There is no blowup here. Just a coach who’s obviously pissed off about losing Game 2 and has to go talk to the media for a few minutes after the game. He gets progressively annoyed by the questions and then settles down toward the end. It is a lesson in composure.
Part of the problem is that half of the reporters that cover the games never played competitive basketball in their lives. Popovich’s response to the “energy” question was a little perplexing. One team can certainly play with more energy than another, but I think his point was that his Spurs were playing hard and the ball just didn’t bounce their way.
Barring an unforeseen snag, Drew Gooden will be joining the San Antonio Spurs later this week, according to NBA front-office sources.
Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that Gooden — waived Sunday by the Sacramento Kings before the midnight deadline to be eligibile to play in the playoffs with another team — has made known his intent to sign with San Antonio after clearing waivers Wednesday.
Gooden was pursued by several playoff-bound teams this week, including San Antonio’s divisional rivals in Dallas and New Orleans.
But the Spurs have nearly $1.5 million remaining from their mid-level salary-cap exception to offer Gooden for the rest of the season, as well as a shot at title contention.
Suns’ center Shaquille O’Neal spent some of the offseason complaining about the way the Spurs still use the “Hack-a-Shaq” method on him when the two teams play.
So in Wednesday night’s Suns-Spurs game, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich responded by hacking Shaq…within the first five seconds of the game.
That’s pretty funny but Pop’s goofy expression and double-thumbs up was kind of weird.
