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probably less gaudy numbers (less minutes) but more rings: He wins two of 2009, 2010 or 2011 chips..
http://www.nba.com/2016/news/feature...ls:homepage:t1
enjoy
my bad on the le typo
probably less gaudy numbers (less minutes) but more rings: He wins two of 2009, 2010 or 2011 chips..
Pop could never put up with LeBron's entourage.
It's an interesting exercise, though I think it's under-appreciated that much of what Pop has been able to build culturally has been less about him forcing a vision down people's throats and much more about having an iconic player as an extension of the coach/culture-builder who values winning above all and is a willing extension of what Pop wants the culture to be. I wonder if Pop would have have that sort of simpatico with Lebron; would Lebron have pushed back more (and publicly) if Pop's vision was inconsistent with the narratives of Lebron's brand?
I think the other part of this is about when Lebron and Pop might have been brought together. Pop the Icon wouldn't really be susceptible of a challenge from a player. But before he was truly iconic, Pop might well have lost a power struggle with a strong-willed and unhappy superstar.
This. LeBron has never, ever gotten over himself.
Y'all are crazy if you think Pop wouldn't have jumped at an opportunity to coach Lebron. His numbers would've suffered a bit, but he would've been better for it. Spurs would've been almost unbeatable in a 7-game series if healthy.
We realistically could have signed him AND aldridge for the max this offseason... provided we let Leonard walk.
People forget that Pop and Tim became friends before the Spurs ever drafted him. They had a bound you just don't see in any other coach/player duo. And without that, Pop is a potential failure as a coach, since he took over in an unstable situation and barely hung onto his job. I don't see how he would have been able to handle a Lebron who has always had a god-complex and a team that's been willing to let him run while in exchange for his talent.
To FWD's point, Pop's biggest strength is that he's as good of a GM as he is a coach (sorry, RC, but you don't count for this conversation). He's the best at getting guys who fit what he wants and passing over those who don't. So I'm not sure how Pop would handle Lebron being under his wing. I don't even know how Pop would handle having to deal with an opposing power in the personnel department, like having a Cuban or Ujuri making moves against Pop's wishes.
I mean, look, man, no.
another thread le fail ...
Of course Pop would have loved to have coached Lebron.
lol ceperez?
^^^^^
Totally agree with this.
Pop has stated himself explicitly multiple times, that the character of the guys that he brings in is very important, that he's not going to make someone into something he's not. He gets a lot of credit for his program, but he always credit the players' character for allowing him to coach them as he coaches them, and for having a lot of character.
That has lead me to believe Pop wasn't going to fix guys such as Cousins, or many other talented guys in the league who have at ude or off-the-court problems. Heck for all we know, Pop might have gotten fired himself, fighting with guys like these, like so many other coaches who have to deal with uncoachable guys.
Guys that play for Pop have to be coachable, but Pop also lets supremely talented guys get away with more than he would let a role player get away with. Manu is the perfect example. You had to let Manu be Manu. In that sense, I think Pop would have let Lebron be Lebron, maybe trying to coach him but recognizing that the man has supreme talent and needs liberty to do and be himself. I think Pop would have tried to have Lebron post up a whole lot earlier in his career than when he went to Miami and Lebron would have had one or two more championships just bc Pop would have figured out a system and roleplayers to put around him earlier in his career.
The issue with Lebron's entourage is real, but Tony has done a lot of media, and Manu is very popular as well and Pop has managed the whole thing well. I think Pop would have been able to work with Lebron depending on how coachable you think Lebron was early in his career. I didn't know him then, but he's not very coachable right now.
If LeBron played FOR Pop? LeBron doesn't play FOR anybody. Never has.
BTW - Didn't LeBron promise he was going to win 8 championships? He better step it up. At his current pace, he's gonna have to stay in the league 36 years. I don't think even King James will be compe ive at 55 years old.
Excellent post. TD was/is the perfect superstar for Pop. I really think Tim being a psychology major helped him buy-in to what has now developed into the Spurs way. Early Pop wouldn't have made it with LeBron and we wouldn't have the Spurs system we have today. No offense to LeBron, but he was put on a pedestal at an early age. I still remember tuning in to ESPN to see LeBron's high school game! I think early Pop/LeBron would have clashed.
I am going to play devil's advocate right now bc we are too goody goody on this thread all in the same page here.
What about Manu's game though? Didn't Tony in that special after the championship in 2014 say that he didn't really know if Manu and Pop were going to be able to work together? To which Manu replied, that he really didn't know either. Pop then said, they were right, Manu was tough to coach, he fought back.. He wasn't going to be boxed in. After Manu, Pop has changed, he's now more open to unorthodox games or ideas, than he was pre-Manu.
Seriously - the fact that Tim and Manu are still playing at the level they are is as much a testimony to Pop's genius as anything. He started limiting minutes so many years ago, and giving strategic nights off. He kept guys off the floor after injuries. He recognized that they don't give a trophy to the winner of the regular season. Never chased records, other than LOB Trophies.
Of course having the best player in the game makes a coach look good. But I honestly don't think LeBron's world view and Pop's are compatible. LeBron has always been me, me, me. Pop has always preached team, team, team. That would have been a very real problem.
Yup.. That's just how some guys are
fireball thread le police
Lots of fantasy in this thread. Truth is we don't know if a player could withstand Pops mechanics until it has been tried. we don't even know if Lamarcus has the mettle for it.
Lebron could have easily folded like that Jefferson. Or he could have liked it rough like Green.
We just don't know
yeah, I know ... but its getting a little out of hand lately
Fail. We were able to sign Kawhi to the max under the bird rules. Do you not remember having to sign players in a certain order to be able fit under the cap? The Spurs had room for 1 max FA, not 2.
Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your spurstalk experience. I ruin everything... Maybe that's why Dad left...
Lebron cannot win without superstars.
If Duncan, Ginobili and Parker are not his teammates, he'll bolt town and Pop gets fired.
With Bron Pop would have created a different style of offense where Lebron's number didn't suffer. The motion offense Pop runs is because he doesn't have a Lebron James. You can't take James from those days and plug him into this year's Spurs and wonder how he would fit. He would have changed the landscape himself in San Antonio, and Pop would have been smart enough not to that up.
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