H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m
-------------------- August 13, 2001 Of Kukoc and Lynch
Since Toni Kukoc A.K.A the waiter was traded to the Sixers, many if not all familiar with the NBA landscape envisioned he and Allen Iverson A.K.A The Answer would form a formidable - correction a respectable - 1-2 punch. Kukoc himself probably figured it'd be that way. But alas only over Larry Brown's fired body. Larry had his man; solid 3-man George Lynch. It was a case of: why break in the machine gun when the bee-bee gun gets you the world and some. George Lynch might never be more than a role player on any NBA squad (championship caliber or lottery bound). The waiter on the other hand, at 6-11 and with the mobility and ball skills of a guard, he can flat out play every position, 1-5, on the court. he could fill up any single statistical category on any given night if he so highly desired it. To Brown though Kukoc's prowess was his basketball sin. For someone who made his fame and name building cellar dwellers into competitive one-man armies (Spurs around Robinson, Pacers around Miller...), another offensive minded employee like Kukoc was a threat to his concept. In order to establish his reknown system in Philly LB had promptly issued one-way tickets out of town to promising players. He detained only Iverson, on whom God himself had splurged a droplet of athletic talent. Therefore Toni was relegated to the pine watching, and powerless as Coach Brown's "Lynch pin" at the 3 spot reveled in the gold mine of playing time, (I like to think Kukoc did revel in practice by manufacturing Lynch facials). Toni did however get his chances at showing his worth. Whether Kukoc showcased himself on court as an all-leaguer or the 82-game injured reserved player, it didn't matter. Mr Brown had his mind made. One thing that really stands out is that Tony is a more accomplished player. A sixth man of the year in '96 and was the man responsible for the Pacers' collapse in game 7 of the '98 East finals. At the trading deadline of last season LB promptly traded Kukoc with others for Dikembe Mutombo. Now that they're on opposing squads, some drama loving fans might hope for a deliberate showdown between The Waiter and the Lynch Pin. Chances are they've gotten to be good buddies, just because they used to share the same experiences. Nevertheless it's safe to assume Kukoc will judge best to resort to the popular alternative. Now let's not discredit George Lynch. He did take care of his assigned duties and could be counted on to hold the opposing 3 in check defensively, or at least keep him fair. What is meant by the "popular alternative" mentioned above is that we're counting on The Waiter to serve a specially made-for-Lynch dish on every occasion they meet. We're counting on Toni to make Lynch view him not T-Mac as his hardest chore in the East. We're counting on Toni to avenge himself. Hope you're listening #7, and sure do hope not to be disappointed. We'll recommend enrolling into the Keon Clark and Jamal Mashburn academy of reciprocation. With such proven results as the Heat's dismissal from the playoffs and Keon's personal exposition show against Denver, who can argue payback against your former floor operations manager (in Kukoc's case Larry Brown) isn't the way to go? Toni you deserved better. Now George Lynch might not be feeling any sense of urgency because after all he was the one with the spoils, and - hehe - for those who don't know he and Brown are part of the "Tar Heel Family". Don't accuse me of suggesting Coach purposedly sacrificed the good of the team for a player he fell in favor with because of his team values, or in Tar Heel talk "right way of play" because I'm not. Well at least not when "the right way of play" or to Brown "the integrity of the game", prevented Philly from using Hack-a-Shaq, when it could have prolonged their season by one more game. But that's another story. If George Lynch doesn't circle all the Hawks meeting on his calendar Brown will probably be sure to do it for him. I'm thinking he should. After all if it turns out that Tony pulverizes George at will, Larry will turn brown from all the heat he'll get. Trading for Deke was good, but too much of a good thing (defense) isn't. Kukoc could've provided the extra fire-power needed in the finals and his knowledge of L.A's triangle offense could've proven invaluable. The revamped 2001-2002 edition of the Hawks is ready to rumble and will have interesting stories against Philadelphia: Nazr Mohammed versus Larry Brown, Iverson versus Jason Terry, Mutombo versus the Hawks. The money matchup though will be of Kukoc and Lynch. Next: Air to Air Previous: The chosen 28 Articles main Back to top
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