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Well, he DID help us win the le in 2005. But that's beside the point.
Why Pop Why?
By Jason Chlapek
The Daily Times
http://web.dailytimes.com/story.lass...3e8425fe2e0b8c
Published July 21, 2006
Remember the hit single, “Big Yellow Taxi?”
There was a line in the song, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” I wonder if that’s how San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich feels these days.
On Feb. 24, 2005, Popovich traded Spurs fan-favorite Malik Rose to the New York Knicks for Nazr Mohammed. Rose, a 6-foot-7 forward who played like he was 7-1, did not have the size Popovich wanted to complement Tim Duncan. Mohammed is 6-10.
Now Popovich must be kicking himself because Mohammed recently signed with the Detroit Pistons, and the best he could do to find a replacement is, maybe, signing 6-10 Jackie Butler. Butler is a 21-year-old who played the last two seasons with the Knicks.
Pop also traded 7-footer Rasho Nesterovic to the Toronto Raptors for 6-10 three-point specialist Matt Bonner and 6-8 forward Eric Williams. Couldn’t Popovich have kept Rose if he planned on going with quicker big men like he did in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks?
Of course, we all remember the Spurs playoff series against the Mavericks. Popovich “said” he would stick with the game plan in hand — a starting lineup of Mohammed, Duncan, Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. But after losing Game 2, 113-91, Popovich flips the script by going to a smaller, quicker lineup to match the Mavericks’ quickness. The result — a 4-3 series loss and a blown opportunity to repeat as NBA champions.
So much for “sticking to the game plan.”
Popovich had not only a quick big man in Rose, he had a guy who made San Antonio his home in a time where many free agents bolt smaller markets like San Antonio for the bright lights of New York or Los Angeles. While Rose plays for the Knicks, he still has a house and two restaurants — Malik’s Philly Phamous — in San Antonio. The second restaurant opened last year.
What Rose lacked in size, he made up for with physical play and hustle. He often played his best in the second halves of games when bigger opponents like Shaquille O’Neal would wear down. Rose chased down loose balls, won rebounding battles, and did other little things right when the game was on the line.
Like many other Spurs fans on the night of Feb. 24, 2005, I also was saddened with the Rose trade. I had the mindset of “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Nothing was broken with Rose, he was just three inches too short for Popovich. I’m still disappointed with the trade, and now those of us in Spurs Country are stuck with wondering “what-if.” Was Rose the guy the Spurs needed to match Dirk Nowitski’s quickness? Could Rose have been the difference-maker?
We’re also left with a question for Popovich — Why Pop why?
Well, he DID help us win the le in 2005. But that's beside the point.
Do you even sleep Kori??
Who knows what could of happened if malik was still with the spurs.
The spurs were a manu -up away from getting to the WCF and possibly to the
Finals where the spurs would of had a good chance of winning it all.
IMO, bruce did a of a job guarding Dirk, but the problem was he was a bit undersized.
Marcus Bryant wrote this?
The Daily times, is that a New York paper or what?
All this speculation... it is enough to drive a person nuts. The bottom line is what is done has been done and we have no way of knowing how other paths might have turned out.
That said, I really liked our team with both Malik and Sho and wish we had kept them.
Concerning the "Why Pop, why?" question, I seriously doubt he could ever answer it to my full satisfaction, regardless of the validity of his remarks.
Answer: Money.
Kerrville Texas Daily Times
Butler > Malik + Nazr
If the Spurs would of kept Rose i dont' think the Spurs would of won the championship that year. Nazr was huge in the playoffs and mainly was one of the biggest reasons why the Spurs got past the Sonics.
Now this past season yes Rose would of been more suited against the Mavs.
Well said.
I miss Malik too.
The Spurs DID win a championship one of the two years with Nazr. Who knows, maybe they lose last year ('05) and win this year with Malik since the matchups were different? If the Spurs win in '07 with Elson/Butler/Oberto, then I guess saving the $6-7M/yr. for Malik was worth it after all.
Sorry, spur219, I didn't see your post...but I guess we were thinking similarly.
Move on.
His last name reads like Klingon.
Play up to your contract, and you can stay.
I guess because Rose sucks and played his last good ball three years ago would be too obvious.Why Pop why?
Or that he was in Pop's doghouse and wouldn't have gotten off the bench against the Mavs any more than Beno did.
Pop as a coach is overrated. Of course, we have won championships with him but the Dallas Cowboys won one with Barry Switzer as a coach too. Phil Jackson outcoached Pop a couple of years ago, the year the Lakers lost to Detroit in the Finals. Avery Johnson outcoached him this year and he lost in the Finals.
When you have the talent that SA does, then a championship him or there isnt out of the ordinary. Cant seem to win back to back like the great teams do but that is why they are dynasties and SA is not.
The Rose trade happened what alomst three years ago, come on Pop traded the guy when he could get a capable player in return, after what I have seen from Malik with the knicks (and with the way you guys are hypin him should be the worst team in the NBAs besst player, even though he hardly gets into the game unless they are down by 20 +) you think any team would trade for him and a bloated contract. He would be harder to trade then Rasho was. It was a great trade one of the best the Spurs ever did and we got a championship and more cap room cause of it
Exactly!
If Rose were so great he wouldn't be sitting on the bench on a New York Knicks squad that sorely needs some veteran leadership.
I still don't get why people think 6'3" Malik Rose could have made a difference against Dirk when 6'7" Bowen and 6'5" Michael Finley couldn't.
The Answer is Money
Malik´s 2006/2007 Contract is U$S 6.500.00
That is a MLE + LLE
Whit that money we can sign a Better center than Butler or Elson
The same team now, With Malik and without Elson and Butler worth 67.6 Million, 3 over the Luxury Cap
If both would be in the team now is: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Emanuel Ginobili, Brent Barry, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry,Michael Finley,Beno Udrih, Malik and Rasho worth 65 Millions (Over the Luxury Tax) for only 10 players
So if we complete the team only with Oberto, Bonner and Vaughn is over 70 Millions
It´s Business
It's SO easy to second-guess Pop now - and for good reason. A lot of us can't help wondering "what if" Pop would have scrapped his "small ball" philosophy and continued utilizing his traditional lineup. I mean the team only won 63 games with that lineup.
Furthermore, watching Miami bang Dallas around using their traditional lineup was even more disheartening and doesn't help Pop's claim that his lineup wasn't working. I certainly don't think Miami was quicker than Dallas on the perimeter, they simply shut down the lane and made Dallas into a "jump-shooting" team that wilted under pressure.
Now we're all left wondering "what if"?
Who is this guy, a writer or a fan?
Thats been proven wrong time and time again...Shaq and kobe needed phil to get over the hump they had talent...nobody is questioning dallas' talent and they still haven't won, heck they weren't even in the conversation til aj took over...so many teams have talent but can't win...pop has three trophys and in contention for more....ya i can see why you consider him overrated...your post is a few years behind....bob hill went away a long long time ago....thats when you could get away with your pop bashing...it took two les to put him into good coaching status...
Yes.
Because that trade had everything to do with getting Nazr, and nothing to do with us clearing up cap space from Malik's horrible contract. Okie.
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