spursparker9
02-10-2015, 08:01 PM
You’d think this would be a case of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich havin’ a laugh. After all, his Spurs were in Indiana to take on the sub-.500 Pacers, he was on the verge of what would turn out to be his 1000th career win, and the subject of the story was just a few feet away from him when he was reliving the days that led up to the 1997 NBA draft.
That draft gifted San Antonio with Tim Duncan, an All-Star presence in his first season, and a deserved All-Star in this, his 18th season. The Spurs beat the odds and jumped up to grab the first pick in that year’s draft during the NBA’s draft lottery, seemingly knowing right away that they’d jump at the chance at taking the Wake Forest senior with the top overall selection.
To hear Popovich tell it, though, there was a slight bit of consternation. Not in consideration of Keith Van Horn, the consensus second overall pick. And not to decide on accepting Boston’s trade offer of the third and sixth picks in exchange for the top spot.
No, it was to briefly consider the merits of Kansas senior Scot Pollard. From a talk with NBA.com’s Mark Montieth:
“It’s a true story,” Popovich said before the Spurs played the Pacers Monday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “I loved the way Scot played. Timmy was really smooth and all that, so (you wonder) ‘is that going to translate? Is he going to be tough?’ He was long and lanky and thin and Scot Pollard was out there kicking you-know-what and taking names.
“It was actually a conversation. I also have to say that notion didn’t last real long. But it did come up.”
read the rest on http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/gregg-popovich-swears-he-briefly-considered-drafting-scot-pollard-over-tim-duncan-200433189.html
That draft gifted San Antonio with Tim Duncan, an All-Star presence in his first season, and a deserved All-Star in this, his 18th season. The Spurs beat the odds and jumped up to grab the first pick in that year’s draft during the NBA’s draft lottery, seemingly knowing right away that they’d jump at the chance at taking the Wake Forest senior with the top overall selection.
To hear Popovich tell it, though, there was a slight bit of consternation. Not in consideration of Keith Van Horn, the consensus second overall pick. And not to decide on accepting Boston’s trade offer of the third and sixth picks in exchange for the top spot.
No, it was to briefly consider the merits of Kansas senior Scot Pollard. From a talk with NBA.com’s Mark Montieth:
“It’s a true story,” Popovich said before the Spurs played the Pacers Monday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “I loved the way Scot played. Timmy was really smooth and all that, so (you wonder) ‘is that going to translate? Is he going to be tough?’ He was long and lanky and thin and Scot Pollard was out there kicking you-know-what and taking names.
“It was actually a conversation. I also have to say that notion didn’t last real long. But it did come up.”
read the rest on http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/gregg-popovich-swears-he-briefly-considered-drafting-scot-pollard-over-tim-duncan-200433189.html