HoopsCorner.com Articles: Toni Kukoc

H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m

HoopsCorner

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April 20, 2002

by Alan D. Shepston

How do you rate the value a man with respect to his basketball team. Most people check the stats. He plays this many minutes and has this many points, steals, rebounds, etc. In 12 years of covering major college basketball, I learned to look at other things, specifically compare the stats of the match up of the opponent. However, in the evaluation of a substitute, I also learned to check the score when he enters the game and the score when he leaves. If a man enters the game with the score tied and leaves 5 points ahead, then he is a +5. Do this each time he enters and leaves and you have a value. The same applies to NBA games but I go a step further and look at Pre and Post trade records. It isn't a perfect system, it is simply interesting.

So what does this have to do with Toni Kukoc? When he came to Chicago, he quickly established himself as a "Go To" guy, a seasoned 23 year old who came here when he was rated the #1 player in the European league. It is there he earned the nickname "The Waiter" and was seen as a player who not only got his stats but made sure others got their's. The consummate "team" player. When he came to the United States, he joined the Bulls under difficult circumstances. Michael Jordan left the NBA for an attempt at baseball and Scottie Pippen inherited the team, or so he thought.

In situations where the game was on the line, coach Phil Jackson kept calling Kukoc's number and he came through regularly. This didn't make for a good working relationship with Pippen who refused to enter a game when Kukoc was again dubbed as the potential hero in a clutch situation. What happen following that situation highlighted what Toni Kukoc is all about. He began to get Pippen involved whenever he could and recognized the need for team "chemistry". Before the age of 23, he had three Europeans championships with two different teams and earned Player-Of-The-Year honor three times in Europe. He also won three rings with the Bulls.

He carried that winning nack with him in the trade to the Philadelphia 76ers and I remember one play in particular that shows what Kukoc is all about. On a fast break with no one near him and two dribbles from the basket, Kukoc looked behind him over his left shoulder and spotted Alan Iverson. Kukoc then pulled up and handed Iverson the ball for the easy layup. It is that sense of team play that makes Kukoc a winner. That contribution is as valuable to winning as points and rebounds. With that, lets look at the numbers, specifically 27-23.

When Kukoc joined the 76ers, they were 27-23. He was there for one year and one week but did spend some time on the injured reserve list. Ironically, after he was traded to Atlanta, the team went 27-23 the rest of the season. While he was there, the 76ers put up a record of 68-29. When Kukoc had the luxury of learning the system by going through the pre-season, the 76ers got off to their best start in franchise history, rolling to a 10-0 record. They then proceeded to waltz to the best record in the NBA, until the trade. The losses began to come more frequently and Philadelphia went from the best record to just another good team. Even though they reached the finals, they struggled. Homecourt advantage, obtained because of the excellent start, helped get them to the finals but they struggled in rounds two and three with an 8-6 record, going the maximum seven games to win each series.

I am not saying Kukoc is a guy you build a team around. He has never averaged 20 points per game but came close several times. But I am saying he has established himself as a man who would be the first piece in the puzzle after you have your franchise player. The numbers for Kukoc may not add up to The Answer you would expect, but they are interesting. He turned in two "triple doubles" in a three game span with Atlanta. After his arrival with the Hawks, the team also increased its offensive output by nearly 11 points pergame, assists increased by more than four (18.1-22.4) while turnovers dropped by 3 per game.

Those numbers may not earn him All-Star honors but they may have enough meaning behind them to make people sit up and take notice. The numbers may be enough to show that, up until now in the NBA, Toni Kukoc has been a valuable "Invisible Man."

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Mr Shepston is a former college sportscaster in Normal, Illinois. He's a bulls fan and has been following Tony Kukoc for many years. Email Alan @ ads2020@davesworld.net

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