Robert Horry or Scottie Pippen who was better?

Question

Four guys are talking ball in about 1996-97. One suggests that Robert Horry might be as good as Scottie Pippen. He gets ridiculed called nuts and almost outcast from scociety.

As one of the people who thought this was a ridiculous idea at the time, now I'm not sure.

Any ideas on who was better and why?

Answer 1

Pippen was better.

Pippen was a starter, Horry has only had 5 seasons in which he's started more than 60 games... in Horry's other years, he's started 29, 5, 0, 1, 24, 26, 1, 16 and 3 games. (Horry has been in the league for 14 seasons).

Horry has hit some big shots in the playoffs, but has only averaged 8.7 ppg in playoff competition, Pippen's career playoff average is 17.5 ppg.
Pippen is also one of the best defensive forwards ever to play the game... (Horry is an excellent defender as well, but more so in the post...Pippen is a great open-court defender as well).

Pippen is also a better passer and a better ball-handler. Pippen could play guard if he had to...Horry most definitley could not.

Scottie has averaged 35 min/game over his career, Horry 25 min/game. But Scottie averaged 39 min/game in the postseason, while Horry's postseason min/game is at 30. So both played more in the playoffs than in the regular season. That tells us a lot about the quality of play for both men.

In spite of his 'clutch' shots (which occured in earlier rounds), Horry has never been a truly key player on a championship team...Olajuwon was by far the MVP of the Rockets, Shaq and Kobe for the Lakers, and Duncan for the Spurs...

Meanwhile, it was actually Pippen's ability to step up as a player that put the Bulls over the top...Jordan wasn't getting any better than he had been, but when Pippen stepped up his game in 1991, the Bulls began their little dynasty. So while Jordan was, deservedly, the MVP of their championship finals, Pippen stepping up his game was really the key.

Jordan certainly would never have won a title without Pippen. But I think it's safe to say that at least some of Horry's teams would have won the title, with our without him.

Horry never made the all star team... Pippen made the All Star team seven times. That's a pretty big gap right there.

I wouldn't mind having Horry on my team any day of the week, but Pippen was a better basketball player.

Rings are important, but they are a team accomplishment, in spite of what a lot of people say about MJ winning these rings by himself.

A lot of people keep trying to put Pippen down by pointing out that he never won a ring without Jordan... they think they're making a brilliant point, but they fail to point out that the reverse is also true... Jordan never came close to a ring without Pippen either.

Tough to argue that Bill Wenington was better than Wilt Chamberlain, just because he 'won' three rings to Wilt's two.
And, to compare a couple of TNT analysts, Kenny Smith was nowhere near as good as Charles Barkley, despite the fact that Smith was able to ride Olajuwon's coat tails to a couple of titles..

Answer 2

Pippen had Jordan to help create him opportunities. When he went to Portland, his game became more pedestrian.
With Horry. it was did you want someone who would make clutch 3 pointers in the Finals on top of being a decent player.
I mean really, what is Horrys' 3 pt. shooting percentage in the last 20 minutes of a play off game ?
I've watched him in the finals and have seen him burn many teams hitting 3's at a ridiculous rate. He was asked in an interview once how he does it, he didn't have an answer.
And Horry has 6 Championship rings with 3 different teams.
I think that was more difficult than playing for Chicago where a lot of very good players stayed because of Mike. Really, without Mike, the Bulls still made it to the 2nd round of the play offs.
Without a D-Wade, Mike or someone like that on the team, I'd go with Horry.
I think it depends on whose on the team. But with a standout gaurd, Pippen might be better. Horry's clutch shooting would be less valuable and there'd already be someone who would be taking the clutch shots.

Answer 3

Sure i'll give you the facts. The better overall player is scottie pippen. below you will see who had the edge statistically. Stats are based off of career averages. These are just some of the many stats that can be plugged in here, but overall it's scottie pippen over robert horry. Remember scottie was voted on of the 50 best in NBA History.

Scottie Pippen

Offensively (points)
offensively (assists)
offensively (fg %)
defensively (steals)
defensively (rebounds)
all-star appearances (7)
championships (6)

Robert "big shot bob" Horry

Clutch Shooting
Freethrow %
championships (6)
3 pt %
defensively (blocks)

Answer 4

Pippen hes one of the greatest 50 players of all time, Horry's okay but doesn't come close to Scottie

Answer 5

Pippen was a complete basketball player and probably an eventual Hall of Famer inductee. Horry is just a solid player with a knack for hitting clutch shots. He's worth big money in that role, but he's not the equal of Pippen.

Answer 6

scottie pippen was much better than robert horry............they both have the same amount of championship rings, but scottie pippen was one of the main catalysts of his championship teams, horry was just a role player

Answer 7

Robert is more clutch than Scottie. Scottie took a backseat to Jordan until he went to Portland where his game was just....nonexistant. Anywhere Robert went including San Antonio he made the plays & did what you expected him to do. Any bit of pressure on Scottie he choked.

Answer 8

definitely pippen man- though horry was big in the clutch

Answer 9

Pippen by far. He started the whole "point forward" concept.

Answer 10

Pippen, no contest. Better all around player.