San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn’t have too much to be happy about in last night’s 105-92 Game 4 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, seeing as his team lost and that’s the bottom line. But if Pop was the type of guy to harp on every little thing, he could also be pretty pissed that his team gave up a combined 71 points to Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, or that the refs seemed to really be taking liberty with the way some fouls were called, and whom they were called on. But this isn’t about the refs, as much as it’s about Pop and that timeless charisma of his.
TNT’s David Aldridge caught up with Pop at the start of the second quarter to ask him the kind of question that will almost always elicit the best response from the NBA’s most solemn coach: “How did you think your team played in the first quarter?” Sure, the Spurs were only down by 6 when Aldridge asked this question, but Pop’s opinion was apparently very low.
Even when Popovich is irate and ready to explode in a fiery rage, he keeps his cool and offers up a half smile. He wasn’t smiling, though, when it came to the antics of notorious horrible ref Joey Crawford, who had a few “special” moments last night. I don’t know what was specifically being said here, but I have a decent idea:
Pop: “That was a terrible call, sir. I don’t appreciate it.”
Joey Crawford: “BOW BEFORE ME, THE MOON AND THE SUN, AS THESE SOULLESS BASTARD PEONS HAVE PAID TO SEE ME BLOW A WHISTLE AND NOT YOUR PATHETIC TEAM BLOW A GAME. I AM THE CHAMPION OF THIS LEAGUE AND YOU WILL ALL WORSHIP ME AS SUCH BEFORE YOU PERISH IN THE FIRE OF MY ASCENSION INTO THE HEAVENS TO CONQUER THE THRONE OF THE ONE YOU WRONGLY CALL GODDDDDDDDDDdddddddddd…”
Or something like that.
