DespЏrado
04-19-2009, 06:44 AM
Long ramble about Popovich:
Love him or hate him, we are stuck with Greg Popovich as our coach. As with any coach, Pop has a certain mindset on how the game is supposed to be played and won. And you have to give him this much credit, he has managed to put enough rings on his hands to guarantee a spot in the hall of fame. Whether you believe that this is all a result of the coat tails of Tim Duncan or not, one has to acknowledge that for the most part Pop manages to get the team into a position where they can win just about any game.
They always seem to have a moment in every game where they can win or lose entirely on their own merits. In every game no matter how far they fall behind, they always manage to have at least one opportunity to steal a victory. You can probably give credit to Popovich for that.
But Popovich still manages to rub many the wrong way, and I count myself among them from time to time. Yet before we go clamoring for his head on a platter, let's take a moment to reflect on the why and how of Greg Popovich's coaching style.
Without a doubt Pop is a military man, his entire coaching philosophy seems to derive from an approach more commonly associated with our armed services. There is no doubt, at least in my mind, that he built this team on the basic precepts of what makes our military stand apart from the rest of the world.
I am referring to the basic idea that the military works because it uses a systems based approach to everything it does, for good or for ill, our military is a conglomeration of so many complex and diverse parts that functioning in such a world would be a logistical nightmare if you didn't have a plan for even the smallest detail already in place. When a superior force fails to achieve its goals on the battlefield it is almost always due to a lack of planning and implementation of those systems tried and tested on previous fields.
And in my heart, I believe Popovich clings to this military ideal for better or worse because overall it has proven to work. And you can almost see the logic behind it, almost. You put in place a structure that uses the pieces you have to their best advantage, and you give that system every opportunity to succeed that you can.
In this case Popovich believes that surrounding Duncan with the best three pointers he can is our best shot at a title this year. And given the fact that we have a better lineup of long range gunners than ever before you almost can't argue with that, almost.
The problem is that the team we have assembled for that system isn't a very good basketball team, and this is where one starts to wonder where Popovich's love of the "defense first" teams has fled to. Looking back on history one has to notice that Pop seems to fluctuate between two different systems the 3-ball/ finesse team and the defensive hard nosed team. In fact you can divide all of his players into those two categories.
Defense/ Hustle-
Malik Rose
Mario Elie
Kurt Thomas
Bowen
Udoka
Horry
Gooden
Hill
Kersey
Finesse/ 3-ball-
Beno
Hedo
Finley
Steve Smith
Barry
Kerr
Oberto (his main attribute are his kickouts)
Bonner
Anderson
In the past the teams that have relied on the former rather than the later have seemed to fair batter overall. But it is precisely Pop's tendency to waver between these two teams that get the spurs in trouble. They lose their focus and identity or sometimes, like right now he sacrifices the better talent to the system that has gotten more practice that year.
I think that explains the why of Popovich, and one has to admit, that when he gets it right the team works like a well oiled machine. But, and this is where it gets the most frustrating- basketball is not the military. It is a game of flow and momentum, and this is the one thing that makes Phil Jackson the superior coach. He doesn't fluctuate between systems. He picks his players based on their ability to take the flow of the game and make an impact. It's the reason why so many players like Pippen, Jordan, Kobe, Paxson, Kerr, .4, Horry, Horace Grant, (and now even Odom, and Gasol) come out of his system as something that exceed the sum of their parts, and why so many of Pop's players languish in gluts.
So I have two proposals for Popovich, let's use the system with the most talent, and the one he seems to have a better knack for coaching- IE the defensive one, and go with that this year. And let's not lose sight of the fact that flexibility can be our greatest strength.
Love him or hate him, we are stuck with Greg Popovich as our coach. As with any coach, Pop has a certain mindset on how the game is supposed to be played and won. And you have to give him this much credit, he has managed to put enough rings on his hands to guarantee a spot in the hall of fame. Whether you believe that this is all a result of the coat tails of Tim Duncan or not, one has to acknowledge that for the most part Pop manages to get the team into a position where they can win just about any game.
They always seem to have a moment in every game where they can win or lose entirely on their own merits. In every game no matter how far they fall behind, they always manage to have at least one opportunity to steal a victory. You can probably give credit to Popovich for that.
But Popovich still manages to rub many the wrong way, and I count myself among them from time to time. Yet before we go clamoring for his head on a platter, let's take a moment to reflect on the why and how of Greg Popovich's coaching style.
Without a doubt Pop is a military man, his entire coaching philosophy seems to derive from an approach more commonly associated with our armed services. There is no doubt, at least in my mind, that he built this team on the basic precepts of what makes our military stand apart from the rest of the world.
I am referring to the basic idea that the military works because it uses a systems based approach to everything it does, for good or for ill, our military is a conglomeration of so many complex and diverse parts that functioning in such a world would be a logistical nightmare if you didn't have a plan for even the smallest detail already in place. When a superior force fails to achieve its goals on the battlefield it is almost always due to a lack of planning and implementation of those systems tried and tested on previous fields.
And in my heart, I believe Popovich clings to this military ideal for better or worse because overall it has proven to work. And you can almost see the logic behind it, almost. You put in place a structure that uses the pieces you have to their best advantage, and you give that system every opportunity to succeed that you can.
In this case Popovich believes that surrounding Duncan with the best three pointers he can is our best shot at a title this year. And given the fact that we have a better lineup of long range gunners than ever before you almost can't argue with that, almost.
The problem is that the team we have assembled for that system isn't a very good basketball team, and this is where one starts to wonder where Popovich's love of the "defense first" teams has fled to. Looking back on history one has to notice that Pop seems to fluctuate between two different systems the 3-ball/ finesse team and the defensive hard nosed team. In fact you can divide all of his players into those two categories.
Defense/ Hustle-
Malik Rose
Mario Elie
Kurt Thomas
Bowen
Udoka
Horry
Gooden
Hill
Kersey
Finesse/ 3-ball-
Beno
Hedo
Finley
Steve Smith
Barry
Kerr
Oberto (his main attribute are his kickouts)
Bonner
Anderson
In the past the teams that have relied on the former rather than the later have seemed to fair batter overall. But it is precisely Pop's tendency to waver between these two teams that get the spurs in trouble. They lose their focus and identity or sometimes, like right now he sacrifices the better talent to the system that has gotten more practice that year.
I think that explains the why of Popovich, and one has to admit, that when he gets it right the team works like a well oiled machine. But, and this is where it gets the most frustrating- basketball is not the military. It is a game of flow and momentum, and this is the one thing that makes Phil Jackson the superior coach. He doesn't fluctuate between systems. He picks his players based on their ability to take the flow of the game and make an impact. It's the reason why so many players like Pippen, Jordan, Kobe, Paxson, Kerr, .4, Horry, Horace Grant, (and now even Odom, and Gasol) come out of his system as something that exceed the sum of their parts, and why so many of Pop's players languish in gluts.
So I have two proposals for Popovich, let's use the system with the most talent, and the one he seems to have a better knack for coaching- IE the defensive one, and go with that this year. And let's not lose sight of the fact that flexibility can be our greatest strength.