Popovich to Coach Western Conference In All-Star Game

[spurs_2108]

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/110125_pop.html

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2011 – San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, to be played on Sunday, Feb. 20, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

With San Antonio’s 113-102 win over the Golden State Warriors Monday, the Spurs (38-7, .844) have clinched the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6.

This season, Popovich has guided the Spurs to the league’s best record, earning consecutive Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for games played in October/November and December. The Spurs have enjoyed double-digit winning streaks of 12 and 10 games this season.

In his 15th season as head coach, Popovich has led the Spurs to four NBA titles (1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007) and is one of only five coaches in NBA history to have guided his teams to at least four championships. Popovich entered the season with a career mark of 736-362 and a winning percentage of .670, which ranked fourth in NBA history. His playoff career winning percentage of .618 (102-63) is the eighth best in NBA annals, while his 106 playoff wins are the third most in league history.

Popovich coached the West team during the 2005 All-Star Game in Denver, which the East won 125-115.

The coach of the East All-Stars will be determined by the team with the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 6. The Orlando Magic’s Stan Van Gundy, who coached last year’s East squad, is not eligible to coach this year’s All-Star Game.

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the U.S., and reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

[BanditHiro]

come on pop play kobe and pau for 48 minutes

[awktalk]

He's very excited about it, I can see it in his eyes.

[Juanobili]

Why's Van Gundy not eligible? Because he coached last year?

[DesignatedT]

Why's Van Gundy not eligible? Because he coached last year?

yes

[DJ Mbenga]

He's very excited about it, I can see it in his eyes.

http://www.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/339048_o.gif

[awktalk]

Duncan's "injury" tonight sure is a convenient excuse for Pop to sit him during the ASG

[hsxvvd]

come on pop play kobe and pau for 48 minutes

+1

[DesignatedT]

Duncan's "injury" tonight sure is a convenient excuse for Pop to sit him during the ASG

ASG is still a month away. Hopefully there won't be any setbacks from here till then.

[mathbzh]

+1

Is there overtime in the ASG?

[EricB]

:lol

The all star practice the day before should be fun to watch on NBA TV.

[duncan228]

Is there overtime in the ASG?

Yup. A few All-Star OT games:

1980
1984
1987
2003-double OT

http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/allstargame_recaps.html

[Blackjack]

:lol

The all star practice the day before should be fun to watch on NBA TV.

It was last time he coached. Actually made the sonbitches practice. :lol

[TE]

haha this is going to be interesting

[TDMVPDPOY]

THE BEST ASG was the one where they all wear there team jerseys...

i hate this blue v red horseshit colors

[小Tim]

come on pop play kobe and pau for 48 minutes

and so is Dirk:lol

[timtonymanu]

Cool. Last time Pop coached the ASG, Tim and Manu were there and they won the ship in June. Hope history repeats itself.

[duncan228]

:lol


He’s excited about it. He’s been talking all season about how he wants to make sure he gets that position. So I’m excited for him.

Starts at the 3:10 mark.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/110121_duncan.html

[#41 Shoot Em Up]

What a great honor this is

[UnWantedTheory]

Eh, cool....

[024]

but but we have to rest pop for the playoffs..

[admiralsnackbar]

I'm sure he's thrilled.

[honestfool84]

:lol



Starts at the 3:10 mark.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/110121_duncan.html

:lol

[WalterBenitez]

Congrats POP you know what to do to run a team, BTW play Kobe + Dirk

[alchemist]

http://www.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs/339048_o.gif
:lmao

[21_Blessings]

Phil's plan shaking out to perfection. He really hates coaching that game.

[urunobili]

Question for the experts, what was the Spurs ultimate result last time he coached the ASG?

[Cherry]

:lol



Starts at the 3:10 mark.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/multimedia/110121_duncan.html


:lmao Tim

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Question for the experts, what was the Spurs ultimate result last time he coached the ASG?

Coached 2005 AS Game in Denver, where the West fell to the East 125-115.

And the Spurs went on to win it all :toast

[duncan228]

Gregg Popovich is this season’s first official All-Star (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/)
by Jesse Blanchard
48 Minutes of Hell

One of San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s greatest strengths has been his willingness to yell at his star players just as readily as he would the last man on the bench.

Whether or not that works because of who he is or who he coaches—every NBA coach should be so lucky as to work with a Tim Duncan—is a valid talking point, but one that we will get a closer look at because once again Popovich will have a roster full of NBA superstars.

So move the damn ball Kobe Bryant, and set some bleeping screens Kevin Durant, and if it’s not too much trouble, if it doesn’t make you too angry, if you also want to play some defense on the other end, that’d be great.

Yes, Gregg Popovich is your 2011 Western Conference All-Star Coach (http://www.nba.com/2011/news/01/25/popovich-all-star-game/), clinched in last night’s 113-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/san-antonio-spurs-113-golden-state-warriors-102-duncan-goes-down-comes-back-ditto-for-fans-confidence). Sideline reporters beware.

Keep reading → (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/gregg-popovich-is-this-seasons-first-official-all-star#more-12567)

[duncan228]

...Speaking generally about the difficulty of selecting All-Star reserves, Popovich said he is sure several deserving candidates will be snubbed.

