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If Pop would have went down during the playoffs the Spurs would have rang anyways. The same can't be said about Duncan, tbh.
Who was more influential on 2014s Championship. Duncan or Pop?
If Pop would have went down during the playoffs the Spurs would have rang anyways. The same can't be said about Duncan, tbh.
2013 Game 7 has your answer.
The last several years of Duncan's career when he started really slowing down, the team didn't really miss a beat at either end of the court. 2 years ago in Duncan's last season when he was essentially playing token back-up minutes, the team won 67 games. Last year without Duncan they still won 61 games and went to the conference finals. This year without Kawhi and Parker, the team is still one of the best handful of teams in the league.
Needless to say Pop is the #1 reason for the Spurs success over the past 20 years. He's not the only reason and Duncan obviously was also a huge reason, GOAT PF, easily top 10 arguably top 5 player ever, etc... etc... But Pop should take the most credit for each Spurs le except for 2003. That was clearly mostly due to Duncan. The other four, Pop, even if he takes the most blame for 2013.
The answer is Duncan.
BUT.....the move to insertinto the lineup was huge. Let's not overlook that. Ass whippings galore after that move was made.
Meh, you didn't need to be some kind of genius to knew that was the obvious move.The answer is Duncan.
BUT.....the move to insert
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234327
Or maybe you did.
I'm even more of a genius, 'cause it didn't took me losing home court advantage to realize it, tbh.
Rack it.
MVPatty 50-Mills tbh
The Closer. DAF86
If only there was that option tbh.
And that was the end of Miami's big three.
If you ask Pop he'd point to the last guy on the bench before pointing toward himself. Truth is it was Tony Parker. If he didn't come in during game 5 and go off in the 3rd quarter after we were up 20, we'd be stuck at 4.
Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, Tony Parker
If we are making a ranking for that year's playoffs it will probably go:
Duncan
Kawhi
Boris
Manu
Green
Mills
Tiago
Tony
Pop
Bellinelli
Bonner
Duncan
Kawhi
Manu
Tiago/Boris
Boris was huge against Miami, tbh.
Tiago was OP in the first and second rounds. And he was Good in both the last rounds. I have him slightly over Boris.
you forgot Diaw...
truth is, it was a team effort.
Different guys stepped up in different series, and there were series that presented more of a challenge than Miami did.
Coaches should never get credit over players, especially in basketball. There's only so much a coach can do to affect the game. At the end of the day, you're only as good as your best players.
And Duncan was still great in his last 2 years, especially on D.
Duncan was obviously past his prime this decade, but he didn't fall off a cliff until his final season, when his one decent knee essentially gave out. Spurs may not have appeared to miss a beat, because Leonard ascended to top 3 player status, they signed Aldridge and replaced him with the closest thing to a current archetype, Gasol.
This season, they've feasted on one of the easiest schedules to date, with Aldridge playing the best ball of his career.
It's always the best player(s) that deserve the most credit for championships and the fact that this is the only instance where some constantly pretend otherwise is a slap in the face to him and them. Jackson, Riley, etc. are supposed to apologize for coaching greatness, but Popovich receives unrelenting praise for it. I don't get it.
When it's Duncan vs. Kobe, Pop is the sole reason for not only the 2014 championship, but all 5 championships.
When it's Phil vs. Pop, Duncan is the sole reason for not only the 2014 championship, but all 5 championships.
Only reason Pop got to coach for so long in SA and develop that system/culture is Duncan. Imagine a young Pop having to settle with a Kobe Bryant for franchise player. Do you think he would have been able to establish this selfless culture where everybody gets chewed to pieces for defensive ups or bad shots? At the first time Pop would have went at Kobe the way he went at Duncan, Kobe's insecure little ego would have told the higher powers to fire Pop's ass.
Exactly. And if Robinson hadn't been injured in '96, Bob Hill would've stayed the coach and none of this would have happened. (I'm glad that it did, but my point is that coaching success is incredibly fickle.)
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