Popovich Proving He’s One of Best ... Not That He Cares

SAN ANTONIO —  If this San Antonio Spurs championship means we don’t have to ask any more questions about Tim Duncan, it forces us to ask them about Gregg Popovich.

Is he the best coach around?

Can he make a run at Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach’s record of nine coaching championships?

When an entire group plays defense well enough to hold opponents below 75 points in the deciding game, as the Spurs did in their 81-74 victory Thursday night, the coach should get credit the way the producers get the Oscar for best picture.

“He’s the head of the snake,” Duncan said. “He’s the one that makes us go. He prepares us so well for games....

“Not taking anything away from Larry Brown, he really is the best in the league, I believe.”

Popovich just beat Brown, his mentor, to reach three championships, won with three significantly different teams.

The first, in 1999, was a veteran group. The 2003 edition had Duncan, David Robinson and young pups Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Robinson retired that year, but two seasons later the Spurs are back on top, even though Robinson could still play center better than any of the big men who succeeded him.

The core group of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker are all under 30 and all signed long-term, giving Popovich a chance to shoot past Pat Riley (four championships) and John Kundla (five) on the coaches’ championship count. He could get three to five more with these guys, and the way this organization is run, re-tool for another run.

Start appreciating Popovich now, so you can say you saw it coming when he climbs up the list. And let’s pause to recognize what he just did, before it gets lost in a barrage of “Where-will-Larry-Brown-go-next?” stories.

You won’t see Popovich writing a book -- either a motivational manual or an expose -- and you won’t hear him hogging the spotlight. When someone asked him to assess his role in his team’s success the other day, he snapped, “Next question.”

When the same reporter pressed him on the subject again Thursday, he said “Nobody cares. Talk about Iraq or something that matters.”

Finally, he allowed, “I probably did some good things and I probably made some mistakes.”

He always says his job is easy because his superstar is so amenable to being coached. Perhaps Popovich doesn’t have rampant egos on his team, but he still has to blend in three key players from three different countries. (One method is to post a favorite quote from Jacob Riis translated into every language spoken in the locker room).

And he doesn’t have anyone who can grab the game in the fourth quarter, the way Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant did for Jackson and Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did for Riley.

How about Popovich’s penchant for making the right call in crunch time? The common denominator in crunch time in San Antonio’s last two victories was his decision to move defensive weapon Bruce Bowen off Richard Hamilton and onto Chauncey Billups. Billups missed all three field-goal attempts in overtime of Game 5, and Bowen blocked his three-pointer in the last minute of Game 7, when the Spurs’ lead was only five.

Popovich was even better in the buildup. Even though this was his first Game 7 as a head coach he exuded a sense of calm the last two days while the city residents were sweating over the loss in Game 6.

In his pregame media session Popovich whimsically fielded questions about what happens to us when we die just as easily as he discussed queries about his team’s preferred tempo.

(And if you’re wondering about his thoughts about the afterlife, he cited author Joseph Campbell and says it comes down to your personal interpretation of universal myths and beliefs).

“All he talked about the last two days was appreciating the time, appreciating it and living in the moment,” Duncan said. “Understanding that this is the first Game 7 in [11 years of NBA Finals] and to really go out, and that if we did things the right way, the way that we’ve planned them, the way that we’ve wanted to do the entire series, things would go the right way. He put that in our heads so much, we just stuck with it.”

Popovich said before the game that Duncan would get more touches than he did in Game 6, and that he would play his typical role as offensive focal point. The team followed the plan. (Brown’s team, meanwhile, got away from team-oriented ball, reflected in the paltry five assists in the second half).

Duncan turned in a gutty performance and carried the team in the third quarter. But in the end his numbers were, for him, about average: 25 points and 11 rebounds.

His attitude was typical Duncan as well, the approach that makes this team successful. He didn’t spend the fourth quarter on a personal quest to dispel all the doubts about his ability to deliver in the clutch. He spent it delivering the ball to his teammates by sucking in the defense and finding the open man for three-pointers. First Bowen for another open three, then Ginobili made big three-pointers off Duncan passes.

Ginobili was the guy in the last quarter busting out for 11 fourth-quarter points. And Robert Horry was more about the little things than the big shots this time. He was the team’s leading scorer with 10 points at halftime, but in the fourth quarter his memorable plays were an offensive rebound and a drawn charge.

Another veteran move: he grabbed the game ball after the buzzer.

“I got it because everybody was jumping up and down,” Horry said. “I ran to get it.”

Horry also earned the rights to his sixth championship ring.

Forget Riley and Kundla. If Popovich can surpass Horry, maybe then he’ll have achieved something, something worth talking about -- by Popovich himself.