Hill was fired after the first 18 games of the 1996-1997 season. This was before the draft lottery came. Now if Spurs didn't win the lottery to draft Duncan then maybe Pop goes back to the office and hires a new head coach.LloydFree wrote: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.
Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Arteezy wrote:Make your guess on where he would be now.
Philipines?
Canada?
College?
buckboy wrote:jg77 wrote:Lavine is my dark horse MVP candidate.
That is the darkest horse that has ever galloped.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
This doesn't work here. For example, Spo, kerr, and Doc all have rings with overpowered rosters. Would you compare any of the Spurs' rosters to those? He has beaten teams with better rosters than his repeatedly in the playoffs, which is not something I can say these other coaches have demonstrated. Pop would be considered Brad Stevens if he never got Duncan, and that is still what will probably be a hall of fame coach.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
This is **** insane. Now Popovich is a mediocre coach.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
TheBoi10 wrote:Who knows. Without TIm Duncan and Kawhi Leonard no one knows who Popovich is.
Without Pop people most likely don't care about Kawhi
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
I really admire Pop's intelligence and ability to command respect from players, but he is totally a sanctimonious curmudgeon. He is beloved by fans and media for his wit and wokism, but would he still get a pass for his a-hole qualities if he weren't gifted with an all-time great talent like Duncan? He is also somewhat of a hypocrite since he would adamantly defend Bruce Bowen for his dirty defensive tactics, yet he had a meltdown when Zaza employed the same thing against him.
Also, something that might surprise people. I think when it comes to athleticism, agility, physical attributes and skill I rate LeBron only in the top 50.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Kerr would be nothing without Curry, Klay, draymond, Iggy, KD...
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
A lame joke about winning in china is the basis for this entire concept?
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Arteezy wrote:Make your guess on where he would be now.
Head Men's Basketball Coach at the United States Air Force Academy
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
The only time we've ever seen Duncan without Pop was in college and in the Olympics.
0 Championships, and some big flameouts in that time.
Am I doing it right?
0 Championships, and some big flameouts in that time.
Am I doing it right?
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Definitely would not be in the convo for GOAT coach.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Everyone's performance (in every profession) peaks at some point.. I don't get why ppl think great coaches will always be great. Pop is GOAT coach and to judge him based on recent failures would be unfair. Pop's track record speaks for itself.. he always got his teams to buy-in and outperform most other teams regardless of talent. At this stage of his career he's prob still an elite coach but his best days are behind him for sure.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
NCHeels2008 wrote:TheBoi10 wrote:Who knows. Without TIm Duncan and Kawhi Leonard no one knows who Popovich is.
Without Pop people most likely don't care about Kawhi
Kawhi just had one of the greatest individual playoff runs of all-time and destroyed the 2nd best team of all-time's dynasty. While Popovich embarrassed and exposed himself this year.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
It's hard to answer this question. That's like saying what if the Blazers selected Kevin Durant with the #1 pick in NBA draft in 2007.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Lol why is this even a discussion?
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
I feel like the disrespect for Ron Mercer is high in this thread also
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
I am old enough to be watching the NBA in 97, and Pop was a respected and sought after GM at the time, which is why the Spurs hired him. My guess is that he would have done a decent job with the Spurs, or whatever other teams he worked with afterwards, but he probably wouldn't have gotten into coaching.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
LloydFree wrote: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.
No truer words than these.
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Name me a coach who won multiple championships without hall of fame players on his roster?
A head coach can only do so much with the talent the players he has on his roster, and even then, many coaches fail. To dimish Pop's accomplishments because a USA team with subpar talent lost is ludicris.
A head coach can only do so much with the talent the players he has on his roster, and even then, many coaches fail. To dimish Pop's accomplishments because a USA team with subpar talent lost is ludicris.
Why so serious?
Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
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Re: Gregg Popovich with Ron Mercer instead of Tim Duncan in the 97 draft
Hill was fired 18 games into the season. Well before the draft.druggas wrote:LloydFree wrote: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.
No truer words than these.
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