Pop Calls Out Danny Green - "Huge defensive error"

[Fpoonsie]

[shrug] He also had some HUGE stops just a couple nights prior that sealed the game. Win some, lose some.

[TDfan2007]

Lot of that is on Green too. They lost the lead with Green playing a key role:
1. Continually losing their hot 3 pt shooter Hayward on the perimeter.
2. A really bad lazy inbounds pass attempt to Duncan that was stolen and they scored. No excuse for that one either.
3. You expect an NBA player to be able to make layups, especially wide-open shots at the rim. This isn't an exception with Green; he really has a lay-up problem.
4. Everyone in the stadium and at home watching Mo Williams hold the ball knew he was going to try to win the game with a last second shot. Green laid way off because Mo was so far out past the arc, but he should have closed the gap at 5 seconds and harassed his dribble to make Williams worry and possibly change his option from shooting to passing.

x 1000

It is inexcusable to back off of a shooter w/ that much time left. If you just get in his face more and make him uncomfortable, then the percentages plummet. People keep mentioning how far Mo was, but I don't buy it. NBA shooters can hit from just about anywhere inside of 30, but the real key is making them uncomfortable. Mo was allowed to step into his shot, which for a shooter is everything. If Green pressures the ball even a little more, that step in 3 turns into an "oh why did I dribble for so long?" panicked 3.

[Dex]

Green basically touched Mo's fingertips as he got the shot off. You can't defend a three pointer much better than that without actually blocking the shot, and it's hard to do that if a guy is willing to rise up 3 feet behind the three-point line.

Good defense by Green. Better offense by Williams.

Always sucks to lose a nail-biter, but in the larger scheme of things, these things happen. Move on to the next one.

[Paranoid Pop]

[shrug] He also had some HUGE stops just a couple nights prior that sealed the game. Win some, lose some.

Yeah he did, but bottom line is he's one of Pop's favorite, gave him the starting SG spot in record time, called a lot of plays for him very early and so on, so I don't feel bad for him. Any other non TP/Manu guard would love to be in his position and his level of play is very irregular, good defense once in a while, good shooting once in a while...

I like him, seems like a good guy but would trade him for a big and start Manu again or slide KY to SG. He's one of three tradable players with SJax and Neal and imo the easiest to replace in the rotation.

[DesignatedT]

Love it. Doesn't matter what your opinion is on how to defend in that situation. Love the fact that he's calling people out this year, something he hasn't done as much the last couple years. Love that its about defense, obviously something that has been missing for the last few years. Love it.

[Bill_Brasky]

Green was just not very good overall last night. The lazy passing, bobbling every pass thrown his way, the dumb and 1 foul near the end(didn't make the FT, but still), sagging off Williams at the end(though a last second hero 3 from M is the exact shot I think they wanted the Jazz to take)

Just wasn't his night, but the effort was there. He's just a really streaky player and we knew that when we signed him. Makes you wonder how that 2 guard spot would be looking right now with no JA foot injury.

[DPG21920]

I always wondered what would happen if players called coaches out for their mistakes .

Like in the NY game if Tiago said "Pop made a huge tactical error by subbing me out when what we were doing was working. You can't in a big game in the fourth quarters take away momentum and go away from what was working". Is that not fair too?

[lefty]

Tony Parker chokedperiod

[timvp]

Now that I think about it more, I agree with those of you who said Pop's thinking was to motivate Green in general. Pop has had a chance to complain in a long time so he needed to take full advantage of this opportunity

Mo's shot was probably a 25-30% attempt. Most of the time, that shot results in overtime...

[ploto]

I don't really agree with this tactic by Pop. Sure, maybe the defense was not perfect, but it was pretty good and Mo hit a big shot with a hand in his face as the buzzer sounded. I really do not see what calling out Green accomplishes. As Sean said, sometimes shots fall against pretty good defense. You accept it and move on. Putting the loss basically on one play by Green does not achieve anything positive. I fail to see how it motivates him.

[lefty]

Did we have a foul to give ?

