Bill Simmons criticizes Gregg Popovich in his podcast

[Uriel]

He basically goes on a tirade about Popovich, saying he did a terrible job with Team USA, that he’s a bully, that he should own his loss. And he goes on to bemoan how Pop’s cult of personality has made him immune from criticism.

You can listen to the segment in his podcast (around 5 minutes) here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBASpurs/comments/d7d36t/bill_simmons_tries_to_convince_gladwell_that_pop/

[apalisoc_9]

hes not wrong.

People who discredit TD

"But he had Pop"

Kawhi 2016 MVP run...

10/10 of those who didnt vote for kawhi "But Pop can win 55 with any roster"

He believes his own hype way too much

[Yogatti]

And he goes on to bemoan how Pop’s cult of personality has made him immune from criticism.


I have a theory one of the Popovich Slurpers was the one who gave the idea of having "Likes/Dislike" feature on this forum so they can censor anyone who criticizes Gregg Popovich.

Popovich losing in the FIBA tournament send them over the edge. Got to be make sure this place is a circlejerk for them

[Dennis the Menace]

He basically goes on a tirade about Popovich, saying he did a terrible job with Team USA, that he’s a bully, that he should own his loss. And he goes on to bemoan how Pop’s cult of personality has made him immune from criticism.

You can listen to the segment in his podcast (around 5 minutes) here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBASpurs/comments/d7d36t/bill_simmons_tries_to_convince_gladwell_that_pop/

Seriously. When has Pop ever owned a loss? Not attacking Pop, just genuinely have never witnessed him take the blame for a loss. Only time I’ve seen him admit any wrong-doing was for coaching Aldridge wrong in the early going of his stint here. That’s it.

Rather remarkable in itself that a head coach of a major professional sports program has not publicly admitted fault in one instance for a loss during 20 years of coaching. We’re talking over 1,800 games and not one loss has he taken the fall for.

Amazing

[AussieFanKurt]

Seriously. When has Pop ever owned a loss? Not attacking Pop, just genuinely have never witnessed him take the blame for a loss. Only time I’ve seen him admit any wrong-doing was for coaching Aldridge wrong in the early going of his stint here. That’s it.

Rather remarkable in itself that a head coach of a major professional sports program has not publicly admitted fault in one instance for a loss during 20 years of coaching. We’re talking over 1,800 games and not one loss has he taken the fall for.

Amazing

He needs to explicitly tell the media he's to blame? That just seems pointless.

[Dennis the Menace]

He needs to explicitly tell the media he's to blame? That just seems pointless.


Good coaches hold themselves accountable. To my recollection, he’s never even owned up to partly being responsible for a loss.

”We as coaches need to do a better job at putting our players in a better position to succeed.” Not even that

[Pavlov]

Good coaches hold themselves accountable. To my recollection, he’s never even owned up to partly being responsible for a loss.

”We as coaches need to do a better job at putting our players in a better position to succeed.” Not even that
"We're obviously discombobulated on offense. So a lot of that has to do with me. I've got to do a better job there."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25421927/san-antonio-spurs-roughed-again

Literally the first Google result.

[Dverde]

Simmons was one of the few outsiders who called him out for that Nuggets series loss. He quit making adjustments then said the team just needs to play better. He’ll make a few adjustments then stops adjustments around game 5.

[spurtime]

Yeah, Pop kind of sucks in the Team USA context/setting.

[spurs1990]

Been a Spurs fan since around 2001 or 2002 and I finally saw the light on Pop not taking personal accountability after the 2016 OKC loss. That series was on him and his final media session was full of jokes and deflection. His goto statements after bad losses are ‘the players didn’t have respect for the game’ or “it’s just basketball”.

[Mr. Body]

1. Bill Simmons is a has-been. Who gives a shit.

2. Bill Simmons is a Clippers stan. He's knob-slobbering over Kawhi now.

3. Team USA was a shitty team. Who gives a shit.

[tmtcsc]

Seriously. When has Pop ever owned a loss? Not attacking Pop, just genuinely have never witnessed him take the blame for a loss. Only time I’ve seen him admit any wrong-doing was for coaching Aldridge wrong in the early going of his stint here. That’s it.

Rather remarkable in itself that a head coach of a major professional sports program has not publicly admitted fault in one instance for a loss during 20 years of coaching. We’re talking over 1,800 games and not one loss has he taken the fall for.

Amazing

He took responsibility for initially not accepting Manu for who and what he was. He was Manu & you just had to let him be himself. Chips will follow.

[gospursgojas]

He took responsibility for initially not accepting Manu for who and what he was. He was Manu & you just had to let him be himself. Chips will follow.

Also took blame for over coaching LA. Pop not ever holding himself accountable=horrible take.

