Kerr is on the Bill Simmons podcast

[Cheesebeef]

i just want to see us get someone to protect Amare - that's all.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

i just want to see us get someone to protect Amare - that's all.

Took care of that last year...that's Shawn Marks bra...

 

[Bufalay]

If Marion had been on those teams instead of Rodman they still would have won championships.

I don't know he would've been pretty young.

 

[OldDirtMcGirt]

great role players are part of the core. or at least a championship core.

I think it would be safe to define a "core" player as a player who's impact cannot be replaced and who's absence would create serious problems for the team the next year without being adequately replaced. While Kurt is a good player, he means diddly poo in the regular season, and the only time that he'd make a sizable impact is if we played the Spurs in the playoffs. I'd say that there's around a 50% chance that we face Dallas in the WCF, thus rendering Kurt useless. That doesn't sound like a core player to me.

 

[azirish]

I would guess that "core" means guys who they hope will be with the team for several years, while "non-core" are guys who are useful for a year or two only to be replaced by other guys.

With the Spurs, Duncan, Manu, Parker, and Bowen have been with the team for quite a while.

But look at the guys on the 2002-03 who are gone: Stephen Jackson, Malik Rose, David Robinson, Steve Smith, Speedy Claxton, Kevin Willis, and Steve Kerr

From the 2004-05 now gone are Devin Brown, Nazr Mohammed, Rasho Nesterovic, Tony Massenburg, and Mike Wilks.

Their plan has been to hang onto their core and keep rotating new guys to fill in. The key is to have a strong enough core to make that work.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I dont think you can put David Robinson on the 'non core' list...

 

[slinslin]

Shawn Marion is the greatest role player ever to play the game.

Rodman
Ben Wallace
Rasheed Wallace
Chauncey Billups
Rip Hamilton
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
Robert Horry

...

 

[Bufalay]

Rodman
Ben Wallace
Rasheed Wallace
Chauncey Billups
Rip Hamilton
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
Robert Horry

...

Robert Horry? Why is he getting so much freaking love on this site. He is completely overrated.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Look at Horrys stats and please explain how he can be considered a Hall Of Famer.

He just cherry picks the good teams! He's a journeyman with a lucky roll of the dice. Only way he makes it into a hall of fame is for his uncanny ability to land on teams on the road to the finals

 

[azirish]

Rodman
Ben Wallace
Rasheed Wallace
Chauncey Billups
Rip Hamilton
Tony Parker
Manu Ginobili
Robert Horry

...

This is great. We cannot determine what a superstar is, what a Hall of Famer is, and now we can not agree on what a "role player is".

Let me suggest that Slin's list of role players is a bit odd. IMHO, a role player is not simply someone who plays "a role" but rather someone whose role is clearly subordinate to that of the stars.

Let me give a couple of examples of guys who are NOT role players IMHO.

1. Starting Point Guards: Billips and Parker are not what I would call role players. Perhaps someone like Fisher in the triangle qualifies as a role player, but generally this is a pivotal part of the way the team works.

2. Team's Top Two Half Court Offensive Threats: Hamilton leads his team in scoring and Billips is second. The Spurs have a "big three" offense with Parker averaging 18.5 ppg, Manu 16.5 but the next player only 9.0 ppg. Calling Parker and Manu "role players" seems very odd to me.

I suppose you can make a case that the Wallaces are "role" players in the sense that Marion is a role player. But to put Horry in the same class as these guys suggests a new category is required.

Let's compare the regular season stats of Sheed to Horry:

Minutes:
Sheed 32.3 minutes per game
Horry 16.5 minutes per game

Points:
Sheed 12.3 ppg
Horry 3.9 ppg

Rebounds
Sheed 7.2 rpg
Horry 3.4 rpg

Shooting
Sheed 42.3%
Horry 35.9%

Three Point
Sheed 35.1%
Horry 33.6%

Horry in the playoffs this year averaged 4.3 ppg 3.9 rpg

Sheed in the playoffs this year averaged 14.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg

 

[Cheesebeef]

Their plan has been to hang onto their core and keep rotating new guys to fill in. The key is to have a strong enough core to make that work.

but when are we going to rotate someone in to fill KT's shoes like the Spurs have done with their role players?

 

[Muggum]

Kerr sounded glib and intelligent. I liked him!

 

[Stout]

It seems the Suns management has managed to brainwash a lot of fans by creating a ton of buzz over the concept of a teams 'core'. It's a baloney word that doesn't mean a damn thing. We need players that can help us advance to and win the Finals. Can we do that without AT LEAST one effective big man to help spell Amare? Not a snowball's chance. Do we have even one of them on the roster? Nope. Will we? We'd better, or else.

Stop the insanity, folks. Core, not core, it doesn't friggin' matter.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

It seems the Suns management has managed to brainwash a lot of fans by creating a ton of buzz over the concept of a teams 'core'. It's a baloney word that doesn't mean a damn thing. We need players that can help us advance to and win the Finals. Can we do that without AT LEAST one effective big man to help spell Amare? Not a snowball's chance. Do we have even one of them on the roster? Nope. Will we? We'd better, or else.

Stop the insanity, folks. Core, not core, it doesn't friggin' matter.

