Pop's Greatest Hits - 2010/2011 Edition

[Mugen]

We all know Pop lost his mind back in 2006 (lol small ball) and hasn’t really outcoached anybody since the 05 Finals. He’s done a lot of re ed things since that time but I think the 2010-2011 season featured some of the best WTF moments of Greggory’s career. I’d like to use this thread to remember some of the re ed things Pop did this past season, which ranged from comical to downright curbstomping the team’s chances of achieving its ceiling (WCF exit).

PopFan, please feel free to share your fond memories of Pop this season as well so you don’t feel left out. So, please let us relive our fondest memories of Greggory Popovich from this past season. Hopefully he comes out next year with a renewed sense of vigor since Phil is retiring and Pop no longer has anyone to be scared of.

My personal favorite:

-Portland game. Letting Steve Novak, who has a career assist average of 0.1, inbound the ball after he hadn’t played a single second the entire game. Less than a second left on the clock and all the Spurs have to do is touch the ball and the game probably goes into overtime. Instead, Pistol Pete Novak Stockton sails the pass out of bounds without any time off the clock, allowing Nicolas Batum to the Spurs once again and almost ending tlong’s life by giving him a heart attack.

Classic Pop

[TJastal]

Playing Bonner 20 minutes in the final game of the year even after it was clear Bonner couldn't defend either Gasol or Randolph in the low post to save his life, thereby crushing any last hopes the spurs still had at a comeback.

Thanks, Pop. You imbecilic re ed jackass, you.

Oh, and lets not forget finally rolling out Splitter in the middle of a playoff series after basically giving the guy nothing but sporadic garbage time all year long (along with a pile of DNP-CD's.) Last 6 games of the regular season his minutes literally looked like this: 4, 17, 3, 19, 28, 4

Thanks again for totally screwing up Splitter's first year in the nba. You ballless, peckerless, waste of space.

[cantthinkofanything]

Making Manu hurt his elbow instead of asking RJ to get injured.

[TimDunkem]

Running your offense through Matt Bonner in the playoffs.

[Mugen]

All valid points so far.

The switch from Blair to Dice in the starting lineup which led to the Turd Towers getting heavy minutes could also be seen as a major turning point of the season.

Just another case of Phil getting into Pop's head.

[Giuseppe]

This thread is like money from home.

Thanks fellows.

[Mugen]

This thread is like money from home.

Thanks fellows.

Good to see you chipper today Cub.

You've been real salty lately since 36. Understandable.

[Giuseppe]

Good to see you chipper today Cub.

You've been real salty lately since 36. Understandable.

He obviously isn't referencing 8.

[hater]

Good to see you chipper today Cub.

You've been real salty lately since 36. Understandable.

It's pretty sad when your team's star declines to pathetic levels due to age. We've gone through that and survived. Giuseppe is gonna have to recover from it eventually.

[Mugen]

He obviously isn't referencing 8.

There will be a lot of references to that in this thread.

Just be careful with how you use it upstairs.

[Walton Buys Off Me]

The seeds of destruction were planted when the Lakers came into our gym and beat us like dogs in early March.

Rather than chalking it up to the Sunday blues, Popovich panicked and decided to retool a starting lineup which at that point was the toast of the NBA and running away with the league's best record.

Consequently, several inexplicable things happened (i.e. the Novak pass, the decision not to play Manu in game 1, matching Bonner up with Randolph) but were all, I firmly believe directly linked to Popovich pushing the panic button because Phil Jackson yet again spooked him.

The main reasons we're now fishing;

1. Dejuan Blair lost all confidance. Blair was averaging a double double night in, night out, posting career highs in points and rebounds on a weekly basis and because he got bullied by Andrew Bynum on a Sunday afternoon in March, he ended up in Pop's doghouse and never got out. If it ain't broke, don't break it Pop...

2. The Spurs started trotting out a big man duo of Matt Bonner and Dejuan Blair as part of their second unit. Need I say more?...Really Pop, really?

