Gregg Popovich is great and getting greater. After four NBA championships and 17 seasons coaching the San Antonio Spurs, Pop's job security is not in question, so he can say and do pretty much whatever he wants. With the Spurs playing the Los Angeles Clippers in Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs, Popovich can have some fun with Vinny Del Negro, the Clippers coach and former Spurs player under Popovich. Essentially, Pop uses "Del Negro" as a stand-in for any negative basketball-related term. Here's what he told ESPN (h/t TBJ):
“Some of the stuff we do on defense, we actually have one thing we call on the pin downs, we say we’re going to ‘Del Negro it’ and that’s in his honor and we’ve done that for 15 years. We have a Del Negro defense out there because he couldn’t play a lick of D. At times we had to invent something just to hide him, so we call it ‘Del Negro’ and you do certain things on the court and everybody has to make up for that guy who’s the ‘Del Negro.’”
Gregg Popovich, you win again. He continues, this time on his coaching relationship with Vinny Del Negro:
"He’s not a protégé.. “We never coached together but I was able to coach him... We’ll share things and try to support each other and everything because he’s a wonderful guy. He understood the game, he wasn’t very quick but he really knew how to play the game, especially pick-and-roll and that kind of thing."
Perhaps Pop didn't intend it this way (except he probably did), but what a rash of backhanded compliments in there! Del Negro is NOT Gregg Popovich's protégé, but he's a wonderful guy. Really understood the pick-and-roll, the easiest, simplest, yet most effective play in basketball. Good guy. Terrible coach. Probably going to run the Clips into the ground. But we keep in touch. Spend Christmas together. I'd want him to marry my daughter. Not coach my grandkids, but still.
Just another reason Gregg Popovich is the man. Spurs in five.
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[ESPN]
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