[R. DeMurre]

I don't know any serious basketball fan who doesn't think this version of Team USA just wasn't very good. Our top player was Kemba Walker, a guy who has struggled to lead his NBA team to the playoffs, and who has never made it out of the first round. Our team doesn't have a single MVP candidate. In theory, Team USA should have about 6 or 7 MVP candidates.

[UnWantedTheory]

Wtf? As I recall, Pop has called himself out numerous times. Nevermind all that, we will ignore that shit for the dumbasses agenda.

[UnWantedTheory]

I don't know any serious basketball fan who doesn't think this version of Team USA just wasn't very good. Our top player was Kemba Walker, a guy who has struggled to lead his NBA team to the playoffs, and who has never made it out of the first round. Our team doesn't have a single MVP candidate. In theory, Team USA should have about 6 or 7 MVP candidates.

Exactly. Pop isn't a fucking miracle worker. We had low to mid level talent, so what the fuck do people expect?

[Frenchfred]

Not taking responsability?

https://www.google.fr/amp/s/www.sportingnews.com/us/amp/nba/news/san-antonio-spurs-nba-news-gregg-popovich-houston-rockets-embarrassed-woes-demar-derozan-patty-mills/1e4h3z88hmsbz16ep3o13ls0ec

[4lifecowboy]

What I have never heard is him take credit for his success.

[GusT15]

Come on now,it's pretty obvious what Bill Simmons' agenda is.

He's a Celtics fanboy,he made his career talking about the Celtics.He said the Celtics would win 60 games last year.

If the failure of the "Team USA Celtics" version of the US NT isn't allocated to somebody else,it's gonna fall,in his mind,to Kemba,Jaylen Brown and Smart and even Tatum cause he was injured.
If the failure falls on Kemba,how can Bill Simmons fully embrace his Celtics fan persona in his podcasts and be optimistic?

Pop had a large part of the blame.Kemba was horrible in the elimination game vs France (10pts,2-9FG,4fouls,4Turnovers,0 assists,game high -13 in 25mins).

Simmons is biased.
And here's another hypothetical question.If team USA had won gold in the World Cup,would Bill Simmons be praising Pop and his coaching? Or would he credit the success to the Celtics core who decided to show up and play and won the whole thing?

[diego]

Seriously. When has Pop ever owned a loss? Not attacking Pop, just genuinely have never witnessed him take the blame for a loss. Only time I’ve seen him admit any wrong-doing was for coaching Aldridge wrong in the early going of his stint here. That’s it.

Rather remarkable in itself that a head coach of a major professional sports program has not publicly admitted fault in one instance for a loss during 20 years of coaching. We’re talking over 1,800 games and not one loss has he taken the fall for.

Amazing

:lol you're coming back to this thread right? Or maybe you already forgot about this alt, memory is clearly not a strongsuit

[tbdog]

Good coaches hold themselves accountable. To my recollection, he’s never even owned up to partly being responsible for a loss.

”We as coaches need to do a better job at putting our players in a better position to succeed.” Not even that


You don't know what he says to his team, to his coaches.

[Roscoe P. Coltrane]

Seriously. When has Pop ever owned a loss? Not attacking Pop, just genuinely have never witnessed him take the blame for a loss. Only time I’ve seen him admit any wrong-doing was for coaching Aldridge wrong in the early going of his stint here. That’s it.

Rather remarkable in itself that a head coach of a major professional sports program has not publicly admitted fault in one instance for a loss during 20 years of coaching. We’re talking over 1,800 games and not one loss has he taken the fall for.

Amazing I remember him saying after one of the losses to Denver in playoffs last season that he was at fault because of bad line ups he put on the floor only to use the exact same line ups the next game.

[jjktkk]

hes not wrong.

People who discredit TD

"But he had Pop"

Kawhi 2016 MVP run...

10/10 of those who didnt vote for kawhi "But Pop can win 55 with any roster"

He believes his own hype way too much

If anyone knows about not not having any credibility...

[SpursDynasty85]

Yeah, Pop kind of sucks in the Team USA context/setting.

The real test will be next year in the Olympics. The headline for this FIBA cup was "Another star pulling out" "Will USA win?" "Is this the most talented team in the tournament", stuff that had nothing to do with Pop. Most of the players never even had training camp with each other last year.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

1. Bill Simmons is a has-been. Who gives a shit.

2. Bill Simmons is a Clippers stan. He's knob-slobbering over Kawhi now.

3. Team USA was a shitty team. Who gives a shit.

Pretty much this.



Most Spurs fans who followed the team before 1997 know how good Pop has been for the organization. Lots of dumbass haters in here quite honestly. When Pop retires prepare for the return to small market mediocrity.

Remind me again how many NBA titles have been won by small market teams in the last 30 years? Remind me again how many former ABA teams now hang championship banners? Tim was the heart of the Spurs for 20 years, but Pop provided the framework for the team to succeed. We could be sitting here talking about how the Duncan era was similar to the Robinson era...or how Tim won 2 titles after leaving here for Orlando. The championship legacy of this team is as tied to Pop as it is to Tim Duncan.

