duncan228
05-16-2010, 09:06 PM
Popovich's approach has spread to Phoenix (http://www.statesman.com/sports/pro/popovichs-approach-has-spread-to-phoenix-692032.html)
By Mark Rosner
For the second time in five seasons, the San Antonio Spurs were whacked by a branch of their family tree.
Last week, San Antonio was eliminated from the NBA playoffs by Phoenix, which begins the Western Conference finals tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers. Steve Kerr, Phoenix's third-year general manager, is a former San Antonio guard who adopted elements of the Spurs' blueprint while building the Suns. The Phoenix coach, Alvin Gentry, shared a bench with the Spurs' Gregg Popovich when they were assistants for two seasons in San Antonio to Larry Brown, who threw the seeds from which the tree sprouted.
Back in 2006, San Antonio was eliminated by Dallas. Avery Johnson, the Mavericks coach at the time, is a former Spurs' point guard whose crucial jump shot against New York secured the franchise's first NBA title, in 1999.
Popovich knows the ambivalence of these family reunions. The Spurs beat Brown's Detroit Pistons to win the 2005 NBA title. And since several owners and executives of NBA teams have hired Spurs' employees, hoping they are carriers of the genes that helped produce four championships, there's always a chance of running into family during the playoffs.
The last stop for the Spurs during their 2007 title run was Cleveland, whose coach (Mike Brown) general manager (Danny Ferry) and assistant GM (Lance Blanks) trained in San Antonio.
Chasing the Western Conference powers is a young team in Oklahoma City led by former Longhorn Kevin Durant. Thunder general manager Sam Presti was an assistant GM in San Antonio.
Former Spurs scout Kevin Pritchard is general manager for Portland, another good young team.
Of course, some of those branches might soon be chopped down. There are reports that Pritchard could be fired in Portland. And now that Cleveland has imploded, that franchise is marked by anguish and uncertainty.
Pops' principles
Those with ties to Popovich try to run their teams based on at least some of his principles: the importance of character; an emphasis on defense; the hope that egos will be checked at the arena door; a belief in the power of collaboration.
Presti said Popovich and Spurs general manager R.C. Buford "create an environment where ideas and opinions are asked for and valued."
Perhaps there was no better example of that then the manner in which the Spurs came to draft point guard Tony Parker in 2001.
Parker, 19 at the time, was roughed up during a pre-draft workout by Blanks, a former Longhorn guard who played in the NBA and overseas before catching on with the Spurs as an intern.
"I laid a couple of hundred pounds on Tony when he dribbled the ball up court," Blanks recently recalled. "It was just a workout gone bad for Tony."
Popovich wanted to dismiss Parker as a draft candidate, but Presti, a 23-year-old intern, put together a highlight tape of Parker. Presti and Buford induced Popovich to watch. Parker was invited for another workout, in which he dazzled.
Buford, instead of taking credit, publicly lauded Presti for his initiative.
Popovich learned at the Air Force Academy that the group is more important than any individual. "Get over yourself," is a thought he often expresses.
Kerr has applied some Pop culture to the Suns.
"I think my philosophy is to bring in the best people possible, knowing that all those teams I was on in San Antonio were stronger because guys had great character, guys who were always gonna pull for the team instead of themselves," Kerr said.
Kerr's desire to establish defense, accountabilty and depth for the Suns led to the departure of coach Mike D'Antoni in 2008.
D'Antoni's seven-seconds-or-less approach made the shot clock irrelevent and Phoenix one of the most entertaining teams in the league. The Suns were successful, too, averaging 58 wins during D'Antoni's last four regular seasons, third-best in the league behind the Spurs and Mavs, each with 59.
But Phoenix usually lacked the prowess on defense required to navigate the playoffs. The Suns never reached the NBA Finals during those four seasons, losing three times to the Spurs in earlier rounds.
D'Antoni, detecting a lack of support from the front office in Phoenix, left for the New York Knicks after the 2007-08 season.
Kerr replaced D'Antoni with former San Antonio guard Terry Porter. Kerr also brought in Shaquille O'Neal to guard the Spurs' Tim Duncan.
Porter, once a hard-nosed player, emphasized defense, but the Suns were not much good at it. And with the overweight, aging O'Neal, they played more deliberately on offense than during D'Antoni's tenure. Porter lasted barely half a season. Gentry, an assistant, replaced him.
Gentry demands that his players defend, which they have, while playing at a relatively fast pace and leading the league in scoring, as they usually did under D'Antoni.
"We're not seven seconds or less; we don't play with that breakneck pace," Gentry said. "For me, it's all about the rhythm and seeing if we can win games where we come up with stops at the end."
Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire remain the team's big stars. Jason Richardson and Grant Hill have major roles as starters.
The Suns are deeper than before. Reserves Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, Channing Frye, Louis Amundson and Leandro Barbosa contributed to the Spurs' dismissal last week.
Kerr said developing depth is an approach he took from Popovich and Phil Jackson, his coach on three NBA championship teams in Chicago.
"Pop and Phil empower their entire roster," Kerr said.
Kerr said Dudley, Amundson, Dragic and the injured Robin Lopez have brought toughness to the Suns.
The 6-foot-11-inch Frye is a big man who can space the floor with his three-point marksmanship — a role Robert Horry once played for the Spurs — creating room for teammates to work closer to the basket.
Frye, new to the team this season, hit 20 of 70 three-point shots during four years with New York and Portland. He shot 392 of them this season with 44 percent accuracy. Frye hit 12 of 22 in the series against San Antonio.
Kerr knew that Frye could shoot, just not from three-point range.
"We got a little more than we bargained for," Kerr said.
