Gasol or Pip?

[OregonLakerGuy]

They play different positions.
Pippen was a great player, but would have made a lousy center.

[vanexelent]

The fact that Phil built 6 championships with 2 wing guys as his focal point, then won 5 more with a wing and a center as the focal point, says a lot about his system. Gasol and Shaq couldn't be more different, yet similar outcomes.

[Mike@LG]

[SuperboyReformed]

pippen all the way. and i'm assuming he is being paired with kobe, that's why. if we're talking who's better as the #1 guy, i may change my answer. but if we're talking about #2, geez, no brainer....pippen.

think about this...2000, shaq/kobe as young and athletic as can be, shaq having one of the most dominant seasons ever, so dominant, the nba instituted a zone the year after. this laker team is considered among the all time great teams.

ok...in the conference finals...pippen was playing roaming defense. and he wreaked havoc on the entire laker team. kobe/shaq both had problems scoring or getting comfortable. and it game 7 it basically took miracles from shaw to even be in it. what i'm saying is that you can sort of claim that pippen shut the lakers offense down. he was incredible. i still claim that it was one of the best individual defensive performances i've ever seen. i compare his defense in that series to the level of someone being able to score 60 in a playoff game. it was like that, but for defense.

and he was incredible on offense, also. pau beats him as far as being a center, big man. but overall, no way. pippen might be the best ever.

[wolfpaclaker]

Love Pau, but Pippen was more impact for more years. Pau had about 3 years where he arguably was maybe the best all around player in the league. Kobe was the most dominant scorer at the time, and Pau was the most complete all around player. He'd play PF, C for us. He'd set up other players with his great playmaking skills. He'd defend PF's and C's - mainly anchor championship teams down the stretch in the 4th (Not easy job). He did a lot those 3 years and that version of Pau was as good as any Pippen version.

Now here's where Pippen blows it open for himself. Pippen was that impact for 9 years almost as a Bull under Phil. From 90-99 Pippen was an elite defender, playmaker and 2nd option. He had a year where Jordan was out, where he was a MVP caliber player. And 6 rings > 2

Definitely Pippen on this one, but Pau's 2008-2010 nearly 3 seasons of Laker ball were some of the best you'll ever see from a big guy in the NBA. I really think Laker fans didn't appreciate enough all the little things Pau changed for the Lakers. In the same regard, I'm sure many Bulls fans under appreciated all that Pippen did for MJ/Bulls.

I wish we could have had more years of Pau/Kobe ball under Phil than we got. We got about 3.5 years and similar to the Spurs - I think if they had stuck it out we'd have gotten #6 for KB and #3 for Pau. There was one more ring left in that duo, allbeit with massive changes with the players around them (such as needing to bring in Iguodala for Odom, a new starting PG not named Fisher etc)

[Vancouver Fan]

[Runway8]

In 94, Pippen came damn close to ruining MJ's legacy. Without Kobe, Pau's career almost went in the way of Al Jefferson, as in empty points, no impact. Whenever we played the Grizzlies, you never feared Pau. He was a good player, but he wasn't impactful. Memphis gave up on him at 27.

[KobeBryantCliffordBrown]

I can't see how this is a serious question.
_________________
“It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.”
― James Baldwin, Collected Essays

[KobeBryantCliffordBrown]

[moonriver24]

I was an MJ fan and still a fan of Phil n Pippen.
In those days the Bulls were really bullying other teams with their offene n defense. MJ, Rodman/Horace Grant and particularly Pippen were a nightmare on defense. Pippen emerged as the second best player offensively but defensively he was one notch harder than MJ.

Gasol had some impressive numbers with Grizz before but playing along side Kobe n Phil helped him find his true value. We chocked big time in 2008 but other than that Gasol was a big help in 2 ships in 09 n 10.

So, who is better between Pippen and Gasol?

I think Kobe n Phil will unanimously pick the right one to pair with Kobe to produce more rings in their prime.

Some here already said it was not even close. You would have seen a different Kobe. One that would attack, attack n then chase n lock his guys without worrying about playmaking so much.
_________________
Kobe's Top 5 Dunks, 81 points, MJ last gm @Staples

[defense]

[non-player zealot]

[Mike@LG]

I'll phrase it this way.

Think of how beastly Gasol was on offense.

Now imagine him All-D first team for a decade.

That's Pippen.
_________________
Resident Car Nut.

https://lakersdraft.substack.com/

I am not an economic advisor nor do I advise economic strategies or plans.

[focus]

How is this even a poll comes to mind and I am a huge fan of Pau, wish we could have kept him, is among if not my very favorite humans in the league playing, was hoping they'd win the title in Chi because of him alone, and on and on.

Pippen, easy, and makes me wonder how much Pippen people have seen.

Another angle - Would Kobe be as effusive about Pau as MJ has been about Scottie? Relevant because I think these guys would know, and neither is particularly a praise filled person.

[activeverb]

[Gatekeeper]

[focus]

[lakersken80]

One only needs to see how far the 1994 Bulls got with Pippen as the #1 option.....

[lakersken80]

[activeverb]

[Drifts]

Pip easily.
_________________
"Now, if life is coffee, then the jobs, money & position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold & contain life, but the quality of life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

[SuperboyReformed]

[Dr. Laker]

PER is poor at incorporating defense.

Pippen was the best defensive wing ever and a great facilitator on offense. He's a level above Pau.
_________________
On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Goldenwest]

If Gasols career ended today - pip. I say that as a bb fan.

But as a laker fan Gasol. He fit in perfect with our team and helped get us two championships. Who knows how pip would've fit in. But at the time we needed a top tier scoring big and we got him. And we already had LO who might not have been as good as pip, was still serving the same role more or less.

[Vancouver Fan]