duncan228
03-08-2009, 11:27 PM
Opposite, and yet aligned with Popovich (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Opposite_and_yet_aligned_with_Popovich.html)
Buck Harvey
Alvin Gentry should have been Gregg Popovich on Sunday afternoon. Gentry should have called time, and he should have screamed.
Gentry had a right.
He instead coached as the perfect fit for the imperfect team. He got what he could out of a flawed roster, and he smiled as he worked the refs, and he once again absorbed toxins from a snake-bit franchise.
Popovich, had he traded places, would have done well to do the same.
Twenty years ago, neither could have imagined this future. Then, they arrived in San Antonio as twins. They were unknown, young, broke and feeling lucky to follow Larry Brown on a great adventure.
Gentry's car had 83,000 miles on it then, and he didn't plan to add many more in San Antonio. He figured two years with the Spurs would look good on his résumé; that would help him land a college job.
So he rented a condo, talking the landlord into taking one month's rent with the promise to pay the second as soon as he got his first paycheck from the Spurs. “That's the way we all were then,” Gentry said.
Popovich was as unsure about the future. Most remember him as special, even then, with a rare mix of intelligence, charm and craziness. But no one knew. In those early days, on the team charter, Popovich would get so pepped up, he would do pushups on the floor.
Gentry was far more relaxed, and this would be his damning profile when he broke through and became the head coach of the Heat, Pistons and Clippers. They say he was too nice and that he wanted to be liked, and players didn't respond.
These are the generalities applied to those who lose games. Popovich has the opposite image now, but how different would his life have been with the Clippers?
He instead coaches his kind of guys, his way. Late in the fourth quarter Sunday, with the Suns dangerously close, Popovich yelled first at Tim Duncan, then at Ime Udoka, then at an entire huddle.
The Spurs had reason to yell back. George Hill had played 42 seconds before Popovich sent him into crunch time, and Popovich kept Duncan on the bench late in the game when the Suns went small.
Had the Spurs lost, Popovich would have heard some criticism on message boards. Otherwise, few others would have said much. Four titles provide a cushion.
Gentry has never worked with anything like this. His first head-coaching job was like this one, coming in mid-season after a firing. He's never been his own boss, as Popovich has been, and he's had players not known for always taking orders well.
Popovich should spend a day telling Shaquille O'Neal, for example, how to hedge on a pick-and-roll.
Gentry also works for a franchise steeped in financial missteps. Needing to dump salary before last season, for example, the Suns traded Kurt Thomas to the franchise then in Seattle. To take Thomas' salary, the Sonics asked for and got two first-round draft picks from Phoenix.
Popovich has never faced such personnel hell, and R.C. Buford is a reason. As for the 20-year anniversary: Buford also arrived with Popovich and Gentry.
Because Buford traded for Thomas, Gentry re-lived this Phoenix decision. Thomas battled Shaq as well as Duncan did.
So Gentry had a right to scream, to wonder why bad luck took away Amare Stoudemire, and why bad management took away Thomas. He had a right to scream about the free-throw discrepancy Sunday and to panic as his team heads toward the lottery.
In the past, he would have. He felt pressure in past jobs, and along the way, he sometimes lost his strength, which is his personality.
Now he's past that. He jokes that he has a multi-week contract, and he coaches with a stern sense of calm. He's gotten on Shaq and Steve Nash recently, and observers say he even had a Popovich moment in practice this past weekend.
Gentry does this knowing he doesn't have much of a bench, and his best days might be like Sunday. Then, the Suns did well to hang around.
For all of Popovich's reputation for defense: Nash circled with less than a minute left and found no Spurs within yards of him. His open 3-pointer would have pulled the Suns within two. Had he not missed.
Gentry signaled to Popovich as he walked off, and he spoke evenly afterward. He acted like a coach who has lost jobs before and knows life goes on. And if what he's doing now isn't good enough for Suns management, then his return to San Antonio on Sunday should mean something.
