The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

[ojandpizza]

Gus Johnson is a forward who used to play for the Bullets.. I don't know enough about his game to know how good he was defensively, but he could get up and throw down some monster dunks and he was built powerful and could play physical.

[AlexBrady]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

Pippen could guard any position on the floor. He had great footwork and was very smart about when to go for the steal. Pippen could lock anyone up most nights. You could leave him on an island with his man which allowed the team's defense to be better since they could help in other areas. But I'll just agree to disagree that he was a great team defender while and Jordan was the lockdown perimeter guy.

Is 'Gus' Dennis Johnson's nickname or another player? Right now a face isn't clicking with that name - well, the sports announcer's face is there haha.

That would be Gus Johnson. He was incredible. Much stronger than Pippen. You could post Pippen and overpower him. You couldn't do that to Gus.

[JODYE]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

LOL @ Pippen getting overpowered in the post.

What planet was this on?

[ehh]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

LOL @ Pippen getting overpowered in the post.

What planet was this on?

X-Man and Mason had their way with him on the low block.

[JODYE]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

On a consistent basis? Nah. Sure he'd get beat at times, but not as simple, as post up Pippen and push him around.

And he routinely shut down guys like Juwan and Webber.

[bghost]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

On a consistent basis? Nah. Sure he'd get beat at times, but not as simple, as post up Pippen and push him around.

And he routinely shut down guys like Juwan and Webber.

two guys not exactly known for physical play.

[ehh]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

On a consistent basis? Nah. Sure he'd get beat at times, but not as simple, as post up Pippen and push him around.

Absolutely. In the '92 playoffs X-Man vs Pippen was the match up that nearly won the series for the Knicks though it was supposed to be a gross mismatch in the other direction. Can't find much online about it unfortunately.

Pippen again was chastised in the 1992 playoffs when a thug known as Xavier McDaniel taunted Pippen throughout the playoffs against the Knicks about Pippen's less-than-forceful attitude.

X dropped 24, 24 & 26 in Games 4-6 to a force a Game 7. Averaged 13 ppg that year.


Little blurb on Mase...

Mixing talking trash with monster mash, dirty dancing partners such as Dennis Rodman, Xavier McDaniel and now, Anthony Mason, have delighted in making the slender Pippen their personal spring fling.

For real, it was a well talked about issue back in the early 90's.

[JODYE]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

I remember that series well, trust me. However, the whole league wasn't going out there and pushing Pippen around. It wasn't happening. Not everyone had the size and strength of those two guys, nor the basketball skills. If they were, he wouldn't have been playing the 4 as much as he did in his career against some pretty good post players.

Also, didn't hurt that Xavier and Anthony were also really good basketball players on top of being strong and physical.

That said, where Pippen excelled in the post was ball denial and beating his man to post position. He also had really quick hands made life difficult for guys trying to take it up to the rim. Got a lot of strips and deflections.

[ehh]

Re: The is he a Hall of Famer Thread

I remember that series well, trust me. However, the whole league wasn't going out there and pushing Pippen around.

LOL, I never said that was the case - that's why I only mentioned X and Mason!

Things were obviously different back then with enforcer PF's all over the league and more physical play. Pippen also got much more mentally tough as his career progressed.

[ojandpizza]

two guys not exactly known for physical play.

And weren't they only like 22 years old? lol