Steve Kerr has patiently tried to find his role with the Bulls this season. Kerr averaged 22.4 minutes off the bench last season but until Friday, when he scored 10 points in 31 minutes against the Utah Jazz, was averaging 19 minutes. And most of those came in blowout victories.
Coach Phil Jackson said he has been hesitant to play Kerr because Kerr hasn’t played well, going just 1 of 11 from the field in the Bulls’ previous three games before hitting 4 of his 9 shots in Utah, including two key three-pointers. Jackson said the Bulls need Kerr’s three-point shooting so he expects to use Kerr more with Michael Jordan on the floor–a la John Paxson, who made a career out of taking advantage whenever Jordan was double-teamed.
Kerr is shooting 42 percent from three-point land (11 of 26).
Kerr led the league in three-point shooting at 52 percent last season.
One sign that things might be changing: Starter Ron Harper played just 11 minutes against Utah.
“Steve makes it very difficult for us to be a stronger team if he doesn’t shoot well,” Jackson said.
Role player: One reason Kerr’s minutes have dwindled is Jordan has been defending the quicker point guards. “The last couple of years he wasn’t around and we needed different combinations so I played a little bit more,” Kerr said. “This year, the difference with me is that it’s more of a matchup thing. . . . In the past we’ve tried to fight through that with the different combinations but now that we’ve got so many different options–we can play Michael and Scottie (Pippen) in the backcourt together; we can put Toni (Kukoc) back there and we bring Jud (Buechler) in. It’s going to change my role a little bit.”
Getting better: Jordan said the team is slowly beginning to jell. That was a problem when Jordan returned for 17 games last season to disrupt the team’s chemistry. “These guys understand how I play and I understand how they play so we’ve got a good chemistry working right now,” Jordan said. “We’re making the right plays and playing solid defense.””
The quote: This from Pippen, who isn’t surprised the Bulls are 3-0 so far during the West Coast trip: “This is a long road trip. We have to keep winning to make it a short trip.”
