duncan228
11-16-2008, 12:09 AM
Popovich shows patient approach (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Popovich_shows_patient_approach.html)
By Jeff McDonald
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was early in his first NBA start, and already Spurs rookie George Hill had made a mistake.
He scraped past Tim Duncan on a high screen, then threw a perfect bounce pass to the power forward rolling to the basket. At least, it would have been a perfect bounce pass, had Duncan been 4-foot-11 instead of 6-foot-11.
As the ball caromed off Duncan’s shin and out of bounds, giving the ball to the visiting New York Knicks, Hill shot a nervous glance at his head coach.
Gregg Popovich responded with three encouraging hand claps and three encouraging words: “Let’s go, Georgie!”
With the Spurs crippled with key injuries, and with a kiddie corps of 20-somethings poised to play major minutes, Popovich sees little good in losing his cool over every inevitable miscue to come.
“We’re going through some growing pains right now,” Popovich said.
Throughout the ups and downs of the Spurs’ 3-5 start, Popovich has been less fire-and-brimstone preacher and more X’s-and-O’s professor.
Players say Popovich has spent more time teaching this season than in years past, and for good reason: The Spurs have a rookie (Hill) starting at point guard for the injured Tony Parker, another rookie (Anthony Tolliver) earning key minutes off the bench and still another newcomer (28-year-old Roger Mason) occupying a spot in the starting lineup with Manu Ginobili out.
After Friday’s 77-75 victory over Houston — made possible in part by Hill’s 17 points, five assists and six rebounds — Popovich at last pronounced himself pleased with his team’s progress.
The Spurs will aim for their first winning streak of the season tonight, when they play at Sacramento.
“We’ve had some rough spots, and we’ll probably have a few more,” Popovich said. “The record isn’t that important to me. Whether we were winning all these or losing all these, it’s important to see if people are learning and if they are believing in each other, so I think we’re on the right path.”
The star pupil in Popovich’s NBA 101 class has been Hill. He has had to be.
Nine months removed from the end of his college career at little-known IUPUI in Indiana, Hill was thrust into a starting role when Parker went down with a sprained ankle Nov. 7.
“I really didn’t know what to expect coming into the (regular) season,” Hill said. “It’s a lot different. It’s real now. All these games count.”
Along the way, he has had his share of growing pains — a bad pass here, a missed assignment there. In the past, with another young point guard, Popovich might have blown his stack.
When Parker was a 19-year-old rookie, his mistakes were often greeted with a blistering from Popovich so blue it would have made Richard Pryor blush.
Now, Hill gets a paternal slap on the rump and a “Let’s go, Georgie!”
A shooting guard throughout college, Hill faces the dual challenges of learning to be an NBA player and learning to be an NBA point guard.
“I think in some ways, it’s a little more difficult for him than it was for Tony,” Popovich said. “More patience is definitely in order.”
With this group, Popovich has found, patience is not only a virtue. It is a necessity.
By Jeff McDonald
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It was early in his first NBA start, and already Spurs rookie George Hill had made a mistake.
He scraped past Tim Duncan on a high screen, then threw a perfect bounce pass to the power forward rolling to the basket. At least, it would have been a perfect bounce pass, had Duncan been 4-foot-11 instead of 6-foot-11.
As the ball caromed off Duncan’s shin and out of bounds, giving the ball to the visiting New York Knicks, Hill shot a nervous glance at his head coach.
Gregg Popovich responded with three encouraging hand claps and three encouraging words: “Let’s go, Georgie!”
With the Spurs crippled with key injuries, and with a kiddie corps of 20-somethings poised to play major minutes, Popovich sees little good in losing his cool over every inevitable miscue to come.
“We’re going through some growing pains right now,” Popovich said.
Throughout the ups and downs of the Spurs’ 3-5 start, Popovich has been less fire-and-brimstone preacher and more X’s-and-O’s professor.
Players say Popovich has spent more time teaching this season than in years past, and for good reason: The Spurs have a rookie (Hill) starting at point guard for the injured Tony Parker, another rookie (Anthony Tolliver) earning key minutes off the bench and still another newcomer (28-year-old Roger Mason) occupying a spot in the starting lineup with Manu Ginobili out.
After Friday’s 77-75 victory over Houston — made possible in part by Hill’s 17 points, five assists and six rebounds — Popovich at last pronounced himself pleased with his team’s progress.
The Spurs will aim for their first winning streak of the season tonight, when they play at Sacramento.
“We’ve had some rough spots, and we’ll probably have a few more,” Popovich said. “The record isn’t that important to me. Whether we were winning all these or losing all these, it’s important to see if people are learning and if they are believing in each other, so I think we’re on the right path.”
The star pupil in Popovich’s NBA 101 class has been Hill. He has had to be.
Nine months removed from the end of his college career at little-known IUPUI in Indiana, Hill was thrust into a starting role when Parker went down with a sprained ankle Nov. 7.
“I really didn’t know what to expect coming into the (regular) season,” Hill said. “It’s a lot different. It’s real now. All these games count.”
Along the way, he has had his share of growing pains — a bad pass here, a missed assignment there. In the past, with another young point guard, Popovich might have blown his stack.
When Parker was a 19-year-old rookie, his mistakes were often greeted with a blistering from Popovich so blue it would have made Richard Pryor blush.
Now, Hill gets a paternal slap on the rump and a “Let’s go, Georgie!”
A shooting guard throughout college, Hill faces the dual challenges of learning to be an NBA player and learning to be an NBA point guard.
“I think in some ways, it’s a little more difficult for him than it was for Tony,” Popovich said. “More patience is definitely in order.”
With this group, Popovich has found, patience is not only a virtue. It is a necessity.