During the 1996 season, the coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Bob Hill, was handicapped by injuries that knocked out starters David Robinson, Sean Elliott, Vinny Del Negro and sixth man Chuck Person. The coach was fired after a 3-15 start. That kind of start was understandable with so many top players out for much of those 19 games. The general manager then selected himself to coach for the rest of that season.
That GM turned coach was Gregg Popovich.
He didn't fare much better, by the way, going only 15-47 the rest of the way.
It was a controversial move at the time because of the injuries that had decimated the team.
However, with hindsight being 20/20, I can't say Bob Hill would have accomplished what Coach Pop has during that time. If you look past the acerbic wit and dry humor, you see a man that can flat out coach and established a legacy of winning. His track record includes:
Four NBA Championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007)
Winning 736 regular season games.
Winning 106 playoff games.
Winning Coach of the Year in 2003.
Leading the Spurs to their m ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Raymond Settles
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October 15th, 2010 by Raymond Settles Leave a reply »
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