Spurs Brazil
03-09-2008, 09:51 AM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/bharvey/stories/MYSA030908.HarveyKerr.en.3574333.html
Buck Harvey: For Kerr, nice doesn't matter now
Web Posted: 03/08/2008 10:16 PM CST
Buck Harvey
Express-News staff writer
"That TNT job is looking better right now," Steve Kerr started off, and that's why Kerr worked well on television.
He could laugh at himself.
He could keep things in perspective, too, and he tried Saturday. "If this were early in the season," he said, "people would be more understanding."
But no one in Phoenix wants to hear his humor, and no one cares how he frames failure. There's urgency in Arizona, and there's little room for patience, even for a roster that might as well be in training camp right now.
That's the way it is, and Kerr understands.
Kerr learned that firsthand in 1999 in San Antonio.
None of it seems to bother Kerr. He remains optimistic and calm, even with the Spurs in Phoenix today for a watershed moment.
Kerr brought in Shaquille O'Neal for Tim Duncan as much as anyone. If the Suns don't show some promise this afternoon against their nemesis, second-guessing will exponentially increase.
But Kerr says things like "We're going to get it done," and people in Arizona want to believe him. Before he was likable in San Antonio, he was likable at the University of Arizona.
Revealing is a story he shares from last summer. Then, he'd called his friend and former Spurs teammate, Danny Ferry, to ask him if he should accept the Suns' offer. Ferry told Kerr he thought he would do well, and then Kerr had to take another call. Kerr hung up and shortly after, he took the job.
When Ferry called back, he told Kerr: "I said you could do the job. But you hung up before I could also tell you that you shouldn't do it."
Why trade a TV gig for stress?
Now even broadcast moments aren't working out for Kerr, such as a spot last month on Arizona radio. Then, he was asked about Brent Barry turning him down to re-sign with the Spurs.
"I think," Kerr said then, "maybe there was something behind the scenes there."
Maybe there was. As Kerr also pointed out, Sonics general manager Sam Presti once worked for the Spurs, and he was the one who traded for Barry and then immediately waived him.
Kerr didn't imply anything more than "that's just the way business is done." But given these quotes, the radio station went with a story that suggested Kerr was suspicious.
The headline: "Did Barry, Spurs deliver another cheap shot to Suns?"
Kerr had been careless, and something else he said then was, too. He wondered on that same radio show why the Sonics didn't release Donyell Marshall instead of Barry.
The Sonics couldn't. They had to waive someone before they could complete the trade that brought them Marshall. Their roster was overloaded.
Told this Saturday, Kerr understood his mistake. Had he said this as a TNT announcer, the information would have been wrong but harmless; as an NBA general manager, it cut at his credibility.
But that's minor compared to what Kerr faces now. He gambled with the Western Conference's best record — and most entertaining team — for Shaq.
"If it works, I'm a genius," he said at the time. "If it doesn't, I'm a moron, I guess."
People are holding him to that, and no one cares that Shaq is showing some signs, with 20 points in his last game, or that the Suns' schedule has been rugged in this stretch. Mostly, they don't care that Shaq will suit up today for just the 10th time for the Suns, and that these adjustments take time.
For Kerr, it's familiar angst. Gregg Popovich added him after the strike in 1999, along with other veterans such as Mario Elie and Jerome Kersey. Then the Spurs tried to microwave chemistry in March, just as the Suns are trying now.
Those Spurs started 6-8, which is about the same as the 3-6 record of Shaq's Suns. "And they were calling for Pop's head," Kerr said.
Popovich hadn't endeared himself to the mob then, but personality doesn't matter much at these times. Winning can save the unpopular, and losing can sink the popular, and Kerr says he's fine with that.
Which is another reason to like him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
Buck Harvey: For Kerr, nice doesn't matter now
Web Posted: 03/08/2008 10:16 PM CST
Buck Harvey
Express-News staff writer
"That TNT job is looking better right now," Steve Kerr started off, and that's why Kerr worked well on television.
He could laugh at himself.
He could keep things in perspective, too, and he tried Saturday. "If this were early in the season," he said, "people would be more understanding."
But no one in Phoenix wants to hear his humor, and no one cares how he frames failure. There's urgency in Arizona, and there's little room for patience, even for a roster that might as well be in training camp right now.
That's the way it is, and Kerr understands.
Kerr learned that firsthand in 1999 in San Antonio.
None of it seems to bother Kerr. He remains optimistic and calm, even with the Spurs in Phoenix today for a watershed moment.
Kerr brought in Shaquille O'Neal for Tim Duncan as much as anyone. If the Suns don't show some promise this afternoon against their nemesis, second-guessing will exponentially increase.
But Kerr says things like "We're going to get it done," and people in Arizona want to believe him. Before he was likable in San Antonio, he was likable at the University of Arizona.
Revealing is a story he shares from last summer. Then, he'd called his friend and former Spurs teammate, Danny Ferry, to ask him if he should accept the Suns' offer. Ferry told Kerr he thought he would do well, and then Kerr had to take another call. Kerr hung up and shortly after, he took the job.
When Ferry called back, he told Kerr: "I said you could do the job. But you hung up before I could also tell you that you shouldn't do it."
Why trade a TV gig for stress?
Now even broadcast moments aren't working out for Kerr, such as a spot last month on Arizona radio. Then, he was asked about Brent Barry turning him down to re-sign with the Spurs.
"I think," Kerr said then, "maybe there was something behind the scenes there."
Maybe there was. As Kerr also pointed out, Sonics general manager Sam Presti once worked for the Spurs, and he was the one who traded for Barry and then immediately waived him.
Kerr didn't imply anything more than "that's just the way business is done." But given these quotes, the radio station went with a story that suggested Kerr was suspicious.
The headline: "Did Barry, Spurs deliver another cheap shot to Suns?"
Kerr had been careless, and something else he said then was, too. He wondered on that same radio show why the Sonics didn't release Donyell Marshall instead of Barry.
The Sonics couldn't. They had to waive someone before they could complete the trade that brought them Marshall. Their roster was overloaded.
Told this Saturday, Kerr understood his mistake. Had he said this as a TNT announcer, the information would have been wrong but harmless; as an NBA general manager, it cut at his credibility.
But that's minor compared to what Kerr faces now. He gambled with the Western Conference's best record — and most entertaining team — for Shaq.
"If it works, I'm a genius," he said at the time. "If it doesn't, I'm a moron, I guess."
People are holding him to that, and no one cares that Shaq is showing some signs, with 20 points in his last game, or that the Suns' schedule has been rugged in this stretch. Mostly, they don't care that Shaq will suit up today for just the 10th time for the Suns, and that these adjustments take time.
For Kerr, it's familiar angst. Gregg Popovich added him after the strike in 1999, along with other veterans such as Mario Elie and Jerome Kersey. Then the Spurs tried to microwave chemistry in March, just as the Suns are trying now.
Those Spurs started 6-8, which is about the same as the 3-6 record of Shaq's Suns. "And they were calling for Pop's head," Kerr said.
Popovich hadn't endeared himself to the mob then, but personality doesn't matter much at these times. Winning can save the unpopular, and losing can sink the popular, and Kerr says he's fine with that.
Which is another reason to like him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]