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'Popovich wasn't just thinking about winning, otherwise I think he would have broken the record a long time ago." Before the game, Jazz coach Snyder fed the Spurs poisoned milk.
In addition to praising the old Popovich, the implication is: "Anyway, don't worry, don't win today." ”
After all, with the Spurs' current combat strength, the threat is not very big. The game also developed in this direction, Mitchell scored 18 points at half-time, leading the Spurs by double digits in the first three quarters of the game, but when the Spurs set off a wave of point chases, it seemed to indicate that the record of winning first was broken today.
In the end, the Spurs defeated the Jazz 104-102, and the 73-year-old Popovich won the 1336th victory of his head coaching career, surpassing Hall of Fame coach Nelson Sr. to become the head coach with the most regular season wins in NBA history, and every game he follows will be a new record.
According to statistics, Popovich alone has won more games than the magic, Hornets, Timberwolves, Raptors, Grizzlies, pelicans and six teams.
At the end of the game, all the Spurs rushed to Popovich's side to celebrate, and the old man did not say anything, but quickly disappeared into the players' tunnel.
Over a period of 26 years, Popovich led the team to 1,336 games in the regular season, a milestone of "no one before, no one to come after", because compared to legendary coaches such as Phil Jackson, Don Nelson, Jerry Sloan and Pat Riley, only Popovich has completed so many victories on one team.
The moment he disappeared into the players' tunnel, the 5 championship flags above the arena flew high.
26 years ago, the world's impression of popovich's name was condensed in a simple and straightforward question: "Who is Greg Popovich?" ”
At that time, Popovich was an anonymous "ordinary person". According to the memories of David Aldridge, a veteran media personality in the United States, the "experts" who know a little about Popovich in the American basketball circle can tell the background information about him, which is basically the only trophy that he has coached Pomona Pitzer Academy in the California Third Division League for 8 seasons.
He then spent a season as a volunteer assistant coach at Brown University in Kansas, only to agree to an invitation from coach Larry Brown to become a spur assistant coach in 1988 because his plan to buy a house on a loan at the school failed.
As Popovich himself said before the game: "When I first started coaching, I just wanted to get a job. I didn't think about shaping a milestone, I just wanted to do my job well. ”
If it weren't for the loan failure, Popovich might not have appeared in the NBA world, but instead shines in school basketball.
In December 1996, Spurs coach Bob Hill was fired by the general manager, who then became the new coach himself, and the general manager was Popovich.
Such a story is somewhat overstepping the shadow of the generation, if you add the general manager's first year of coaching record, put aside in today's environment, general manager Popovich will probably be sprayed by netizens to be unable to take care of himself.
In his first season in charge, the team's interior pillar "Admiral" David Robinson was injured and absent, and the Spurs only had a dismal record of 17 wins and 47 losses under Popovich.
But it was this bleakness that became the beginning of another peak, because the Spurs naturally got Tim Duncan who could "use for 20 years".
Since then, the Spurs have become a team that will not be broken, and the NBA world and even the world basketball world have begun to know this "weird old man".
The NBA ranks first in the number of away wins in history; the first regular season win in NBA history; the first place in NBA's historical regular season wins; the 3-time NBA coach of the year; has 5 championship trophies and an Olympic gold medal; and is the head coach who has coached the same team for the longest time in the four major professional sports leagues in North America...
Twenty-six years later, these data alone would describe Popovich today.
And the answer he gave was: "I can achieve these achievements, there is only one formula, that is, I can stay on this team for a long time, and I happen to have a good group of players." ”
Dejuntai-Murray described Bobo's response this way: "Bobo doesn't like to be praised, he doesn't like it at all, which is a good thing, but sometimes you still want to remind him of how successful he is, because those achievements are so precious." 」 He's just a guy who focuses on winning every day and he never praises himself. ”
The accumulation of records requires opportunities in addition to time. Excluding the "rookie season" of coaching the Spurs in 1996, Popovich led all the teams to the playoffs in the next 22 seasons, and the winning percentage in the regular season remained above 50%.
Unfortunately, such brilliance will also have moments when it will fall to the bottom. Popovich has missed the playoffs twice since 2019, and if he counts his 26-41 record so far this season, he may not be able to achieve a 50% winning percentage for three consecutive seasons.
This is also why, public opinion began to throw questions: "The championship was not won because there was Duncan in the team!" ”
But considering today's public opinion environment of "icing on the cake is easy, it is difficult to send charcoal in the snow", the last one was still "old Zhan knows to throw the pot", this one has become "please cherish his greatness", and the change in the same person's wind evaluation is always crazier than you think.
