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i'd really like to get a copy of that cartoon.
Spurs face arrogance of winning
Buck Harvey
There’s a framed comic strip on Gregg Popovich’s desk, and it depicts an athlete sitting in a plush office. In Popovich’s world, Tim Duncan is the athlete.
Outside the office, standing in front of a receptionist, is a scraggly-looking character. Popovich is the scraggly-looking character.
The caption on the comic: “The Franchise will see you now, Coach.”
A year ago, when Duncan signed an extension, Popovich laughed and showed this comic to the media. He’s often joked, too, that his greatest accomplishment with Duncan is “not screwing this up.”
It’s been the theme of the franchise, which is why a report on a Web site says a lot about how people are affected by winning.
And by not winning.
The article appeared on Bulls.com, but it’s by a former newspaper writer who has sources around the league. The piece starts:
“It’s not like anyone specifically is rooting for the San Antonio Spurs to suffer and any players to be injured. But there’s been some knowing smiles around the NBA lately with the misfortunes of the Spurs.”
The Germans have a word for this — schadenfreude — meaning shameful joy. “Schaden” is German for harm or damage, and “freude” means “better you have the sprained ankle than me.”
It’s not an admirable trait in life, but schadenfreude is a lot of fun in sports. Do you think the Aggies, for example, didn’t enjoy seeing the Longhorns lose in Lubbock?
Or, as Groucho Marx once said, “There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of one’s fellow man.”
Still, there’s an extra layer to Spur-enfreude. The online article said there was an “I-told-you-so” at ude in the league because of “the way some in the Spurs organization have carried themselves with success.”
From the article: “NBA people say you don’t see it with coach Gregg Popovich, but several of the staffers who’ve left the Spurs organization, like Mike Brown in Cleveland and Sam Presti in Oklahoma City, have often acted dismissive of others around the NBA to reiterate it must be done ‘the San Antonio way.’”
It’s hard to imagine, in a league that includes Phil Jackson, that Brown and Presti have become the icons of arrogance. More than likely, what really bothers some of their peers are their promotions at such young ages.
Still, the article focuses on those currently with the Spurs, too. “It’s like with the rest of us,” one general manager told the writer. “You lose your best players, it’s not easy. You’d think they’d know that better than anyone with losing (David) Robinson and they come up with Duncan (in the draft lottery).”
Popovich was asked about this article Monday, and he could have said a few things. He could have argued, “Okay, we got Duncan in a lottery. But how did we win our last three les? With the two guys, one taken at the bottom of the first round, the other at the bottom of the second, who we don’t have now.”
But when has Popovich ever said anything like that? He and R.C Buford have never suggested they were smarter than everyone else when they drafted Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. When Popovich isn’t passing around his comic strip, he’s saying he will retire when Duncan does.
Instead, Popovich said, “I guess anybody can say anything about anybody else. But that would be the last way I would characterize how these guys have been over the last decade.”
Even his defense wasn’t about himself. He waved his arm toward the floor, where his players were still practicing, and said “these guys.”
But there really is no defense, because none of this is about anything tangible. The Spurs weren’t arrogant when they won. Their crime was winning. They went to podiums and talked, and they smiled, and they held trophies.
They did this often enough that their peers tired of it, and one is in town tonight. Does Mike D’Antoni mind that his former conference rivals are struggling?
Mark Cuban might feel the same, along with others. But that’s the essence of Spur-enfreude.
Championships, not injuries, caused it.
i'd really like to get a copy of that cartoon.
They're all just jealous.
Dumbest. Article. Ever.
Very much to the contrary of other teams.
A response like this from you about an article like this automatically makes everyone think the same thing. I'll let you figure out what that is.
I think this article would have merit if the Spurs had won last year, but they did not even make it to the NBA Finals and are not viewed as the favorite this season either. It is hard to claim jealousy when you are not the one at the top.
It's the threat of, and we haven't won back to back.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone rape the English language as bad as Buck does here.
