| | PORTLAND, Ore. -- There will be no seventh heaven, no seventh ring for Scottie Pippen's dislocated fingers. Not this spring.
|  | | Pippen took over in Tuesday's Game 5, but can he sustain it? |
Not unless Scottie The Sidekick can again disrupt the Lakers' triangle offense, play point guard, double down on Shaquille O'Neal, shuffle back out to harass Glen Rice and Ron Harper, foul out Kobe Bryant, swish another buzzer-beating triple or two and serve as the emotional stabilizer of a group even Pippen himself has called "knuckleheads."
Not unless Scottie The Sidekick can do all that.
When the pressure is thickest.
Twice.
If he hits every line on that to-do list, twice in a 72-hour span of Game 6 and 7, then Pippen finally will be remembered for something other than those 1.8 seconds against New York. Or for winning six championships as Michael Jordan's sidekick, as Phil Jackson's second option, and none without them.
If Pippen can actually will the Portland Trail Blazers past Jackson's Lakers, he will become synonymous with one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history. He'll finally be in the Finals without Jordan. Pippen will then be only four wins away -- against overmatched Hicks or Knicks from the East who would have little shot at stopping him -- from slipping on the Jordanless jewelry most of us think he'll never get.
Of course, should Pippen slip up just one more time, the alternative is lots more rippin'. Another failure, either Friday in Game 6 or Sunday if the Lakers are stretched to Game 7, for media jackals to hound him about.
"It's not good for us," Jackson insists, "because Scottie plays very desperate ball well."
Once again, allow me to question Zen Master Jackson's thinking.
Say what?
Desperate is not Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, on the other team's floor. And Game 5, while desperate in the sense that the Blazers were down 3-1, is better described as a Nothing More To Lose affair. The series, at that point, is essentially already lost.
No one expected Portland to win either of those games, and maybe that's why Pippen was so effective. It was easy to be loose those nights, easier at the very least. On Tuesday, Pippen definitely did disrupt the triangle, run the point, help on Shaq, get in the passing lanes, DQ Kobe, drain a 3-pointer at the halftime horn and set the Blazers' emotional tone. Game 2, too. But he flourished in the two games that carried the least pressure.
Now contrast Pippen's do-it-all effectiveness in those Portland victories to the truly desperate scenarios the Blazers have faced. In Game 3, with a chance to firmly grasp the momentum and his fingers not yet mangled, Pippen went without a basket for nearly three quarters. He scored eight points in the crunch-time rush, but only after Bryant had picked up his fifth foul. And only after Bryant had rung up 18 first-half points, en route to 25 overall.
In Game 4, the most desperate situation the Blazers have confronted all season, Pippen was worse. To avoid slipping into a 3-1 hole, Pippen responded with a foul-filled nightmare. He scored just two points in the third quarter and none in the fourth, and Portland dropped to 0-4 at home in the past two conference finals.
In those desperation games, the ones that -- barring a miracle this weekend -- will ultimately cost the Blazers the series, Pippen wasn't even the best former Jordan teammate on the court. That would be the Lakers' Harper, whose jumper won Game 3 and whose surprising 18 points in Game 4 made it seem as though he was having Clipper flashbacks.
"Scottie is a good friend of mine, and he tries real hard," Harper said. "So I'm not going to try to get inside his head."
This time of year, as Harper surely knows, the Scottie Dome is not a good place to be. Pippen's angst has been evident from the moment he slammed the press table and rearranged some towels after Game 3. Which led to the WWF elbow he dropped on John Salley in Game 4 that undoubtedly deserved a suspension barring Pippen from Game 5.
Then again, maybe it's a good thing the NBA was too consumed with Rod Thorn's defection to the Nets to bother with punishing Pippen. We might have missed Scottie storming away from the postgame podium late Tuesday, cursing Jackson's name and vowing not to answer any more Phil questions.
To be at least marginally fair to Pippen -- a new concept, I know -- it has to be said that expectations in Portland are probably too high. He's almost 35, closing in on 200 playoff games and surrounded by a talented but combustible cast whose only other go-to guy candidate (Rasheed Wallace) puts the T in timebomb.
Pippen, to his credit, is ignoring all those variables. All the doubters as well, not just Phil. He's vowing to attack Bryant, make Kid Kobe defend on his sprained right foot, and prove the Blazers are indeed capable of winning a home game.
Eventually, someone in the West has to win at home. Don't they?
And someday, Pippen has to prevail sans MJ. Doesn't he?
"Friday, things have to change," said Pippen, unintentionally referring to both trends that could keep him from ringing in title No. 7.
Wandering The West
Gregg Popovich lobbied assistant coach Paul Pressey hard to stay with the Spurs, albeit unsuccessfully. Hanging onto Tim Duncan, of course, would be a more than sufficient consolation prize, but maybe the Magic knows something we don't. Orlando's Doc Rivers, with Pressey in tow, is now trying to add Spurs scout/video coordinator Joe Prunty to his all-Tim, all-the-time staff.
The Spurs, meanwhile, proceed with their Grant Hill pursuit, envisioning a Duncan-Hill-David Robinson triumvirate. A leading candidate to replace Pressey is San Antonio resident Alvin Gentry, Hill's ex-Pistons boss. Gentry, if he wanted, could probably make a strong play for the Clippers' head-coaching opening, because Larry Brown -- still Donald Sterling's all-time favorite -- would give Gentry the heartiest recommendation. But if Hill miraculously consented to joining the Spurs for a $2.25 million exception, or even if Hill doesn't, Gentry would be unquestionably better off as Pop's top assistant.
As for the Clippers -- still my all-time favorites -- Dennis Johnson and John Thompson appear to be the only coaching candidates on the board at present. And that makes Johnson the favorite, since he isn't looking for any front-office power. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while apparently still employed by Sterling, is no longer participating in the club's pre-draft workouts. Lakers and Clippers alumnus Norm Nixon, an agent since he stopped playing, said he recently called the club to express interest in the opening, only to be told he lacked the requisite experience.
Byron Scott has already made a shrewd head-coaching call by letting people know that he plans to stay in Sacramento as an assistant unless the Pacers' top job is offered. Why even angle for Atlanta or Vancouver when Rick Adelman is entering the final season of his contract?
Don't worry, there is at least one 1980s Laker who isn't interested in coaching. Magic Johnson admitted last week that "I'm probably too busy" with his myriad business interests to ever try the X-and-O world again.
Marc Stein, who covers the NBA for The Dallas Morning News, is a new contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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