Twenty years later, Gentry was still a lot like Popovich.
Buck Harvey
Alvin Gentry should have been Gregg Popovich on Sunday afternoon. Gentry should have called time, and he should have screamed.
Gentry had a right.
He instead coached as the perfect fit for the imperfect team. He got what he could out of a flawed roster, and he smiled as he worked the refs, and he once again absorbed toxins from a snake-bit franchise.
Popovich, had he traded places, would have done well to do the same.
Twenty years ago, neither could have imagined this future. Then, they arrived in San Antonio as twins. They were unknown, young, broke and feeling lucky to follow Larry Brown on a great adventure.
Gentry's car had 83,000 miles on it then, and he didn't plan to add many more in San Antonio. He figured two years with the Spurs would look good on his résumé; that would help him land a college job.
So he rented a condo, talking the landlord into taking one month's rent with the promise to pay the second as soon as he got his first paycheck from the Spurs. “That's the way we all were then,” Gentry said.
Popovich was as unsure about the future. Most remember him as special, even then, with a rare mix of intelligence, charm and craziness. But no one knew. In those early days, on the team charter, Popovich would get so pepped up, he would do pushups on the floor.
Gentry was far more relaxed, and this would be his damning profile when he broke through and became the head coach of the Heat, Pistons and Clippers. They say he was too nice and that he wanted to be liked, and players didn't respond.
These are the generalities applied to those who lose games. Popovich has the opposite image now, but how different would his life have been with the Clippers?
He instead coaches his kind of guys, his way. Late in the fourth quarter Sunday, with the Suns dangerously close, Popovich yelled first at Tim Duncan, then at Ime Udoka, then at an entire huddle.
The Spurs had reason to yell back. George Hill had played 42 seconds before Popovich sent him into crunch time, and Popovich kept Duncan on the bench late in the game when the Suns went small.
Had the Spurs lost, Popovich would have heard some criticism on message boards. Otherwise, few others would have said much. Four titles provide a cushion.
Gentry has never worked with anything like this. His first head-coaching job was like this one, coming in mid-season after a firing. He's never been his own boss, as Popovich has been, and he's had players not known for always taking orders well.
Popovich should spend a day telling Shaquille O'Neal, for example, how to hedge on a pick-and-roll.
Gentry also works for a franchise steeped in financial missteps. Needing to dump salary before last season, for example, the Suns traded Kurt Thomas to the franchise then in Seattle. To take Thomas' salary, the Sonics asked for and got two first-round draft picks from Phoenix.
Popovich has never faced such personnel hell, and R.C. Buford is a reason. As for the 20-year anniversary: Buford also arrived with Popovich and Gentry.
Because Buford traded for Thomas, Gentry re-lived this Phoenix decision. Thomas battled Shaq as well as Duncan did.
So Gentry had a right to scream, to wonder why bad luck took away Amare Stoudemire, and why bad management took away Thomas. He had a right to scream about the free-throw discrepancy Sunday and to panic as his team heads toward the lottery.
In the past, he would have. He felt pressure in past jobs, and along the way, he sometimes lost his strength, which is his personality.
Now he's past that. He jokes that he has a multi-week contract, and he coaches with a stern sense of calm. He's gotten on Shaq and Steve Nash recently, and observers say he even had a Popovich moment in practice this past weekend.
Gentry does this knowing he doesn't have much of a bench, and his best days might be like Sunday. Then, the Suns did well to hang around.
For all of Popovich's reputation for defense: Nash circled with less than a minute left and found no Spurs within yards of him. His open 3-pointer would have pulled the Suns within two. Had he not missed.
Gentry signaled to Popovich as he walked off, and he spoke evenly afterward. He acted like a coach who has lost jobs before and knows life goes on. And if what he's doing now isn't good enough for Suns management, then his return to San Antonio on Sunday should mean something.
Twenty years later, Gentry was still a lot like Popovich.