Yeah, I completely forgot about Jaren Jackson. I feel kind of bad about that.
Yeah Kerr had some great moments, but it's hard to compare with Malik. Rose was an instrumental spark off the bench many Playoff series and was a key sub for Robinson (and occasional starter when the Admiral couldn't play).
For a time, he also did a pretty good job on Shaq.
honestly, who gives a .
I see some people have faint memories on Jaren Jackson's contributions in his 3 years with the Spurs. Jaren became a big three-point threat but his strength was as an on-ball defender. He was a defensive specialist with some offensive skills.
Very true. When the Spurs signed him in the summer of 1997, he was just known as a defensive specialist. The three-point threat he became along the way was just a bonus. The combination of Jackson, Sean Elliott and Mario Elie defensively was a key to the success of the 1999 championship.
Jackson's legacy with the common Spurs fan has been ruined, but those in the know realize that the 1999 championship run wouldn't have happened without him.
A lot of people started paying attention to the Spurs after the '99 le run, and what they saw was a guy perceived to be cashing it in.
D or no D...JJ's biggest contribution to the 99 le was raining down 3's on Laker domes...JJ was the X factor in that series, and reason 1A it was a sweep(in a very tough series nontheless).
Spurs are always good on D...it's a given, the difference between our le winning teams and our failures is the ability to hit outside shots in pivotal moments...when we have that we win, and when we don't...Gotta have it, gotta have it, gotta have it. That's why none of our one game/one series/one playoff, wonders, should ever be diminished or overlooked...
BTW...TimVP made a pretty good list...but no way does Terry Porter deserve to be ranked in the top 10...yes I liked him, yes he's a good guy...but he's also a choking that hurt this team when he was most needed. Not a top 10 guy IMO.
Doc Rivers should probably be ranked in the place of TP, for all the smart heady plays he made during his stint here.
Overall, Kerr was a disappointing FA acquisition who redeemed himself at the end of his (second) Spurs stint while JJ was a surprise and welcome acquisition who left in disgrace. Until late May of 2003 Kerr had contributed little in SA. To claim that he was a better bench contributor than Rose during their Spurs careers is absurd.
If you're going to talk about pre-Robinson, I of course agree with mentioning Mike "Sugar Bear" Gale, but you also have to include:
-Allan Briston
-Mark Olberding
-Coby Dietrick
-Mike Green
In ingcredible. TIMVPS 15 names of bench players and 76 additional posts and NO ONE, NOT ONE PERSON has mentioned Steve Jackson. Not even the people who've ranted about how great he was and how we absolutely had to have him back.
Either there has been a drastic reassessment in some quarters--or JAX is pretty forgettable.
He started.
Or his only good season as a Spur was as a starter...Either there has been a drastic reassessment in some quarters--or JAX is pretty forgettable.
Hypothetically speaking, if Stephen Jackson was eligible for that list, I'd probably place him number two only behind Rose. Jack had a lot of huge moments in the 2003 playoffs.
People nut on themselves about Kerr but it was Jack who brought the Spurs back from the dead in that game with 'lik working the paint. Guess the props gotta go to the funny white guy.
Exactly.
Spurs were down by 12 in the fourth.
Manu hits a three -- down by 9
Jackson hits a three -- down by 6
Jackson hits a three -- down by 3
Kerr hits a three -- tied
Kerr hits a three -- +3
Kerr hits a three -- +6
So yeah, Kerr hit some big shots but the Spurs were already all the way back in the game. Plus there was still half the fourth quarter yet to play.
They were big shots but those two minutes of action has him up there with Gervin, Robinson and Duncan somehow.
We briefly interrupt this debate to bring a smile to everyone's face.
Ahhhh. . . .
While we are stuck in a haze of bliss, recall where DRob was when the Spurs were making their run. Where could 'lik have been? Hmmm...
In that fourth quarter, Rose got seven rebounds, assisted Kerr on his second three-pointer and set a couple picks to open up the shooters.
Not bad for a scrub.
you have to admit this is NICE
He was a starter...
not an off the bench in the dog house scrub like Rose.
Yeah, Kerr was huge in Game 6 against Dallas and in Game 5 against New Jersey. That's it. He hit those 3's but as stated earlier, it was Stephen Jackson who brought the Spurs back along with Malik.
Jack's 2nd triple in a row, the pull up 3 on the break with no one there to rebound remains one of my favourite Spurs shots ever. That's what I call making love to pressure
Me, I remember Kerr's either 2nd or 3rd three. The one where "MVP-to-be" Steve Nash doubled down on Duncan, and after it was kicked back out to a wide-open Kerr, took one step toward him, then, instead of trying to close out on him, turned around IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION and RAN AWAY.Jack's 2nd triple in a row, the pull up 3 on the break with no one there to rebound remains one of my favourite Spurs shots ever. That's what I call making love to pressure
I guess he figured if he was out of frame, no one would remember.
Nash was just terrible that quarter.
The thing I remember most about Kerr's performance isn't so much the 3's, but the defense on Finley and the dive to save that loose ball. As Larry would say, "Leadership is diving on loose balls".
Not that I don't have that quarter memorised, but I'm so watching it again when I get home.
The official recap of that game:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=230529006
Spurs outscore Mavs 34-9 in final quarter
· Complete Schedule: San Antonio | Dallas
DALLAS (AP) -- Steve Kerr was a forgotten man for most of the postseason.
Tim Duncan and the Spurs will be shooting for their second NBA le.
