TNT Question

Which #1 pick and coach were together the longest. Duncan and Pop were at the top.

 

15 years from now, people will be saying the same thing about Sam Mitchell and Chris Bosh.

 

Ya welcome.

Translation:

"Stud players help coaches keep their jobs, assuming coaches don't piss off studs"

 

i thought pop came after the draft

Rocket River

 

The question doesn't specify when the coach came into play.

 

Nope, remember Pop fired Bob Hill during the season before. Then the Spurs tanked the season and lucked out by getting Tim Duncan.

 

I think Pop was GM at the time and Bob Hill the coach. David Robinson was injured to begin the season, and when he got healthy, Pop fired Bob Hill. Robinson played like 6 more games and then was injured for the season, and Pop got lucky that the Spurs got the top pick.

 

I think that should be re-phrased: "the Spurs tanked the season for Tim Duncan."

 

Question: If Rick Pitino had actually been able to draft Tim Duncan like he originally planned, would he still be a coach in the NBA?

Anyone remember when the celtics thought there were going to get the #1 that year?

 

yeah its funny how one ping pong ball can change the whole NBA.

 

Or one cocaine overdose....Lenny Bias anyone?

DD

 

Rick Pitino Jr, if the celtics had drafted Duncan.

"Duncan isn't walking through that door."

 

To this day, Bob Hill is still bitter about the whole thing. He's still talking to the media about it while, instead, he should focus on coaching the Sonics and keeping the job long term. Hill thinks Pop is the reason he hasn't got another NBA head coaching job the last 9 years.

That all said, I don't think it was fair he was fired. You don't win 62 & 59 games, then get tossed after starting 3-15 the third year because your franchise superstar is injured. But I'll always be grateful to Hill for the pathetic defense the Spurs put on Dream in the 1995 WCFs. The Spurs not only lost that series because the Rockets were hot; some of it was also bad coaching by Hill. If I remember correctly, Dream had 28 points at halftime in one of the games. And the Spurs owned us, winning 5/6 against us in the regular season.

 

that wasn't bob hill. IIRC, that was john lucas.

 

Lucas got the job when the disastrous (and very short) Tarkanian era came to and end. What a joke that was. Lucas then went to the Sixers in the offseason and Hill became the head coach.

 

I think pop came right after they won the lottery that year.

 

From the Spurs website: Pop was 17-47 his first season because he took over after 18 games when he fired Bob Hill. Then they picked up Duncan and won 56 games the next season, a 36 game improvement. I'm sure that's a record.

 

tim duncan not only changed the future of the spurs and celtics, he changed the future of the eastern conference. had he gone there, there would have been at least one competitive team there. the balance of the whole league was shifted.