Clearly. (via Tirico Suave and h/t to @alana_g)
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Posts tagged as:
Pop
I forgot about this yesterday. So it’s now Saturday. But I’m not changing the title. And it also means you get two new ones from last night that you perhaps may not have seen if not for my blunder. Lucky you. The lesson here: remembering things isn’t as beneficial as your third grade teacher told you it was. That bitch.
Previous Doc Funk Friday installments can be found here. And much, much more unadulterated goodness can be found from the man himself at Brain on Funk.
Head that way ASAP.
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As if we needed any further evidence that the Van Gundys are the best siblings associated with the Association this side of the Lopezi (Brook and Robin), Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is officially sick and tired of your whining. After the guy you’ve probably never heard of who coaches the 76ers and is named Tony DiLeo spent his post-game press conference complaining about Dwight Howard regularly spending more than three seconds in the paint, Stan decided to publicly mock the guy. (both via Slam)
“Am I supposed to come up here and talk about the game. Or am I supposed to come up here and lobby for the calls I want the next game?” Van Gundy said. “Is that what it’s about now? We’re supposed to lobby for the calls we want the next game? Let’s just play the games…I guess that’s the only reason Dwight’s having success in this series. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s good.”
If this guy would just buy a tie and stop wearing mocknecks constantly, he might have a shot at dethroning Pop as my favorite coach in the League. I mean, between Stan, George Karl and Don Nelson, the NBA could almost field an entire division coached by the Fat White Guys That Gave Up Years Ago club.
"Like the guy in the $5,600 dollar suit is gonna coach without exposing his bloated midrift. COME ON."
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Guess who’s bizzack? Still smell the crack in his clothes. (via Slam)
The Spurs guard, who missed the team’s first 12 games while recovering from September ankle surgery, will make his season debut tonight at Memphis, Popovich confirmed after this morning’s shootaround.
It was welcome news for Ginobili, who last week had targeted this very game for his return.
“It’s great to hear,” Ginobili said. “It’s been enough time.”
The world obviously needs more Manu in its life, so this is a great development — especially considering Pop was seemingly taking a hard line about letting the Argentine return to action before he was fully ready as recently as a few days ago.
For what it’s worth, Roger Mason has played admirably in Ginobli’s absence with scoring totals of 29, 26, 21, 18 and 18 in five of his last nine games, plus, ya know, drilling a game-winning three on November 17 against the Clippers. Honestly, other than the unrelenting brilliance of Tim Duncan, it has been Roger’s inspired play that has allowed San Antonio to tread water to the tune of a 6-6 record while missing Manu and Tony Parker for most of the year.
And Roger will continue to be leaned on as Manu plays his way into shape — something even he admits will take some time.
“I’m going to be out of shape, a little slower,” said Ginobili. “But those are things you only get from playing. I feel like it works better for me getting 10 minutes of playing time than [spending] 20 minutes on a treadmill.”
With preseason Western Conference darlings Utah, New Orleans and Portland all failing to impress thus far, the return of Manu — along with Tony presumably coming back before too long — could mean that the Spurs have another unexpected run in them, especially if Mason, George Hill and the resurgent Mike Finley can all continue providing solid perimeter play.
And since Manu’s in Tejas, you know what he’ll do right after the comeback game tonight, right? Fuck a fine ho and candy paint the ’88.
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Per usual, Kevin Pelton absolutely kills it on the knowledge tip with this thorough-as-hell breakdown of coaching lineages. Essentially, it’s a look at who spawned who (whom?) in the coaching ranks, complete with the actual breakdown of who (whom?) served as assistants for whom (who?) and an analysis of the coaching styles propagated by the patriarch.
Here’s the “Dean Smith Coaching Tree” section, for example, which is just a meager sampling from this utter beast of hoopology academia.
Dean Smith Coaching Tree
Trademarks: Above-average pace, underrated defenses, depth
Current Head Coaches: Larry Brown, George Karl
Other Notables: Billy Cunningham, Matt Doherty, Doug Moe, Roy WilliamsBrown Branch: Maurice Cheeks, Gregg Popovich
Karl Branch: Nate McMillan
Popovich Sub-Branch: Mike Brown, P.J. CarlesimoOne way or another, nearly a quarter of the NBA’s head coaches can trace their lineage back to the legendary North Carolina coach, which is not surprising given that Smith coached more NBA talent than any of his peers during his time on the sidelines. Smith’s direct influence seems to be waning, at least at the NBA level. Few of North Carolina’s alumni from the ’80s and ’90s have turned to the sidelines, with several instead going into broadcasting (Brad Daugherty, Hubert Davis and Kenny Smith, most prominently). The notable exception is Milwaukee assistant Joe Wolf, a potential future head coach.
Where Smith’s coaching tree continues to grow is from something of a rogue offshoot–Brown, who shares few common traits with the other Carolina guys. If Brown was considered the head of his own coaching tree, which might make more sense stylistically, he becomes more influential than his mentor and has arguably the league’s strongest tree. Brown disciple Popovich has built a strong tree in his own right, one which in addition to Brown and Carlesimo includes Avery Johnson and up-and-coming Portland assistant Monty Williams.
Karl’s coaching tree is also stronger than his lone current protégé would imply; Dallas assistants Dwane Casey and Terry Stotts, both of them former head coaches, worked under Karl as assistants in Seattle.
Just a stunning display.
So stop watching silly YouTube videos posted by ignorant bloggers for once and get your real basketball learn on by heading over to Basketball Prospectus and reading the whole thing.
Cause reading is fundomentle.
Shane Battier plants a tree in his local community. In case you hadn't heard.
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