Pop's interview: "nothing should be rushed"

[gambit1990]

"the core" :lmao

This team is shît there's no possibility of a core :lol
yeah, exactly. that's basically what i said.


the problem is this isn't a team that will go anywhere.

this team will have to go through a lot of iterations before victor and the team can grow together.



it's refreshing to hear pop say the right things ... but he's making it seem like this team is last year's thunder ...

[gambit1990]

Do you see any similarities between what you are doing and what OKC has done?
We do exactly the same thing. Sam (Presti) has been great but it took him some years to get to that point. They had many draft picks and are starting to get the benefits from them. We must have the same patience, pick the right players.
this rich as fück :lol:lol

i was always advocating for the spurs to be like okc and i got trashed on here for it.

presti would've gotten three times as much for lamarcus, demar, rudy gay than the spurs did.

[rankingtear]

I'd rather see them just go to Victor on every play to see what he does. Do that for about 10 straight games. What's the worst that could happen? There's no reason to "develop" scrubs, the league has no shortage of them.

He would be guarded more tightly than he is now.

[gambit1990]

He would be guarded more tightly than he is now.
good. that's literally development.

[rankingtear]

good. that's literally development.

What would he develop?

[deanoden]

If I owned the franchise (ha ha) the first things that would be rushed is dissolving the services of the GM and HC. The team clearly needs to head in a new direction.

[Tyronn Lue]

He would be guarded more tightly than he is now.
If the Spurs are going to experiment with someone, it should be Victor. I feel like Pop is trying to squeeze trade value out of these scrubs at the cost of developing the franchise guy. Maybe I am wrong, but I feel comfortable just the same in saying there's no way in hell this group will see the playoffs together.

[Tyronn Lue]

What would he develop?
Giving Jeremy the ball on every trip seemed to be great to you. If that develops Jeremy, then giving Victor the ball where he can operate and get iterations of mistakes and successes would develop him.

[K...]

If I owned the franchise (ha ha) the first things that would be rushed is dissolving the services of the GM and HC. The team clearly needs to head in a new direction.

what new direction? bring the cheerleaders back?

[gambit1990]

What would he develop?
... is this a serious question ?

[rankingtear]

... is this a serious question ?

Yes.

[rankingtear]

Giving Jeremy the ball on every trip seemed to be great to you. If that develops Jeremy, then giving Victor the ball where he can operate and get iterations of mistakes and successes would develop him.

You want Victor to dribble down the court every possession. You don't think other teams have brains?

[MultiTroll]

Giving Jeremy the ball on every trip seemed to be great to you. If that develops Jeremy, then giving Victor the ball where he can operate and get iterations of mistakes and successes would develop him.
Rack it!

[MultiTroll]

You want Victor to dribble down the court every possession. You don't think other teams have brains?
Victor is very capable of dishing out assists.
Given more ops, he would deal out even more.

Yes he needs to work on dribbling in traffic and not getting the ball swiped.
More stuff he could work on instead of Pop n Sochans idiotit experiment and Kombe Vassell developing into an even more one dimensional selfish ballhog.

[rankingtear]

Victor is very capable of dishing out assists.
Given more ops, he would deal out even more.

Yes he needs to work on dribbling in traffic and not getting the ball swiped.
More stuff he could work on instead of Pop n Sochans idiotit experiment and Kombe Vassell developing into an even more one dimensional selfish ballhog.

So he can't bring the ball down every possesion?

[MultiTroll]

So he can't bring the ball down every possesion?
He could, but what would be the purpose?

I don't know of any NBA player who brought the ball down every possession for an entire season.
Have you been drinking with Popped?

[Tyronn Lue]

You want Victor to dribble down the court every possession. You don't think other teams have brains?
Is that "where he can operate"? That's a well worn phrase in the NBA for big men. Victor runs down the court and flails around for a possession then back he goes the other direction. Soon he's gassed because he's doing too much at both ends while some of the others are just bricking shots or turning the ball over.

The experiment needs to be with Victor. If the Spurs didn't get a great pick then sure, try to make lemonade.

[Pauleta14]

Instead of letting Vic gass out setting screens and running around like a role player, why not try an EASY pick and roll?