3. Antonio McDyess started to wear down physically. Instead of guarding opposing team's second string guys, Dice was asked to bang with the big boys for the final stretch and appeared tired and overmatched against the likes of Gasol and Randolph.

Two weeks after the Laker loss, the Spurs and their new lineup lost 6 straight games, lost home advantage throughout the playoffs and more importantly lost their swagger.

The rest is history but let's not kid ourselves- we were eliminated early because of those 3 reasons.

In reality, many people were not even surprised we got beat by Memphis.

[TJastal]

The seeds of destruction were planted when the Lakers came into our gym and beat us like dogs in early March.

Rather than chalking it up to the Sunday blues, Popovich panicked and decided to retool a starting lineup which at that point was the toast of the NBA and running away with the league's best record.

Consequently, several inexplicable things happened (i.e. the Novak pass, the decision not to play Manu in game 1, matching Bonner up with Randolph) but were all, I firmly believe directly linked to Popovich pushing the panic button because Phil Jackson yet again spooked him.

The main reasons we're now fishing;

1. Dejuan Blair lost all confidance. Blair was averaging a double double night in, night out, posting career highs in points and rebounds on a weekly basis and because he got bullied by Andrew Bynum on a Sunday afternoon in March, he ended up in Pop's doghouse and never got out. If it ain't broke, don't break it Pop...

2. The Spurs started trotting out a big man duo of Matt Bonner and Dejuan Blair as part of their second unit. Need I say more?...Really Pop, really?

3. Antonio McDyess started to wear down physically. Instead of guarding opposing team's second string guys, Dice was asked to bang with the big boys for the final stretch and appeared tired and overmatched against the likes of Gasol and Randolph.

Two weeks after the Laker loss, the Spurs and their new lineup lost 6 straight games, lost home advantage throughout the playoffs and more importantly lost their swagger.

The rest is history but let's not kid ourselves- we were eliminated early because of those 3 reasons.

In reality, many people were not even surprised we got beat by Memphis.

Sadly, Blair would have needed more than confidence to got toe to toe with the league's biggest frontlines.

It was a failed concept that Pop should have recognized early on and made adjustments accordingly (Splitter).

[Ross Parrot]

George Hill guarding LaMarcus Alridge

Matt Bonner "guarding" someone.

Not playing Splitter until it's too late.

Small ball.

[TheChillFactor]

IDK man, i think last season was worse - that game in chicago where he sent out Tim and 4 guys under 6'8" to defend on the final possession. Then Noah grabbed an offensive board and putback to win the game...that stands out to me.

[cd98]

Won 4 championships and led the team to the most consecutive 50 win seasons in NBA history (though the record is tied w/ Lakers, the facts are that the only reason why we are tied is b/c of the lockout year, or we would have won by two seasons).

But I guess this is the wrong thread to point out his historical accomplishments. Let's instead focus on single games.

[cantthinkofanything]

Won 4 championships and led the team to the most consecutive 50 win seasons in NBA history (though the record is tied w/ Lakers, the facts are that the only reason why we are tied is b/c of the lockout year, or we would have won by two seasons).

But I guess this is the wrong thread to point out his historical accomplishments. Let's instead focus on single games.

Whether you examine one individual turd or a whole pile of them together, you still find that you have .

Maybe it has something to do with fractals or something.

[silverblk mystix]

Basing subs ution patterns on pre-set guidelines...

Such as based on the clock...if Manu starts....he MUST rest after 5-7 minutes...Timmy MUST rest before the end of the first qtr....and he CANNOT re-enter until most of the second qtr is gone...no exceptions...

Only problem with this...is that sometimes a player is HOT...and sitting him will cool him off...unless it is BONNER...in which case he leaves him in no matter what!!!! WTF????

Followed by;

Splitter not integrated into the rotation...

Bonner re-signed...

