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Pippen pays off Blazers getting just what they bargained for
Posted: Friday May 19, 2000 07:22 AM
Scottie Pippen's postseason play has been amazing. He scored 20 points in Game 1 of the series with the Jazz, then went into single digits for the next three contests. In Game 5, when the Blazers needed to put Utah away, he stepped up again with 23. So he really is pacing himself, which is very difficult. You have to be a heck of a great player to turn it on and off like that, and he's shown that he's able to do it. And in addition to his play and his experience, his six rings are going to give the Blazers a motivational boost. It would be an impressive thing for a guy to walk in with six rings. If I were the coach, I'd have him wear them -- I'd even have him warm up in them.
Geiger's talk isn't cheapIn addition to his flagrant fouls, Matt Geiger's comments also contributed to the Sixers' $50,000 fine. When he was interviewed at the end of the first half of that game, he basically said, "We have to be more physical, no more easy layups." The league probably felt that was coming from the coaching staff or the organization, and the fine was probably warranted. If Geiger hadn't said that, it wouldn't have happened, but that was pretty much proof of the game plan. The league can find out what coaches have said to the players, even if it's not on national TV, so they must have felt really strongly about this. Coach's breakdownIn the Lakers-Blazers series, Pippen is probably going to play Kobe Bryant, and that's going to be the matchup to watch, because you've got the two best defensive players at their positions. It's going to be more of a challenge for Pippen, because Bryant is more offensively minded than Pippen is. Pippen will be able to match him athletically, but he's not as good an offensive player as Bryant is. Occasionally, when players go head-to-head like that, they try to do too many things offensively. So I'm interested to see how Pippen reacts on the offensive end. Six or seven guys score for the Trail Blazers every night, so he should be able to concentrate on his defense. Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN/Sports Illustrated's "This Week in the NBA."
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