Pop: Spurs Record is Fool’s Gold

[Kori Ellis]

Pop: Spurs Record is Fool’s Gold

http://cctvimedia.clearchannel.com/woai/pop_foolsgold150.jpg

Don's Extra Point
by Don Harris
Ticket 760 Sports on News 4 WOAI

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says the team’s 28-8 record is impressive, but not a true indicator of these Spurs. The team simply has too many lapses like Monday night in Utah. They let an undermanned team with much less talent stay in the game – and loss the game at the buzzer.

“I think we really do – as a team – have to toughen up mentally and physically,” Coach Popovich told SpursZONE.com after practice Tuesday. “I don’t care what our record is. We have to toughen up in those two areas. We’re too soft, too often. We expect things to happen. We have to make them happen – all the time – if we want the ultimate goal.”

So Pop put the team back at work with an hour-long film session before practice Tuesday.

The Spurs have now given up 90 POINTS in three straight games. Sometimes it's physical and sometimes mental, but Coach Pop say's the Spurs are anything but a complete team right now.

Rebounding ineptitude was a problem in Utah. The bigs are not getting tough and blocking out late in the game. So are they still looking for help? Reports say the Spurs may put a deadline on their offer to Karl Malone, so I asked Pop on the Ticket 760 Tuesday if there a drop dead date when the Spurs would pull their offer.

“I think there probably is, and I think it’s dependant on how we’re doing at the time,” said Popovich on the Pop show, which can hear every week right here at SpursZONE.com. “If we’re playing really well together, and have all the holes plugged, and if that’s the case, and if it’s getting into late February and March and that type of thing, then it would be a little bit tougher to add somebody.”

So stay tuned, especially if the holes don’t get plugged.

That's my point. Email me yours at [email protected].

[ShoogarBear]

I think you gotta always take a glass-half-empty approach with this team, since they've shown that they will turn off the effort at the drop of a hat.

[ducks]

pop almost played the soft card again

[TwoHandJam]

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says the team’s 28-8 record is impressive, but not a true indicator of these Spurs. The team simply has too many lapses like Monday night in Utah. They let an undermanned team with much less talent stay in the game – and loss the game at the buzzer.

“I think we really do – as a team – have to toughen up mentally and physically,” Coach Popovich told SpursZONE.com after practice Tuesday. “I don’t care what our record is. We have to toughen up in those two areas. We’re too soft, too often. We expect things to happen. We have to make them happen – all the time – if we want the ultimate goal.”

Well, sounds like Pop thinks the same way about the team that I and others like boutons do. Who better to judge the team than Pop.

Of course when we voiced these opinions here, we were just "whining" and "jumping".






Apology accepted. (tm)

[boutons]

Waive Pop, he's way too negative. Faith-based fans are way better informed, just look at the record.

[ChumpDumper]

Do a forum search for "inflated record."

:drunk

[Nikos]

Nevermind :lol

[ChumpDumper]

Are there records not inflated?If they played that many injured teams, yes.

[Nikos]

I didn't read the article, just saw Chumps blurb. Nevermind the post.

[SequSpur]

Don Harris Articles place in the Recycle Bin

[exstatic]

Recycle Bin forum.

[TwoHandJam]

Did Harris make up Pop's quotes too?

Have the sac to own up... beeches.

[Rummpd]

Pop is right on = I think the record, now 29 and 8, is actually a fairly good indication that the Spurs are very good, but could definetely be better and could go either way downhill rapidly (i.e. I could see them slipping behind Dallas for awhile) or back to the top in the West with some upcoming key games. Spurs fans better get psyched next two games - Dallas and Houston are critical!!

I am glad Pop is not letting them get complacent and is striving to over-come this maddening inconsistency despite haughty record. Perhaps, he is looking for that trade that would definetely make Spurs odds on favorite and setting fans up for that more and more
Thank God Spurs won tonight and are only 3 back again to Suns in loss column.

The glass is half full fans of a very good and possibly great team - time will tell.

MadDoc

[whottt]

The record isn't fools gold, the Spurs lead the NBA in margin of victory and most of their wins are blowouts against the same teams the rest of the NBA is playing...This Spurs team has simply won a lot of games in the first half that it usually would have lost...a deeper talent pool, low roster turnover, and better offense are the obvious reasons for this..

However, the truth about this team can be seen just by looking at their road record...while it's still superior to the Spurs first half road record in many previous seasons(often the Spurs have an @.500 road record in the first half of the season), the simple truth is we haven't even shown the ability to beat mediocre teams on the road consistently...much less good teams...