Just an idea

[gambit1990]

Yes.
do you not understand basketball? or facing adversity in general?

if teams clamp down on wemby in the RS then that'll help his situational awareness and prepare him for defenses in the playoffs.

[rankingtear]

do you not understand basketball? or facing adversity in general?

if teams clamp down on wemby in the RS then that'll help his situational awareness and prepare him for defenses in the playoffs.

He needs offensive reps. If he is more closely guarded than he is now then he won't get it.

[Pauleta14]

Not sure the best thread for this, Ben Goliver has a great analysis of the Spurs situation and their strategy with Victor

from the 55'


https://youtu.be/aQtZG9zoHf4?si=afaTA7f4AwRFuMnR

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

Not sure the best thread for this, Ben Goliver has a great analysis of the Spurs situation and their strategy with Victor

from the 55'


https://youtu.be/aQtZG9zoHf4?si=afaTA7f4AwRFuMnR

makes sense that Ben's take resonates with many ST posters bc he doesn't watch Spurs games either

lol trading for monte morris

[Pauleta14]

You haven't listened to the whole pat have you...

(it's a very nuanced/not radical take at all contrary to the snifers's)

[rankingtear]

Not sure the best thread for this, Ben Goliver has a great analysis of the Spurs situation and their strategy with Victor

from the 55'


https://youtu.be/aQtZG9zoHf4?si=afaTA7f4AwRFuMnR

Who is Ben Gulliver are we suppose to know?

[Spurminator]

I was talking about OKC when I said "based on the model of another team that hasn't won a Championship with that model either."

I was not talking about OKC when I said "The great teams." OKC hasn't won shit.

Was thinking about this thread when I noticed that the models of "building slowly through the draft" mentioned several times in this thread (OKC and Orlando) are home right now. OKC still hasn't won shit.

[scott]

Was thinking about this thread when I noticed that the models of "building slowly through the draft" mentioned several times in this thread (OKC and Orlando) are home right now. OKC still hasn't won shit.

Interesting that every team remaining, outside of Indy, is a hybrid model with a star (Doncic) or a stars (Ant/KAT, Tatum/Brown) supplemented by significant acquisitions (Irving, Gobert, KP). Indy is interested because their two best players were both trade acquisitions, but they have a lot of homegrown talent supplementing that (more on the way with Mathurin and Walker).

[RC_Drunkford]

I'd say you build through the draft and then get the missing piece that takes you over the top by trade. Should be a combination of both. The 25 draft is loaded, after that we can get into complementary aquisitions.

[Spurminator]

I'd say you build through the draft and then get the missing piece that takes you over the top by trade. Should be a combination of both. The 25 draft is loaded, after that we can get into complementary aquisitions.

It would already be a combination of both without waiting until 2025-2026 to start competing. Keep in mind teams don't typically go from Lottery to a Championship in one season, so if you're waiting for 2026 to get your "missing piece" you're setting a timeline of 2028 at the soonest to be championship ready. No thanks. Win now.

[Payote75]

The missing piece sometimes is the guy you draft. Like Wemby you won't acquire or sign a talent like Wemby so no you do what the other teams do and acquire the supplemental pieces to surround him not to mention you have Vassell and Sochan as well. Bring in more young guys aren't going to be wembys they will take time probably to develop time we shouldn't waste. Wemby physique is fine at 20 -22 but one step on a foot or bad slip and it changes everything. You have your "Luca" now put the pieces around him not wait 3 years to develop more picks. You can keep some of the picks to continue the influx but it's time to add proven support.

[z0sa]

The missing piece sometimes is the guy you draft. Like Wemby you won't acquire or sign a talent like Wemby so no you do what the other teams do and acquire the supplemental pieces to surround him not to mention you have Vassell and Sochan as well. Bring in more young guys aren't going to be wembys they will take time probably to develop time we shouldn't waste. Wemby physique is fine at 20 -22 but one step on a foot or bad slip and it changes everything. You have your "Luca" now put the pieces around him not wait 3 years to develop more picks. You can keep some of the picks to continue the influx but it's time to add proven support.

Agreed it's time we need at least some proven leadership on the court.

