Get off my lawn! Gregg Popovich is turning into the old grumpy guy that is slowly starting to lose his mind. The Spurs flat out aren’t the same anymore. Times change, smart people change with them and adapt. Old grumpy people don’t adapt and fall behind. The NBA league-wide right now is shooting 35 percent of their shots from 3-point range. The Spurs are way behind that mark.
27 percent of the Spurs shots come from 3-point range. You can see from the graphic that mark is 8 percent lower than the league average. The Spurs are 10-11 on the season and they are horrific from 3-point range because of awful roster construction. LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan crowd the paint and have struggled. The Houston Rockets led the league in 3-point attempts last year and they had the most wins in the West a year ago. Times change so change with it.
Gregg Popovich went so far that he said that he actually hates the 3-point shot – via Bulls.com:
“These days there’s such an emphasis on the three because it’s proven to be analytically correct,” Popovich Monday offered with what appeared to be a sneer. “Now you look at a stat sheet after a game and the first thing you look at is the threes. If you made threes and the other team didn’t, you win. You don’t even look at the rebounds or the turnovers or how much transition D was involved. You don’t even care. That’s how much an impact the three-point shot has and it’s evidenced by how everybody plays.”
“I hate it, but I always have,” Popovich said even as he’s adjusted over the years. “I’ve hated the three for 20 years. That’s why I make a joke all the time (and say) if we’re going to make it a different game, let’s have a four-point play. Because if everybody likes the three, they’ll really like the four. People will jump out of their seats if you have a five-point play. It will be great. There’s no basketball anymore, there’s no beauty in it. It’s pretty boring. But it is what it is and you need to work with it.”
It’s time to fire Gregg Popovich. I hate to say it but it’s true. It’s fallen behind the times. He’s not even the best coach in the NBA by a long shot. I like the guy. I truly do. It’s a shame but the Spurs run is over. It’s toast. Poor Popovich. He got too old. It’s the cycle of life. I hope I’m not working in my 70’s because if I am I hope someone puts me down.
