duncan228
11-10-2008, 11:17 PM
Spurs face arrogance of winning (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_face_arrogance_of_winning.html)
Buck Harvey
There’s a framed comic strip on Gregg Popovich’s desk, and it depicts an athlete sitting in a plush office. In Popovich’s world, Tim Duncan is the athlete.
Outside the office, standing in front of a receptionist, is a scraggly-looking character. Popovich is the scraggly-looking character.
The caption on the comic: “The Franchise will see you now, Coach.”
A year ago, when Duncan signed an extension, Popovich laughed and showed this comic to the media. He’s often joked, too, that his greatest accomplishment with Duncan is “not screwing this up.”
It’s been the theme of the franchise, which is why a report on a Web site says a lot about how people are affected by winning.
And by not winning.
The article appeared on Bulls.com, but it’s by a former newspaper writer who has sources around the league. The piece starts:
“It’s not like anyone specifically is rooting for the San Antonio Spurs to suffer and any players to be injured. But there’s been some knowing smiles around the NBA lately with the misfortunes of the Spurs.”
The Germans have a word for this — schadenfreude — meaning shameful joy. “Schaden” is German for harm or damage, and “freude” means “better you have the sprained ankle than me.”
It’s not an admirable trait in life, but schadenfreude is a lot of fun in sports. Do you think the Aggies, for example, didn’t enjoy seeing the Longhorns lose in Lubbock?
Or, as Groucho Marx once said, “There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one’s fellow man.”
Still, there’s an extra layer to Spur-enfreude. The online article said there was an “I-told-you-so” attitude in the league because of “the way some in the Spurs organization have carried themselves with success.”
From the article: “NBA people say you don’t see it with coach Gregg Popovich, but several of the staffers who’ve left the Spurs organization, like Mike Brown in Cleveland and Sam Presti in Oklahoma City, have often acted dismissive of others around the NBA to reiterate it must be done ‘the San Antonio way.’”
It’s hard to imagine, in a league that includes Phil Jackson, that Brown and Presti have become the icons of arrogance. More than likely, what really bothers some of their peers are their promotions at such young ages.
Still, the article focuses on those currently with the Spurs, too. “It’s like with the rest of us,” one general manager told the writer. “You lose your best players, it’s not easy. You’d think they’d know that better than anyone with losing (David) Robinson and they come up with Duncan (in the draft lottery).”
Popovich was asked about this article Monday, and he could have said a few things. He could have argued, “Okay, we got Duncan in a lottery. But how did we win our last three titles? With the two guys, one taken at the bottom of the first round, the other at the bottom of the second, who we don’t have now.”
But when has Popovich ever said anything like that? He and R.C Buford have never suggested they were smarter than everyone else when they drafted Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. When Popovich isn’t passing around his comic strip, he’s saying he will retire when Duncan does.
Instead, Popovich said, “I guess anybody can say anything about anybody else. But that would be the last way I would characterize how these guys have been over the last decade.”
Even his defense wasn’t about himself. He waved his arm toward the floor, where his players were still practicing, and said “these guys.”
But there really is no defense, because none of this is about anything tangible. The Spurs weren’t arrogant when they won. Their crime was winning. They went to podiums and talked, and they smiled, and they held trophies.
They did this often enough that their peers tired of it, and one is in town tonight. Does Mike D’Antoni mind that his former conference rivals are struggling?
Mark Cuban might feel the same, along with others. But that’s the essence of Spur-enfreude.
Championships, not injuries, caused it.
Buck Harvey
There’s a framed comic strip on Gregg Popovich’s desk, and it depicts an athlete sitting in a plush office. In Popovich’s world, Tim Duncan is the athlete.
Outside the office, standing in front of a receptionist, is a scraggly-looking character. Popovich is the scraggly-looking character.
The caption on the comic: “The Franchise will see you now, Coach.”
A year ago, when Duncan signed an extension, Popovich laughed and showed this comic to the media. He’s often joked, too, that his greatest accomplishment with Duncan is “not screwing this up.”
It’s been the theme of the franchise, which is why a report on a Web site says a lot about how people are affected by winning.
And by not winning.
The article appeared on Bulls.com, but it’s by a former newspaper writer who has sources around the league. The piece starts:
“It’s not like anyone specifically is rooting for the San Antonio Spurs to suffer and any players to be injured. But there’s been some knowing smiles around the NBA lately with the misfortunes of the Spurs.”
The Germans have a word for this — schadenfreude — meaning shameful joy. “Schaden” is German for harm or damage, and “freude” means “better you have the sprained ankle than me.”
It’s not an admirable trait in life, but schadenfreude is a lot of fun in sports. Do you think the Aggies, for example, didn’t enjoy seeing the Longhorns lose in Lubbock?
Or, as Groucho Marx once said, “There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one’s fellow man.”
Still, there’s an extra layer to Spur-enfreude. The online article said there was an “I-told-you-so” attitude in the league because of “the way some in the Spurs organization have carried themselves with success.”
From the article: “NBA people say you don’t see it with coach Gregg Popovich, but several of the staffers who’ve left the Spurs organization, like Mike Brown in Cleveland and Sam Presti in Oklahoma City, have often acted dismissive of others around the NBA to reiterate it must be done ‘the San Antonio way.’”
It’s hard to imagine, in a league that includes Phil Jackson, that Brown and Presti have become the icons of arrogance. More than likely, what really bothers some of their peers are their promotions at such young ages.
Still, the article focuses on those currently with the Spurs, too. “It’s like with the rest of us,” one general manager told the writer. “You lose your best players, it’s not easy. You’d think they’d know that better than anyone with losing (David) Robinson and they come up with Duncan (in the draft lottery).”
Popovich was asked about this article Monday, and he could have said a few things. He could have argued, “Okay, we got Duncan in a lottery. But how did we win our last three titles? With the two guys, one taken at the bottom of the first round, the other at the bottom of the second, who we don’t have now.”
But when has Popovich ever said anything like that? He and R.C Buford have never suggested they were smarter than everyone else when they drafted Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. When Popovich isn’t passing around his comic strip, he’s saying he will retire when Duncan does.
Instead, Popovich said, “I guess anybody can say anything about anybody else. But that would be the last way I would characterize how these guys have been over the last decade.”
Even his defense wasn’t about himself. He waved his arm toward the floor, where his players were still practicing, and said “these guys.”
But there really is no defense, because none of this is about anything tangible. The Spurs weren’t arrogant when they won. Their crime was winning. They went to podiums and talked, and they smiled, and they held trophies.
They did this often enough that their peers tired of it, and one is in town tonight. Does Mike D’Antoni mind that his former conference rivals are struggling?
Mark Cuban might feel the same, along with others. But that’s the essence of Spur-enfreude.
Championships, not injuries, caused it.