[Spurs7794]

I think Pop panicking and changing the starting lineup was a bad move but Blair sucked before hand anyway. His first 15 games of the season were terrible and he still had no bball iq and forced every ing shot he could, but in more minutes.

The moment for me of Pop's season was either the first Chicago game or the Utah game after that when Splitter got a DNP-CD. At the time (around game 9 or 10 of the season), I thought it was just Pop giving him one night off and I thought there was no ING way he was gonna bench the guy who had already shown that he was a legit NBA defensive player. Sadly, this was the moment where I firmly moved from being a Pop defender to a Pop disliker (can't hate him cuz we did win 4 championships with him).

[timtonymanu]

The seeds of destruction were planted when the Lakers came into our gym and beat us like dogs in early March.

Rather than chalking it up to the Sunday blues, Popovich panicked and decided to retool a starting lineup which at that point was the toast of the NBA and running away with the league's best record.

Consequently, several inexplicable things happened (i.e. the Novak pass, the decision not to play Manu in game 1, matching Bonner up with Randolph) but were all, I firmly believe directly linked to Popovich pushing the panic button because Phil Jackson yet again spooked him.

The main reasons we're now fishing;

1. Dejuan Blair lost all confidance. Blair was averaging a double double night in, night out, posting career highs in points and rebounds on a weekly basis and because he got bullied by Andrew Bynum on a Sunday afternoon in March, he ended up in Pop's doghouse and never got out. If it ain't broke, don't break it Pop...

2. The Spurs started trotting out a big man duo of Matt Bonner and Dejuan Blair as part of their second unit. Need I say more?...Really Pop, really?

3. Antonio McDyess started to wear down physically. Instead of guarding opposing team's second string guys, Dice was asked to bang with the big boys for the final stretch and appeared tired and overmatched against the likes of Gasol and Randolph.

Two weeks after the Laker loss, the Spurs and their new lineup lost 6 straight games, lost home advantage throughout the playoffs and more importantly lost their swagger.

The rest is history but let's not kid ourselves- we were eliminated early because of those 3 reasons.

In reality, many people were not even surprised we got beat by Memphis.

THIS

Once again Pop let the Lakers get to him. He really overreacted after that game. Spurs had just come off blowing out Miami while LA was on a losing streak so the energy level would have been different.

[lowdown]

I agree with much of TJ & Mugen mentioned. I would add not playing Splitter when the front line was in foul trouble for most of game 1. Not even then could Pop's stubborness allow any humility. This definitely started in the series against Dallas in '06 as mentioned.

[Mugen]

Won 4 championships and led the team to the most consecutive 50 win seasons in NBA history (though the record is tied w/ Lakers, the facts are that the only reason why we are tied is b/c of the lockout year, or we would have won by two seasons).

But I guess this is the wrong thread to point out his historical accomplishments. Let's instead focus on single games.

Yes it is, since the le mentions 2010-2011 specifically.

@ Pop leading the team to anything. Tim led this team to 4 les. And he's gotten rewarded for it the last 4 years with Bonner.

Fact is Pop hasn't been the same coach since he sold his soul for small ball.

[SA210]

Someone email this to Holt

[barbacoataco]

Sometimes the same characters that make a great coach/leader also can be their downfall. Having a philosophy, enforcing and sticking to that philosophy, and being consistent are all great things in a leader. But sometimes you get so set in your ways that it goes beyond all reason. I still don't see how Pop transitioned from being a defense 1st coach.

[joshdaboss]

In my mind, there really only needs to be one. Manu Ginobili suiting up for the final game of the regular season, a completely meaningless game when the #1 seed was wrapped up, him getting hurt and ultimately ending the Spurs le hopes. IMO that alone is grounds for being fired. If this was a normal job, he would definitely be fired for something that blatantly ing stupid and reckless. I like how he tries to blame health in his latest interview, too... when it was his dumb ass that caused it to happen.

[Cessation]

I agree, that it was the laker's loss that set the ball rolling, since then spurs have played .500 ball.