I agree that it's pretty much a mental weakness thing...but to me that is the area of the game for which the coach is the most responsible...

There are 4 key factors that I always look at when judging an NBA coach...consistency, how well the team bounces back from big losses, if they quit when they get down, and road record/home VS road record disparity...The last one being the most important. Most coaches can win at home with talent, what usually separates them is the disparity in the way those teams play on the road VS at home...

Now, using that criteria, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone why even though I may rip Pop, I don't want him fired...The Spurs are always good in those areas of the game...year in and year out.

But IMO, the same way I give credit to Pop for excelling at those things, I feel the softeness and lack of performance on the road has a lot to do with the way he has coached on the road...He's sucked on substitutions in tough games, the team has been mentally unprepared, down to the last man, several times this season. Pop simply doesn't seem to have the patience and flexibility to use the deep roster he has been given this season...I think the expression "too much of a good thing" would best describe the coaching and team problems this season...

I see Pop is now working Devin Brown and Malik Rose out of the roation needlessly...This will impact our mentail tougness IMO, Malik has always been mentally tough, he's always played well on the road, and Devin was one of our best players in the post season last season, as well as in many big road games last year.

To me it all comes down to Pop having a deeper talent pool than he has the capacity or willingness to use...It just seems to short him out...his deep rotation comments of last week have been thrown aside and now he is back to doing wht he has always done...and we lost a game we shouldn't have because of it...

Ulitmately, if this team fails to win an NBA title this season, the blame should be totally put on Pop, while if it wins, well...he should have been able to win with this team. It won't be his best coaching job...03 will keep that title. I realize that's not fair... but that's the price you pay as a coach when you have a talented team...ask Phil Jackson how much respect his 9 championships get him...

[T Park]

Bitch if Horry dont play and Barry dnt play.

Now he plays them now they bitch that Malik and Devin dont play.


Only so many can play.

You cant consistently run out a 10 man rotation and win in the playoffs.

[whottt]

Bitch if Horry dont play and Barry dnt play.

Now he plays them now they bitch that Malik and Devin dont play.

This should be no surprise, I said when I was bitching about Horry and Barry that I would bitch about it if the situations were reversed and Malik and Devin were getting screwed...


Can you give me a good reason why Malik Rose wasn't given more than 7 minutes in that Utah loss, when it was obvious we needed rebounding and that Utah was pushing us around on the block?



Only so many can play.

You cant consistently run out a 10 man rotation and win in the playoffs.

That's simply untrue...

Tell me TPark...when you buy a tool set, do you like tool sets with more tools or fewer?

Or do you just prefer to fix everything with a hammmer?

You know, I have never said there should be set minutes...but there are definitely some games that call for the skills of Malik Rose or Devin Brown before those of Horry and Barry, or vice versa...mix and match it any way you want.

I think only morons don't realize that Malik's best skill on the court is his rebounding...so you tell me why he rotted on the bench of the Utah game. I mean Malik's only been here and playing a big role for about 14 of those 18 consecutive wins against the Jazz...

[T Park]

sk Phil Jackson how much respect his 9 championships get him...



hes considered the best coach of all time.

Id say hes got plenty of respect.

[whottt]

hes considered the best coach of all time.

Id say hes got plenty of respect.


No he's not really...

He's considered to be the lucky SOB that got to coach Kobe and Shaq, and MJ and Pippen, and people usually say about his contributions, "who couldn't win a title with those guys?".

You may not like it but there is a pattern to my bitching and a pattern with Pop's substitutions in inexplicable losses...

In a nutshell...

Horry and Barry = offense
Rose and Devin = defense...

I tend to bitch about Horry and Barry not getting enough minutes when #1.They don't and #2.We blow a 10 point lead or struggle offensively.

I haven't had as much of an opportunity to bitch about Malik and Devin but I did bitch about Malik getting hosed last season, and it hurt us against the Lakers.

Make no mistake about it...our drop in defensive performance over the past three games has coincided with Pop trying to cut Malik and Devin out of the rotation.


I mean when we shoot 54% and lose...it's pretty obvious that D was the problem...who didn't get minutes in that game? Who didn' get minutes in that span of games where our D dropped?

You can use a 10 man rotation and win, in fact, that is what this team will have to do to insure it the best chance of winning a title.

I don't understand why everyone is so resistant to the idea.

[T Park]

you may think of him like that.

But the majority of people that watch basketball believe that.

He did a great job of coaching in the 2nd round of the playoffs with adjustments.



You can use a 10 man rotation and win, in fact, that is what this team will have to do to insure it the best chance of winning a title.

I don't understand why everyone is so resistant to the idea.

