The players are afraid of Pop...

[will_spurs]

... and have quit on him, to say the truth.

I think none of them wants to end up in the doghouse, none of them wants to sign their death sentence. They are scared to make a mistake and be yanked from the game for one or two quarters, even if it's unreasonable and hurts the team (well all except Bonner and Finley before him).

So many times I saw one of the role players have a good look and not shoot it because they are afraid of being blamed for it, while they know they will never be blamed for trying to get the "extra pass".

I don't think the Spurs FO has a special secret to find only mentally weak role players. I think the coaching is making them mentally weak and insecure. Ony Neal seems to have resisted this so far, but he might turn into Mason too next year for all we know.

With a history of Nazr, Udrih, Mason, Bonner, Hill, RJ, Blair (and quite of a few prospects too like Temple and some others that I forget) I think at some point it's time to face reality: the culture of the organization is screwing up these players and turning them into mental midgets. They come in as cold-blooded assassins and leave as lifeless s s of their former self. Only guys like Horry or Kerr with impressive resumes and multiple championships could survive this treatment.

A guy like Parker was run into the ground by Pop at the start, fortunately enough he had the mental resilience to come out on top. The Big 3 with their heralded deference to Pop have contributed to this culture of turning Pop into a dictator who never has to justify his decisions: not to the organization, not to the players, not to the fans, not to the media, not to anybody. He's now given in to his whimsical natural, playing his favorites and destroying the confidence of the others in the process.

This is what I saw during this series: players being scared. Scared of Memphis? No. Scared of Pop.

[weebo]

When your clanking off open shot after shot and laying soft defense, what is a coach suppose to do. Hey man,I blame Pop for a lot of things but the players are at fault here more than coach.

[Oh, Gee!!]

So pop beat the spurs, not memphis? Does pop advance to next round