tdunk21
01-05-2011, 09:02 AM
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/01/04/buck-harvey-popovich%E2%80%99s-message-%E2%80%94-forget-the-record/
NEW YORK — We’re riding in a freight elevator after the game, with equipment piled on carts next to us, and Manu Ginobili acts like a man ready to unpack everything.
If he could have pushed a button and returned to the appropriate Madison Square Garden floor for a rematch, he would have.
Instead, he’d been pulled. With more than three minutes left, with the Spurs trailing by 11 points and Tony Parker at the free-throw line, Ginobili and the other starters went to the bench.
“Of course,” Ginobili said in the freight elevator, “that upset me.”
But he’s been around long enough to know how Gregg Popovich works in these moments, and how he sends messages. Popovich doesn’t mind upsetting his guys, especially after watching them defend as they did.
This time, though, Popovich likely had an additional message.
For those who had trouble remembering what it was like when the Spurs lost a game, Tuesday evening reminded everyone. For one, the losses seem to involve Amare Stoudemire.
The last time Stoudemire saw the Spurs, he was sweeping them in the playoffs. He’s now 5-0 against a franchise that has lost only four other games since May.
Stoudemire was remarkable in this one, too, and one move showed that. Then, in the fourth quarter, he did to Tim Duncan what Duncan has done to others for more than a decade.
Duncan reached out over Stoudemire, and Stoudemire rose, created the contact and drew the foul on Duncan. As Stoudemire went to the line, the New York chant pointed at the one responsible for the Knicks’ rebirth. “MVP, MVP.”
His teammates followed him to the rim with similar accuracy, which is why Popovich began his postgame remarks this way: “The New York Knicks kicked our ass.”
For those who had trouble remembering what it was like when the Spurs lost a game, Popovich’s words should jog a few memories.
But he was playful as he continued talking. Asked what he would do to adjust for the Celtics, Popovich deadpanned, “I’ll think up new plays.”
Someone then asked him about pulling his players, and he shrugged. “We have a game tomorrow, and it’s a long season,” he said. “The chances of winning the game were not good.”
Their chances were not good, all right, since there were no signs the Spurs could slow the Knicks. Ginobili admitted that.
But if Parker had made both free throws, then the Spurs would have trailed by nine with 3:13 remaining. Get a stop, make a three — and do the Knicks tighten?
The back-to-back situation will wear on the Spurs, but would another two minutes have changed that? Popovich would have known after just a couple of possessions whether to continue.
Popovich instead reacted again as maybe no other NBA coach does. He dismissed the slight chance of a comeback to make a larger point.
In doing so, he angered the Spurs. Ginobili popped a towel against the floor as he sat down.
Popovich has done this before, but there was something else going on this time. His teams, after all, have never begun a season like this.
Popovich loves sitting at 29-5 today, but part of him hates it, too. He knows teams are never built by early January. His formula has been the opposite; usually, he’s still experimenting at this point in the season.
So when he saw what he called “our worst defense of the year,” his reaction was what it has often been in the past. He didn’t like what he’d seen, and he didn’t like losing. But he could use this. He could insist the current record is meaningless if they don’t continue to take steps toward the playoffs.
With that, Ginobili and the others sat down. Popovich will now enjoy telling them how to get up.
NEW YORK — We’re riding in a freight elevator after the game, with equipment piled on carts next to us, and Manu Ginobili acts like a man ready to unpack everything.
If he could have pushed a button and returned to the appropriate Madison Square Garden floor for a rematch, he would have.
Instead, he’d been pulled. With more than three minutes left, with the Spurs trailing by 11 points and Tony Parker at the free-throw line, Ginobili and the other starters went to the bench.
“Of course,” Ginobili said in the freight elevator, “that upset me.”
But he’s been around long enough to know how Gregg Popovich works in these moments, and how he sends messages. Popovich doesn’t mind upsetting his guys, especially after watching them defend as they did.
This time, though, Popovich likely had an additional message.
For those who had trouble remembering what it was like when the Spurs lost a game, Tuesday evening reminded everyone. For one, the losses seem to involve Amare Stoudemire.
The last time Stoudemire saw the Spurs, he was sweeping them in the playoffs. He’s now 5-0 against a franchise that has lost only four other games since May.
Stoudemire was remarkable in this one, too, and one move showed that. Then, in the fourth quarter, he did to Tim Duncan what Duncan has done to others for more than a decade.
Duncan reached out over Stoudemire, and Stoudemire rose, created the contact and drew the foul on Duncan. As Stoudemire went to the line, the New York chant pointed at the one responsible for the Knicks’ rebirth. “MVP, MVP.”
His teammates followed him to the rim with similar accuracy, which is why Popovich began his postgame remarks this way: “The New York Knicks kicked our ass.”
For those who had trouble remembering what it was like when the Spurs lost a game, Popovich’s words should jog a few memories.
But he was playful as he continued talking. Asked what he would do to adjust for the Celtics, Popovich deadpanned, “I’ll think up new plays.”
Someone then asked him about pulling his players, and he shrugged. “We have a game tomorrow, and it’s a long season,” he said. “The chances of winning the game were not good.”
Their chances were not good, all right, since there were no signs the Spurs could slow the Knicks. Ginobili admitted that.
But if Parker had made both free throws, then the Spurs would have trailed by nine with 3:13 remaining. Get a stop, make a three — and do the Knicks tighten?
The back-to-back situation will wear on the Spurs, but would another two minutes have changed that? Popovich would have known after just a couple of possessions whether to continue.
Popovich instead reacted again as maybe no other NBA coach does. He dismissed the slight chance of a comeback to make a larger point.
In doing so, he angered the Spurs. Ginobili popped a towel against the floor as he sat down.
Popovich has done this before, but there was something else going on this time. His teams, after all, have never begun a season like this.
Popovich loves sitting at 29-5 today, but part of him hates it, too. He knows teams are never built by early January. His formula has been the opposite; usually, he’s still experimenting at this point in the season.
So when he saw what he called “our worst defense of the year,” his reaction was what it has often been in the past. He didn’t like what he’d seen, and he didn’t like losing. But he could use this. He could insist the current record is meaningless if they don’t continue to take steps toward the playoffs.
With that, Ginobili and the others sat down. Popovich will now enjoy telling them how to get up.