Popovich: "the hell with them"

[Kori Ellis]

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich favors tryouts as a means of selecting the members of the next U.S. Olympic team.

Popovich, an assistant coach to Larry Brown on the U.S. team that won a bronze medal at the Athens Games, can't understand why it would be done any other way.

"Without a question there should be a tryout," Popovich said. "It solves a myriad of questions and problems, and I discussed those problems with USA Basketball."

And if some players don't want to subject themselves to a tryout?

"I'm just speaking for myself," Popovich said, "but if people don't want to try out, the hell with them."


http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/194533-7811-179.html

[Drachen]

WORD! Fuckin Primadonnas

[Rick Von Braun]

I agree 100% with Pop.

[Mark in Austin]

Go Pop! I couldn't agree more! :makemyday

[pjjrfan]

Pop just has a way with words.

[Jimcs50]

Pop is on the shortest of short lists to coach the next National team.

[desflood]

Ha! Pop can be so articulate if he puts his mind to it.

[ChumpDumper]

Popovich says US should try it a new way

USA Basketball completed its November meeting last Wednesday and made no real decisions concerning the selection of the next Senior Men's Team. There could be some movement in that direction early in 2005.

The US will be in the World Championships in Japan in 2006, and unless it wins, it will have to go through another Olympic qualifier in 2007 to make it to Beijing in 2008. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who has to be under consideration for the head job in 2008 after serving as an assistant in Indianapolis (2002) and Athens (2004), said he is wholly behind a tryout camp for future Olympians.

"Unless the top 12 guys in the NBA say yes," Popovich said. "Anything short of that, get over it. Have a tryout and the whole nation would get behind that team. If you don't make it, it's not the end of the world. [John] Stockton turned out all right, didn't he? [CD: Of course, Pop didn't make the national team either while at the AFA.]

"It would take care of any guesswork. I'd start with NBA guys, but it has to be the right mix talentwise, characterwise, and positionwise. We learned that in Athens. And only a tryout can determine that. It'd be going with guys who it's important to."

Asked about possibly coaching such a team, Popovich said, "It'd be a hell of an honor for any coach to be involved. But there are a lot of people who are qualified and who would do a good job."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2004/11/14/this_silence_cant_be_golden?pg=3

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

This is one of those times where I am 110% behind Pop.

[samikeyp]

"I'm just speaking for myself," Popovich said, "but if people don't want to try out, the hell with them."

You speak for me as well, coach.

[SequSpur]

Tryouts?

Try getting the best players this time. If Kobe and Garnett played, the USA would have won easily.

[FromWayDowntown]

Try getting the best players this time. If Kobe and Garnett played, the USA would have won easily.


Read what the man said:

"Unless the top 12 guys in the NBA say yes," Popovich said. "Anything short of that, get over it. Have a tryout and the whole nation would get behind that team."

[adidas11]

Quote: "Try getting the best players this time. If Kobe and Garnett played, the USA would have won easily."

No, they wouldn't have. Sending our absolute best players doesn't solve the problem.

You have to institute a full time coach, and a continual program for our national team to make things work correctly. Anything else will just not cut it.

[timvp]

Hopefully Pop is named the head coach. He'd bring the fire necessary to get the job done.

P.S.

If you put a healthy team of Kidd, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan and Shaq ... the US dominates the world.

[Das Texan]

Pop is a wordsmith.


He would make the perfect coach for the national team.


And he would actually bring an understanding of the international game to the table.

[FromWayDowntown]

And he would actually bring an understanding of the international game to the table.

an understanding and a genuine respect for the international game and the players on the various national teams.

[Spurminator]

Well, in all likelihood, sending Shaq and Garnett and Kobe would have made a difference, but the USA Basketball program still has to make changes that will prepare itself for those types of players passing, which is almost a certainty.

[Medvedenko]

Up here in Canada after we lost the Hockey Olympics to the Czech Republic we held a hockey reform. We were losing our game...so we changed the way we did the selection process. We have tryouts after a selection is made of the best possible players. It's an honour to play for your country and I heard no one bitch about a tryout or the selection process. Not all the best players made it, but only the players that best suited the team, the grinders, checkers, and roleplayers along with the super stars....and guess what...they won the next olympics and World Cup. It's a privelage to play for your Country, not other way around. If some superstars (Mello) don't want a tryout, fuck em. Put character guys on the team.

[Slo spurs fan]

Hopefully Pop is named the head coach. He'd bring the fire necessary to get the job done.

P.S.

If you put a healthy team of Kidd, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan and Shaq ... the US dominates the world.
I would like to see USA vs the rest of the world game: Manu, Dirk, Jasikevicius, Bodiroga, Kirilenko...It could be an interesting one don't you think?

[samikeyp]

Adidas is right...it would have postponed the problem but not solved it.