Because come playoff time, the rotation shrinks cause guys like Manu, Duncan, Parker go from 29 minutes and 31 minutes

to 35 and 37 minutes.

The BENCH will shrink, and players will play depend on play and matchups.

Thats life.

[whottt]

Ironically...in the 03 title winning playoffs our rotation went longer not shorter...

Kerr, Willis, and even Ferry came back from long isolation on the bench to help us win that title...Those guys were able to come back from long periods of not playing, and still have an impact, because they were ancient and knew the game as well as anyone will ever know it...That's not going to work as well with Malik, and especially Devin...




Horry and Rose have both played in enough big games to where the Spurs should feel 100% comfortable going with either one of them, if the other is struggling, in any game at any time, there's really no excuse for playing favorites with either of them..they are both proven...the catch is that you can't do that with Malik is he hasn't been playing...Malik does need consistent minutes to lose his clumsiness...

Barry is an unknown playoff quantity, he's proven nothing in the post season, although he does seem to have a clutch knack this season.....and I guess we'll never know what could have happened with Devin since he again looks destined for spot minutes...


I see no reason to make it harder on yourself to win and that's what shortening the rotation does...it's like getting dealt 4 aces and a 2 and discarding one of the aces because you are trying to get full house instead of playing the hand you were dealt...It's trying to change the sitution instead of adapting to it.

To me we stand the strongest chance of winning by using all these guys...I'm not saying set minutes, but Malik is better if he hasn't rotting out on the bench...and we just don't know with Devin, Devin hasn't gotten enough PT for us to really figure out what he's got...Devin hasn't even learned how to impact a game yet and likely he's not going to get that chance this season if Pop shortens the rotation.

Horry and Barry are the savier vets...they have more versatility...but cut Malik and Devin out of the rotation and this team starts to resemble last years failure in many ways, with Barry playing the Hedo role...

We'll be hoping that Barry doesn't choke and that Beno is as good as he now appears to be...and if Barry and Beno suck we'll be stuck with the inconsistent(but far improved) J's of Parker and Manu..just like last season...and when we go to Malik and Devin we won't get as much out of them as we would have had they not been consigned to bench hell.

Dont' get me wrong, we're much better than last seasons team and will continue to be..., but forgetting about Malik and Devin sets the team on the same course for playoff failure that was set for the team last season...We needed Malik against LA, and Devin performed much better than Hedo.

[T Park]

Yeah they did,

but the Spurs didnt consistently run out a 10 man rotation in 02 03.

David
Duncan
Bowen
Jackson
Parker

then Malik
Ginobili
Claxton

after that, it wouldve depended on foul trouble or matchups.

The Spurs only went deep into the bench, when forced to, not automatically everytime.

[whottt]

Wrong TPark...on the season as a whole...we did have a deep rotation that season...only it was due to injury more than choice. Speedy and Drob both missed substantial PT due to injury...and we learned what to do with Kerr and Willis during those times. It paid dividends in the post season when we eventually had to use them all.

[T Park]

thats right, out of injuries.

The Spurs dont have injuries, and have no reason to run out a 10 man rotation.

he Spurs know what they have in the 10 guys.

Pop IMO should give Rose some more PT and save Horry for the playoffs.

Brent Barry played awesome tonight, great D, nice lookin jumpers.

Brent Barry tonight, was the Brent Barry that earned the 7 mill a year contract.

[MannyIsGod]

Saying Phil Jackson is the best coach of all time is insulting to John Wooden and Red.

Anyhow, a 10 man roation may not win in the playoffs, but we're not in the playoffs are we?

[Rummpd]

Pop has to take some of the blame.

What if he had said instead, I take the blame for not having them inspired.



MadDoc

[boutons]

"Pop has to take some of the blame."

This ain't HS/college ball with an adored father-figure "Coach blah-blah" running a team of kids susceptible to cheap psche-up tricks.

These spoiled millionaires with part-time jobs playing games are adults and professionals who should be able, each of them, to light their own fires and do their fucking jobs, even if it's just hustle, even when they don't feel like it, when their shots aren't falling.

[Extra Stout]

Pop has to take some of the blame.

What if he had said instead, I take the blame for not having them inspired.

MadDocPop isn't trying to be fair with his comments. He's trying to kick them in the ass and get them motivated. They don't lose much, so he has to take maximum advantage of it when they do.

He's doing his job. The current level of play may be fine for racking up a .750+ record in January, but it won't get the job done in the playoffs. I don't expect them to play at their peak level this early, but it's important they not get complacent and think this will be good enough when it counts.

Continuous improvement. It's the mark of a Pop-coached team.

