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the fact that lebron went nuclear was something, but Lebron nuclear shouldn't have made the spurs offense shrivel and die
I edited the OP to include Pop's actual quote. "They beat our ass" and "soft"?
Damn, Pop went all out.
the fact that lebron went nuclear was something, but Lebron nuclear shouldn't have made the spurs offense shrivel and die
BINGO! LOOK IN THE MIRROR YOU IDIOT! You start and you play some year after year! You get what you deserve POP. He is a F IN IDIOT! PERIOD.
will people stop hating pop for signing RJ, it was a money deal pure and simple. Why else would RJ have opted out of his contract
/shakes head
When are you apologists going to stop this nonsense?
Thanks for the quote. I tried to find it and couldn't.
This team didn't respond well to physicality last season either. Something I did mention before the season started (and I think another poster, FWD?, pointed out too).
I just think it's disingenuous to pretend physical play and roll out guys like RJ, Matty and Blair out there.
It may not have been the smartest usage timing wise, but I can't blame him for being overcome with frustration. At the same time, he only has himself and Buford to blame for this. This has been a problem for a few seasons now and they had the audacity to bring back the primary culprits, Jefferson and Bonner. Two veteran who players who have repeatedly shown the proclivity for going fetal in hostile environments.
When will this front office learn that this team is fundamentally flawed? How many times do they have to see this? When this team get's punched in the mouth, they fold. They look timid with the ball, they stop playing with any degree of intensity and they play embarrassing defense. We've seen this for the past three seasons. They put together promising stretches defensively, which when combined with their strong offense, solid rebounding and overall depth, seemingly makes them a team capable of contending . . . but in the end, it always ends up being fools gold. It's past time they make a trade to balance out this team.
The team is soft. They try to win games by outshooting opponents instead of trying to play some hard physical defense. That's not going to get it done on the road.
When you quit and pull you starters out of the game when it is still winnable I don't think you can play the soft card.
Monitoring your players minute is fine. But you will not win many games against top teams if you play your best players 32/33 minutes (that was probably the plan with TP and Duncan coming back for the last 8 minutes).
The fact Pops like dropping games bothers me sometimes. It was not really an issue when we had hard nosed team of veteran. But I am not sure it is a good thing with all the young kids.
If we are getting embarrassed, I'd rather have our so-called Stars showing what they are made of.
<poppscyhology (pun unintended)>Timvp, what if the players know what you know and think that Pop has called that card a bit early themselves? Is it not a message that his patience is running this low? </poppsychology>
this is what bothers me. For the past 5-6 years Pop is obsessed with monitoring minutes and pacing the team, when the spurs "creed" is to relentlessly pound the rock. I understand taking care of Duncan because of his age. I understand that RJ and Bonner are intrinsically soft and we dont have much else (I'd still rather they play less, but its not the point here). What drives me insane is the way Pop just gives up on games. How can you demand excellence when you routinely mail it in the second things become adverse?
The other thing that really annoyed me about last night was seeing KL left alone on Lebron in the 3rd, and his teammates not even trying to help him or even encourage him. I think thats the kind of experience that can stunt the growth of a player, demoralize him to the point of trauma. Its one thing to get burned by a better player, and another to get burned while your teammates passively watch. As the coach Pop has responsibility as well.
Pop is trying to do too many things at once instead of focusing on playing winning baskteball. And with a young team, sending those mixed messages can be very dangerous
I think Pop did what he had to do
In the second half you could see him being pissed. And Spurs were careless with the ball and they had no strong play to feed from or survive from.
They were pushed and did not respond and let James slap both of the cheeks well four of them actually. And spurs seems to like it.
Anyway I do not thing a soft card has the power it had few years back.
But something must be addressed now if the spurs are going to improve the game.
Richard should take it personally
Orlando game
I predict 37 21 from Howard ...
The fouls that the Spurs did make on LeBron were pretty pathetic. Sure, LeBron is a phenom of a beast, and he actually missed some layups, but they basically invited him into the paint.
Anyone remember when Antonio McDyess raged against his fellow Spurs during the playoffs? Well, we saw a lot of those same weaknesses versus the Grizz like we did in the second half of last night's game. Once the opposing team starts to hound Parker, he becomes a very average player that struggles to get a good flow going. Both the Heat and the Grizz have long athletes that can really disrupt passing lanes in addition to their young legs that can make things difficult for TP9 and company.
Spurs need a kick in the ass and hopefully pulling the soft card will help. A good % of the season has already passed and the Spurs are still winless on the road. We're like a less tough Sloan-led Jazz team
in actuality pop wants his team to be soft. they shun physicality until playoffs is reached. can they risk another man on the injured list? Nope. They hope to hang on as much as possible and bring all they have during the playoffs. Lesson learned, they cannot go far when the team isn't complete.
Where's Robert Horry when you need him. He would set a pick that has Lebron fly out of bounds and into one of the empty seats.
Pop is just pissed at the effort, and he should be. The Spurs lose this game regardless, because Lebron was simply unguardable in the second half. But they still need to put up a fight. The Spurs just checked out mentally after Lebron hit a few shots.
I surprised Splitter doesn't give less effort because of the way Pop treats him. I mean seeing I guy that you are obviously better than play much more than you has to be disheartening.
Pop, please step back to an office job or retire...
Find a YOUNG passionate coach and give the Spurs a new start...
I wonder if Gary Neal was responding to Pop with this tweet:
GNeal14 Gary Neal
RT @MuggsyBogues: "You can motivate by fear and reward, but these are temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation."
He spoke the truth. There's not tactic to it, just call them soft when they are. No excuse for that third quarter, even Lebron's explosion. Go to hack-a-Lebron if you have to! There's just gotta be a way to prevent such a meltdown. I think the Spurs rested on their laurels a bit at halftime then reverse momentum smacked them hard and they didn't have the mettle to get back up. But, there are many games ahead and the team will get better. But, no, I have no qualms whatsoever about Popovich calling that performance soft. He'd have looked pretty uninterested not making that claim.
Soft Coaching !
That's the kind of thing that can destroy a guy's confidence. It's ridiculous.
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...away-portland/
I agree. Pop just can't motivate the team anymore. Without Manu's on court leadership that gets exposed even more. Pop's stated goal was getting better defensively and they have some pieces in Kawhi, Danny, and Tiago to compete on the defense end. But they really haven't improved on that end of the court. I could care less about the offense. That's fool's gold. If they're not defending better they're not going to win anything.
Pretty sure he was referring to the district attorney's office.
Maybe if we didn't have such a soft team, then this wouldn't happen.
I'm all for pulling Rasheed Wallace out of retirement.
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