Spurs fans blame Pop regularly, every fanbase blames their coach, but will he always get a pass from the media, tbh?..
Popovich is always the last to receive blame from the media and non-Spurs fans, tbh..he's probably the best coach in the NBA, but his aura and hype has rendered him completely blameless, tbh..
Through 2 games, he has coached a horrendous series..
- His strategy to double team and overreact to Harrison Barnes, Bogut and collapse on drives from every Warriors player(other than Curry, which is justified) has led to an abundance of wide open 3s from Warriors players, particularly Klay Thompson..
I have no clue why Pop is scared of a scrub like Harrison Barnes going for 30 or 40, as if it's a better idea than giving Klay Thompson open looks from range..
- Played Bonner 16 minutes, while Diaw and Splitter combined for 18 minutes in game 2..
If you're going small, Bonner isn't the answer..he's too slow and weak, tbh..
Diaw was a huge reason the Spurs won in game 1, yet he barely saw the floor in game 2..
- The over-reliance on Gary Neal..
Starting Neal in the 2nd half was puzzling, and in 2 games, Neal has played 47 minutes..
I understand the options are limited, but it's evident early on which version of Neal is going to show up..Pop should adjust accordingly, and maybe it's a desperate move, but when Neal is struggling, he should give McGrady, Joseph, De Colo or Mills a few minutes IMO, it wouldn't be any worse..
- Mark Jackson is dictating all the matchups in this series..
Going at Parker with Harrison Barnes? Pop responds by doubling every play and opening up the Warriors offense for open jump shots..
Going small? Pop matches with Bonner..the king of regularized +/- has been in the negatives for both games, so far..
The only set plays the Spurs are running are for 3s, which doesn't help when they can't make any..
When Leonard is posting up and the Warriors front, the Spurs don't have a counter attack, it doesn't seem like they prepared for it(would have helped to build some team chemistry with Kawhi scoring, instead of the team looking confused when he has the ball)..
He's going to get a pass because the Warriors are hot, but his strategy was the primary reason the Spurs were in a hole in the 1st half(Thompson open 3 after open 3)..
I hope he adjusts, because he's getting outcoached by a very average coach in Mark Jackson, tbh..everybody that analyzed this series predicted coaching would be a massive advantage for the Spurs, but this clearly hasn't been the case, tbh..
You can tell Pop is scared
only reason hes not being a complete like he always is in interviews and is actually laughing
hes mentally prepared for the series to be over
already has his vacation planned
hopefully he makes it permanent and passes the reins to Bud tbh
the strategies SA can use are really simple which all begins with playing big
but hes ignored that and gone with his mistress Bonner
There is blame to be had all around. Pop is responsible for the general pussification of our lineups during the series. But he can't do anything about Green/Neal/Bonner/Manu/Kawhi clanking every open three or missing free throws, and he can't do anything when nobody can hit a layup. These are NBA players, after all, and after an entire regular season of pretty decent shooting, you can't really blame Pop for gambling that somebody could hit a shot if he goes small.
If I had to dole out responsibility for the result of games 1 & 2, I'd say:
30 % Curry and Thompson shooting lights out, you can't really do anything about 8 of 9 even if they are less than "contested".
20 % Spurs shooting 43 percent and 39 percent from the field, missing open threes and layups (all those "Spurs have missed their last 8 shots" stretches)
20 % Parker/Manu not driving to the hole every ing possession when Bogut is out. Playoff form indeed.
10 % Neal & Bonner receiving a second of PT after their first screwup.
10 % ty, ty lineups, and trying to beat GSW at their own game. Bonner starting, Neal starting second half, no TnT, no Diaw, etc.
10 % GSW role players stepping up, Jack/Green/Barnes etc.
How much of that is on Pop versus on players underperforming, who knows?
I agree that his strategy has been , but giving up? Leaving the team? Laughable.
The warriors r hott but tbh the spurs look old in this series
I would think Diaw has not recovered well from game 1. Otherwise itīs moronic to think Pop didnīt realise the team did better with him on the floor.
I think thats the reason he played so little.
After all these years, I think Pop takes a slower approach to these things. His decisions don't always result in wins, but it's hard to look at what he's done with this group of players for so long. He retooled the offense on the fly after 2011 and did it without exhausting veteran players in the process, something that contributed to the Spurs' run in 2012. My one beef with him is Matt Bonner, who the entire Spurs organization insists on retaining even though he's never looked good in a playoff series. I don't think he should be wholly blamed for the Spurs being in a 1-1 draw with the Warriors. His coaching style has always been one of patience, and I have a feeling he may be trotting out schemes against the Dubs that will give him a better idea of what works and what doesn't for the remainder of the series. If the Spurs fail to make adjustments in Games 3 and 4, then I'll raise questions about his thought process.
The San Antonio media is to pussie to question pop; They fear being shunned by him.
YES - POP GETS A PASS AGAIN!
?Avery Johnson
Alvin Gentry
Lionel Hollins
Scotty Brooks
Mark Jackson....???????
(Is Pop going to get schooled again???)
Hall of Fame , 4 Rings, who would you replace him with?...
Popsuckers lol
Yes, Pop gets a pass.
One aspect to the pass I think in this case is I believe that due to the small market and lack of 'starpower', the national media just takes it's cues from the local media. The national media isn't focused on SA, and rely on red-meat from local media to build stories from.
But the local media are buffoonish cowards (not that I blame them, it's what the job has become).
