Jun 20, 2013
Tim Duncan is a four time NBA champion, one of the greatest big men ever to play basketball and the face of the San Antonio Spurs franchise during a dynastic period in the team’s history. However, on Tuesday night, with 28.2 seconds left on the clock and his team up by five points, Duncan sat on the bench.
What proceeded to happen one of the NBA’s all-time great coaches affectionately known as ‘Pop’ with one major regret. Somehow during the flurry of those last 28.2 seconds the Miami Heat missed two three-point shots, but managed to grab the offensive rebound and make the shots on a second attempt.
Of course just about every coaching decision is debatable to an extent. Duncan himself in the post-game press conference voiced that it was just standard procedure to go small in a late game situation where the opposition needed to shoot threes. Still, it is distinctly unsurprising that Popovich is catching some flack considering the fact one Duncan rebound would have just about assured that it was game over. That’s how close San Antonio came to sealing the title.
The problem with the procedure argument is that Popovich isn’t a man who traditionally follows procedure. In this NBA Finals series alone he has surprised many entrusting Boris Diaw with the LeBron James defensive assignment mid-series to great effect and especially when he inserted a struggling Manu Ginobili into the starting line-up for Game 5.
Decisions have to be made at a fast pace when it comes to NBA coaching and the reality is that there is rarely a ‘right answer’. However, the fear of all five of Miami’s players and their three-point shooting ability compared with the benefit of having your top rebounder, a four-time NBA champion and the emotional leader of the team.
Was the threat of Chris Bosh retreating beyond the arc really so great? If it was then was Duncan, an elite level defender, really incapable of guarding against that? It’s not as if the future hall of famer was in foul trouble either having picked up just two, and he had already picked up 17 rebounds in 44 minutes of play.
For his part Popovich’s frustration in the post-game was clearly evident. The press conference showed a man who felt the strain of a painful and heart-breaking loss. He will look at the bounce from those rebounds and wonder whether it was just somewhat unfortunate.
Just about every other coach’s decision could be second guessed. Popovich has earned more right than most not to be questioned. The loss for the Spurs was about far more than just one coaching call regardless of whether it was the right one or not.
