Kolek planning to go pro
I’m sure if writers found it worth their time to discuss players not worthy of the HOF plenty of people would write about Toni Kukoc, after they wrote about many other players first.Toni Kukoc is not a HOF basketball player. But calling him such fits your agenda so that you can say MJ got to play with 3 (hilarious) HOFers and that’s why he went 6-0 in NBA Finals and is the difference between LBJ’s Finals success (or lack thereof) and MJ’s Finals success.The obvious problem here is that your agenda is so strong it apparently blocked out your memory of LBJ going 2-2 in NBA Finals series with the Heat, where he played with 3 (no, really, 3 legitimate, not 2 and some solid 6th man who was great overseas) HOFers.Oops?
Sam Smith's opinion as a professional basketball writer on his Hall of Fame credentials vs Fireman's opinion of basketball playing careerHard to decide.
It was even more obvious that it was a clear blocking foul in real time. And regarding the restricted arc. Lebron's foot was still on the line after Durant had already picked up his dribble. Lebron then jumps slides underneath Durant as Durant is going up for his shot. Had he stayed in the initial legal guarding position, he would have been in the restricted zone, which is why he slid under Durant, to make sure he was not in the restricted zone (which he wasn't, but then he slid under him which makes it a blocking call).Lebron is both leaning and moving (crashes into the other defender, whose foot is in the restricted zone) when the collision occurs. Very clear blocking call. The exact type of play the NBA had in mind when they allowed replay in these particular incidents. But should have been called a block in real time. The NBA reviewed it, and agrees with what I wrote.
Haralabob posed this question on Twitter...If the Cavs traded LBJ to the Warriors for Curry and KD, which team wins a series after the swap?
Hmm...has my profession been discussed since this account was created? I know public service has been mentioned, not sure about any specifics.
And you completely missed the point, which is that at no point of his career did Kukoc play at an all-star level, much less Hall of Fame. The only time he ever looked (maybe) like a HOF player was before he ever played a NBA minute. At no point of his NBA career, largely as a bench player, was he HOF caliber. I don't think that's remotely debatable, and not even Smith makes that contention in the article you cite.
It was so clear that Jeff Van Gundy and Steve Javie thought the charge should have been upheld.
And Steve Javie later said the refs got it right in overturning it. It was one of the clearer block/charge calls I've seen.
In real time, even with the replay he said charge. These are bang bang plays. Where did Javie later say they got it right?The whole point of Javie and Van Gundy (former coach) saying it was a charge is to point out the subjectivity of the call. There is nothing clear cut at all if you have those guys saying it was and needing a replay in slow motion to say it wasn't. That is the antithesis of clear cut. Making matters worse, the ONLY reason to review that play is if the player is not in the restricted area. James is clearly (that's the only thing clear on this play) outside of the restricted area so the review never should have happened.
I'm guessing you want the Cavs to win. There were a lot more key calls wrong than that (or which could have been called wrong).
Hmm, well I know I'm getting old and losing my memory, but not that bad. Yes, 5 days ago by YOU is when it was revealed directly by you. Give an old man credit, 5 days memory isn't that hard. https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=56297.msg1025721#msg1025721 You said "on day one of my fire academy". Am I wrong that after the fire academy you didn't become a fireman? I trust Sam Smith and his expertise that said he had a case. I also said I don't know if he should be, but he is in the FIBA Hall of Fame and he certainly has a case for Naismith. I'm not the one suggesting it isn't close. If that were the case, Smith would not make the claim nor would others like Pippen. Are you aware that there are several players in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame that played in zero or 1 all star game? Arvydas Sabonis, Drazen Petrovic, Calvin Murphy, Bill Bradley, Don Barksdale, Dan Issel, and others.
Only one problem with that theory.This paragraph at the top of the article https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/samsmith/9-bulls-hall-fame-case"The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media."And to summarize, not only is it not a puff piece, but you are also impugning Sam Smith's credibility as a journalist in the process.
Fair.The thing is, Kukoc was at no point of his NBA career a HOF caliber player or even close. You and Sam can throw out overseas accolades but that doesn't change that he was never at that level in this league.Also, he's been eligible for the HOF for nearly a decade. He's never been so much as a finalist for the Naismith HOF. He is not and never was close on this side of the pond.
Is Smith's job at bulls.com journalism or public relations? Maybe a hybrid of the two.The disclaimer doesn't resolve what is a clear conflict of interest. Smith now rights about the Bulls for the Bulls.All the disclaimer proves is that Smith writes his own articles and they are published without the Bulls reviewing them.We do not know how/if Smith is assigned article topics. We do not know what repercussions Smith might face if he wrote something the Bulls do not like.And as for the article itself, Smith does his best to appear unbiased. He wrote several paragraphs that had nothing to do with the Bulls. Smith also carefully chose the phrase "for consideration." Not "deserve to be inducted." Considerations; hey think about these guys & here's why.None of this changes Smith's credibility on his prior work. But since he started writing for bulls.com, anything he writes about the Bulls must be taken with a grain of salt.
LBJ is going to have to start giving at least 50% effort defensively when he’s in any situation other than an iso and he’s guarding the ball handler or a chase down block isn’t in play if the Cavs want any chance. The dude gives no help whatsoever and will just wave his hands at his teammates but when he gets caught ball watching and his guy gets a backdoor dunk (the only thing Jordan Bell, for example, is a threat to do) and Tristian Thompson raises his hands wondering what happened LBJ tells him to settle down.
Yeah. He sucks.
Clearly LeBron isn't pulling his weight. If only he tried a little harder the Cavs might have a chance in this series.
Agreed. If the Warriors roll players aren't getting uncontested dunks the Cavs will have a shot. If not they'll lose the next 2 by 20 and everyone can say LBJ would be undefeated in NBA Finals if he played them with 3 HOFers next to him, which wouldn't be true.