Pop Pulling the Plug against the Knicks

[polandprzem]

There's no question that the effort on D was not there, and they deserved the L... but why help it? Let them play and lose, then get in their faces.

And then say that Pop screwed it up because he played starters all night and Boston game is 2morrow

[ElNono]

??? The Spurs had no chance in this game at the point he pulled the plug

10 points, 3 minutes left? Ofcourse they had a shot. Especially against a team that was playing no D...

[ElNono]

And then say that Pop screwed it up because he played starters all night and Boston game is 2morrow

Really? They're gassed already. 90 more seconds ain't going to make or brake tomorrow's game. Resting players had nothing to do with why he pulled the plug.

[Kori Ellis]

All season long, I have been telling timvp that this Spurs team is tallying a lot of wins, but a lot of fluke wins. They have had a bunch of lucky comeback victories. They have caught a lot of teams shorthanded. I jokingly (maybe not) call this team the Fluke Spurs.

To stop being the Fluke Spurs, they need to get a lot better on D. Pop might have pulled the plug early, but it's for the best. What good would a fluke comeback have done? It would have put another W on the board, but the Spurs would continue to still have an inflated sense of how good they are.

They aren't good enough to do any damage in the playoffs. And I know... playoffs aren't in January, yada, yada, yada. But to get hungry, they have to stop winning all the time. I know it sounds stupid. And you can say they are professionals, they don't get complacent, etc. However, when you have the best record in the league, you aren't hungry.

I hope they go on a four-game skid.

[ElNono]

The reality is the we play the Knicks twice a season. So the fact that they beat us is not really what pisses me off. It's the fact that you still have a shot at the game and you simply quit on it.

[polandprzem]

Really? They're gassed already. 90 more seconds ain't going to make or brake tomorrow's game. Resting players had nothing to do with why he pulled the plug.

I'm talking about criticism and not resting starters

[Bartleby]

I hope they go on a four-game skid.

The meltdown here would be epic.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I just hope tonight's loss wakes up the team for tomorrow's game.

I'd much rather lose to the Knicks and beat the Celtics than vice versa.

[jag]

You should know better, LJ. He's had maybe the Clippers game as an opportunity to lay into them after a loss and thats about it. This has nothing to do with being tired or tomorrow nights game and everything to do with Pop seeing an opportunity to remind his team that they actually have to show up and play defense if they want a chance to win.

Good post

[Muser]

Calling it now.. Spurs win big tomorrow.

[ElNono]

I think you send those kind of messages when you lose against other contenders out there, not a team that you rarely see... thing is, the Spurs haven't been giving him many opportunities

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I hope they go on a four-game skid.

Funny thing is, Spurs could do a 4 game skid and still find themselves only one game out of the top spot in the NBA

[ALVAREZ6]

All season long, I have been telling timvp that this Spurs team is tallying a lot of wins, but a lot of fluke wins. They have had a bunch of lucky comeback victories. They have caught a lot of teams shorthanded. I jokingly (maybe not) call this team the Fluke Spurs.

To stop being the Fluke Spurs, they need to get a lot better on D. Pop might have pulled the plug early, but it's for the best. What good would a fluke comeback have done? It would have put another W on the board, but the Spurs would continue to still have an inflated sense of how good they are.

They aren't good enough to do any damage in the playoffs. And I know... playoffs aren't in January, yada, yada, yada. But to get hungry, they have to stop winning all the time. I know it sounds stupid. And you can say they are professionals, they don't get complacent, etc. However, when you have the best record in the league, you aren't hungry.

I hope they go on a four-game skid.

I agree with all but the final sentence, great post.


We can't let the Spurs record inflate our egos, you're damn right a lot of those wins were bull .

[ElNono]

I'm talking about criticism and not resting starters

So what does playing back2back against Boston has to do with it?

[polandprzem]

So what does playing back2back against Boston has to do with it?

Jeezaz

[ElNono]

Jeezaz

[Dex]

They aren't good enough to do any damage in the playoffs. And I know... playoffs aren't in January, yada, yada, yada. But to get hungry, they have to stop winning all the time. I know it sounds stupid. And you can say they are professionals, they don't get complacent, etc. However, when you have the best record in the league, you aren't hungry.

Kori with the goods.

Everybody knows that Pop is not a "positive reinforcement" kind of coach. At this rate, Pop won't even get a CHANCE to play the soft card.

He's been nagging the record all season and, publicly, been criticizing their defense for a while now. But even that didn't come up until their loss to the Magic: another one of Pop's teaching moments.

Players aren't going to push themselves if they think they have already arrived, thus there will be no improvement. Furthermore, it has to be hard to enforce all of the things they are doing wrong, when in the back of their mind, human nature is reminding them "But we're best in the league, coach!"

Losses suck, but are necessary if this is actually going to be a process.

[rascal]

All season long, I have been telling timvp that this Spurs team is tallying a lot of wins, but a lot of fluke wins. They have had a bunch of lucky comeback victories. They have caught a lot of teams shorthanded. I jokingly (maybe not) call this team the Fluke Spurs.

To stop being the Fluke Spurs, they need to get a lot better on D. Pop might have pulled the plug early, but it's for the best. What good would a fluke comeback have done? It would have put another W on the board, but the Spurs would continue to still have an inflated sense of how good they are.

They aren't good enough to do any damage in the playoffs. And I know... playoffs aren't in January, yada, yada, yada. But to get hungry, they have to stop winning all the time. I know it sounds stupid. And you can say they are professionals, they don't get complacent, etc. However, when you have the best record in the league, you aren't hungry.

I hope they go on a four-game skid.

I agree. Same things I have been saying that the Spurs record is better than they really are. They are still short one quality big.

[polandprzem]

All I meant is that Pop would be criticised either he would sit starters or not.


peace man - I'll try to get at least 60 minutes of sleep

[rascal]

The reality is the we play the Knicks twice a season. So the fact that they beat us is not really what pisses me off. It's the fact that you still have a shot at the game and you simply quit on it.

The spurs had no shot in this game the way they were playing. Pop saw that and pulled the starters. Its not that difficult to understand.

[ElNono]

peace man

peace polar

I ain't even mad about the loss. Just the pulling the plug early act.

[ElNono]

The spurs had no shot in this game the way they were playing. Pop saw that and pulled the starters. Its not that difficult to understand.

We played like this before this season and still won. You can call them fluke wins if you want. 10 points and 3 mins means you have a shot.

What's your point?

[rascal]

We played like this before this season and still won. You can call them fluke wins if you want. 10 points and 3 mins means you have a shot.

What's your point?

There was no shot in this game. The spurs were not focused and did not bring the necessary effort tonight.
Its a long season and every team will have these type of games where the team does not put out a good effort especially on the road after a long flight.

[ShoogarBear]

Pop was happy as a clam during the post-game.

[Solid D]

The Spurs were out-hustled most of the game. Even when the Spurs were slightly out-shooting the Knicks percentage-wise, the second chance points and FTs kept the lead for NY.

With 5 minutes left, when Douglas and Felton made those consecutive corner threes right in front of Pop...and as much as Pop hates his guys giving up corner 3s....I thought coach would blow a gasket. Then the icing on the cake was when Fields out-hustled 3 guys for a rebound and STAT got an easy 3 footer, Greggory had seen enough. At that point, how many of you had not seen enough?