Yup, Strickland was our best PG on that list. I liked Kenny Anderson a lot, mainly because I love most Yellow Jacket PGs, but he wasn't on the same level as Strickland. Chris Paul reminds me a lot of him. Those two could finish at the rim with some of the craziest floaters and bank shots.
Strickland was a really great player when he was young. I'd say Miller is a similar caliber talent, but Miller is past his prime while Strickland was in his prime for Portland. Wouldn't mind having prime Strickland back now. Of course, I also wouldn't mind a prime Pippen today, or even the Blazers version circa 2000.
my bad, for some reason I thought he was a PG, must've been the tp jersey number connection..that part is taken out :doh
Even the later Blazer version of PIP could run the point very effectively and defend most anyone, too bad he couldn't stay free from the injury bug. To me he's a very obvious choice. you know that ultimate team concept I spoke to you about recently where the question was who would give you the best chance of winning against the best of the rest at the peak of their games? I'd probably have a prime Scottie starting as my PG on that team. STOMP
Miller could be the best, he could be the worst, he could get hurt and never play a minute, and he could be somewhere in the middle.
Yeah, that's interesting. A prime Pippen put explicitly at point guard would be really interesting. While I don't go quite as far as Denny Crane and say Pippen was a point guard in Chicago, I think he handled a lot of point guard like duties in Chicago and, especially, in Portland. To me, Pippen is why Portland could be a legitimate title contender in 1999-2000 with Stoudamire at point guard. Stoudamire was essentially able to be a small shooting guard who brought the ball up.
Pippen was the PG in Chicago for all intents and purposes. Jordan was the primary ballhandler in the halfcourt, or he'd be posted up, but Pippen brought the ball up the court (along with Ron Harper at times) and defended PGs from Magic Johnson to John Stockton. I realize that the Kerrs of those years were on the court in crunch time, but the Kerrs had almost no ballhandling responsibility and were in reality weakside wings in the triangle offense. What is truly amazing about those Chicago teams was the complete lack of any shotblocking in the paint. That shows what supreme defenders Pippen/Jordan and even Harper were. An anomoly of the great dynasties, to be sure, and a reason that I tend to get combative when friends who are "Pippen Haters" try to tell me he doesn't deserve to be on the 50 greatest list. I'm just happy that I was able to watch even an older Pippen on a regular basis. A very underrated player, if that is possible for a certain Hall of Famer.
[video=youtube;A3VZcMDCaJM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3VZcMDCaJM[/video] Also, don't forget Greg Anthony, for defense alone.
