Open Thread: Looking back at Pop’s opposing head coaches- Rockets edition
Familiar names have spent time in “Space City”
As mentioned previously, an article entitled “Pop’s Incredible Longevity” revealed that San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has coached against 307 different NBA coaches during his twenty-eight year tenure at the helm.
Since the firing of Bob Hill in 1996, Pop has consistently coached the Spurs, give or take an ejection or two. Tonight the Spurs play the Houston Rockets.
Ironically, Houston has had more consistency than most NBA teams.
The first I-10 rival for Pop was legendary Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who was just coming off back-to-back NBA Championships. Rudy T was with Houston for eleven seasons.
Jeff Van Gundy (2003-2007), had faced off against Pop and the Spurs in the 1999 NBA Finals.
Rick Adelman (2007-2011) had seen Pop in his time with Golden State and Sacramento.
Boston Celtics legend Kevin McHale spent four seasons between 2011-2015 building and improving on the Rockets success in each season, but a 4-7 start to 2015 got him fired.
He was replaced by J. B Bickerstaff who completed the season with a 37-34 record and a trip to the playoffs.
Longtime Spurs nemesis Mike D’Antoni (2016-2020) spent multiple seasons losing to the Spurs while serving as head ocahc of the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers before his time in Houston.
Stephen Silas (2020-2023) spent his entire NBA coaching career as an assistant. Starting in 2000, he spent multiple seasons with Charlotte- with the Hornets, the New Orleans Hornets, Bobcats, and again when they reclaimed the Hornets monicker. He also worked with Cleveland, Golden State, and Dallas. He left at the end of 2023 and currently assists in Detroit.
Eight coaches, many of whom have impressive resumes. The Rockets don’t have a history of dropping coaches midseason. Each of the coaches, with the exception of Silas and Bickerstaff, have at least four seasons to make their case. That tradition goes back to the 80s.
The current head coach is former Spurs player and assistant coach Ime Udoka. Udoka met his mentor the previous two years as head coach of the Boston Celtics.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the interstate rivals, a chance for the Spurs to even up the season series.
Go Spurs Go!
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