[ginobilized]

Bill Simmons was on a hyper-rant with one of the smartest people on the planet, Malcolm Gladwell. Simmons did 95%of the talking and Gladwell disagreed heartily and often when he could get a word in, regarding Pop. Just sayin'

[Jsn]

What I have never heard is him take credit for his success.

/end thread

:rollin At one who who believes pop has never called himself and his staff out. Idiots don’t pay attention.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

He’s not wrong... Team USA wasn’t very good, but they should of finished better than 7th for sure.

[J_Paco]

"We're obviously discombobulated on offense. So a lot of that has to do with me. I've got to do a better job there."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25421927/san-antonio-spurs-roughed-again

Literally the first Google result.

Doesn't fit their bullshit narrative, so must have never happened.

Cause a coach with 30+ years experience never, ever was accountable for a loss (in his own mind). Such stupidity floating around in the minds of some posters here.....

[Ibleedslvrnblk]

Oh who the fuck cares. What is the point of all this bashing of players and coaches? Who cares who had who? Cannot just appreciate it? It is just basketball. To some of you this is way too serious to be a fan of a team. Like this some how is part of your existence and being on the planet.

Jesus shit, I hate coming here cause no one is ever happy and must argue over every damn thing and then call people names. There is no actual basketball talk, it's all meaningless. Who cares who is to blame? Going through every damn moment of things that didn't work out. What good is it if someone comes out and saya blame me? Does it change anything?Nope!

[R. DeMurre]

Pretty much this.



Most Spurs fans who followed the team before 1997 know how good Pop has been for the organization. Lots of dumbass haters in here quite honestly. When Pop retires prepare for the return to small market mediocrity.

Remind me again how many NBA titles have been won by small market teams in the last 30 years? Remind me again how many former ABA teams now hang championship banners? Tim was the heart of the Spurs for 20 years, but Pop provided the framework for the team to succeed. We could be sitting here talking about how the Duncan era was similar to the Robinson era...or how Tim won 2 titles after leaving here for Orlando. The championship legacy of this team is as tied to Pop as it is to Tim Duncan.

I see a lot of people on this site trying to do a Pop vs Duncan thing, which is really silly. Duncan had multiple opportunities to leave Pop & San Antonio and never did. He even took pay cuts later in his career to help Pop & the team when he easily could have made more money elsewhere playing for a different coach. It's funny to me that someone who "hates" Pop but loves Timmy doesn't see that they're actually insulting Timmy, saying that he was a great player but wasn't smart enough to choose a "better" coach.

[jermaine]

"Fake News"(in my Trump voice)

[r0drig0lac]

wow... who cares?

[RD2191]

"Fake News"(in my Trump voice)

:lol

[rjv]

"We're obviously discombobulated on offense. So a lot of that has to do with me. I've got to do a better job there."

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25421927/san-antonio-spurs-roughed-again

Literally the first Google result.

nothing like demonstrating to someone just how easy it is to not be so intellectually lazy. (i used the term "intellectually" loosely here.)

[Uriel]

Should've added in the original post that Simmons called Pop a "fucking bully" and a "sore loser."

[Johnsyounger]

Simmons has been salty since we got TD in the draft. Celts had best chance to get Tim that year. He doesn't hide it either. Cant find the clip but he's said multiple times he's still mad we got him and how the Celts would have won 5 chips blah blah ... fuck Bill Simmons

[DMC]

He basically goes on a tirade about Popovich, saying he did a terrible job with Team USA, that he’s a bully, that he should own his loss. And he goes on to bemoan how Pop’s cult of personality has made him immune from criticism.

You can listen to the segment in his podcast (around 5 minutes) here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBASpurs/comments/d7d36t/bill_simmons_tries_to_convince_gladwell_that_pop/

Meh, Culburn called him out years ago. Bill is sniffing Dale's farts.

[DMC]

I will say this: Pop might not assign self blame, but he also will not accept credit. He defers credit for wins to players, credit for winning culture to coachable players and ownership that allows the GM and coaches to do their jobs, and credits the other team for winning if they do. Taking blame for a loss is pointless, much more so than assigning credit to your opponent for kicking your ass.

Pop lost his life long partner recently, and he lost the big 3 that he coached for damn near 20 years. He still took on the responsibility of coaching the only players who weren't too petty to actually play for Team USA. He probably knew he was going to lose but he did it anyhow instead of quitting like Kawhi or the other "stars" who abandoned the games. How he treats the media is meaningless to anyone else, or should be. Fuck the media. Since when did Bill Simmons give a shit about the Spurs when they were winning everything?

Some of you seem salty about the FIBA games and the results. If the best players in the US don't want to play in the FIBA games, they obviously don't give a shit about it. Why does Bill or anyone else? Pop is just doing what he does, coach.