Kukoc vs Mirotic?

The Hawk

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I have higher hopes for Mirotic. I never felt Kukoc was an essential factor in a single championship or did much but take higher percentage shots away from others.

I hope Mirotic lacks eurosoft as much as I predict he does. I think he is actually a tough guy that just needs some NBA seasoning, the real deal, he will improve from rubbing his shoulders with the best. His demeanor is pefect, and he won't allow himself to be bitched. I think he comes out fighting.


If Mirotic is better than Kukoc he'll be an all-star because Toni was a good player. He was a GREAT player off of the bench and was a sixth man of the year.
He was a very talented offensive player. And I expect great things from Mirotic. In fact, I wish the Bulls would hire Toni to help the guy along.
 

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I could see Mirotic as the first guy off of the bench if Gasol and Gibson start.
 

The Hawk

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I could very well see a line-up of Mirotic, Noah, Rose, McDermott, and Butler when they want to run. That would be a very fun team to watch.
 

ChettheJet

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You're saying that mirotic is better than a six man of the year. A guy who consistently hit big shots for championship teams. A huge reason the 93-94 & 94-95 Bills were any good. Okay. Whatever man.

HOW HIGH ARE YOU

How much have you smoked today?

What. The. Hell?

So I'm not the only only who is shaking my head.


Apparently Fantasy NBA is already at the mid season mark in some people's minds.

Mirotic doesn't play like Ryan Anderson. He holds his position in the post and dunks on people.
Mirotic is the man. his athleticism is not a stiff 3 point shooter, he knows the game and he puts pressure on you defensively in a variety of ways.


You can wish that Mirotic becomes an excellent NBA player but until he does something in an NBA uniform for more than 3 years he's nothing but Euro highlights so comparing him to one the top 15 players in Bulls history makes you look foolish.

Mirotic will have to really step up to compare to Kukoc. Toni was an integral part of those championship teams, as well as the 2 that almost won in between. It was his ability to pass the ball as well as score from inside and out that allowed the Bulls bench to have shooters like Kerr, Wennington and Buechler who weren't great at getting their own shots on the floor at the same time along with non scorers like Salley, Parrish and Edwards. Defensively Kukoc could see the passing lanes develop so he could steal the ball and he was quick enough defending the post to deny the entry pass. Realize that he was also on the floor with Jordan and Pippen plenty of the time and that cut down on his point and assist production while Rodman took away much of the rebounding.
 

ChiSoxCity

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Tony made contributions. To say anything further would be an exaggeration.

I LOL when people talk about how HUGE some scrub or average player was on a Jordan led championship team.
 

RamiTheBullsFan

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Tony made contributions. To say anything further would be an exaggeration.

I LOL when people talk about how HUGE some scrub or average player was on a Jordan led championship team.

At least spell the man's name right. Toni- not Tony.

Secondly, he was a far above average player. Let's not pretend he was Steve Kerr. The Bulls were already getting 45 points per-game between Jordan and Pippen and he gave you 12-15 points per-game filling in their remaining minutes. That's impressive. He was capable of giving you 20+ points on any given night and was a decent defender who could guard both forward positions and even some finesse centers.

I don't understand why Toni Kukoc doesn't have a cult-like following by Bulls' fans and that other #7 guy, who used to play for the Bulls, does...
 

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At least spell the man's name right. Toni- not Tony.

Secondly, he was a far above average player. Let's not pretend he was Steve Kerr. The Bulls were already getting 45 points per-game between Jordan and Pippen and he gave you 12-15 points per-game filling in their remaining minutes. That's impressive. He was capable of giving you 20+ points on any given night and was a decent defender who could guard both forward positions and even some finesse centers.

I don't understand why Toni Kukoc doesn't have a cult-like following by Bulls' fans and that other #7 guy, who used to play for the Bulls, does...
Real Bulls fans appreciate Toni
 

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I was too young to appreciate the nuances of basketball when Jordan/Pippen started winning, but I was naive and young enough to cry for joy. It was a good time,

I just remember one playoff when Toni was 1-27 from 3 point and kept jacking them anyway. He got better, and he was streaky. He caused some matchup problems in hindsight, but I though Horace Grant was a more important factor.
 

