Suns owner takes mic mid-game, apologizes to Phoenix fans for Spurs keeping players home

Think Pop is a great coach but how does the head coach not make the trip? I understand the players take a physical toll but no excuse for the HC to miss a game unless there's an illness or family emergency.

 

Popovich thrives off of creating a "Spurs against the establishment" vibe in San Antonio. He could be making a point about the schedule or he just doesn't care about NBA obligations/potential fines. You can't argue with the results.

 

You must not be a Regular Show fan....

 

I don't blame the Spurs and I don't blame the owner. While at odds, both are right IMHO.

 

A couple of YouTube clips later... not so much.

 

Thats why pop wins championships

 

How much is he going to be fined this time? If I pay to go see a Suns & Spurs game, I expect to see for the Suns, Bledsoe & Dragic and for the Spurs, Duncan, Ginoboli, Parker, and Leonard.

 

Pop hacked the NBA and it's killing folks. I love it.

 

love it.

“As I said, the silliness begins,” he said. “Most wise individuals would check facts before they made statements. Unless you’re interested in putting on a show. In that case, the facts get in your way, as in this case.

“We had five guys we didn’t send. Patty Mills had a shoulder operation over the summer. Tiago Splitter (calf) has been out the whole preseason. Kawhi Leonard (eye infection) was out and is still out for 10 more days. The other two, Duncan and Ginobili, are two of the oldest guys in the league who just came back from a 13-day European trip.

“The only thing that surprises me is that he didn’t say it in a chicken suit. I’ll just leave it at that.”

 

If you pay for any preseason tickets you should prepare for the chances that certain star players might not play.

 

I have no problem with what Pop did. I don't think Pop gives a crap about this year's preseason, considering most of his roster consists of experienced vets.

As for Sarver...I doubt he REALLY cares about the Spurs keeping players home. He merely saw this as an easy PR/marketing/goodwill opportunity for the Suns fanbase and seized it. That's it.

This entire story has been blown out of proportion. Much ado about nothing.

 

Dallas sits their entire starting 5 against Indiana tonight. Where are the pitchforks?

 

If you expect that in preseason, that's on you.

 

Cool of him to do that for the fans. But pretty stupid of him to expect pop to play his main guys

 

Pop is right and love the comeback! Pop drops the mic and Suns owner sobs in corner!
Also it's pre-season and there are legitimate reasons why those guys did not play, so pretty silly of the owner.

 

From a business point of view, the Suns owner made the right call by offering fans a free gift in attendance. That my friend is how you take care of business.

 

Yea but Pop pulls this stuff during the regular season as well. It's one thing for guys not to play, but they didn't even show up. Pop himself wasn't even there right...??? Lol..

Definitely not an overreacting by the owner because at the end of the day it's a business. Does Pop pull this type of stuff in San Antonio where he'll let all his players stay at home and not even sit on the bench...?

 

Well to be honest if I paid for a preseason ticket and went to an NBA game I would be pretty pissed to find out Pops and co. didn't make the flight. In fact if I was one of the owners I would be petitioning a fine for Pops for not even coming to the game.

I understand Pops wants to rest his guys but at the same time by having his players sit at home instead of coming to the game he's basically getting an advantage, as well as ripping off all the people who spent money to buy tickets to see the game. You have injured players wearing suits on the bench just so they could be there with their team and people can see them, here you have Pops being a wise ass, at least have the players attend the damn game.

What's next? Will Manu suddenly have "back spasms" so he'll spend half the season resting at home in his home and just show up after the all star break?

 

As a fan, I hate what Pop did and will likely continue to do. Fans don't pay big bucks to watch the end of the bench. It sucks.

However, I do find it instructive. What better way to get continual buy-in from your players than by actively demonstrating that you're looking out for their best interests, ie rest when needed. I can knock Pop as much as I like, but his style of leadership wins chips.

 

Disrespectful response by Pop. Now, I don't really care if he disrespects Sarver. Pop probably felt disrespected himself, so whatever. I just have to think Holt's not going to appreciate it.

Did they attend the game? It's preseason and the point of preseason is to have some games for coaches to work out lineups and whatnot. Everyone should know attending a preaseason game that you may by watching some scrub get extended minutes. But, it really rubs me wrong that they didn't even travel. They don't have to play, but they should suit up, or sit courtside in a suit if they're injured.