Pop: "it was men and boys out there"

[Floyd Pacquiao]

"They beat us in every facet" "we got a long way to go to compete with those guys"

[Mnky]

"They beat us in every facet" "we got a long way to go to compete with those guys"

C.I.A. Pop.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

He also said maybe his game plan sucked but 8 turnovers in the first tells how ready they were for the game

[Spurtacular]

C.I.A. Pop.

Nah. He's telling the painfully obvious truth.

[dabom]

How about he doesn't get outcoached like vs Roc Rivers.

Has he ever called himself out for being a shitty coach soemtimes? :lmao

[Mikeanaro]

He also said maybe his game plan sucked but 8 turnovers in the first tells how ready they were for the game
What are you talking about? they looked very focused

[KDKSpurs24]

C.I.A. Pop.
Believe that if you want.

[Mnky]

Nah. He's telling the painfully obvious truth.

He set them up to fail, so he could motivate them tbh.

[loveforthegame]

Pop loving this.

[NASpurs]

This game will help some of the guys on the team to get over themselves.

[dabom]

Started West who got cooked. Played KA for the worst 3 minutes or whatever of his life. Doesn't game plan around his best player. And still forcefeeds LMA more than Kawhi. :lmao

I might also add sends Duncan home. :lmao

[ElNono]