RamiTheBullsFan

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He is nothing like Ryan Anderson. I am a big Ryan Anderson fan. The guy is a competitor, I would say that there winning percentage the last 2 seasons revolves around him and his time missed to injuries. This is supported by a look at the splits stats. They are a decent team with him, a little above average, and below average without as they waited for Davis to fill out.....which has happened and his importance is in the background again, obviously the team now revolves around Davis going forward.

However, Mirotic is a post player who plays in the post and likes to hit you for 3 on the fast break, or sneaking outside with good movement still in his young legs. But he'll go post up far more than Anderson does.

He's a lot more like Ryan Anderson than he is David Lee. David Lee is an exceptional rebounder and Mirotic isn't. FIBA Euroball does not even compare to the level of rebounding in the NBA. And Mirotic is not a very adequate rebounder even in that league. D-Lee does not have half of the range Ryan Anderson has on offense either.

Mirotic is his own player. No two players are alike. If you put some of each of Gallinari, Kukoc, Splitter, Anderson, Bonner, and Radmanovic in a blender, you'd get something close to Mirotic. Time will only tell if it was 3 parts Vlad and 1 part Gall or vice versa.
 

Raskolnikov

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Zach Randolph thought Mirotic was impressive, thats all I need to know. Dude is gonna be a bulls classic, your going to love his energy. The kid of fucking awesome
 

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Zach Randolph thought Mirotic was impressive, thats all I need to know. Dude is gonna be a bulls classic, your going to love his energy. The kid of fucking awesome
YOU WILL DRINK THE KOOLAID AND LIKE IT!
 

Axl Rose

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Zach Randolph thought Mirotic was impressive, thats all I need to know. Dude is gonna be a bulls classic, your going to love his energy. The kid of fucking awesome

Ee8lwEqGbqhn54vaz5Q45Thpo1_400.jpg
 

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I hope that wasn't directed at me. I love Toni, he was a good offensive player who did a great job for us. However, I don't feel he was an "above average" NBA player.

It's okay, you're allowed to have an opinion. Just remember, you're in the minority here, as most Bulls fans(including writers and enthusiasts at the time) believe he was above average and awarded him 6MOTY.
 

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I hope that wasn't directed at me. I love Toni, he was a good offensive player who did a great job for us. However, I don't feel he was an "above average" NBA player.
More of a general statement. You don't have to think he was amazing or anything like that to appreciate what he did for the Bulls.
 

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Anybody inching closer to my wagon on this? Maybe I will look up Kukoc career totals so we have comparison.

And....this was my problem as a kid with Kukoc, I wasn't into stats yet I just thought he missed too many shots. He was a floor spacer, one of the early stretch players and he shot 27% and 31% his first two years from 3. He took 2.4 3's per game shooting abysmally with much better shooters around him on his team.

Third year he hit 40%....so that will be a mark hard for Mirotic to ever hit, and impressive if he does. I wonder how Kukoc would have held up to today's GM advanced statistics.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/446/toni-kukoc
 

JaySix

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I feel that Kukoc is vastly underrated by a lot of Bulls fans.

Kukoc was at times with Yugoslavia and later on with Croatia playing PG at 6-11! he was good ball handler and a great passer coming in. as a scorer he was streaky but could hit the big shot. Not a great defender by any means and same goes for rebounding.

now coming to the Bulls he was asked to be something different, a role player and a shooter. he did that well and was as mentioned awarded the 6th man of the year award. that is definitely an above average player no matter how you look at it even though he wasn't being used to maximise his strengths.

as an individual player he would have been regarded as someone completely different had he not been on a team with Jordan an Pippen in their primes, where he could have reaked havoc with his ability to handle, pass and score. Bulls fans should be happy to have had him as that role player, a luxury to have and another element that helped make those teams historical.
 

Crystallas

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Kukoc wasn't under-rated when he was on the team. The people that are skewing perception were the ones that are youngin's that missed that period or were too little to know anything but the Jordan media circus.
 

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