But the fact that he has coached the same team for 26 seasons speaks for himself in an NBA coaching position in a high-risk profession.
Not to mention that he can also stabilize Duncan, who was once in the rumors of transfer, let the latter stay in the Spurs "dead heart", and even become the Spurs' assistant coach; the unborn world genius Ginobili is also willing to become a substitute player, leaving part of his talent on the bench.
These are enough to see what makes Popovich special.
Guard Avery Johnson, who won his first championship for spurs, said in an interview with Athletic: "The great thing about Popovich is that he always knows what the trend is. In the early days, he demanded discipline, defensiveness and responsibility. Start with defense, and in training, you need to turn everything into a habit. Later, he allowed more creativity on the offensive end in coaching. ”
Popovich's attitude toward three-pointers may be like this. In the early days of the three-point boom, Popovich's response was: "Shoot so many three-pointers, like a circus." And when this trend is unstoppable, the Spurs have become the most skilled team in the league to use three points.
Such a process can be called compromise or it can be called homeopathy. But at least Popovich's way of playing cards will not be as rigid as Thibodeau's.
As David Robinson shared: "Once we watched a video with Mario Elie, and in the video, Elie made a couple of terrible shots, so Bobo said, 'Please, Mario, is your shot reasonable?'" Mario replied, 'Please, Bobo, I've got to find the rhythm of the game.' Then Bobo laughed. ”
"He's just one guy who knows when to whip you and when to take a step back. He's been a great inspiration for so many years, and I think the vast majority of people who've played here feel that way, and Bobo is on your side. This is not common with other coaches. ”
A man who has been in the league for almost 30 years is obviously even more unreasonable to say that he only changes one team. During his 26 years in charge at the Spurs, Popovich passed on his philosophy to the league.
Two of the head coaches who stood in the NBA Finals last season, Budenholzer and Monty Williams, are big fans of Popovich. Head coach Steve Kerr, who led the Warriors to 4 years and 3 championships and 73 wins in the regular season, is also a proud protégé of the Spurs.
In addition, Celtics' Uduka and Charlotte Hornets' James Borrego, as well as Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, and Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Jacques Vaughan, have Spurs behind them.
"Popovich's greatness lies not only in his tactics, but also in his relationship with the players and his style on the pitch." Cole has always acknowledged that he is trying to imitate and learn from Popovich, "It's no secret that we try to emulate and emulate him." ”
Even this inheritance appears in management. Sam Presti, who followed Popovich during his internship and served as assistant to the Spurs' general manager, became a league draft pick collector. And Warriors general manager Bob Myers, on the phone, has always had a quote from Popovich, "The factors of unity and success of a team are not the players, coaches and general managers, but trust." There is no barrier between all, everything is discussed, all criticism is welcomed, and victory can be achieved. ”
This inheritance is not unrelated to Popovich's character. Mike Brown told two stories, one of which he said, "I'll never forget it. We hired a strength coaching intern who was paid very little. Later, his internship ended and he went to Colorado to find a job teaching children. ”
"Later we learned that he didn't have the money to move, and no one paid attention to it, until later we found out that Popovich had bought him a new Nissan Pathfinder, because the young man really didn't have the money to go there and start a new job as a mentor for the young man."
Another story is about himself: "One time I was going to experience being separated from my family. I dropped my kids off at the airport and the team's plane was there. My kids started crying at the gate, they didn't want to go, and I was about to be late, and I was struggling at the time. ”
"I called Bobo and told him I'd go to the team, I was already at the airport, my kids were just a little upset, just give me a few minutes. Then he said, 'Mike, you should stay there.' I said, 'No, no, no. Because we were going to Chicago, where I was in charge of scouting, and I had to go with the team. So I said, 'My kids will be all right.' ’”
"He said, 'If you dare to show up on our plane, you're fired.'" I said, 'Bobo, don't make a fuss!' Listen, I'm already packed, and I'll be over in a hurry. He said, 'Remember, if I see you on this plane, you're fired.' Then he just hung up the phone. So I stayed with my own kids for three more days. ”
Life is bigger than basketball, which is more like a code of conduct for Popovich, who has been in charge of the Spurs for 26 years. Today, Popovich is in the NBA.
After winning the 1336th regular season victory, all the Spurs players poured mineral water on Bobo "mercilessly" after the game, and many players also took the opportunity to sneak a handful of the old man's head.
After being poured out, Bobo smiled and told the players, "We're going to do shooting training tomorrow and we're going to do suicide high-intensity running." ”
After the game, Bobo told the media: "No one is going to coach for the record, it's all about winning, like tonight." ”
But every game after Popovich will be a new record.
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