It was like Avante vs boys out there...

~~~~you can tell the amateurs right away~~~~

[RD2191]

How about he doesn't get outcoached like vs Roc Rivers.

Has he ever called himself out for being a shitty coach soemtimes? :lmao

[TrainOfThought5]

LMAO I love Pop.

[Mnky]

Pop loving this.

Agreed. :lol

Did you see his pregame interview? Think that let ya know how big this game was to him.

[timtonymanu]

Business as usual.

[hater]

Good. Pop calling out Kawhi.

[Darius Bieber]

Well then teach your "boys" how to be men, Pop. Damn. Such an incoherent coach at times.

[spurs10]

West and Boban played with some sack...

[024]

Still about half a season and a playoff grind left before the Spurs play the Warriors in the playoffs. Hopefully the Spurs can reach another gear by then. That or injuries catch back up to Curry. Right now the Spurs are closer to the Thunder's level than they are to the Warrior's level.

[dabom]

Pop using the soft card. Should have used it on himself. :lmao

[sventhedog]

Same thing with the buck-warriors game. They said "it was men and kidd out there."

[hater]

West and Boban played with some sack...

Simmons too

[RD2191]

Pop using the soft card. Should have used it on himself. :lmao

[TheGreatYacht]

How about he doesn't get outcoached like vs Roc Rivers.

Has he ever called himself out for being a shitty coach soemtimes? :lmao

[Johnny RIngo]

Champions(Curry) and Choke Artists(LMBeta, Porker)

[TE]

A lot of players played like boys. Starting with LMA. Maybe by design...

[UNT Eagles 2016]

'Vich wanted to lose tonight, no doubt.

[HarlemHeat37]

Sucks that the Spurs don't play OKC again until March 12th and the Warriors until March 19th

Everything else just seems like a waste of time:lol

[Spurtacular]

He set them up to fail, so he could motivate them tbh.

Perhaps.

[apalisoc_9]

Pop gave up in the midpoint of the game tbh.

[Reck]

This is great motivation for sure.

They could possibly lose again to them but at least it won't be an disgraceful loss like tonight. Aside from plain sucking tonight, them boys didn't show heart at all.

[Nathan89]

He gave up when he took Kawhi out in the middle of the third down like 20pts. We obviously were not going to win but that's earlier than most teams throw in the white flag.

[TheDoctor]

He gave up when he took Kawhi out in the middle of the third down like 20pts. We obviously were not going to win but that's earlier than most teams throw in the white flag.
He knows the season is more than just 1 game.

[SAGirl]

He gave up when he took Kawhi out in the middle of the third down like 20pts. We obviously were not going to win but that's earlier than most teams throw in the white flag.
I wondered why he did that, but let Manu play out there, what do you think about that?

[Nathan89]

I wondered why he did that, but let Manu play out there, what do you think about that?

The only thing I can think of is him being tired.

[cjw]

Kawhi was the only guy who showed up tonight. West showed up offensively at least.

[YGWHI]

I wondered why he did that, but let Manu play out there, what do you think about that?
When Kawhi was starting to look great, scoring 9 consecutive points, he sat him with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter. And let Manu who wasn't having a good night... It was an obvious white flag.

[ducks]

Kawhi was the only guy who showed up tonight. West showed up offensively at least.

when a gs player shot they only missed 1 shot out of 10

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Agreed. :lol

Did you see his pregame interview? Think that let ya know how big this game was to him.

Pop throwing in the towel. Games like this are frustrating from a fan's perspective but 5 championships under Pop tell me he knows what he is doing outside of benching Duncan for two straight possessions in one of the biggest games in Spurs history.

[sasaint]

I wondered why he did that, but let Manu play out there, what do you think about that?

THAT is a head-scratcher. There is always a flip side to the coin, though. Manu is obviously a very experienced veteran who has been in blowouts before (thankfully, not many!). He can handle it in the psychological sense. The alternative was to play our young guns (Simmons) even more minutes, immersing them (him) in the embarrassment even more deeply, perhaps damaging a less resilient psyche than Manu's. Possibly? That's the only reason you leave one of our old guys out there in this embarrassment that I can think of...

[RD2191]

when a gs player shot they only missed 1 shot out of 10

Dubs dropped 120 last night. I doubt Kawhi was responsible for allowing all of those points.

[cjw]

when a gs player shot they only missed 1 shot out of 10

Lebron shot 57% against him in the NBA Finals. He wasn't great last night defensively, but it was really a team failure. See how they got destroyed on the backdoor in the early going.

And how much of that 9 for 10 was Kawhi guarding Curry when he went off / game was already lost? How did he do on his other defensive assignments?

[doobs]

You knew Pop gave up early when Rasual Butler was out there in the second quarter.

[apalisoc_9]

You knew Pop gave up early when Rasual Butler was out there in the second quarter.

True...

[ceperez]

You knew Pop gave up early when Rasual Butler was out there in the second quarter.

The team with Rasual Butler was the best small ball lineup the Spurs had. Butler had highest +/- in the team.

[MultiTroll]

How about he doesn't get outcoached like vs Roc Rivers.

Has he ever called himself out for being a shitty coach soemtimes? :lmao
:lol His coattails mode didn't work out for him last night.

[Gervin44Silas13]

dissapointed in LAM he looked like a deer in headlites

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

The team with Rasual Butler was the best small ball lineup the Spurs had. Butler had highest +/- in the team.

That was the best lineup. Butler was owning Iggy in the 2nd even blocked one of his shots I believe.

[Mnky]

Pop throwing in the towel. Games like this are frustrating from a fan's perspective but 5 championships under Pop tell me he knows what he is doing outside of benching Duncan for two straight possessions in one of the biggest games in Spurs history.

I honestly think from a coaches perspective, you can grow so much more from games like this. You get players to get over themselves, reignite a fire in them and have plenty of scouting video to correct bad habits.

[SAGirl]

THAT is a head-scratcher. There is always a flip side to the coin, though. Manu is obviously a very experienced veteran who has been in blowouts before (thankfully, not many!). He can handle it in the psychological sense. The alternative was to play our young guns (Simmons) even more minutes, immersing them (him) in the embarrassment even more deeply, perhaps damaging a less resilient psyche than Manu's. Possibly? That's the only reason you leave one of our old guys out there in this embarrassment that I can think of...

I am guessing, benching Kawhi was to save some things from the postseason video. Kawhi was very efficient in his post ups scoring for himself and passing out of double teams. My guess is that since we needed defense to make a comeback run and we were not going to get it in this game, he saved Kawhi so as to not reveal more CIA POP. The strategy could also have been to bring him out to play the entire 4th Q pretty much if Manu's attempt to make a run to close the gap was successful. That is the more likely scenario.

Obviously Pop was enthused by Simmons and rewarded him with a lengthy run in this game, but I thought Kyle, despite less highlight worthy, also played with a lot of fire and also needs to develop. These guys need mental toughness. They are already being coddled enough by not being exposed to the results of their mistakes playing in a veteran team. They are lucky their garbage time is victory cigar time. Many other young rookies and guys in the league, their garbage time is a terrible defeat, and they end up playing 40 mins of it (Devin Booker in the Suns, and guy was a little pest and tough). I think Pop was just expecting Manu to make a run, but honestly Boban/Kyle/Simmons could have handled it while also getting better.

Edited to add: Add Butler to those 3, maybe Ray. Let them attempt their run and get experience... also see much more of Butler with them.

[sasaint]

That was the best lineup. Butler was owning Iggy in the 2nd even blocked one of his shots I believe.

Replace Danny in the first unit with Rasual. Play him at the 3 and Kawhi at the 2. Put Danny with the scrubs where he played most of his minutes last night.

[SpursforSix]

dissapointed in LAM he looked like a deer in headlites

several of them did. So many turnovers just trying to dribble the damn ball.

[wildbill2u]

Simple truth is that GSW outplayed us on both ends of the court. Period. We were so bamfooled by their defense that we had ususally sure handed players letting the ball slip out of their hands on passes or get away from them on the dribble for TOs.

WE did not look like a veteran team out there. Move on.