San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Reveals Thoughts After 6th Straight Loss

If you missed the San Antonio Spurs embarrass themselves on national television to the Oklahoma City Thunder, you’re probably better off. The good people at TNT did their best to save whatever dignity the Spurs and their fans had left, changing their broadcast to show the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers game with plenty of time still left in the Spurs’ game.

It wasn’t enough. The Spurs lost 123-87. After the game, Gregg Popovich was very frustrated with the effort he saw on the court.

“I realize it’s a young team but two things have to happen. At one point you have to get tired of getting your (expletive) kicked and second, you have to understand it’s a 49-minute game,” Popovich said. “We played 22 good minutes in the first half. The last two minutes of the first half we turned it over three times and executed nothing.”

Popovich was right. The first half saw the Spurs and Thunder battle it out. There were ten lead changes in the first half and neither team got ahead by more than eight points. In the second half, the Thunder took the lead and never gave it up, outscoring the Spurs 65-39 in the final two frames.

The Spurs turned the ball over 12 times in the second half and shot 32 percent from the floor. Numbers like that make it hard to win games, and numbers like that show a lack of effort.

Watching the game, it was clear that one team was having fun out there, laughing in front of their hometown fans as they got open look after open look. The Spurs looked downtrodden, dead, and like they would rather be anywhere else.

In the Spurs’ eight losses, they fall short by an average of 20.5 points. Hopefully, Popovich is right and they get tired of getting their “(expletive) kicked,” but fans are yet to see any signs of the Spurs playing competitive basketball anytime soon.