Neither Vassell nor Sochan are elite is the whole problem here in SA. This core is NOT championship material, outside of Wemby, of course (and dare I say, even he's unproven. We need a vet to show him how to win at the NBA level, tbh. Not hating but it's clear that would pay dividends.)

Unfortunately, our current roster has not proven anything, except being good at losing. Vassell's ceiling is clearly a "2B" type of player, who trades with some other "3rd option" every other night for the right to be Wemby's sidekick, depending on who is hot. Sochan is barely a 4th option at this point, and with his .... unconventional shooting form, even if he ever starts to hit it at a high clip people will run him off of the line and force him to do that idiotic 12 foot turn around he sucks at.

That's not terrible or anything, but even rolling on all cylinders with a "good" version of Pop doesn't sound like a team that makes it past the play-in. We need leaders who can say, "why aren't you throwing Wemby the ball like the Mavs do Lively?" or even better, do it themselves to shame our below average supporting cast. There ain't shit like that on this team right now.

Also, not sure if mentioned before, but this interview is the worst kind of gaslighting. Pop is a rich elitist snob, talking about it taking time. More like you want to keep cashing your million dollar monthly paychecks, after taxes, without any pressure from the FO or the fanbase. Pop has lost my respect this season. He wasn't harping about "the process" when he fired Bob Hill then we won a title in Tim Duncan's sophomore season and his 3rd season. He's an ass, and no, I'm not bringing his politics into this at all. I'm talking purely basketball, he's screwed the pooch and looks honestly lost trying to do a true rebuild. Looks like the lucky he had 21 comments were pretty much true at this stage. Hope he proves me wrong, but I'm highly, highly doubtful he will. Instead, I hope someone like BW brings in an infusion of talent that overrides Pop's imbecilic rotations and gaslighting.

[Payote75]

The point guard who you acquire will elevate vassell Sochan and even help Wemby go up another notch once that's in place you can add supporting pieces vet pieces. Spurs have there own picks being greedy I wouldn't touch the Atlanta picks but the 4th 8th Chicago's pick and fake or not Charlotte s pick with keldon trey Jones branham zollins there's stuff to take from there and package for whomever you want that's available and then spend on some vets if not another trade to improve further.

[Mr. Body]

Agreed it's time we need at least some proven leadership on the court.

Neither Vassell nor Sochan are elite is the whole problem here in SA. This core is NOT championship material, outside of Wemby, of course (and dare I say, even he's unproven. We need a vet to show him how to win at the NBA level, tbh. Not hating but it's clear that would pay dividends.)

Unfortunately, our current roster has not proven anything, except being good at losing. Vassell's ceiling is clearly a "2B" type of player, who trades with some other "3rd option" every other night for the right to be Wemby's sidekick, depending on who is hot. Sochan is barely a 4th option at this point, and with his .... unconventional shooting form, even if he ever starts to hit it at a high clip people will run him off of the line and force him to do that idiotic 12 foot turn around he sucks at.

That's not terrible or anything, but even rolling on all cylinders with a "good" version of Pop doesn't sound like a team that makes it past the play-in. We need leaders who can say, "why aren't you throwing Wemby the ball like the Mavs do Lively?" or even better, do it themselves to shame our below average supporting cast. There ain't shit like that on this team right now.

Also, not sure if mentioned before, but this interview is the worst kind of gaslighting. Pop is a rich elitist snob, talking about it taking time. More like you want to keep cashing your million dollar monthly paychecks, after taxes, without any pressure from the FO or the fanbase. Pop has lost my respect this season. He wasn't harping about "the process" when he fired Bob Hill then we won a title in Tim Duncan's sophomore season and his 3rd season. He's an ass, and no, I'm not bringing his politics into this at all. I'm talking purely basketball, he's screwed the pooch and looks honestly lost trying to do a true rebuild. Looks like the lucky he had 21 comments were pretty much true at this stage. Hope he proves me wrong, but I'm highly, highly doubtful he will. Instead, I hope someone like BW brings in an infusion of talent that overrides Pop's imbecilic rotations and gaslighting.

