Saturday, February 7th, 2009...8:17 pm
Match-Up of the Afternoon: Popovich vs. Rivers
For all the match-ups of the night I’ve composed, I believe this is the first to ever feature Popovich. The game offers an endless array of intriguing on court match-ups: Duncan vs. Garnett; Rondo vs. Parker; Pierce vs. Ginobili; Allen vs. Mason; The Celtics frontcourt backups vs. the Spurs frontcourt backups.
The list I wrote up goes on and on. But time after time as I began to put pen to paper (or finger to key, rather), I grew disheartened. “The Celtics are a more talented team than we are,” I muttered as I stared listlessly at my keyboard. I like to have a healthy balance of realism and optimism in my writing but as I looked at our respective rosters I had trouble seeing how we were going to realistically beat this team, and at TD Banknorth no less.
But then again, how many times have I looked at a roster with superior talent and said, “Pop will find a way.”
As the 2007 season drew to a close, I was a loyal member of the chorus calling for Doc Rivers removal as head coach of the Boston Celtics. As last season drew to a close, I had obviously backed down from that stance. He led his team to one of the most impressive single season turnarounds in the history of the Association, although acting as if it was in anyway the same squad is obviously false.
But in some ways, it was not merely the Celtics who had turned a corner. It was Rivers himself. At the beginning of the season, a lot of people (myself included) attributed Boston’s success to a combination of Garnet’’s leadership and Tom Thibodeau’s tactical prowess. If anything, Rivers seemed to be holding them back.
By leaps and bounds the Celtics had the best record in the league last season but oftentimes I found myself thinking, “if it weren’t for Rivers, they could be even better.” I was underwhelmed by his in-game personnel and clock management, and even though he seemed to command the respect of his players, I felt his ability to be an emotional leader would one day be overwhelmed by a superior tactical mind.
Again, I was wrong. Yes, Garnett provided the spark that turned into a blaze. Yes, Thibodeau was the mastermind behind the Celtics stifling defense. But, by the time the Celtics reached the NBA Finals, Rivers had become a new man. Most people who watched the Finals would testify to the notion that Rivers, rather surprisingly, outcoached Phil Jackson.
So, given all the praise I just heaped on Mr. Rivers, why I am confident Popovich can outwit him, Ubuntu and all? Well…because Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the National Basketball Association.
That’s right. I said it. I try to avoid superlatives when talking about the Spurs but when it comes to Pop, I have no reservations. His players trust and respect him in a way that is not merely unique to the NBA but to all of professional sports. His intellectual abilities are in a class of their own. His intensity reaches Garnettian levels (see what I did there?). For the last decade the Spurs have consistently been one of the most talented teams in the NBA, but they have never been as talented as their record would suggest. Popovich is the man who pushed them over the top.
On Tuesday, Popovich employed one of the more radical basketball strategies I have ever witnessed. Implicit in his doing so was the belief that the Spurs can go into Boston tomorrow afternoon and get a win. Alright, Pop. Win or lose tomorrow, this one’s on you.
7 Comments
February 7th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Excellent analysis. Not to take anything away from award winners Byron Scott and Sam Mitchell, but Pop’s coached a bit in the last two years, hasn’t he? Whatever one’s take on the Denver benchings, Pop removed all excuses for the Spurs heading into Boston. The recent Celtics-Laker nail-biter provides an excellent Finals barometer. It’s time to find out what this team is made of…
February 7th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Completely agree with your statement that Pop is the best coach in the league. Plus he has a unique humility about him that branches out to the players and staff. He always says he was blessed to have Timmy and fortunate not to screw it up. Granted, it does help to have the players he did, but I agree that he was the one to put them over the top.
February 8th, 2009 at 8:22 am
I didn’t think the Tuesday move was that radical, though the rest of the league was up in arms about it for various reasons, most of them being a shared dislike of San Antonio, I would imagine.
Also, I’m not sure how this win/lose is on Pop because of the Tuesday benching. Though within the RRT, Pop, paradoxically, found a way to rest his stars. I saw the move as a way to help the team in multiple ways, not so much as something that shifts a particular burden upon Pop.
February 8th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Hollywood,
I think you would be hard-pressed to find another instance in which a coach sat his 3 best players for a relatively important conference game in the middle of the season. I would say that makes it a rather “radical” gesture.
February 8th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I didn’t imagine Parker having that much of an off-scoring game, but it makes sense with that Celtic defense. Georgie Boy stepped up for a good minute and helped keep us in it. Bonner, not Manu, was really the X-Factor this game. This was his biggest game of getting shots on the dribble and even had a lay-up (on Big Baby, of course). Pop never could have asked that much of him. I also have to mention another clutch 3 from “Big Shot Rog.” Beautiful.
At one point, one of the announcers called Rondo a pest, and he really was one, at which point I quipped with, “we need some pesticide. Whip out a can of that ‘TTD’ on him (Tim Theodore Duncan).” Next Spur basket was Duncan. I loved it. Great glimpse of a possible finals run.
February 8th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Even though the field goal percentage doesn’t show and with the exception of that first part of the third quarter, I thought our defense was exceptional.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:48 am
I think Pop’s move to sit his top players against Denver can now be seen as similar to when he told his players two years ago that the Spurs would not be trading anyone … with that group they would win or lose. Essentially, he was telling his players that he believed that they could beat what is arguably the best team in basketball and that he would make sure they had no excuses should they lose. The result is that the players now know that the assembled group can hang with anyone in the league. That’s a huge boost to their self-confidence going into the second half of the season.
On another note: Manu’s read on what happened on the Ray Allen turnover yesterday was spot on. Allen, like so many other players in the league, underestimated Manu’s quickness. He thought he had the space to pass the ball to Pierce (and, no, Bruce had not done a good job of keeping him away from the in-bounds pass). But just as he was making the pass, Manu shot his arm out as he so often does, and Allen realized too late that there was a good chance Manu would at least tip the ball, so he tried to take it back. The replay clearly shows that sequence. Great steal, great win.
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