Gregg Popovich is a legend who has constructed a popularity for puzzle-piecing imperfect gamers into excellent rotations on the best way to NBA championships. Avery Johnson, Danny Inexperienced and even Boris Diaw instantly come to thoughts has gamers who had been rejected by the remainder of the league for notable flaws however flourished underneath Pop’s steerage and programs. That being stated, no one’s excellent, and even Pop has made choices which have left followers (and media) scratching their heads.
The latest (and admittedly tiny) instance could be pairing Victor Wembanyama and Dominck Barlow collectively for stretches within the final two video games. Regardless that each are succesful shooters from outdoors the paint, they’re each higher off across the basket, so there have been unsurprisingly spacing points. In opposition to the Warriors and Rockets, that duo shared the ground for a mixed 11 minutes and had been outscored by 13 factors. After 4 minutes final evening, Pop pulled the plug on Barlow in favor of Sandro Mamukelashvili, which went notably higher. This isn’t a knock in opposition to Barlow; his pairing with Wemby simply didn’t work in opposition to the pesky defenses of two small, swarming groups. Assuming that is the top of that experiment for now, it gained’t even be a blip on the radar in every week.
Nonetheless, that obtained me to considering, what are a few of Pop’s extra infamous lineup choices that lasted loads longer and have caught with us over time? Listed below are just a few off the highest of my head, and be happy so as to add extra within the feedback beneath. (And to be clear, had been speaking about choices that lasted a number of video games, not one-offs like not having Tim Duncan on flooring throughout Ray Allen’s three.)
DeJuan Blair over Tiago Splitter
DeJuan Blair was fan favourite the moment the Spurs drafted him in 2009. A projected lottery decide with a captivating persona who fell all the best way to the second spherical due to notoriously not having any ACL’s, he introduced a degree of depth and pleasure that the “boring” Spurs had been missing. His first couple of years had been a hit, with the Spurs incomes the highest seed within the West in 2011 and vying for his or her fifth championship. Then, catastrophe struck.
Manu Ginobili — who was a starter, All-Star and arguably the Spurs’ greatest participant that season — broke his elbow within the common season finale, and the Spurs bumped into their worst attainable matchup within the first spherical: the up-and-coming Memphis Grizzles. With Duncan battling knee points, he and the undersized Blair had been getting killed on the boards by Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, they usually ended up being upset in six video games.
Whereas Manu lacking Sport 1 and enjoying hobbled the remainder of the best way was most likely a much bigger deciding consider that sequence, Pop — infamous for not trusting rookies, particularly within the playoffs — was eviscerated for not enjoying Tiago Splitter sufficient, since he had the dimensions and knack for rebounds to cope with the Grizzlies. Pop realized his lesson and commenced beginning Splitter the following season, but it surely was too late for 2011 and etched the Spurs into the flawed facet of the historical past books as a 1 seed who misplaced to an 8.
The Munchkin Lineup(s)
The 2017-18 season was a tough one. It ought to have been nice with a rejuvenated LaMarcus Aldridge, wholesome Kawhi Leonard and the addition of Rudy Homosexual as his backup, however alas, everyone knows how that went down. Kawhi was a no present a lot of the season (injured or not), Tony Parker was not the identical after getting back from his hamstring harm, and it in the end ended up marking the top of an period.
The gamers who did play confirmed a degree of toughness and tenacity that must be admired immediately, however there was nonetheless one lineup pairing that drove followers nuts: Patty Mills and Bryn Forbes. Each had been elite three-point shooters, however pairing them collectively on courtroom was a defensive nightmare in an age when the Spurs had been nonetheless a top-tier protection. When wanting again, the 2 had a NET ranking of -0.2 when sharing the ground that season, so that they had been really solely barely a internet destructive in over 500 minutes collectively, but it surely was nonetheless maddening relative to expectations of the time.
That being stated, whereas we consider Forbes and Mills because the Munchkin Lineup, Mills and Parker really obtained loads of minutes collectively that season as nicely, they usually had been a lot worse with a internet ranking of -6.9 in 300 minutes collectively. Regardless of which method you slice it, having two gamers underneath 6’3” on the courtroom on the similar time isn’t preferrred for protection within the NBA.
Jeremy Sochan at level guard
Lastly is one other lineup choice from this season that possible gained’t have any long-term penalties, however Pop nonetheless will get flack for it immediately, and it’d find yourself being his most infamous choice of all due to the nationwide scrutiny that got here with it. That’s proper, we’re speaking in regards to the choice to start out the season with Jeremy Sochan at level guard.
Few would have cared final season, however with the arrival of Victor Wembanyama, all eyes had been on the Spurs to start out this season. It began nicely sufficient, however issues shortly went south as they had been mired in prolonged dropping steaks with seemingly no offensive system to maintain up the NBA’s record-breaking offenses. They couldn’t get the ball to Wemby, he was having to freelance for himself, and Sochan regarded misplaced and confused, even admitting that the struggles had been taking a psychological toll on him.
After presumably seeing what he wanted to see, Pop lastly moved Tre Jones to the beginning lineup and Sochan again to his pure place of energy ahead in January. Whereas the outcomes haven’t been too totally different within the win/loss columns, the Spurs have been significantly higher, and Wemby — whereas additionally shifting to heart and having his minutes restrictions lifted — has flourished with Jones guiding the offense.
Whenever you change into the GOAT, you’re going to obtain flack for each perceivable unhealthy choice, and that is one Pop could have a tough time dwelling down, even when it’s solely as a result of we’re wanting again and laughing.
