Rejoice, fans of Davis Bertans, for the tyrannical regime of Gregg Popovich is almost at an end. He has hinted strongly at retiring at the end of the season, and with his retirement would come a new era of Spurs basketball where Bertans isn’t held down because of backwards-minded coaching. Popovich is loved for what he did in San Antonio, all those championships he won, and I guess I can see that respect, even if it was actually Tim Duncan doing all the heavy lifting.
But times change, new players come in, and strategies become obsolete. And Popovich’s strategy of taking Bertans and giving him only meager bench minutes is failing the Spurs right now. You don’t need to be told, but I’m going to tell you anyway: Bertans is the best three-point shooter in the league by percentage this year. That’s the kind of shooting you need to have on the court as much as possible. But Popovich would rather have LaFartus Fartridge and DeFart DeFarten fart around on the court and take endless midrange jumpers. Does he not realize the direction the league has headed in? And does he not realize he has the league’s most potent three-bomber just sitting there, waiting to play?
As I said, though, we only have to wait a few more months and then he will be free. Perhaps then, we will see performances like tonight’s 21 points on a regular, night-in night-out basis. A man can dream, but soon his dreams become reality.