that if SHAQ retires....Rick FOX ain't leading them to the western finals...but that does prove a point...even w/out Jordan that team went to the eastern finals and lost in GAME 7 to a powerful Knick team.....Jordan played with numerous all stars....RODMAN was onlythe best rebounding forward in the history of the game..before that he had Horace....Shaq has Samaki Walker and Robert Horry
Works for me! Didn't you know? It's on the record for easy verification. The initial rap on Scottie was that he was soft. You could spook him out of his game (and into headache mode) very easily. In his second year in the league, Mike had started becoming vocal in practice about Scottie's softness during the game but tenacity during practice. It all came to a head in a game against Atlanta. Manute called scottie a P-ssy a few times and by half-time Scottie had gotten a little angry. As they walked to the locker room Mike just looked at Scottie, smirked and smiled. Scottie took it personal and a few minutes into the third quarter, he was on the left baseline with the ball in hand. His defender made a misstep and Manute was in the hole. The "Dunk that Woke Scotties Career" was the news tag on the late sports reports here. From then forward he BECAME the defender of the team. Second only to MJ. But he worked to be better than MJ in that category. He became a shooter (and he admitted it) when MJ kept telling him take the shot. Horace had a point of MAKING SURE he was not able to get a pass when the game depended upon it. He could shoot but had little confidence in taking the game winner. He had been murdered in the press for a few bad "end of game" shots and just didn't want the pressure. MJ was instrumental in him gaining confidence in his own abilities. And as teams started developing defenses and clamping down on Scottie's performance Horace was easily able to pick up the slack. If they do, it won't be for their current performances. They are mediocre at best. This is that TV bunch that I spoke of. They don't seem to understand their places on this team and consistently fall way short of the needed outputs. Sure they can combine for 10 points and six boards. But none of that is hall of fame performance stuff. You make my point here. With the exception of Scottie, Horace, Dennis and Paxon the rest are really just window dressings. With the exception of BJ who really never fit the chemistry, none of those players would have been selected to play on that MJ Bulls team. Management did understand what they wanted and ego management was important. Especially in the beginning. It became a thing with management saying, "We can add anybody to this bunch and still be the best team out." They dumped many players and added other unknowns and still held the top spot. They did forget how all this came to be. So today all of the players have been moved to other teams and not been able to achieve that unity again. It really makes me sad! They had the answer and lost the question.
Im serious about this...in temrs of PURE power forward and ALL around ability???/ karl Malone is not known for his defense ...Charles Oakey? Cahrles Barkley ( also no defense and more of a small forward)....Rodman? name some of the best power forwards of the 1990's.....