Spur-enfreude? My ears are bleeding.
Buck Harvey is frickin amusing...
wouldn't that be raping the German language?
[B]But there really is no defense, because none of this is about anything tangible. The Spurs weren’t arrogant when they won. Their crime was winning. They went to podiums and talked, and they smiled, and they held trophies.B]
This is one of many reasons why I've became a Spurs fan.
To many, they are dull and boring but they are winners and they win with dignity (at least in my book).
Eh, 1/2 of it is in English. You get the point.
The analogy to the Aggies is apt. Their moves are akin to firing R.C. Slo . Okay, so Luis Scola wasn't the savior, but they didn't need a savior, he was a pretty good coach, and the program has been on the downslide ever since. They out-thought themselves, the geniuses.
i had to resist.
weak article.
Solid take.
Any team and organization that has had the success and fortune the Spurs have had over the last decade is going to have detractors and haters. But, that doesn't mean that the Spurs and their decision makers aren't beyond reproach when it comes to showing at least some subtle signs of arrogance.
I do think basically giving away Scola to a division rival and not seeing how that could detrimentally affect them had a tinge of arrogance. I think the overdosage of international drafting has a faint hint of arrogance, although I do understand that Holt's tight wallet makes for innovative ways to save money. I do think the front office's failure in getting a quality big on this team for the last two seasons is close to unforgivable. It's certainly unacceptable as Tim Duncan should be getting more help as he gets older, not getting more responsibility to carry the load for the entire front court at both ends.
There are subtle things. Overall, the Spurs are a great organization with great coaches, players, and fans. But, it's hard not to have a little bit of arrogance when you have the success the Spurs have had.
Really? And I thought it was because you're from San Antonio?[B]But there really is no defense, because none of this is about anything tangible. The Spurs weren’t arrogant when they won. Their crime was winning. They went to podiums and talked, and they smiled, and they held trophies.B]
This is one of many reasons why I've became a Spurs fan.
To many, they are dull and boring but they are winners and they win with dignity (at least in my book).
If he's not even from Tejas I will laugh my ass off. Hope he's a Portlandtonian!!!
it does both at once.in German it would be Sporen-freude, which still doesn't make much sense (maybe a masochistic horse, that feels joy when roweld?) but would be grammatically almost right, Spuren-freude is possible, but might mean something like trace-joy, whatever this could be.
he could call it Spurs-freude, but this would definitely mean joy about the Spurs, in other words something Spurs fans got quite a lot in the last decade, but unfortunately not right now, and I think he didn't want to say this.
I would say Harvey's try to look witty looks like a bit like Bonner trying to play basketball.
I've eaten better scrubbled eggs, but I will eat that one.
It was mailny because of that new pan I used and the meat I was "forced" to use.
Bigto you Jamstone. Agree on all points. Points that I've made at one time or another.
The FO totally went to the "international well" too often over a the past decade. Had it not been for the Splitter debacle, they probably still would be utlizing their all-Euro strategy, at the expense of domestic talent.
The lack of another productive big, in lieu of non-productive bigs is totally unforgivable. They've done TD an incredible disservice. Unfortunately, it's also not a new deficiency either. This has been an issue for the past couple of seasons. Anyone can see how TD is wearing down on the defensive end, as a result.
I would also add the FO's failure to identify, develop and integrate a young, defensive-minded, backup SF via the draft. Instead preferring to repeatedly gamble on over-the-hill veterans, who were rapidly approaching their "expiration dates" as productive players in this league. They gambled on the fact that Bowen would play forever and remain injury-free. Granted, he's been an iron man, yet his productivity is starting to wane. As such, and like Duncan, his level of responsiblity should be reduced. To date, there is no suitable contingency player at his position, on this roster.
The Spurs are unquestionably, a first-class, model organization - not just in the NBA, but in all of professional sports. However, that doesn't mean that they are above constructive criticism regarding some of their decision-making.
Last edited by SenorSpur; 11-11-2008 at 10:02 AM.
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