“There are going to be guys left out, without a doubt,” Popovich said. “It’s just impossible to make everybody happy.”

Popovich gets seat on All-Star bench (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/01/26/popovich-gets-seat-on-all-star-bench/)
Jeff McDonald

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/01/26/popovich-gets-seat-on-all-star-bench/

[awktalk]

It just hit me, I'm going to actually watch the ASG for the first time in.... I don't know how long.... but actually going to tune in just to see Pop in action.

[duncan228]

Popovich will call shots for the West, however reluctantly (http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/art_garcia/01/27/popovich-all-star/)
Art Garcia
NBA.com

Getting some coaches to pull All-Star duty is like pulling teeth. If it's Gregg Popovich, he'd probably rather have his teeth pulled. All of them.

The San Antonio skipper has deftly avoided All-Star responsibility for all but one year of the previous 14 despite owning the most wins in the Western Conference over that span and the highest team winning percentage in the four major professional sports (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL). That's quite a trick.

Three other coaches -- Phil Jackson, George Karl and Rick Adelman -- have twice been roped into organizing the playtime that doubles for All-Star practices since Popovich started his first full season on the bench, in 1997-98. The Spurs are working on a league-best 13 straight playoff trips and 11 consecutive 50-win seasons. Yet Pop somehow manages to escape the All-Star glare just about every February.

There was no hiding this year.

The Spurs turned the race for the best record in the West by the All-Star deadline into a laugher. Popovich locked down All-Star coaching responsibilities on January 24, nearly two full weeks before the Feb. 6 cutoff. San Antonio (39-7) went into Thursday six games up on the two-time champion Lakers.

"He's been talking all season about how he wants to make sure he gets that position," Tim Duncan deadpanned in the San Antonio Express-News this week. "I think he's really excited about it."

It's got to be some kind of mathematical anomaly considering the level of success enjoyed by the Popovich and the Spurs for more than a decade now. The Spurs have won four NBA championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007), held the NBA's best record three times (1999, 2001, 2003) and claimed seven division titles. Popovich has the third-best winning percentage of any coach in NBA history behind only Jackson and Billy Cunningham.

The Spurs traditionally start slow, which is one reason Popovich hasn't gotten the nod more often. He would have been in the running to coach the 2006 All-Star in Houston, but having done so the previous year, Pop was off the hook.

And while Popovich said coaching the West this year is a "great honor," he's never been one for pomp and circumstance or celebrating achievement. The architect of the San Antonio system freely admits that his success is directly tied to his players. A common line offered up by Pop through the years is that his retirement would mirror Duncan's.

"I've always said that," Popovich said in an interview earlier this week with Comcast Sports Net Bay Area. "It seemed like a funny sort of thing and everybody got a laugh out of it. It makes a lot of sense. He's been the reason for any success I've enjoyed, that's for sure. But I still love [coaching] and I can see myself continuing to coach for a while."

Pop and the Big Fundamental are two peas in a pod. They're great friends who approach the game with the same amount of respect and humility.

"He's never been in love with all the hoopla and that sort of thing in the NBA," Popovich said of Duncan. "He loves the basketball, he loves to practice, he loves the game, he loves the camaraderie. All the things that go with it, he can do without."

Duncan, ironically, may not be in Los Angeles on Feb. 20. He wasn't in position to grab one of the five spots going into Thursday night's TNT announcement of the Western Conference starters. Duncan's fate will probably be left to the conference coaches or perhaps NBA commissioner David Stern, who will likely have to choose an injury replacement for Houston center Yao Ming.

Though both Duncan and Popovich avoid the spotlight, they'd also enjoy the experience of being around the game's best. Pop could use the chance to even his All-Star record, having lost to the East six years ago.

Even with all the accolades and all the triumphs, Popovich keeps it in perspective. The one-time coach of tiny Pomona-Pitter took an extraordinary route to NBA greatness, yet he's hardly consumed by basketball.

He's just really good at coaching it. Leave the hoopla for others.

"I don't love it like everybody else does," he said. "I don't sleep it, eat it. I already did that. I know what I like to do. I know what I want to coach and that's what we do, but I'm not going to beat myself up over a loss and I'm not going to pat myself on the back over a win.

"It's basketball. It should hold that space in your life. I don't think it's all that important. It's our job and you let it go."

Video: Western Conf. Mid-Season Report: Spurs (http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/art_garcia/01/27/popovich-all-star/)
See what Dennis, Scott and Sekou think of the Spurs first half of the season and hear what they think lies ahead for San Antonio.

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/art_garcia/01/27/popovich-all-star/

[duncan228]

Couple of quotes from Pop about it.


..."I will do no coaching whatsoever,” said Popovich, who is set to lead the West squad for the second time. “This is the proverbial ‘roll the ball out, go sit down and enjoy it’ game.”


..."The thing that will be a big thrill will be to go into the locker room with those guys,” Popovich said. “There they are, the best players in the world, and they’re sitting in your locker room, and you get to talk to them. It’s mind-boggling to me.”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/02/14/popovich-minding-minutes/