ZaZa is a piece of shit

[larryjohn]

... just in case you missed Pop. It is interesting that one ZaZa example he uses is ZaZa vs. David West last year.

I would hate to be reporter asking Pop questions -- often it is a no win.

 

[WiggyRuss]

how can anyone argue with what Pop said?

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

I don't like those Olynyk comparisons. He may be an undercover goon too, but Olynyk is good at playing basketball, unlike him.

 

[larryjohn]

I don't like those Olynyk comparisons. He may be an undercover goon too, but Olynyk is good at playing basketball, unlike him.

Do these play look alike a little bit ?

 

[CodeBreaker]

Even Pop agrees to this thread

 

[tnapucco]

shitty play taking out the best player on their team with such a pussy move.

fucking disgraceful and a stain on the game.

 

[tnapucco]

This is just as bad if not worse than Patrick Beverly's pussy-assed move on Russ.

 

[Mecca]

I want to see what the player analysts have to say about this. I am sick of media types that know nothing a


Pop knows a lot.

Do you think he might have an agenda behind his comments though? Not exactly a neutral party here.

Oh,he is totally biased.

Doesn't mean he's wrong.

 

[trojanfan12]

I am not saying Pachulia isn't dirty. Not making a judgement there. I am saying this was not a dirty play. The best word to describe it is careless.

Exactly, just because a guy has a reputation for being dirty, doesn't mean it was a dirty play. If the roles were reversed and the exact same thing happened to Pachulia, no one would be accusing Leonard of being dirty.

I'm not saying that Pachulia doesn't deserve the scrutiny because of his past transgressions, just that this did not look intentional.

 

[gohusk]

Pop's a bitch. This is the same guy that was constantly defending Bruce Bowen who made an art out of taking people out of the game.

 

[ChrisWebber]

Exactly, just because a guy has a reputation for being dirty, doesn't mean it was a dirty play. If the roles were reversed and the exact same thing happened to Pachulia, no one would be accusing Leonard of being dirty.

I'm not saying that Pachulia doesn't deserve the scrutiny because of his past transgressions, just that this did not look intentional.

Pachulia knew what he was doing. He gave Kawhi no room to land clearly and everyone knows Kawhi has a bum ankle. Call it dirty, reckless, whatever..

 

[tlance]

The problem is, when you are in that situation, the last thing you are thinking about is the guy's ankle. You are desperately trying to contest the shot.

Again, careless is the much better word choice here.

 

[Inimical]

I just don't think he had any chance of contesting that shot in any meaningful way especially with his giant ass retard shoes

 

[tlance]

I just don't think he had any chance of contesting that shot in any meaningful way especially with his giant ass retard shoes

So, you are saying he shouldn't even try?

It is the playoffs. Guys are going hard. No player with an ounce of self respect is going to sit back and watch the other teams' best player shoot an uncontested jumper if they are in the area.

Also, any contest is meaningful. You do not need to block a shot to bother it. A guy like Kawhi hits uncontested 20 footers about 75% of the time. Simply getting a hand up cuts that percentage in half.

 

[tlance]

Also, keep in mind that Pachulia is a role player.

The only reason he has a job in the NBA is because he competes hard when he is on the court. The day he stops contesting shots like that is the day his NBA career is over.

Pop is doing his job when he makes his public rant. He is trying to energize his team and perhaps garner sympathy from officials. Pachulia was also doing his job when he sold out contest Leonard's step back jumper.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

Exactly, just because a guy has a reputation for being dirty, doesn't mean it was a dirty play. If the roles were reversed and the exact same thing happened to Pachulia, no one would be accusing Leonard of being dirty.

I'm not saying that Pachulia doesn't deserve the scrutiny because of his past transgressions, just that this did not look intentional.

Yeah that's kind of how I look at it. Who can blame Pop for being pissed" And with this guy's reputation it's understandable. But put me in the "he's a fat, clumsy, uncoordinated, ugly fucker" camp on this particular play.

 

[Gman]

I don't think it was intentional, either... however... I could see the league cracking down on that kind of negligent, lazy close out. There is clear potential to cause an injury with that kind of nonsense.

 

[Heatles84]

Hes just a big guy with big feet who closed out on a shooter in the corner. It happens all the time in basketball. Not sure what there is to argue about here.

Just bad luck and timing for Leonard an the Spurs. I feel their pain being a Knicks/Bulls fans. They have suffered through 10x more injury pains than the Spurs have. ROFLMAO

Injuries cost the Bulls a few finals appearance (and probably a 'ship) over the past 7 years. Injuries to Rose may have cost the Knicks a good playoff run this year. Yea they may not have won it all but I think they would have made the East playoffs a bit interesting.

Bulls were never going to win a title with that core. At no point would they have beaten OKC, San Antonio or the Warriors.

 

[Heatles84]

Pop's a bitch. This is the same guy that was constantly defending Bruce Bowen who made an art out of taking people out of the game.

I'm not going to call Pop a bitch, but this does apply. It has nothing to do with Kawhi and Zaza. It's more geared towards Popovich who for years defended Bowen doing the very same thing that just happened to Kawhi. Also for Spurs fans (I knew plenty) who always defended him as well. The minute the shoe's on the other foot then all of a sudden they're saying dude should be kicked out the league.

Zaza's reckless, and in the past he's clearly been a dirty player. I understand why Pop said what he said - he isn't necessarily wrong as it applies to this incident. But your past deeds sometime come out against you and having a player for years do the exact same thing to others isn't the best look. Having said that, it's unfortunate that this series right now is defined by Kawhi's injury and not the match ups or play on the court.

 

[Heatles84]

I don't think it was intentional, either... however... I could see the league cracking down on that kind of negligent, lazy close out. There is clear potential to cause an injury with that kind of nonsense.

They already have. They call fouls now when you're in the shooter's space when they're coming down. I don't think they did this in the early 2000's. You open up Pandora's box when you start kicking players out of the game for falling in a shooter's space. If they did that, Aldridge would've found himself out of the game as well in game 1.