Case in point: the Splitter in 2010-11 debacle. Because the local media never made a big deal of it at the time, and afterwards aided and abetted Pop giving false narratives about what happened with Splitter, the national media has never raised the issue. Because the local media keeps quiet about what happened and goes with the "Splitter had smallpox all year" nonsense, the national media goes with that. Which then bleeds into the current narrative about the loss to the Grizzlies that year, that the Grizzlies were just too big and tough and that Manu was hurt. They never bring up that if Splitter had been playing the entire time like he should have, the Grizzlies probably don't win. And of course now the stories are about how much Splitter has improved, as though he was some scrub coming into the NBA.
Another example of very smart National Media people giving Pop a pass, and I think in part due to the local media being cheerleaders, is the CBS Eye on Basketball podcast which features two of their writers, Zach Harper and Matt Moore. Last week or so, they were discussing George Karl's infatuation with overplaying Andre Miller even though he was hurting the Nuggets. The gist was that even good coaches will inexplicably play old, washed up vets who only hurt the team even in the face of undeniable evidence that they are making a mistake in playing the washed up vet.
Moore said that, "One day, EVEN POP will make that mistake".
But that's exactly what's been happening for years. McDyess (and scrub Bonner) over Splitter. Vaughn over Hill. Van Exel over anyone. Finley over anyone. And so on.
Without the local media to point that out for them, the nationals never pick up on it. The E-N isn't going to address any of these critiques that Harlem has, so most of the national media won't either.
He'll go big next game. Don't know if he was gonna play tiago big minutes first game back
I do think outside of the spurs fan base Pop gets a bit too much leniency when it comes to mistakes, but nonetheless, the spurs fan base, like every other likes to blame the coach over the players when things go wrong. Pop is a great coach, that is undeniable, but that doesn't mean he is infallible and doesn't make decisions that costs his team games.
He may get a pass from the media but he will not give himself a pass on game 2.
I don't think these games are on pop.
Manu hasn't shot the ball great. Spurs are just a step slower than GS right now. Plus Curry and Thompson have just gone off these play offs (Curry especially). Plus you got there spare parts stepping up. They're rolling right now.
The majority of Thompson's points were open 3s induced by Pop's horrible strategy of overreacting to Warriors role players that were trying to score..Thompson had 2 or 3 FGs that he created for himself in game..
I don't blame Pop for the Spurs missing shots, but his coaching has been terrible..
I know one of the commentators asked Pop in the middle of the game last night if he was going to keep his "small ball line-up." Pop said, "Can you keep a secret?" The reporter smiled and just went along... and then Pop's answer was just a flat-out "Yes." So everyone is wondering WTF he's doing, tbh. He just doesn't care.
I think Pop overcomplicates it. No one is going to blame you for relying on your defense or playing your best players the most minutes. They will blame you for playing scrubs or trying to outscore the other team. There's no problem with losing while staying true to your principles. But losing while panicking is horrible. Also if he can no longer motivate the team maybe it's time to step down.
What I am dissapointed about Pop is that he has not found a way to get Parker going in the first two quarters.
Pop's got to decide on a game plan the Spurs can carry out. I think the only one that makes sense is Parker should do his best job on Curry on defense and attack him on offense. Parker's best defense has been his ability to attack on offense. Everyone else should stay at home and defend. If Curry averages 40 and we keep the other guys under control we will still win the series. If we try anything else we will lose the series.
He does. The national media thinks he's the Spurs star and acts like he's a god, because to their untrained/ignorant eye, they don't think Duncan and Parker (and Ginobili, back when he was relevant enough to be mentioned in the same sentence as them) are that good, yet they see the constant regular season success and feel the need to attach the credit for it to a singular name, because that's how things are normally done in the NBA.
He's been atrocious so far in this series (he committed the cardinal sin that an overwhelming favorite should never do and that is, bend to the underdogs wishes right off the bat) and if they drop it, he should seriously consider resigning and handing the reigns to Budenholzer. It won't happen, but it should be considered, along with everything, outside of trading Duncan.
How can the local media be cowards? Their job is to report facts, not give opinions.
+
Have to blame Pop for Avery Johnson and Mark Jackson. I don't see why you're bringing up Gentry, Hollins, or Brooks though?
The Suns were better than the Spurs in 2010. IIRC, the Spurs were a 7th seed that year and went into that series without homecourt. It was optimistic expecting a win under those cir stances.
In 2011, Grizzlies were a bad matchup with the injuries we sustained to Ginobili(broken arm) and Duncan(sprained ankles) late in the season.
Scott Brooks isn't that good but he clearly had an advantage in talent. Hard to beat a team of Durant, Westbrook, and Harden without Lebron on your team.
Pop absolutely deserves blame for 2006 though. SA had Duncan playing some of the best bball of his career. SA had homecourt. SA had everybody healthy. SA WAS the better team...In fact, they were the best team in the league and probably win the championship if they get past the Mavs.
I don't think the Warriors are really as good as they've been in these playoffs. A good team with a average coach will stop them(Grizzlies or Thunder). Unfortunately, I don't think Pop is that guy. He's been curbstomped by Mark Jackson every game, thus far. Some of the worst coaching of his career
Mark jackson is definitely outcoaching pop so far
- He recognizes that tp is our best player and putting thompson on him is paying off. On the other hand they go at parker every time, tp looked exhausted in game 2
- He's content letting TD shoot mid range js, a very good strategy
- They're packing the paint. Obviously, the spurs have to make em pay and shoot better from 3
- He's built gsw execute like a veteran team offensively
The dirty little secret about this team is that they're a dangerous three-point shooting team. But in reality, they haven't been for months and their percentage is inflated by players who either were fringe rotation types, didn't shoot it with volume or both. Green is the only player that consistently plays significant minutes and shoots an excellent percentage with volume.
^yep spurs definitely need green/manu and neal' s three point shooting
oh and it would help if kawhi hits his corner 3s too, he was automatic there last year, im sure he'll work on it some before game 3
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