[boutons]

It's pretty clear I enjoy looking at NBA through stats, but, even for me, the stats are a distant second to W's and L's. What's great about stats is help understand and appreciate the both the W's and L's.

The Spurs great "gold" record simply doesn't withstand scrutiny. Only fools looks at the stats only or the record only, and feel secure.

1. The Spurs have lost most of their games by playing badly, well under the Spurs' statistical norms, to lesser teams who were playing at or below their own inferior-to-Spurs statistical norm. Badly played games given away to lesser teams, not well played games that got beaten by a better games. Ugly. not gold

2. The best teams win on the road. The Spurs have 7 of their 8 losses on the road. 11-7 on the road is really great in the NBA, right? It's a road record that is only 5th in the WC.

3. What's the Spurs record against non-top teams:

@ L.A. Lakers W 105 - 96
Golden State W 91 - 71
@ Atlanta W 103 - 88
New York W 99 - 81
@ Philadelphia W 88 - 80
@ Boston W 92 - 84
@ Toronto L 91 - 96
@ Memphis L 90 - 93
@ Denver W 89 - 75
Utah W 109 - 76
@ Dallas W 107 - 89
Philadelphia W 105 - 72
@ Milwaukee W 104 - 83
@ Chicago W 91 - 75
@ Houston L 80 - 81
Orlando W 94 - 91
@ New Orleans W 83 - 67
Golden State W 104 - 85
@ Orlando L 87 - 93
Minnesota W 96 - 82
Boston W 107 - 90
@ Portland W 114 - 80
@ L.A. Clippers W 98 - 79
L.A. Lakers W 100 - 83
Indiana W 111 - 98
Denver W 99 - 90
@ Utah L 96 - 97
Milwaukee W 94 - 79
=========================
23 - 5

Looks "golden", right? Wrong, these are 5 losses to lottery teams, sub-500 teams, at best 7th, 8th seed teams. And if you look at those losses, not one of them is an ambush by a crap team (or single player) playing way over its head, it's the Spurs playing crappy on both ends and giving away the game.

The 23-5 should be 28-0 or at worst 27-1.

( I won't even mention shitty wins, eg, last night, where the disastrous Bucks were in the game, @SBC, with 5 minutes left)

For comparison, PHX has yet to give away a single game by playing badly against an inferior team. That's right, PHX is whatever - 0, perfect.

4. What's the Spurs record against top teams:

Sacramento W 101 - 85
@ Seattle L 94 - 113
Miami W 93 - 84
Dallas W 94 - 80
@ Dallas W 107 - 89
Detroit W 80 - 77
Seattle L 96 - 102
Cleveland W 116 - 97
Phoenix W 115 - 94
@ Sacramento L 81 - 86
=======================
7 - 3

.... which is excellent, real gold, "apparently". But two of those were outright give-aways:

The second SEA game was even after 1Q, won by the Spurs decisively in quarters 3,4, but the Spurs totally lost it in Q2, 12 - 29!, digging a hole too deep. "loss of focus" for an entire qtr in December in a statement game @SBC? GMAFB, that ain't golden.

The loss @SAC was total crap by the Spurs vs avg crap from SAC.

So the really GOLD Spurs record, should be 9-1, or,

I'll give you one, make it 8-2 against top teams.

(But I could take it back since Pop was really pissed at the poor Spurs effort (ie, defense) in the first SEA loss (down by 11 after 3Q, Spurs D allows 41 pts! in 4th qtr, lose by 19, a fucking blowout, 30 pts above Spurs allowed PPG) )

So, 27 - 1 against crap teams plus 8 -2 against good teams would have the "Truly Golden" Spurs at 34 - 3, instead of 29 -8.

Measure the Spurs against the Spurs, not against the competition. Even agasint the competition, PHX, the Spurs are second best. Not a bad place to be (ask 28 others teams in the NBA who are lower), but the top rung of the ladder is the hardest.

[T Park]

Still not counting Phoenix's loss to Utah last night on sub 500 teams, or giveaway games??

[boutons]

"Still not counting Phoenix's loss to Utah last night on sub 500 teams, or giveaway games??"

nope, PHX didn't play a Spurs-type horrible, crappy sub-avg give-away game (PHX got 101 pts, 43% FG, 33% 3G, 92% FTs), they played a pretty good PHX game (eg, still no defense, but that's the PHX game), was 2nd game of a B2B and on the road, but the Jazz, looking at their season, played WAY OVER their heads, and won. Sh!t happens, PHX have nothing to be ashamed of or to regret, which is totally different from the Spurs give-away loss to the Jazz.