Toni Kukoc Top 30 plays

[pauk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezxjIX0GpIo

Checkout those passes & gw's. One of my favorite players of all time.

[julizaver]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezxjIX0GpIo

Checkout those passes & gw's. One of my favorite players of all time.

It was my favourite player during '90s and I watched him when with Beneton and Yugoslavian national team, after that in Bulls.

Very talanted and versatile offensive player, if not with the Bulls playing limited minutes and less touches behind Pippen/Jordan/Rodman he would be a 20 ppg 5 reb 5 apg player and would feature in at least 3-4 All-Star games.

[Foster5k]

Damn. I really, REALLY miss the 90s Bulls.

[97 bulls]

Definitely would've been a muli allstar. Easily a 20/5/7 guy if he had the opportunity. Why isn't he in the hall of fame?

[CeltsGarlic]

thought it was croatia squad for a sec

Love Kukoc

[pauk]

Remember that crazy buzzerbeater 3 he hit right after Reggie hit a "gamewinner" with 0.8 sec left and bowed to the Bulls crowd midcourt?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOMzdxynChs

[3ball]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NSpgbPcxoU

this is easily the #1 play of kukoc's career - it saved potty pippen and the Bulls from being beaten easily in that series.

of course, without Kukoc replacing Jordan, the Bulls would never have even won 55 or gotten a high seed, so they would have lost to NY or another top seed in the 1st round instead of the 2nd...

[mehyaM24]

one of my favorite players

kukoc was being hyped by the front office and fans and instantly became one of the most well known international talents - what made him so great, though, was his playmaking and shooting. toni was all about finesse but with a hint of toughness.

awesome player, and a huge addition to the Bulls in the 90's - he and pippen are BIG reasons why chicago was able to maintain a 55 game winning season following jordan's first retirement. if the bulls had just gotten a serviceable shooting guard, i dont think its out of the question those guys could have won it all in 1994 and 1995 (without the injuries).

[Smoke117]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NSpgbPcxoU

this is easily the #1 play of kukoc's career - it saved potty pippen and the Bulls from being beaten easily in that series.

of course, without Kukoc replacing Jordan, the Bulls would never have even won 55 or gotten a high seed, so they would have lost to NY or another top seed in the 1st round instead of the 2nd...

lol...Kukoc barely did shit in 94. He was the 4th best player on the team. (and thats 4th best after Pippen, Grant, and Armstrong not Jordan, Pippen, Rodman like two years later) Settle down. He was also a liability defensively any time he set foot on the court throughout his entire career.

[3ball]

one of my favorite players

kukoc was being hyped by the front office and fans and instantly became one of the most well known international talents - what made him so great, though, was his playmaking and shooting. toni was all about finesse but with a hint of toughness.

awesome player, and a huge addition to the Bulls in the 90's - he and pippen are big reasons why chicago were able to maintain a 55 winning season following jordan's first retirement. if the bulls had just gotten a serviceable shooting guard, i dont think its out of the question those guys could have won it all in 1994 and 1995 (without the injuries).

well, indeed, we have considerable evidence of what is needed for SG's to successfully 3-peat in the triangle.. here are MJ's stats in 1996-1998 and Kobe's from 2008-2010 (very similar - MJ's are superior, as needed with no dominant big):


Jordan 1996-1998 vs. Kobe 2008-2010... REGULAR SEASON

Jordan.. 29.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.2 TO, 1.9 STL, 0.5 BLK, 48.2% FG
Kobe.... 27.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 5.1 APG, 3.0 TO, 1.6 STL, 0.4 BLK, 46.1% FG


Jordan 1996-1998 vs. Kobe 2008-2010... FINALS

Jordan.. 31.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.0 TO, 43.4% FG
Kobe.... 29.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.1 APG, 3.7 TO, 41.3% FG


Of course, it isn't just the stats - making up for the lack of a dominant big would require any Jordan replacement to get his stats optimally within the team, and also match every bit of his clutch performance... Here's how close the 1997 and 1998 Finals were:

In the 1997 Finals, the Bulls needed a Jordan game-winner to win Game 1, and another Jordan game-winner to win the flu-game in Game 5... Also, Game 6 required a Jordan game-winning assist to Kerr - Not even the great, clutch Kobe has come close to matching this level Jordan clutch performance in ANY series of his career, and neither has any other player, ever.

