“Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time.”
- Lou Brock
One guy who seemingly never cares how others see him is Spurs coach Greg Popovich. Early in game 3 of the Western Conference Finals last night, his Spurs team was struggling. So Popovich decides to bench all 5 starters in the hopes of getting a spark. The plan sort of worked at the time. But the real genius seemed to come in the 4th and into the OT when the Spurs old legs (aka Duncan and Ginobili) took over and dominated. You see, all "Pop" cares about is winning. It doesn't matter how you got there, as long as you get it done. If you need to rest your guys on a marquee televised match-up against the Heat, you do it and you tell the commissioner to butt out. And maybe that's the reason he has led the Spurs to all those rings. In today's NBA where so much seems to be about sizzle rather than steak, Greg Popovich is a relic from another era. While young 7 footers learn to handle the basketball in the open floor and take 3's, Pop has a traditional back-to-the-basket guy in Duncan. While teams like the Knicks basically play 1-on-1 for 48 minutes a night with Melo and JR Smith, Pop runs a motion offense where even 2nd round picks can develop and thrive in their roll. And while the trend is to try to gather a "Big 3" of stars and fill in the cracks around, the Spurs big 3 are guys from France, Argentina and the US Virgin Islands who, while stars in their own right, gather very little attention from the MSSM (main stream sports media). But all they do is win, year after year. Popovich does it his way and he doesn't care what you think about it. You just have to respect that level of self-assurance and moxie. Like Bill Belicheck wearing ridiculous cut-off sweatshirts, it might look awful but you must respect the production. So with the Spurs up 3-0 on a young and hungry Memphis team, look for Popovich to calmly take each game as it comes and maybe even put one more pretty ring on his ugly-winning team.
So today, don't worry so much about what others think or say about you. Know that you are a beautiful collection of energy and the world is a better place with you in it.
“I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever only rejoices me, and the heart appoints”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Lou Brock
One guy who seemingly never cares how others see him is Spurs coach Greg Popovich. Early in game 3 of the Western Conference Finals last night, his Spurs team was struggling. So Popovich decides to bench all 5 starters in the hopes of getting a spark. The plan sort of worked at the time. But the real genius seemed to come in the 4th and into the OT when the Spurs old legs (aka Duncan and Ginobili) took over and dominated. You see, all "Pop" cares about is winning. It doesn't matter how you got there, as long as you get it done. If you need to rest your guys on a marquee televised match-up against the Heat, you do it and you tell the commissioner to butt out. And maybe that's the reason he has led the Spurs to all those rings. In today's NBA where so much seems to be about sizzle rather than steak, Greg Popovich is a relic from another era. While young 7 footers learn to handle the basketball in the open floor and take 3's, Pop has a traditional back-to-the-basket guy in Duncan. While teams like the Knicks basically play 1-on-1 for 48 minutes a night with Melo and JR Smith, Pop runs a motion offense where even 2nd round picks can develop and thrive in their roll. And while the trend is to try to gather a "Big 3" of stars and fill in the cracks around, the Spurs big 3 are guys from France, Argentina and the US Virgin Islands who, while stars in their own right, gather very little attention from the MSSM (main stream sports media). But all they do is win, year after year. Popovich does it his way and he doesn't care what you think about it. You just have to respect that level of self-assurance and moxie. Like Bill Belicheck wearing ridiculous cut-off sweatshirts, it might look awful but you must respect the production. So with the Spurs up 3-0 on a young and hungry Memphis team, look for Popovich to calmly take each game as it comes and maybe even put one more pretty ring on his ugly-winning team.
So today, don't worry so much about what others think or say about you. Know that you are a beautiful collection of energy and the world is a better place with you in it.
“I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever only rejoices me, and the heart appoints”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
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