"I'm 37. I'm slow. I'm not a very good defender,'' Kerr said, explaining why San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich had kept him at the end of the bench.
Kerr went into Game 6 of the Western Conference finals having played just 13 minutes with a grand total of zero field goals.
But in the third quarter Thursday night, Popovich had nothing to lose. His team was playing poorly, his starting point guard was ill and the backup wasn't effective. So he turned to the guy with four NBA championship rings and told him to fire away.
Rekindling images of his glory days alongside Michael Jordan in Chicago, Kerr hit four 3-pointers, three during an amazing fourth-quarter rally that took the Spurs from 13 down all the way to the NBA Finals.
San Antonio beat the Dallas Mavericks 90-78 to win the series 4-2. The Spurs advanced to play the New Jersey Nets in the championship round, starting at home Wednesday night.
"I mentioned to Steve that he needed to be ready tonight, and he was real ready,'' Popovich said. "It's a fitting finish to what I thought would be the end of his career, but he told me we're going to have to think about an extension or he won't be available for the finals. And he said that with a straight face.''
Dallas led by as many as 15 and was ahead 71-58 when Nick Van Exel made a jumper with 10:53 left. Even with Dirk Nowitzki missing a third straight game because of a sprained left knee, the Mavericks appeared headed to a winner-take-all seventh game on Saturday night in San Antonio.
"I didn't think the game was over,'' Mavs guard Raja Bell said, "but you can't help thinking about Game 7.''
The Spurs came back with stingy defense and the outside shooting they lacked in previous games. Their six straight 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter were the ultimate zone-busters.
Manu Ginobili had the first, then Stephen Jackson hit two. Kerr's trio came in a span of four possessions, with the first tying it at 71 and the last making it 79-71. Ginobili added two free throws before Van Exel ended Dallas' drought with 2:51 left.
Over 8:02, the Mavericks missed seven shots and committed six turnovers. It was a stunning meltdown for a team that has thrived on making other teams melt down, such as in Game 5, when they made San Antonio blow a 19-point lead.
"We were playing so well for so long and the bottom just dropped out,'' coach Don Nelson said. "We couldn't get a shot to go in. We went cold at the wrong time.''
Nelson, only under contract as general manager next season, might've been on the sideline for the final time.
Kerr, the career leader in 3-point accuracy, took only four shots, but made them all, and all were behind the line. That made for 12 points in 13 minutes. He also had three assists and two rebounds.
"I figured just let it fly and see what happens,'' said Kerr, who won three NBA les with Chicago and one with the Spurs in 1999. "This is one of best nights of my career, ranks right up there with anything that happened in Chicago.''
Jackson scored 24 points, making five of San Antonio's 10 3-pointers, on a night when Tim Duncan was constantly double- and triple-teamed.
Duncan had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Rose had 12 and Ginobili added 11 to help San Antonio overcome scoreless outings from two starters -- Tony Parker and Bruce Bowen.
Van Exel had 19 points to lead the Mavericks, who were without Nowitzki for the third straight game because of a knee injury that probably would've prevented him from playing in a Game 7.
Michael Finley, who had only 13 points after 31 the previous game, bit his collar as he left the court with 1:01 to play, then hugged Nelson.
When the game ended, a franchise-record crowd of 20,812 stood and applauded. Steve Nash, the last player to leave the court, slowly made a 360-degree turn while returning the applause.
"We have a lot to be proud of,'' said Nash, who had six points and 11 assists. "At the same time, we didn't reach our goal, so it hurts.''
Game notes
Finley felt he let the team down. "It was the biggest game of the year and I didn't play up to par,'' he said. "I made a plea for the crowd to make noise for 48 minutes. They held up their end of the bargain, but I didn't.'' ... That plea was played on the main scoreboard before tipoff and at the start of the second half. ... Over the middle two quarters, the Spurs had as many field goals (13) as turnovers. ... San Antonio had 17 turnovers. In the others three wins this series, the Spurs had 16, 14 and 14. They had 11 and nine in their losses.
A little bit of revisionist history going on here...I think some people need to rewatch that game because they have clearly forgotten the impact Steve Kerr made when he entered that game. And it was a must have situation.
They need to remember that the achilles heel of that team was blowing big leads and essentially choking...this with Jack and Malik and Manu getting big minutes...and it was Kerr that was the solution to the choke jobs.
This is not to diminish the game in and game out contributions of Stephen Jackson, a starter, or Malik Rose, the 6th man...only to point out that we were getting our asses kicked with both of them in the game, lost plenty of games in those playoffs with both of them getting big minutes and Kerr never getting off tyhe bench, and it was Kerr that was the momentum swing in that game. He also got a big steal too...
I remember Drob jumping off the bench...I remember Tim Duncan looking for Kerr, Kerr and more Kerr.
So while Kerr does not even really belong in the dicussion of best
Spurs bench player of all time, mainly because he had little or no role for most of his career here(not necessarily due to his own fault) and was a specialist at best, never a 6th man...
That was one of the great clutch performances in Spurs history. I don't understand the need to minimize it or trash Kerr in an attempt to build Malik Rose or Jaren Jackson up...he also was the back up PG most of that season, and he did provide an undeniable emotional momentum changing lift in that game.
Anyone that has forgotten the impact he made in the game, emotionally, and from the POV of momentum, needs to go back and rewatch...be sure to watch the reaction of the Spurs players themselves to Kerr's performance. watch the Mavs.
Stop the hate...that was a great ing performance.
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