I just want to say this is one of the worst takes I've seen here in a long time, masquerading as something ostensibly well thought-out and intelligent. There's just... so much wrong here. I don't think you have even a vague sense of what's going on, but boy are you angry about it.

I do like Maggot Brain a lot, though.

[scott]

I just want to say this is one of the worst takes I've seen here in a long time, masquerading as something ostensibly well thought-out and intelligent. There's just... so much wrong here. I don't think you have even a vague sense of what's going on, but boy are you angry about it.

I do like Maggot Brain a lot, though.

Go ahead and refute it then, instead of your typical "wah, this hurts my sniffer sensibilities, so I'm going to call you stupid/tell you to kill yourself" post

[BackHome]

The Tank Crew will be standing strong for 2025 :flag:

[tbdog]

https://x.com/CHGO_Bulls/status/1799131106056548356

Snappy story about pop

[R. DeMurre]

Watching Boston in the finals should remind everyone of how tough it can be in the NBA to land a piece you want. At PG, they went from Isaiah Thomas to Kyrie to Kemba Walker to Marcus Smart to D White/Jrue... they may have finally found their perfect back court and be rewarded with a title, but it took eight years of constant wheeling & dealing to get it done.

[BackHome]

I believe it took Michael Jordan 6 years and Lebron James 8 years each before they won a Championship

[RC_Drunkford]

that's why we want the Spurs FO to be on their A-Game

[JPB]

Watching Boston in the finals should remind everyone of how tough it can be in the NBA to land a piece you want. At PG, they went from Isaiah Thomas to Kyrie to Kemba Walker to Marcus Smart to D White/Jrue... they may have finally found their perfect back court and be rewarded with a title, but it took eight years of constant wheeling & dealing to get it done.

OKC got it with one trade, with a player they maybe didn't expect to develop as a future MVP caliver player. That also means you shouldn't be too picky or wait for the perceived "perfect PG".

There's so many variables, like with Irving for example or injuries... And the rest of team matters too, in terms of quality and experiecne. Maybe BOS last year wins with Porzingis.

[exstatic]

OKC got it with one trade, with a player they maybe didn't expect to develop as a future MVP caliver player. That also means you shouldn't be too picky or wait for the perceived "perfect PG".

There's so many variables, like with Irving for example or injuries... And the rest of team matters too, in terms of quality and experiecne. Maybe BOS last year wins with Porzingis.

OKC hasn’t won yet.

[MaNu4Tres]

Watching Boston in the finals should remind everyone of how tough it can be in the NBA to land a piece you want. At PG, they went from Isaiah Thomas to Kyrie to Kemba Walker to Marcus Smart to D White/Jrue... they may have finally found their perfect back court and be rewarded with a title, but it took eight years of constant wheeling & dealing to get it done.

And Derrick and Jrue are utilized as off ball fluid connectors — getting their opportunities from secondary actions off Tatum & Brown most of the time.

Castle can be used in that way as a “PG” around Vic and Devin.

Victor won’t be used as a finisher most of the time, he will be the high usage prime LeBron or Luka of the offense.

[TD 21]

The Celtics got lucky to get both. White is the quintessential Spur who was only ever traded because it had to be done to get a legit shot at Wembanyama and Holiday only became available because the Bucks were unexpectedly able to pull off a Lillard trade.

They can also afford to be secondary creators because they have two wings to take on the primary creation load (one of whom is an average playmaker and the other who is a poor one, which is why they don't already have a championship). The Spurs have half of one. Vassell is a better player than most of this board thinks, but he's a clear third option.

Whether Wembanyama can full time play the role he was during the stretch drive last season or not, he's going to need a primary perimeter creator alongside.

[Mr. Body]

Nothing should be overexamined from this Finals. Boston had scads of first round picks and a couple turned out. They've made other moves that have been great. But they're in probably the worst conference bracket we've ever seen. They never faced an opponent close to healthy. They got beat by an eight seed last year.

The latest champions - Denver, Milwaukee, Toronto, etc. - are all different. Houston may be as much of a threat as OKC, and their backbone is a guy they picked with the 14 spot, or whatever it was (traded to them by OKC) after getting about twenty lottery picks.

