--With the midseason resignation of longtime Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich became the longest-tenured coach in the NBA. With the end-of-season retirement of 11-time NBA championship coach Phil Jackson, Popovich is tied for second as the second-highest paid coach in the league, earning $6 million, according to Forbes. Popovich was briefly the highest paid, but Doc Rivers' new deal with the Celtics vaulted him in front at $7 million a year. Knicks coach Mike D'Antonio also makes $6 million. The big question now is how much longer Popovich will coach the Spurs. He has often said that he will leave the bench when 35-year-old Tim Duncan retires. Duncan has one season remaining on his deal.

--The Spurs built their four championships since 1999 on stingy defense, a hallmark of coach Gregg Popovich. However, if the 2010-11 Spurs were going to go deep in the playoffs it would be because of a shift to offensive firepower led by guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and dead-eye 3-point shooting. Perhaps that's why the Spurs did not get out of the first round. For the first time since 1998 and just the second time since 1985, no Spurs player was picked for the All-Defensive first or second team. Tim Duncan's 13-year run of being picked on either the first or second team was snapped.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"If they have a player they can trade, it is clearly me, but Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) told me I will not go anywhere, so we'll see. Obviously, the NBA is a business. You have to be ready for everything." -- Tony Parker to French journalists after saying the Spurs are not equipped to win a title next season as currently constructed.

Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.