He isn't perfect.
No one is. He does know his basketball...
but is not infallible. He's admitted to some mistakes...
Lately I've been wondering if Pop has gone basketball senile... Meaning not actually senile, but lost when it comes to NBA strategy and keeping up with the changes...for the past several seasons he has been making questionable calls... For the most part, great, but the questionable calls are the backbreaking ones...
Yes he has 5 rings... But it IS fair to criticize when u feel like he should have more... It's like LeBron... So what he has 3 rings? He SHOULD have more... It's a fair criticism... Why has Pop been making questionable decisions lately?
But it dawned on me... Pop is human! He has ego... He at times doesn't want to make the conventional decision because that's what most coaches would do, and he has to differentiate himself, or else he will hear the talk of Duncan being the only reason he won rings...
Also he has players that he simply likes more than others so they get the playing time, the opportunity, and the money... He relates more to Patty than to DJ... So Patty never gets DNPCDs no matter how awful he plays, plus he gets 50 mill after a very horrible post season...
Same with Gasol...Not saying Bertrans is better than Gasoline, because he isn't (yet), but he isn't much worse than Gasol is to the point where he was getting DNPCDs even over Joff... I actually think Bertrans is a really good player and his defense isn't much worse than Gasol's... He contests shots, and isn't completely useless like gasol is at defending the pick and roll... But Bertrans has a bit of a bad boy streak in him... Pop doesn't dig that... Gasol is more cultured... He likes operas... Politics...
Dedmon didn't deserve the treatment he got at times last year, and neither did Simmons... But they're both players who are confident in their ability... Pop doesn't like that... Be more humble, or else he will humble you to the detriment of the team
Put it like this... If Steph Curry was drafted by the spurs, he would have been a mediocre point guard... The second he started to get on court, or pull up from 30, he would have been benched...
Pop doesn't allow players to grow if their personality doesn't fit his type... Stephen Jackson won a championship with us... But he was a better player in Golden State because he was given the opportunity for his game to grow... His personality wasn't one that Pop liked... So we saw how that turned out... They didn't bring him back after the 03 championship, and him being an asshole got him out the door on his second stint here...
Pop isn't perfect... Some may be mad at this post, but we all have flaws... Mine is that I'm a poster... But Pop has his flaws too... Let's acknowledge
He isn't perfect.
No one is. He does know his basketball...
but is not infallible. He's admitted to some mistakes...
you really have to be a special young player to get past the players in the rotation which are over themselves ... Tony and Kawhi were able to, but obviously Pop does not think DJ is that kind of a player. I want to see more of DJ too, but I think you are overhyping him a little bit ...
Pop has flaws, especially when it comes to overreacting to other coaches' adjustments, however, there's no way he could be blamed for being unable to develop raw talent. He's been absolutely fantastic at this, can't think of anyone that comes even close.
Gasol is way better than Bertans likely will ever be, much less Dedmon. You people are mental.
I wasn't even addressing any of that. That's his subjective view and guy ain't going to change with his takes.
Yeah, like keeping Manu in to give game 6 to the Heat on a platter.
5 rings or not, that was just stupid and stubborn.
These people are delusional. Pop is doing the best he can with very limited role players and putting them in a position to succeed. On most other compe ive teams, these guys are riding the bench.
Be thankful for what you have instead of the mirage that you think exists.
I think he knows when to be a risk taker. We are screaming at our tv screens when we watch the games: “put ___ in the game PLEASE!! Take out ____ for crying out loud!” We get mad because we want him to take a flyer on one of the fan favorite unknowns (I remember when people were clamoring about Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Ian Mahinmi). But the reality is that he knows these guys up and down, has seen them play beyond just the spotlight. He watches them in practice and even knows them personally when we don’t. As much as it sucks and as questionable as some of his calls may be, I figure he knows what he’s doing most of the time. He’s seen things and knows things we don’t. Even the guys who live in San Antonio and get to watch scrimmages and catch all the games live don’t know what Pop and the coaching staff know.
Youre right, he has pride and ego and I’m sure that gets in the way, but by and large I believe he knows exactly what’s going on. He probably knows when the fans want someone else in the game. I’m by no means someone who just blindly follows whoever like a sheep without questions, but there comes a point where you just gotta shut up, trust, and at least try to enjoy the game. That’s what all this is. It’s a game. A game that we’re supposed to be enjoying. Have some fun![]()
Pop is interested in the long term viability of the Spurs. He is not going to go "all in" like the Warriors and the Rockets. The Spurs probably could have won more les in the Duncan era, but that's not the overall goal. The goal is to field a very good team every year and hope one of the years things fall right for the Spurs (internal player development, favorable playoff matchups, key injury to compe ion, etc) and they win a le every once in awhile.
The thing about this strategy it wastes prime years of superstar players. Not saying this is part of his goal, but this strategy enhances the reputation of one person in the organization the most - Pop.
stephen jackson. Dude was scrubbing it up when he got fired
Why ppl keep bringing him up is beyond me
Exactly.. People on here with their agendas man
I wonder how many threads a single poster can create tbh... must be a record
I don't why people are surprised when older people start to make mistakes. It's part of aging.
And everyone seems to turn a blind eye to it with politics and coaching. For politics, they need to make them take some kind of cognitive test every year.
Crazy that a Supreme Court Justice nomination is for life.
"Naive" is not the world I'd use.
which world would you use?![]()
This same roster could easily be 8-17 under a different coach. Pop assembled functional pieces, but no one, outside of Aldridge perhaps, could be considered a star at this point in their careers out of this group. A healthy Kawhi added to this mix changes that of course. Then the Spurs become a superstar surrounded by what hopefully is the right supporting cast.
Pop pisses me off sometimes with some of his decisions, but he's a great coach, and puts together a roster that works under the Spurs financial constraints. The record speaks for itself. Hard to complain about the 5 rings, too, considering only 10 teams in history have more than 1, and 40% of the league's teams have none. Could the Spurs have more? Perhaps...but they also could have a lot less.
I've been naive thinking you were just a regular poster with horrible takes, but now it hit me that you might be a troll.
WTF phrases highlighted for exposition of how horrible the overall take is...
Yeah, not only that but Gasol is playing his best ball of the past couple of years this season. He is clearly starting to see where he fits in the team. Bertans brings some really good things to the table but right now consistency isn't really one of them.
Dedmon and Simmons arent even that good idk why people keep bringing them and lol at the idea “they didnt deserve that treatment!” lolwat? They were treated fine. Spurs are looking just fine without them. BP3 has filled in Simmons role just fine and Pau has been playing great since November and Dedmon wouldn't and shouldn't be getting mins over him anyway. The only real loss was David Lee imo
People looking at Pop's mistakes in hindsight and saying he isn't perfect, and not trolling... are ing crazy. Very cringe reading some of these posts
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