The Spurs need to make some good moves and selections, but soon enough the league will have to counter Wembanyama and the Spurs. The Spurs don't technically need stars, they need categories of skill and improvement. Of course that may come from stars. But swinging for/buying stars hoping they solve those problems may be the wrong way to go. Just keep working forward, find bargains if possible, and the stars will emerge.

[LeBowen]

Nothing should be overexamined from this Finals. Boston had scads of first round picks and a couple turned out. They've made other moves that have been great. But they're in probably the worst conference bracket we've ever seen. They never faced an opponent close to healthy. They got beat by an eight seed last year.

East playoffs were a joke with all the injuries, but Celtics were the best team in the league all season long and it wasn't particularly close.
They won 64 games and had 23-7 record against Western teams.

As a basketball fan, I wanted to see Jokic against hem because he seemed to be the only one with the answer for their gameplan. They have no ways of stopping him.
Mavs are a way easier matchup for them.


The Spurs need to make some good moves and selections, but soon enough the league will have to counter Wembanyama and the Spurs.

This should be pinned at the top of the forum, tbh.
To me it seems like a lot of Spurs fans don't realize how much of an advantage Wemby will have over everyone in the league and that teams will have to get very creative in order to stop him.
PATFO needs to focus on finding the best complementary pieces for Wemby, let the rest of the league worry about how to counter it.

[ambchang]

OKC got it with one trade, with a player they maybe didn't expect to develop as a future MVP caliver player. That also means you shouldn't be too picky or wait for the perceived "perfect PG".

There's so many variables, like with Irving for example or injuries... And the rest of team matters too, in terms of quality and experiecne. Maybe BOS last year wins with Porzingis.

They also started with a failed three mvp lineup plus ibaka. You act like they started with Demar and Aldridge.

[z0sa]

East playoffs were a joke with all the injuries, but Celtics were the best team in the league all season long and it wasn't particularly close.
They won 64 games and had 23-7 record against Western teams.

As a basketball fan, I wanted to see Jokic against hem because he seemed to be the only one with the answer for their gameplan. They have no ways of stopping him.
Mavs are a way easier matchup for them.



This should be pinned at the top of the forum, tbh.
To me it seems like a lot of Spurs fans don't realize how much of an advantage Wemby will have over everyone in the league and that teams will have to get very creative in order to stop him.
PATFO needs to focus on finding the best complementary pieces for Wemby, let the rest of the league worry about how to counter it.

I wish I could believe the latter (others will need to adjust to Wemby), but too many games I saw Zhaquille Collins taking more shots or similar shots to Wemby to actually believe Pop isn't going to try to play chess, let the players "figure it out", etc when he should just play checkers (at least, to the extent of letting the offense run through Wemby).

Everything was way more fluid 1) when Tre Jones began starting and (admittedly much later in the season) 2) after Vassell and others went down and we were forced to run every play through Wemby. We actually started winning games there at the end when Wemby was able to get into his spots. The offense was flowing because he had true role players who didn't think they were current/future stars who didn't need to constantly defer to #1.

Pop didn't do that. He was forced into it, and it worked. He didn't even play Mamu with Wemby most of the season and he was a CLEARLY better running mate with Wemby than Collins or Sochan by a long shot.

[Mr. Body]

They also started with a failed three mvp lineup plus ibaka. You act like they started with Demar and Aldridge.

Still kinda astounding the Thunder had three future MVPs only went to the Finals once and got destroyed.

[timtonymanu]

Still kinda astounding the Thunder had three future MVPs only went to the Finals once and got destroyed.

True but Harden bailed after their finals appearance in 2012 right when that core was finding its groove. (lol paying Perkins over him). Too short of a sample size. They could have gone back to the finals if they kept him. Replacing him with Kevin Martin made a huge difference and made them less scary. Still, they were a couple of wins away from going to the finals in 2014 and 2016 without Harden.
But yes I have a hard time seeing that core win it all since Durant is a mental midget when he's not being bailed out by the Warriors and Westbrook's style of play is not championship basketball. Also Harden is a mental midget himself who changes team whenever he feels he wants to. They needed a calm minded, veteran presence like how Iggy was for the Warriors.