And of course in 1998, the Bulls also squeaked by Utah, requiring goat game-winner in Game 6, and requiring Jordan to score a record 38% of his team's points for the series.
.

[mehyaM24]

the bulls played differently in 1994 than they did in 1993 (obviously). they were still able to manage 55 wins, though - and were just a hair shy of making the conference finals with a CBA pete myers in place of jordan. like i said - you give the bulls a sg like reggie miller or even mitch richmond, who are perfect for the triangle BTW, because of their shooting and space creating, you would have a rough time knocking them out. the bulls likely win against indiana with richmond, and are at least a 50/50 against the rockets.

^^ in all fairness to jordan, i'm not sure the bulls beat the rockets with him either.

[3ball]

the bulls played differently in 1994 than they did in 1993 (obviously). they were still able to manage 55 wins, though - and were just a hair shy of making the conference finals with a CBA pete myers in place of jordan. like i said - you give the bulls a sg like reggie miller or even mitch richmond, who are perfect for the triangle BTW, because of their shooting and space creating, you would have a tough time taking them out. the bulls likely win against indiana with richmond, and are at least a 50/50 against the rockets.

^^ in all fairness to jordan, i'm not sure the bulls beat the rockets with him either.

the Bulls would have been heavy favorites against the Rockets if Jordan had stuck around in 1994.. of course, if the Bulls are at least 50/50" with Ritchmond as you said, than they'd be heavy favorites against the Rockets with MJ even by your estimation.

If Ritchmond's 0.109 WS/48 and 17.7 PER makes them "at least 50/50" to beat the Rockets, than what's Jordan's 0.317 WS/48 and 29.4 PER going to do?

plus, MJ used to own Hakeem, so much so that Hakeem was quite scared of MJ.
.

[Smoke117]

well, indeed, we have considerable evidence of what is needed for SG's to successfully 3-peat in the triangle.. here are MJ's stats in 1996-1998 and Kobe's from 2008-2010 (very similar - MJ's are superior, as needed with no dominant big):


Jordan 1996-1998 vs. Kobe 2008-2010... REGULAR SEASON

Jordan.. 29.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.2 TO, 1.9 STL, 0.5 BLK, 48.2% FG
Kobe.... 27.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 5.1 APG, 3.0 TO, 1.6 STL, 0.4 BLK, 46.1% FG


Jordan 1996-1998 vs. Kobe 2008-2010... FINALS

Jordan.. 31.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.0 TO, 43.4% FG
Kobe.... 29.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.1 APG, 3.7 TO, 41.3% FG


Of course, it isn't just the stats - making up for the lack of a dominant big would require any Jordan replacement to get his stats optimally within the team, and also match every bit of his clutch performance... Here's how close the 1997 and 1998 Finals were:

In the 1997 Finals, the Bulls needed a Jordan game-winner to win Game 1, and another Jordan game-winner to win the flu-game in Game 5... Also, Game 6 required a Jordan game-winning assist to Kerr - Not even the great, clutch Kobe has come close to matching this level Jordan clutch performance in ANY series of his career, and neither has any other player, ever.

And of course in 1998, the Bulls also squeaked by Utah, requiring goat game-winner in Game 6, and requiring Jordan to score a record 38% of his team's points for the series.
.

Another thread you just have to hijack and make all about Jordan...

[OldSchoolBBall]

These ****ing trolls always talking about 55 wins in 1994 lol.

[3ball]

Another thread you just have to hijack and make all about Jordan...

all relevant to the discussion with mehytaM24