So did the Spurs, from Frye, from the other Suns — from a branch of the family tree.
By Mark Rosner
For the second time in five seasons, the San Antonio Spurs were whacked by a branch of their family tree.
Last week, San Antonio was eliminated from the NBA playoffs by Phoenix, which begins the Western Conference finals tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers. Steve Kerr, Phoenix's third-year general manager, is a former San Antonio guard who adopted elements of the Spurs' blueprint while building the Suns. The Phoenix coach, Alvin Gentry, shared a bench with the Spurs' Gregg Popovich when they were assistants for two seasons in San Antonio to Larry Brown, who threw the seeds from which the tree sprouted.
Back in 2006, San Antonio was eliminated by Dallas. Avery Johnson, the Mavericks coach at the time, is a former Spurs' point guard whose crucial jump shot against New York secured the franchise's first NBA title, in 1999.
Popovich knows the ambivalence of these family reunions. The Spurs beat Brown's Detroit Pistons to win the 2005 NBA title. And since several owners and executives of NBA teams have hired Spurs' employees, hoping they are carriers of the genes that helped produce four championships, there's always a chance of running into family during the playoffs.
The last stop for the Spurs during their 2007 title run was Cleveland, whose coach (Mike Brown) general manager (Danny Ferry) and assistant GM (Lance Blanks) trained in San Antonio.
Chasing the Western Conference powers is a young team in Oklahoma City led by former Longhorn Kevin Durant. Thunder general manager Sam Presti was an assistant GM in San Antonio.
Former Spurs scout Kevin Pritchard is general manager for Portland, another good young team.
Of course, some of those branches might soon be chopped down. There are reports that Pritchard could be fired in Portland. And now that Cleveland has imploded, that franchise is marked by anguish and uncertainty.
Pops' principles
Those with ties to Popovich try to run their teams based on at least some of his principles: the importance of character; an emphasis on defense; the hope that egos will be checked at the arena door; a belief in the power of collaboration.
Presti said Popovich and Spurs general manager R.C. Buford "create an environment where ideas and opinions are asked for and valued."
Perhaps there was no better example of that then the manner in which the Spurs came to draft point guard Tony Parker in 2001.
Parker, 19 at the time, was roughed up during a pre-draft workout by Blanks, a former Longhorn guard who played in the NBA and overseas before catching on with the Spurs as an intern.
"I laid a couple of hundred pounds on Tony when he dribbled the ball up court," Blanks recently recalled. "It was just a workout gone bad for Tony."
Popovich wanted to dismiss Parker as a draft candidate, but Presti, a 23-year-old intern, put together a highlight tape of Parker. Presti and Buford induced Popovich to watch. Parker was invited for another workout, in which he dazzled.
Buford, instead of taking credit, publicly lauded Presti for his initiative.
Popovich learned at the Air Force Academy that the group is more important than any individual. "Get over yourself," is a thought he often expresses.
Kerr has applied some Pop culture to the Suns.
"I think my philosophy is to bring in the best people possible, knowing that all those teams I was on in San Antonio were stronger because guys had great character, guys who were always gonna pull for the team instead of themselves," Kerr said.
Kerr's desire to establish defense, accountabilty and depth for the Suns led to the departure of coach Mike D'Antoni in 2008.
D'Antoni's seven-seconds-or-less approach made the shot clock irrelevent and Phoenix one of the most entertaining teams in the league. The Suns were successful, too, averaging 58 wins during D'Antoni's last four regular seasons, third-best in the league behind the Spurs and Mavs, each with 59.
But Phoenix usually lacked the prowess on defense required to navigate the playoffs. The Suns never reached the NBA Finals during those four seasons, losing three times to the Spurs in earlier rounds.
D'Antoni, detecting a lack of support from the front office in Phoenix, left for the New York Knicks after the 2007-08 season.
Kerr replaced D'Antoni with former San Antonio guard Terry Porter. Kerr also brought in Shaquille O'Neal to guard the Spurs' Tim Duncan.
Porter, once a hard-nosed player, emphasized defense, but the Suns were not much good at it. And with the overweight, aging O'Neal, they played more deliberately on offense than during D'Antoni's tenure. Porter lasted barely half a season. Gentry, an assistant, replaced him.
Gentry demands that his players defend, which they have, while playing at a relatively fast pace and leading the league in scoring, as they usually did under D'Antoni.
"We're not seven seconds or less; we don't play with that breakneck pace," Gentry said. "For me, it's all about the rhythm and seeing if we can win games where we come up with stops at the end."
Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire remain the team's big stars. Jason Richardson and Grant Hill have major roles as starters.
The Suns are deeper than before. Reserves Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, Channing Frye, Louis Amundson and Leandro Barbosa contributed to the Spurs' dismissal last week.
Kerr said developing depth is an approach he took from Popovich and Phil Jackson, his coach on three NBA championship teams in Chicago.
"Pop and Phil empower their entire roster," Kerr said.
Kerr said Dudley, Amundson, Dragic and the injured Robin Lopez have brought toughness to the Suns.
The 6-foot-11-inch Frye is a big man who can space the floor with his three-point marksmanship — a role Robert Horry once played for the Spurs — creating room for teammates to work closer to the basket.
Frye, new to the team this season, hit 20 of 70 three-point shots during four years with New York and Portland. He shot 392 of them this season with 44 percent accuracy. Frye hit 12 of 22 in the series against San Antonio.
Kerr knew that Frye could shoot, just not from three-point range.
"We got a little more than we bargained for," Kerr said.
So did the Spurs, from Frye, from the other Suns — from a branch of the family tree.