timvp
06-10-2007, 01:25 AM
Buck Harvey: Popovich and Egan go at it again — now, it's temporary
San Antonio Express-News
Maybe the best thing that happened to Gregg Popovich in his basketball life was when he started talking to Hank Egan.
Maybe the worst was when he stopped.
Maybe the worst was when a coach who built a franchise based on family no longer had ties with someone who had become his big brother.
Maybe, because of that, these Finals take on a different meaning for both.
Personality clashes are nothing new in this league. There's some divisiveness in most locker rooms, even if it's not as noticeable as Walter Berry waving a butter knife at Alvin Robertson. Coaches come and go with the same human emotions in play.
But Popovich and Egan were different. Popovich was 17 and a freshman cadet at the Air Force Academy when he met Egan, who was then an assistant coach. Popovich spent many weekends at Egan's house, and Popovich babysat Egan's kids.
Even as adults, some still call him Popo.
Popovich and Egan learned the sideline defense from the first Air Force head coach in history. Bob Spear would teach others his system, namely a young assistant named Dean Smith. Egan replaced Spear when he retired, and Popovich returned to be Egan's assistant for a half-dozen years.
Did they ever argue?
"I'm an Irishman and he's Serbian," Egan joked. "What do you think?"
They went their own ways, yet they still stayed together. They were doing a clinic in Japan, for example, when Larry Brown called Popovich to see if he might want to jump to the NBA and help him coach the Spurs. That night Popovich bounced every concern off of Egan.
Popovich eventually became the Spurs'general manager, and one of his first moves was to hire Egan. Later, when Popovich named himself the coach, they schemed together on the bench, tinkering with Spear's sideline defense until it became the league standard, and they won a championship.
How many coaches ever go that far back and achieve that much?
Then a few things were said during the 2001-02 season, and eventually nothing was said. They didn't yell at each other, but the Spurs'staff felt the awkward silence. When the playoffs ended that season with another loss to the Lakers, Egan opted for the retirement he had put off the year before.
Popovich hired P.J. Carlesimo, and within weeks Egan came out of retirement to help another former player, Eric Musselman, at Golden State. Egan would retire again, and yet the silence continued.
"In retrospect," Egan said Saturday, "it was stupid, like all these things are."
They never made this public, and they never said anything negative about the other. In an interview with a reporter during these years, Egan went on and on about how bright and genuine Popovich was.
Then, when asked the last time they had talked, Egan stammered. Asked if anything had happened between them, Egan turned away as he choked up.
Something changed when Cleveland did. Yet another former player, Mike Brown, was in need of counsel, and Egan again signed up to assist. As it was with Popovich before, Brown cares about defense first, and he needed Egan's help on the offensive side.
Somewhere in this melding of staffs — with Danny Ferry and Brown mimicking what Popovich had done in San Antonio — Popovich and Egan crossed paths and mended whatever had been wrong. Before a game in Cleveland last season, in particular, they talked at length.
What has this reconciliation meant? "It meant a lot," Egan said.
It means a lot now, too. With the air clear, they can compete as friends. After Game 1, for example, Egan left a message on Popovich's phone.
"He's the classiest of class acts," Popovich said of that.
Now the words don't mask anything. Now Egan calls Popovich "a Hall of Fame coach," and Popovich said this when asked what he has learned from Egan:
"Well, that would take a real long time. Is there anybody that you've known for 35 years? But suffice it to say the first practice plan that I ever did was with Hank Egan ... He taught me basketball as a player. He disciplined me, he stroked me and he kicked me in the butt ... He's meant the world to me as far as basketball and a personal relationship."
Maybe the best thing about these Finals for Popovich and Egan?
They are on opposite sides again, but only for another week or so.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA061007.01S.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.34fe6f4.html
San Antonio Express-News
Maybe the best thing that happened to Gregg Popovich in his basketball life was when he started talking to Hank Egan.
Maybe the worst was when he stopped.
Maybe the worst was when a coach who built a franchise based on family no longer had ties with someone who had become his big brother.
Maybe, because of that, these Finals take on a different meaning for both.
Personality clashes are nothing new in this league. There's some divisiveness in most locker rooms, even if it's not as noticeable as Walter Berry waving a butter knife at Alvin Robertson. Coaches come and go with the same human emotions in play.
But Popovich and Egan were different. Popovich was 17 and a freshman cadet at the Air Force Academy when he met Egan, who was then an assistant coach. Popovich spent many weekends at Egan's house, and Popovich babysat Egan's kids.
Even as adults, some still call him Popo.
Popovich and Egan learned the sideline defense from the first Air Force head coach in history. Bob Spear would teach others his system, namely a young assistant named Dean Smith. Egan replaced Spear when he retired, and Popovich returned to be Egan's assistant for a half-dozen years.
Did they ever argue?
"I'm an Irishman and he's Serbian," Egan joked. "What do you think?"
They went their own ways, yet they still stayed together. They were doing a clinic in Japan, for example, when Larry Brown called Popovich to see if he might want to jump to the NBA and help him coach the Spurs. That night Popovich bounced every concern off of Egan.
Popovich eventually became the Spurs'general manager, and one of his first moves was to hire Egan. Later, when Popovich named himself the coach, they schemed together on the bench, tinkering with Spear's sideline defense until it became the league standard, and they won a championship.
How many coaches ever go that far back and achieve that much?
Then a few things were said during the 2001-02 season, and eventually nothing was said. They didn't yell at each other, but the Spurs'staff felt the awkward silence. When the playoffs ended that season with another loss to the Lakers, Egan opted for the retirement he had put off the year before.
Popovich hired P.J. Carlesimo, and within weeks Egan came out of retirement to help another former player, Eric Musselman, at Golden State. Egan would retire again, and yet the silence continued.
"In retrospect," Egan said Saturday, "it was stupid, like all these things are."
They never made this public, and they never said anything negative about the other. In an interview with a reporter during these years, Egan went on and on about how bright and genuine Popovich was.
Then, when asked the last time they had talked, Egan stammered. Asked if anything had happened between them, Egan turned away as he choked up.
Something changed when Cleveland did. Yet another former player, Mike Brown, was in need of counsel, and Egan again signed up to assist. As it was with Popovich before, Brown cares about defense first, and he needed Egan's help on the offensive side.
Somewhere in this melding of staffs — with Danny Ferry and Brown mimicking what Popovich had done in San Antonio — Popovich and Egan crossed paths and mended whatever had been wrong. Before a game in Cleveland last season, in particular, they talked at length.
What has this reconciliation meant? "It meant a lot," Egan said.
It means a lot now, too. With the air clear, they can compete as friends. After Game 1, for example, Egan left a message on Popovich's phone.
"He's the classiest of class acts," Popovich said of that.
Now the words don't mask anything. Now Egan calls Popovich "a Hall of Fame coach," and Popovich said this when asked what he has learned from Egan:
"Well, that would take a real long time. Is there anybody that you've known for 35 years? But suffice it to say the first practice plan that I ever did was with Hank Egan ... He taught me basketball as a player. He disciplined me, he stroked me and he kicked me in the butt ... He's meant the world to me as far as basketball and a personal relationship."
Maybe the best thing about these Finals for Popovich and Egan?
They are on opposite sides again, but only for another week or so.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA061007.01S.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.34fe6f4.html