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At the start of the only NBA first-round playoff series that featured seven games, it was suggested to Tim Connelly, president of the Denver Nuggets basketball operations, that a match against the San Antonio Spurs would be a good thing for his young people. team.
Connelly had to deal with Spots led by Gregg Popovich, it would be like going to the Playoff School for Denver, a group that brought the No. 2 seed to the West at the game, but virtually no playoff experience.
"It's the gold standard of the NBA, with perhaps the best coach of all time," said Connelly, reversing the theory as quickly as he could hear it.
"You never want to see the Spurs."
Much to the delight of Connelly, Denver went from almost losing the first two home games to the No. 7 seeded ultra prepared to watch the Spurs down and close them on Saturday night. In Game 7, Nikola Jokic (21 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists) scored another triple-double and the Nuggets managed to impose 90-86. The result was a series that seemed shocking, no matter what the regular season standings said – especially since Popovich ended up collapsing on the floor of the Pepsi Center during the matches. live in the final seconds and scream in vain at LaMarcus Aldridge or Patty Mills committing a fault that never happened.
Imagine: a corrective execution error sealed the second consecutive Spurs withdrawal. Veterans like Aldridge and Mills should not have to be charged with scoring 4 points in the last 30 seconds.
Shortly after Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points in Toronto's victory over the first series win, he left it to Popovich to handle the first-round playoffs for the first time in his career. 39; coach.
A foul, of course, was unlikely to save visitors at this point, Denver holding a two-possession lead. Yet it was a decidedly uninspired end to a first post-Kawhi season that was generally beyond expectations – an end that, like that, led Pop and Co. to a real crossroads.
After a N.B.A. A record of 22 consecutive Spurs playoff games, all overseen by Popovich, all San Antonio players are now waiting for a firm statement from the coach, synonymous with the beloved Spurs from the city of Alamo.
In January, when the New York Times asked him directly if he intended to sue, Popovich admitted that "I do not know the answer".
After the elimination of the Spurs on Saturday night, Popovich was asked about his expiring contract and the training of this group next season. He spoke for 40 seconds, much more than he usually podiums the post-match interview. His response, however, did not include any mention of signing a new agreement. Popovich, in fact, has not spoken at all about his status, focusing on the fact that the planned return of injured goalkeeper Dejounte Murray ensures that "it will not be the same team".
Clarity could come this week, perhaps as early as Monday, since Popovich usually conducts a final session with the media shortly after the Spurs' final match. However, there has been no formal update on this subject. since our story in January, when Connelly's counterpart in San Antonio, R.C. Buford, would only say, "He will train as long as he wants to coach."
For sure: Popovich is determined to coach the US men's national team – his dream job – for the next two summers. This is a commitment that has led many observers of the league to think that the Spurs' training for an extra season and the start after the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were the scenario the more natural.
Again, it should be noted that there is less than two weeks left between the FIBA World Cup in China from August 31 to September 7. 15 and the start of the Spurs training camp. For only the fourth coach in league history to do this job at age 70, this would provide an extremely short time.
It is difficult to read the story of the former Air Force Academy officer, who once aspired to a career in military intelligence, but it is also natural to wonder if Popovich still finds the situation pleasant enough to persist. There have been enough credible rumors to the contrary during the season to believe that the campaign was much more painful than it seemed.
It was not just the first full season of his coaching life in which Popovich could not rely on Tim Duncan, Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili. It was also the year 1 after Leonard became the first player of the Popovich era to move away from the city through trade.
San Antonio had to overcome the late-season defeat of his best defenseman at Murray in October, as well as an 11-14 start, so as not to lose his endless streak of ultimate injury. In the Denver series, Popovich personally coached the Spurs to win Match 3 at home, the same night that marked the first anniversary of the death of his wife Erin after a long illness.
It was finally San Antonio's failure to hold the two 19-point advances he built in the second game, rather than the chaotic scenes of the seventh game, which cost the Spurs a second-inning. round with the star of the series so far. : Damian Lillard from Portland. But after the last match, Popovich chose to rent the Nuggets for their breakthrough instead of lamenting the missed opportunity.
"I'm really happy for them in a strange way," Popovich said.
The Spurs can also console themselves knowing that as long as they employ the smart Buford, Popovich can count on a list of candidates to encourage him to continue.
But the difference between United without rudder and San Antonio still stable is the enlightened eye of Buford, who found Parker (# 28) and Ginobili (# 57) with a ridiculously late selection of projects and could have done it again with his two 29s: Murray and Derrick White.
White had a horrendous series after his 36 point leader in the third game, but it was essentially his rookie season. The Spurs seem to have something to do with the trio of Murray, White and Bryn Forbes – as well as two other first-round picks in June – and the team could have a salary cap space at home. Summer of 2020 if she decided to move from Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan.
Yet there is only one Pop – as Denver coach Mike Malone has repeatedly said over the past two weeks. The series started with a Malone joke about trying to adhere to Pop's five champion rings with only his "wedding ring". She ended with the victory of the Nuggets, a 54 win, which would allow them to survive the Playoff School, but not until Malone compared Popovich to Bobby Fischer, the famous chess champion.
"Sometimes things work and sometimes not," Popovich said after match 6, when the strategy was put on the front burner. "But I will probably not discuss the plan with you, with all due respect. I do not know why I should do that. "
The same thing applies clearly to its future. It's Gregg Charles Popovich, and whether you like the way he answers questions from reporters or not, he'll tell us when he's ready.
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