Amongst knowledgeable NBA basketball people, Gregg Popovich, of the San Antonio Spurs, has long been regarded as one of, if not the best head coach in the league. He seems to have a knack for knowing just what to do, at just the right time -- to achieve the optimum results. I'll get back to that.
A quick bio. Now 65, Coach Pop once attended the Air Force academy, where he graduated as a specialist in Soviet studies. He did his hitch while travelling around eastern Europe, and even considered joining the CIA. But he was never far from his true love of basketball either.
Upon returning state-side, Pop bounced around here and there, mentored under legendary coach Larry Brown, and eventually landed with the Spurs. They were terrible in 1996, when Popovich first took over head coaching duties. So bad they had the #1 pick in the draft. Enter Tim Duncan. Since the mid-Clinton White House years (and how long ago does that seem?), the San Antonio Spurs have arguably been the most successful professional sports franchise of them all. Four NBA titles, most consecutive winning seasons (16 and counting), and Popovich himself has been named the coach of the year four times as well. Currently, his Spurs are rolling along in the playoffs, and have as good a chance as any to add yet another title.
Yet over the years, besides Duncan being a can't miss prospect -- Popovich has pretty much maintained a standard of team excellence by finding other less publicized guys the world over, bringing them in and coaching them up, while assimilating them into his system. Other teams like Miami, Okla City, and the LA Clips have a superstar or three, but when it comes to fundamental team basketball -- nobody does it better than San Antonio. This is Popovich's doing. To boot, he also has a knack of knowing just when to compliment his players, and when to holler at them. Nobody is immune, and the players respect that. Perhaps that goes back to his intelligence training as far as getting into the heads of people. But he's also a savvy stragetist as well.
In the recently concluded Game 4 of the western conference NBA semi-finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, Popovich made a shrewd move -- on a few levels.
San Antonio went into the game leading the series 3-0. It was a "close-out" game on the road. They could attempt to win it for a sweep, then sit back and rest awaiting the winner of the LA/Okla City battle.
Indeed, the score was very close at halftime and, for whatever reason, the Spurs seem to have a penchant for not playing particularly well in the third quarter, but coming back in the fourth to win.
It happened again, as Portland quickly went ahead by 15 points midway through the third quarter. Not an insurmountable lead by NBA standards, and particularly not for the Spurs. Then Coach Pop did the unexpected.
Most teams will yank their starters during the last couple minutes of a blow-out game, one way or the other. But Popovich pretty much waved the white flag half-way through the third quarter. Why would he do such a thing? Three reasons.
1) Giving aging superstars such as Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili a little extra rest for what likely lies ahead is a good idea. Playing a lot of minutes every other night in brutal playoff games will take its toll on those ancient thirty-some year old bodies.
2) Other than the usual "garbage time", his bench players got to experience a lot of minutes of playoff action, particularly in a hostile road environment. This will certainly serve them well in the future. Long-term thinking for the betterment of the overall team. Very smart.
3) By allegedly conceding Game 4, of course there has to be a Game 5, back in San Antonio. This will make a man named Peter Holt very happy. Who is Peter Holt? The owner of the San Antonio Spurs. He gets another home date in his arena. Throw in the ticket prices, TV money, various sponsors, and this likely equates to a few more million bucks headed Mr. Holt's way. Most owners are very fond of head coaches that continue to bring them major cha-chings. This was absolutely brilliant on Coach Pop's part. Perhaps the boss will toss in a tidy little bonus on one of his paychecks soon.
Yep, that Gregg Popovich is a mighty shrewd operative -- in more ways than one.
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