Pippen honor is overkill

Basketball Betting Lines

08/26/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A statue honoring Scottie Pippen?

My, how our hero worship has fallen.

Before you start firing off the hate mail, understand I, like most NBA observers, loved Pippen's game.

He was the consummate "Robin" to the ultimate "Batman" in Michael Jordan. He was the best "Iceman," M.J.'s "Maverick" could ever ask for. But let's be honest, at the end of the day, Pippen was a sidekick.

A sidekick that will be forever be displayed permanently in the United Center when the Bulls unveil a bronze statue of Pippen toward the end of the 2010-11 season.

It's not Pippen's fault. In fact, the honor is probably more indicative of just how mediocre the Bulls were before and after the Jordan-era. It's not like everyone was clamoring for that Bob Love statue.

Pippen was the ultimate No. 2 option to basketball's best-ever No. 1. He entered the league as an athlete with a lot of holes in his offensive game. When he was done, Pippen had turned himself into a versatile player that could play four different positions and was a more than capable scorer. He was also the best perimeter defender of his era and used his freakish length to torture players in the open floor.

With Pippen as his lead running mate, Jordan was able to secure six championships for the Windy City along with six NBA Finals MVPs for himself.

Make no mistake, Pippen deserved his seven All-Star nods and his eight appearances on the NBA's all-defensive team. He certainly earned his six championship rings and his gold medal with the 1992 Barcelona Dream Team.

I'll even buy the fact that he was a Hall-Of-Famer, as he was officially enshrined on Aug. 13 in a class that included Karl Malone and the late Dennis Johnson.

But, that's where it should stop. Pippen belonged nowhere near the NBA's 50th Anniversary Team. In fact, if you pull up that 1996 list of the NBA's top 50 players, it looks like a game of "Which one doesn't belong" with Pippen sticking out like the sore thumb among a list of legends.

And he's certainly not the type of player that deserves Mount Rushmore-type treatment.

Some detractors have been far more critical than me.

You've probably heard the jokes by now...

What famous Pippen moment do you think will get immortalized? Pippen sitting on the bench, refusing to enter the game?

When are the other Jordan-era role players, like B.J. Armstrong, Steve Kerr, John Paxson, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant earmarked for Madison Street?

That's not to say Scottie doesn't have a legacy.

In today's NBA, almost every league executive looks at the Jordan-Pippen Bulls as the blueprint for success. You need the superstar but you also need the complementary piece.

Kobe couldn't win without Shaq, until Pau Gasol came along. Shaq couldn't win without Kobe unless he was playing with Dwyane Wade, and LeBron fled Cleveland because Dan Gilbert and Danny Ferry were never able to get him a competent co- star.

Pippen wan an important part of NBA history. Let's just not play revisionist history and blow his place in the game out of proportion.

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ODDS TO WIN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Texas
USC
Florida
California
Auburn
Oklahoma
Iowa
Louisville
Florida State
Michigan
Miami (FL)
LSU
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Nebraska
Tennessee
Georgia
Arizona State
Oregon
Clemson
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Alabama
Arkansas
Boston College
Michigan State
Maryland
South Carolina
Colorado
Purdue
Georgia Tech
TCU
UCLA
Arizona
Pittsburgh
Iowa State
Wisconsin
North Carolina State
Virginia
North Carolina
Fresno State
Hawaii
Northwestern
BYU
Oregon State
UNLV
Field (Any Other Team)
5-1
7-1
8-1
8-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
18-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
70-1
70-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
150-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
250-1
250-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
400-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
1000-1
1000-1
40-1



ODDS TO WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Miami (FL)
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
2-1
2-1
3-1
7-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
50-1
500-1



ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Colorado
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Kansas State
Missouri
Kansas
Baylor
Oklahoma State
7-5
9-5
9-2
12-1
14-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
35-1
100-1
100-1



ODDS TO WIN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Auburn
Florida
LSU
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
5-2
11-4
4-1
6-1
7-1
7-1
9-1
20-1
28-1
75-1
100-1
300-1

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