If Spurs & Pistons switched coach's, who wins more?

[Q00]

Purely hypothetical just for fun, but if we had Popovich right now and the Spurs had Cheeks, which team do you think has the better record?

I think its an interesting question to ponder, because Popovich runs probably the most cohesive team in the league and gets more out of less. While Cheeks runs probably the most disjointed team in the league and is underachieving based on the talent of his roster.

So if you put the best coach in terms of cohesion on the most disjointed team (albeit very talented), and then put one of the worst coach's in terms of cohesion onto a team that relies heavily on it to succeed, what is the end result?

Would Popovich fix our woes? Would Cheeks destroy the Spurs?

Discuss.

[princeofpalace]

Spurs easily. They have considerably more talent and pieces that fit.

[ComboGuardCity]

Pop would bench Josh, Jennings, and Drummond after 3 games of bad fundamentals and mental lapses.

Leaving a lineup of

Billups
KCP
Singler
Harrelson
Monroe

[ImHeisenberg]

If we switched right now? The Spurs, handily continue to be superior.

While Cheeks is inept at best, the team has an all-timer like Duncan, Parker is still criminally underrated, and while Ginobili is on decline, he, and the rest of the team fit together and know how to win.

If Popovich took over this team, it would take him at least a full season for him to begin instilling the system the players would adhere to and establishing the proper culture.

[MrBigShot]

Pop would do a far better job than Cheeks has, but the Spurs would still be better. They not only have more talent, they also fit better and have more chemistry.

[DBC10]

Are you kidding? The Spurs would still win more than the Pistons right now. The big 3 has been in the league long enough to trust each other and win.

Pop would make Moose and Dre look like Duncan and the Admiral. lol.

[Q00]

I get what you all are saying, but at the same time I think you underestimate how reliant the Spurs are on Popvich and that system. All those role players that make it work, would Cheeks be able to put them in the same positions to succeed?

Its so crucial for every player to be on the same exact page for that kind of system to work, and timing and attention to detail are paramount. So knowing that, and see how undisciplined and lacking in attention to detail that our team displays under Cheeks, do you still think the Spurs system could function with him instead?

Personally, I don't know if they would be worse than the Pistons, but I could see them easily becoming discombobulated and ending up like the Grizzlies this year. And I think with Popovich on the Pistons he would have them defending much much better, and wouldn't care about ego's when it comes to putting together the most cohesive starting 5. So I would say the Pistons probably are 20-14 right now with Popovich instead of 14-20, and the Spurs are probably somewhere around a .500 team with Cheeks, struggling to adjust to life without Popovich. I really think coaching makes that big of a difference.

[Q00]

Are you kidding? The Spurs would still win more than the Pistons right now. The big 3 has been in the league long enough to trust each other and win.

Pop would make Moose and Dre look like Duncan and the Admiral. lol.

The Spurs big 3 are essentially role players at this age, aside from Parker. Their team is basically Parker surrounded by a roster of role players, which is all reliant on Popovich to make it work.

I think they would probably be able to coach themselves for a little while at the start, but eventually when Cheeks ineptitude starts taking over, the whole foundation would crumble. They wouldn't be awful, but really I think you overestimate the talent on that team. With their best players being so old, they rely a lot on coaching. Plus being in the West would make it that much harder to win.

Like you said, I think Popovich would have our bigs playing much better defense. Also more cohesive offense, as well as better late game management, which in my opinion would combine to equal a lot more wins. I bet Popovich wins at least half of the 4th quarter meltdown games just off his experience.

[rock digger]

The Spurs built a system and that creation is now churning out results. A change from Pop to Cheeks would definitely decrease the efficiency of the system, but it wouldn't break the system. On the other hand, the Pistons are a complete trainwreck with no system. The Spurs would easily be better. However, if you gave Pop say 3 years with this team and Cheeks 3 years with the Spurs team, Pop could probably transform this into the better team.

[momed11]

The spurs would be better because of the long tenure of the big 3, and the addition of kawahi who plays sound basketball would keep them afloat.

We would be considerably better because as mentioned pop would most definitely limit smith and jennings.

That said cheeks sucks. So do jennings and smith.

[Phenomenonsense]

I think the point of interest here has to be "has pop had enough time to instill the system before the season starts?" If yes, Absolutely we win more.

[HeroicKennedy]

Tim Duncan is a role player? Manu Ginobili is a role player? Kawhi Leonard is a role player?

All three of those guys are producing in the top 10 of their respective positions in terms of WP48.

You know where Josh Smith currently ranks among SFs with at least 330+ minutes?

50th.

You know where Josh Smith ranked among PFs with at least 500+ minutes last year?

50th.

[triplet1984]

Pop does something we don't. He looks at what a player does well.... And gives them a role that does only that. Multiple players have spoken about this. That's the Spurs magic. It's that simple.

[ElectricMayhem]

The Spurs' big 3 have been around long enough that they don't need Pop around to be a Pop-coached team. It doesn't matter who coaches them anymore.

[Clarity]