Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft

Arteezy · Post #1 » by **Arteezy** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:51 pm

Make your guess on where he would be now.

Philipines?

Canada?

College?

China? No, forget that , he does not seem to win in China.

draftnightsuit · Post #2 » by **draftnightsuit** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:54 pm

If Popovich landed the #2 pick and ended up with Keith Van Horn he’d be fired before 2000.

Quattro · Post #3 » by **Quattro** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:15 pm

Meh. You could say this about any "legendary" coach in any sport.

Unless you think Phil Jackson is the reason the MJ/Pippen Bulls won 6 rings and the Kobe/Shaq Lakers won 3

TheBoi10 · Post #4 » by **TheBoi10** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:17 pm

Who knows. Without TIm Duncan and Kawhi Leonard no one knows who Popovich is.

r0drig0lac · Post #5 » by **r0drig0lac** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:20 pm

and about Phill without Jordan/Pippen and Shaq/Kobe, Kobe/Pau?

oceanlife · Post #6 » by **oceanlife** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:21 pm

A coach should get just as much credit for not screwing up as they do for winning. Pop made it through multiple decades maintaining a winning culture and not letting the team get out of his control. Obviously Duncan is a big help there, but still, he didn't screw it up.

It's reminds me of Formula 1 racing: generally the #10 driver in the #1 car will do better than the #1 Driver in the #10 car. But an incompetent driver will crash the best race car.

AbeVigodaLive · Post #7 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:22 pm

TheBoi10 wrote:Who knows. Without TIm Duncan and Kawhi Leonard no one knows who Popovich is.

Maybe.

To be fair though, he's gone 47 - 35 and 48 - 34 the past two seasons without either of those guys.

Kyle Anderson was 2nd in mpg on the 2017 team. Patty Mills was 3rd.
Bryn Forbes was 3rd in mpg on the 2018 team.

I guess one could question whether he's really one of the very best NBA coaches of all time. But wondering whether he's a "good" coach at this point? Yeah, that's an uphill battle for anybody taking it on.

RoxSteady · Post #8 » by **RoxSteady** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:24 pm

The Spurs won 59 games in the season (1995-96) prior to the one in which they won the Duncan lottery. They won 62 games in the season (1994-95) prior to that. They won so few games the year they won the Duncan lottery because David Robinson was hurt all year. So, no, I don't see Pop coaching in the Philippines if he'd had a later pick than Duncan.

HBK_Kliq_33 · Post #9 » by **HBK_Kliq_33** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:27 pm

"Welcome to McDonald's can I take your order"

fianchetto · Post #10 » by **fianchetto** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:27 pm

The disrespect in this thread

RoxSteady · Post #11 » by **RoxSteady** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:30 pm

fianchetto wrote::nonono: The disrespect in this thread

Disrespect and ignorance.

BarbaGrizz · Post #12 » by **BarbaGrizz** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:31 pm

Avery Johnson
Mario Elie
Sean Elliot
Keith Van Horn
David Robinson

That's a playoff team.

RoxSteady · Post #13 » by **RoxSteady** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:37 pm

HBK_Kliq_33 wrote:"Welcome to McDonald's can I take your order"

Right. As we all know, most former NBA coaches end up working at McDonald's.

CoachD · Post #14 » by **CoachD** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:37 pm

Take a look at Pop's career playoff record without TD.

Just saying.

dhsilv2 · Post #15 » by **dhsilv2** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:45 pm

Likely he'd be the GM for the spurs like he was before he decided to coach them.

BobanSmash · Post #16 » by **BobanSmash** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:47 pm

CoachD wrote:Take a look at Pop's career playoff record without TD.

Just saying.

In the internet you are only as good as your last game

Bologna Smasher · Post #17 » by **Bologna Smasher** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:49 pm

He'd be in the same place. Mercer would've been the next Jordan in the Spurs system!

TheBoi10 · Post #18 » by **TheBoi10** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:17 pm

AbeVigodaLive wrote:
TheBoi10 wrote:Who knows. Without TIm Duncan and Kawhi Leonard no one knows who Popovich is.

Maybe.

To be fair though, he's gone 47 - 35 and 48 - 34 the past two seasons without either of those guys.

Kyle Anderson was 2nd in mpg on the 2017 team. Patty Mills was 3rd.
Bryn Forbes was 3rd in mpg on the 2018 team.

I guess one could question whether he's really one of the very best NBA coaches of all time. But wondering whether he's a "good" coach at this point? Yeah, that's an uphill battle for anybody taking it on.

47 wins, first round and 48 wins, first round exit is pretty mediocre. Not sure what that proves.

AbeVigodaLive · Post #19 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:30 pm

TheBoi10 wrote:
AbeVigodaLive wrote:
TheBoi10 wrote:Who knows. Without TIm Duncan and Kawhi Leonard no one knows who Popovich is.

Maybe.

To be fair though, he's gone 47 - 35 and 48 - 34 the past two seasons without either of those guys.

Kyle Anderson was 2nd in mpg on the 2017 team. Patty Mills was 3rd.
Bryn Forbes was 3rd in mpg on the 2018 team.

I guess one could question whether he's really one of the very best NBA coaches of all time. But wondering whether he's a "good" coach at this point? Yeah, that's an uphill battle for anybody taking it on.

47 wins, first round and 48 wins, first round exit is pretty mediocre. Not sure what that proves.

Good stretch for "mediocre."

"Decent", "pretty good", "mediocre" or "sucks balls"... take your pick. I'm sure there are 20+ coaches who are taking teams with Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson in prominent roles to 50+ wins. You win.

LloydFree · Post #20 » by **LloydFree** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:35 pm

draftnightsuit wrote:If Popovich landed the #2 pick and ended up with Keith Van Horn he’d be fired before 2000.

No he wouldn't have. He was the GM. He would have never come down to the bench to steal Bob Hill's job, if they hadn't won the lottery.