[Whisky Dog]

I don't think Green needed motivation, he wasn't lacking effort at all. He really wanted it, he was just beaten by a guy who hit a difficult look at the buzzer. That's basketball, just gotta look at it like a baseball closer who blows a save and moves on to save the next one.

Several team mistakes down the stretch cost that game as it shouldn't have been close enough to lose in the last seconds. Missed rotation to Hayward at the 3 line twice in the last 3 minutes cost 6 points, and not getting that rebound on the possession before the last second shot was huge too.

[Chinook]

Let's hope Pop is pushing the right buttons. If he ends up destroying Green's confidence, the Spurs are going to lose a lot more games than people realize.

[TwoHandJam]

There were a lot of mistakes down the stretch that prevented us from getting separation from the Jazz. The one that bothered me the most was that ridiculous traveling call on Diaw with about 2 minutes left way out on the perimeter with no one really threatening him. At least Green was trying to do the right thing. Diaw was just temporarily re ed.

[phxspurfan]

It was a good shot against solid defense. The Jazz have shown an ability to pull games out at home, at least that's what the announcers were saying. No big deal, give Mo and the Jazz props for hanging in there all night and move on.

[justinandimcool]

If Green didn't have a tough college coach, I'd say this was a stupid move by Pop.

But he's a tough guy, always has been. I say it doesn't break has confidence at all and motivates him. Not for the near future but in the long term.

[tmtcsc]

There were a lot of mistakes down the stretch that prevented us from getting separation from the Jazz. The one that bothered me the most was that ridiculous traveling call on Diaw with about 2 minutes left way out on the perimeter with no one really threatening him. At least Green was trying to do the right thing. Diaw was just temporarily re ed.

Don't forget about the play where Manu didn't pass the ball to a wide open Diaw in the corner. Utah lost Diaw in a rotation and he was WIDE open after already hitting a 3 moments before. Pop jumped out of his chair he was so flabbergasted and pissed.

Lots of blame to go around for that loss last night. As for Green, if your coach says don't let the guy shoot, then you shadow him and don't let him shoot. Pop's right, when Mo caught the ball and didn't make any move whatsoever to drive the ball, that should have told you that he had two options, pass or shoot. He was so far from the hoop that he wasn't going to shoot a layup.

[timvp]

As Sean said, sometimes shots fall against pretty good defense.

Mo's shot was similar to Michael Finley's shot against Elliott back in 2000. Tbh, Finley's shot was a lot more difficult. He was on the move, fading away and Elliott timed his jump perfectly...

[justinandimcool]

Anyone else see last night's shot and just smile in silence?

I think all those lucky shots OKC hit in the WCF last year desensitized me to these types of moments. I expect every low percentage prayer attempt against us to go in, tbh.

[Obstructed_View]

Only losers settle for three point attempts in a ing tie game, and the Spurs forced one. There were a dozen shots I'd have been more annoyed to see the Spurs give up. I've never seen Danny Green block an outside jumper in one-on-one defense, so I'm unsure what the Pop expected Danny to do. That shot's going in unless Green actually gets a hand on it.

[ace3g]

instead of just back peddling and letting Mo walk into the 3 (yeah he still contested it but let Mo get where he wanted to on the court) he should have forced him to the left or right while still keeping him behind the 3.

[DesignatedT]

I have no problem with giving up that shot but you shouldn't let a player size up uncontested for 10 seconds before he shoots it. Make him move around instead of getting comfortable looking at the rim.

[Arcadian]

Leonard would've blocked that in Mo's face.

[dylankerouac]

Mo shot that in rhythm, that was the mistake. Better now than the playoffs.

[exstatic]

Only losers settle for three point attempts in a ing tie game, and the Spurs forced one. There were a dozen shots I'd have been more annoyed to see the Spurs give up. I've never seen Danny Green block an outside jumper in one-on-one defense, so I'm unsure what the Pop expected Danny to do. That shot's going in unless Green actually gets a hand on it.

I don't think Pop wanted him to block it, I think he wanted Danny to force him to put the ball on the floor instead of getting a stationary look at the rim.