Reality,
You'll get no argument from me that Popovich sucks.
That said, his players didn't perform last year. You can only blame so many things on the coaching. Beno Udrih didn't develop - yes, that's on Popovich - but regardless, he didn't develop, whereas Harris did. If Dallas offers Harris for Udrih, San An jumps on that deal. Instead, Van Exel plays - a pick-up which I criticized at the beginning of the season last year, for this very reason. Darrell Armstrong provided more veteran leadership - especially to his young guards, and more importantly, while not stealing their minutes - that Van Exel did.
Mohammad tanks. That's not on Popovich. Mohammad is an incredibly stupid player, who tends to do stupid things on the court. That's been the knock on him ever since Utah drafted him and sent him out before playing a game for them. He had a good part of a year for San An - when, because he was new, it was easy to overlook some of the stupid plays, because, obviously, he doesn't know the schemes. He got his rebounds, and played his defense - mostly, because he was playing next to a healthy Duncan. But when you actually had to deal with Mohammad across a season, all of a sudden, Nesterovic becomes the better option. Anyone who has watched Mohammad for long saw this coming a mile away.
Finley struggles. Again, not entirely on Popovich. It truly was a down year, and he didn't play the heavy minutes he usually logs to play his way out of it.
Oberto did nothing last year, except justify WayOut's prediction of him as a "journeyman center." He's playing better this year - but that's THIS YEAR. We don't validate his last year performance based on good performances this year. (And, by the way, playing Oberto in low and forcing Duncan to the perimeter is *STUPID*. A Greg Popovich flavor of stupid.)
Robert Horry disappeared. That's not on Popovich. It's just the fact that Robert Horry is getting old. Van Horn was easily as effective as Horry was. Obviously, the Spurs wouldn't jump on a Van Horn for Horry proposal, but it's because of Horry's *HISTORY*, not his past season's level of effectiveness.
Duncan was hurt, and was less effective because he was hurt. That's not on Popovich.
Bowen is a very limited player. He's no great talent - he just plays defense at a really, really elite level. That's nothing compared to what Josh Howard is - even if Bowen is a better defender than Howard. If the Mavs offer Howard for Bowen, the Spurs jump on it.
If the Mavs offered Diop or Dampier for Nesterovic or Mohammad, the Spurs jump on it. And if the Spurs had the choice of Finley or Stackhouse, they MIGHT take Stackhouse (it would be an egregious mistake, but they might do it). Essentially, there's Parker - who had a career year last year, Ginobilli - who is really the identity player of last year's team, and Duncan who the Spurs wouldn't have traded for their Dallas counterpart. And last year, across the entire year, Nowitzki outperformed Duncan. (I'm not saying Nowitzki is better than Duncan; I think Duncan's the best player in the league. But last year's flavor of Nowitzki - my choice for last year's MVP - isn't far behind.) And, to be honest, I don't think Dallas would have traded ANY ONE of their players for the Spurs counterpart except for Marquis Daniels versus Ginobilli, and Oberto for one of their centers based strictly on future potential (kind of like the Caron Butler for Kwame Brown deal that the Lakers made).
The Mavs were the more talented team last year. It showed up in the cohesiveness of the team. The Spurs were equal to the sum of their parts, and the Mavericks were greater than the sum of their parts. The Spurs relied on the super year of Parker, Ginobilli over the lack of a Mavs 2-guard, and Duncan - their stars - and the Mavs used the whole team.
Now I agree with WayOut that the Mavs flavor of teamwork is somewhat individualistic, which is the Mavs Achilles heel, whereas the Spurs are a more methodical, team-oriented team - which is the only reason the Spurs were in the series against the Mavs last year, but the fact that Dallas was able to defeat the better team-oriented game just goes to show the greater level of talent that they had last year.
I'm curious to see how the loss of Darrell Armstrong plays out in the clubhouse for Dallas.
