When you consider that they brought in Kersey and Elie, both key parts of the '99 championship, Pop looks like a genius. And Del Negro wasn't known for his defense and that was the iden y of that team.
@ at the thought of Pop ever saying "Make something that makes me look like a hero"
GMAFB
When you consider that they brought in Kersey and Elie, both key parts of the '99 championship, Pop looks like a genius. And Del Negro wasn't known for his defense and that was the iden y of that team.
When I heard they were about to sign Elie and that talks with Del Negro had gone really sour it was one of my favorite moments in franchise history, real talk.
it was painful watching vinny bring the ball up the court lol pg
Lol I can't even try to picture pop that way, regardless good move pop no Kerr no le in 03.
Well they did trade Kerr away with Derek Anderson for a couple seasons....
when was vinny ever mildly popular
I remember Vinny being popular. Sold quite a bit of jerseys.
About as popular as maybe Gary Neal.
Which former for each case?
I remember him always getting to the three point line and turning his back to the basket.
Oops. That first former should have been latter.
Vinny was annoying as with his toe on the line 2 point jumpers he took every game.
I always liked Vinny, but I was pretty young at the time so I can't say I really disliked anyone. I remember he had an automatic midrange J. I also remember he would pull up from 15 feet even in transition, which looking back now seems incredibly soft. I don't think I ever saw him take it hard to the basket. Even his dunks were really soft; they consisted of him holding the ball over the rim, letting it drop and not touching the rim.
That being said, his hair was second to maybe only Pat Riley, and wife was a dimepiece. I can respect that.
So it's coming from O'Keefe, who couldn't have been more insulting to Popovich and Holt in the above hatchet-job. Forgive me if I take his account with a grain of salt.
I'm not sure what's more stupid, that we're expected to believe that Popovich would say "Make me look like a hero" or that he'd tell an agent "Make an offer that makes you look like an idiot" and expect him to actually do it.
yes that's exactly the image I have of him too.
My wife thought he was attractive. I thought he was more of a point guard than Lloyd Daniels or Chris Whitney.
that's pretty much how I remember it. And let's not kid ourselves Pop is a vindinctive dude when push comes to shove. Of course Pop never as far as I can remember made it an issue, he pretty much ignored it, although the Express news did ask O'Keefe to retract the story which he never did and he either quit or was let go. AS far as Vinnie is concerned I always thought he got used by O'Keefe precisely because his feeling were hurt. And Vinnie was a solid player during the regular season, in the playoffs or in big games he did what a lot of guys in the NBA do he passed up the big shot. Which always frustrated the out of me.
I've had one conversation with Coach Popovich in my life. It occurred after one of Jay Howard's Inside Luncheon's at the old Veladi Steak house on Loop 410.
After the lunch, I approached Pop and asked him if we were going to keep Vinny and Jaren Jackson. He said "no" and that Vinny would most likely not be signed. I you not. This was before anything went public about what the Spurs were going to do in free agency.
I was surprised that he gave up that information to me. Jaren had shown enough in Tim's rookie season to warrant making the team over a much more expensive Del Negro. Jackson also had better range and had started 53 games to Vinny's 41 and averaged just 1 pt less. The economics didn't make sense to bring Vinny back when they could go sign a guy like Mario Elie.
Vinny was an 'ok' player but Elie brought toughness and so did Jaren Jackson.
Some Vinny thoughts:
-Before Duncan came, I didn't hate Vinny. First of all, the Spurs guards were so horrible during the beginning of the David Robinson Era that Vinny was good by comparison. I mean, when it came down to Negele Knight, Sleepy Floyd, Chris Whitney, Greg Sutton or Vinny ... Vinny looked pretty damn good.
-After Pop was the coach and Duncan arrived, Vinny started to stick out like a sore thumb. The Spurs were toughening up and Vinny couldn't hang. This is a guy who was asking Michael Jordan for an autograph DURING A GAME. With the Spurs trying to turn around their soft image, Vinny was obviously the weak link in doing that.
-Vinny not having true three-point range made him a horrible fit next to the Twin Towers. And with the pace of games slowing down and hand-checking becoming more important, Vinny was becoming more and more of a defensive liability.
-Vinny signed his own exit after he refused to workout with the rest of the team during the '99 lockout. While AJ, Elie, Duncan, Elliott, Jackson and others were balling in Houston and being coached up by Doc Rivers, Del Negro stayed away. Once the lockout ended, AJ basically demanded that Del Negro get replaced by Elie.
-The Spurs were still paying Charles Smith and didn't have much financial flexibility. As far as I remember, the Spurs really didn't have the funds to give Vinny any money. Their additions that offseason were all for a million dollars and less.
P.S.
My favorite Vinny memories were that behind the back dunk (against the Bulls, IIRC) and his few game winners (I think against the Cavs and Nets). He also had a pretty damn awesome stretch during the '95 season. Not sure what got into him but he was a top ten shooting guard for part of that season somehow.
I remember my mom really liked Vinny, she held a grudge against Pop for several years after he let him go.
As for me though, I ing loved the move. People still think of DRob as soft because he had guys like Del negro shrinking on him in the playoffs.
Why would a respected journalist just make up a blatant lie though?
Astonishing that he ever made a NBA payroll.
Meh, I remember Vinny as a pretty decent player and well liked by the fans at the time. He left under a cloud like Strickland and that other guy whos name I cant remember. Im sure Pop has made a few screwups in the past but its all water under the bridge now. Im glad for Vinny as a head coach and think hes doing a pretty decent job. That said, I hope we slaughter em next week.
I remember when Trader Bob tried to play up Del Negro's signing after losing Strickland in free agency in the summer of 1992. Yes.
McCombs may have kept the Spurs in SA but otherwise he was a hindrance. It took Holt Cat to bring Pop back after Red ran him and RC out.
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