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Pippen is not what we want, IMO. He's a 37-year old (38 in September) who's been complaining about the franchise while struggling to stay healthy down the stretch of the last couple of seasons. He's been the veteran presence and leader on a team that's seen more off the court incidents than just about any other team in recent history.
He's certainly had his moments on the floor, but I think his presence as the PG has marginalized Damon's ability to produce. We saw in the playoffs that Stoudamire is still capable of being a decent offensive player, but he only was getting a chance in 4 or 5 game spurts (whenever Pippen was hurt).
I don't love Damon or his game by any means, but the team will be just as good without Pippen as they will be with him... and while it's possible that Pippen's continued presence would have a good effect on developing young talent, I would say that there's not much history to back that up... no young players in Chicago emerged from Pippen's tenure there, and Wells, in his currently flawed state, is really the only youngster that's done anything for Portland since Scottie's been here.
About Pippen's complaining in the media about the organization: if he had done this judiciously in the past, I would find it less annoying. The fact is that he was often harping about things in the Chicago press, and he even managed to fire some salvos at the Rockets during his short stay there. Considering the incredible success that the Bulls' management, the Rockets' management, and (to a lesser extent, certainly) the Blazers' management has had it seems like he has been consistently barking up the wrong tree, and I think that his criticisms of the way management handled things was more destructive in that it helped fuel the negativity surrounding the franchise and lend some credence to the almost constant Blazers-bashing that went on in Portland newspapers.
Ed O.
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"In the end, it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don't know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win -- if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last."
-- Sandy Koufax
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