Hey guys - do you know what "core" means in terms of an NBA team?

Guys who are not easily replacable I.E. Nash, Amare, and Marion.

When you say KT is part of the core - he is not - he is highly replacable. Even Barbosa is highly replacable. You know why? Because we can go find another guy who can provide scoring off the bench. He might not bring the speed dynamic that LB does but the outcome is the same. You are kidding yourselves if you think the Suns wouldn't trade Barbosa if it came at the cost of losing a Nash or Amare and to a lesser degree Shawn or if they could obtain another guy who would potentially be part of the core. Those three guys are NOT replacable but with a few superstars in the league. That is what core means....

Guys you are willing to pay because 6'10 20 something manchilds dont come around very often. Just like PG's that completey run your team's offense don't either. To say KT is part of the core is ridiculous. He is interchangable with guys like PJ Brown, Brian Skinner and on and on. That doesn't mean he didn't provide significant value but so did Luc Longley and Steve Kerr. And only MJ and Pippen were part of that team's core. Everyone else was highly interchangable and they proved that winning championships with different guys at C, PF, and PG over the course of the 6 championships.

To use the Spurs analogy I would say only Duncan and Parker are part of the core. Trust me they love Ginobili. But he can be easily replaced (by a guy like Barbosa perhaps? )

 

[Arizona's Finest]

It seems the Suns management has managed to brainwash a lot of fans by creating a ton of buzz over the concept of a teams 'core'. It's a baloney word that doesn't mean a damn thing. We need players that can help us advance to and win the Finals. Can we do that without AT LEAST one effective big man to help spell Amare? Not a snowball's chance. Do we have even one of them on the roster? Nope. Will we? We'd better, or else.

Stop the insanity, folks. Core, not core, it doesn't friggin' matter.

BTW - can we just stop whining about KT already? My god - You would think we cheer for the Hawks.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

KT specifically is not part of the core. However, at least one serviceable interior defender is part of the core of every championship team.

 

[Stout]

All right, Arizona's Finest. What big is going to be spelling Amare this year? *crickets chirp* That's what I thought. That's why these ridiculous ideas of 'core' players are just that...ridiculous. By YOUR definition (and the idea of 'core' players seems to have about a gazillion definitions), a team has to have other highly reliable role players to compete for a title. Well, we lost one that could really help us. I'd agree with you that he is highly replaceable...if he had been replaced. So...now what? We have exactly one quality big man on our team. What else? Come on, bro. You're the smart guy with the answers, who doesn't seem to care about our dilemma. So, what's your answer?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

BTW - can we just stop whining about KT already? My god - You would think we cheer for the Hawks.

we're not whining over losing kt, we're worrying about losing him and not replacing him.

you're right, he is replacable. but ONLY IF HE'S ACTUALLY REPLACED!!! at this point we've seen a desire on the suns part to sign pj and nothing else. that's not encouraging.

 

[Stout]

This whole 'core' idea is simple, stupid semantics. The word doesn't mean a damn thing.

 

[Rab]

we're not whining over losing kt, we're worrying about losing him and not replacing him.

you're right, he is replacable. but ONLY IF HE'S ACTUALLY REPLACED!!! at this point we've seen a desire on the suns part to sign pj and nothing else. that's not encouraging.

100% correct.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

KT specifically is not part of the core. However, at least one serviceable interior defender is part of the core of every championship team.

Agree 100%

I'm just saying lets see how this all pans out. If we somehow do replace KT with PJ at 1/7 the salary we will all be singing how Sarver and Kerr are geniuses.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

All right, Arizona's Finest. What big is going to be spelling Amare this year? *crickets chirp* That's what I thought. That's why these ridiculous ideas of 'core' players are just that...ridiculous. By YOUR definition (and the idea of 'core' players seems to have about a gazillion definitions), a team has to have other highly reliable role players to compete for a title. Well, we lost one that could really help us. I'd agree with you that he is highly replaceable...if he had been replaced. So...now what? We have exactly one quality big man on our team. What else? Come on, bro. You're the smart guy with the answers, who doesn't seem to care about our dilemma. So, what's your answer?

See above reply. I am not ready to say the sky is falling. Fact is we will still be a very good team without KT. I agree we need interior help. I'm just saying I can guar-damn-tee there is a contingency plan.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

is that a money back guarantee?

 

[Rab]

Agree 100%

I'm just saying lets see how this all pans out. If we somehow do replace KT with PJ at 1/7 the salary we will all be singing how Sarver and Kerr are geniuses.

They have no backup plan if they don't get PJ. They've pretty much made it known that if PJ goes elsewhere, they're not signing another big that's going to play any significant role on the team. That's not genius.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

They have no backup plan if they don't get PJ. They've pretty much made it known that if PJ goes elsewhere, they're not signing another big that's going to play any significant role on the team. That's not genius.

I love how we assume we know more than the FO around this kind of stuff. Lets get all pissy once PJ makes a decision.

Not to mention its bad practice to say something like "If we don't get PJ, we plan on trading for (insert name here)" or "signing (insert name here)" Its in their best interest to be vague.

I guess I just have more faith in Kerr and D'Antoni than most.