With small adjustment made, Popovich now faces a big one
SAN ANTONIO — Gregg Popovich predicted a starting lineup adjustment would not “change the universe,” and he was right. Switching David Lee for Pau Gasol is not the kind of tactical maneuver historians write textbooks about.
But Popovich proved himself willing to re-evaluate a few other things Wednesday, and for one night, most of his changes worked. This was not, as a national newspaper headline dubbed him this week, a coach with “old, stubborn ways.”
He tweaked his defensive approach on James Harden, went small to start a game-deciding fourth-quarter run, and went back to a young player who’d been withering away on the end of his bench, all with positive results.
And now, with the Western Conference semifinals tied thanks to the Spurs’ 121-96 rout in Game 2, the “old, stubborn” coach faces another test.
If he has to go to Houston without the one player he trusts more than anyone else to run his system?
Popovich will have to adapt again, whether he likes it or not.
Late Wednesday night, the status of point guard Tony Parker remained unclear. Popovich said the Spurs “have no idea” how badly the veteran point guard injured his left knee when he came down awkwardly with less than nine minutes left in the game.
But Parker could not put any weight on the leg, and two teammates had to carry him across the court to a waiting wheelchair. Even without any official medical diagnosis available, that scene alone probably was enough to make Popovich start pondering backup plans for Game 3.
Shift in tactics
The beginning of Wednesday’s fourth quarter might provide a blueprint. After the Rockets had cut the Spurs’ lead to three points minutes earlier, Popovich sent Parker and three wing players onto the floor with Gasol, and that lineup essentially buried the Rockets for the night.
Jonathon Simmons, who had been underutilized in recent weeks as he tried to get back into Popovich’s good graces, was the star of the gamechanging run and almost certainly earned himself more opportunities this weekend.
That the Spurs made their move with a small lineup was notable because it was exactly what a Washington Post writer predicted Popovich wouldn’t do. In a piece that ran Tuesday, the newspaper noted Popovich didn’t go small last year against Oklahoma City until it was too late, and it guessed he would never go against his “usual nature” to stick with what worked for the Spurs all season.
To be sure, that has been Popovich’s modus operandi in the past. And it’s not as though he threw out the Spurs’ entire personality Wednesday. They still let Kawhi Leonard lead, and they still let Parker get them into many of the same old sets.
Depending on the gravity of Parker’s injury, though, the Spurs might not have that luxury in Game 3. And it sounded like they’re not expecting it.
“We kind of know we’re not going to see him any time soon,” Manu Ginobili said.
And if they don’t, Popovich will have to decide just how ready he is to entrust his team’s postseason fate to Dejounte Murray, the rookie who could have used some extra repetitions at the end of the regular season but missed them because of his own injury.
Familiar position
Popovich hasn’t been stuck with a rookie point guard in the playoffs since 14 years ago, when he didn’t have a choice. Back then, he had an erratic, untested kid he couldn’t afford to bench, and all Parker did was help lift the Spurs to an NBA championship.
No one expects that kind of immediate production from Murray, especially without the benefit of the regular-season training Parker had.
But Popovich will tweak and tinker, and he might find a way to make a lineup with Murray work.
It probably won’t change the world. But an old, stubborn coach will do what he can anyway.