The funny thing is I've been explaining for years why the Hack a Shaq was only a good strategy against the 2000 Lakers and this shows why. Prime Shaq hit those little hook shots like 80% of the time so it was better to put him on the line. With Deandre Jordan and Older Shaq the strategy makes no sense because its not like they are making their two pointers every time.
For those who need context or don't understand, Pop used a technique called hack-a-shaq (where you intentionally foul a big man who's a poor free-throw shooter) in the playoffs last year against this Suns team. Shaq got pissed and told the media he thought it was cowardly move. So the very next year, these two teams play again in the first game of the season and Pop does this. It's his way of saying, "I hope you're ready again, because I'm going to be doing this all season"
I heard another version. Shaq complaint about pop not only hack-a-shaq when they were behind but also even when they were leading the game. Pop did this to tell Shaq he would also do it when it was tie in the game.
*It worked here too. The joke has softened Shaquille, made him smile, unfocused his thoughts. That's why he missed his shot here. Clever move, Gregg Popovich.*
That's why popovich is the best coach in the league. It's the little psychological games like this that separates the legends. Truly a master of his craft
Pop seems like a real prude at interviews, but he really got a great sense of humor. In one of the games (recently, like past two seasons) where he sat down Duncan, ... in the 'reason' column why he wouldn't let his player play, he wrote - "old."
He's a coach first and foremost and doesn't like the whole interview process. It's understandable. I'd hate to be constantly questioned about my job too, especially with some of the dumb questions they ask.
+Tr3Tr 3 They were 2 games out of the first spot. The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West: 1 Los Angeles Lakers (57-25, clinched Pacific Division title, and home court advantage for the Western Conference playoffs)2 New Orleans Hornets (56-26, clinched Southwest Division title, winning conference record tiebreaker over Spurs)3 San Antonio Spurs (56-26)4 Utah Jazz (54-28, clinched Northwest Division title)5 Houston Rockets (55-27, winning conference record tiebreaker over Suns)6 Phoenix Suns (55-27)7 Dallas Mavericks (51-31)8 Denver Nuggets (50-32)
Cavs fan since I was born and it was sad seeing my team getting swept by them, but Pop has to be the greatest coach of all time in my opinion. Spurs big three are also ranked as the greatest big three of all time
TheArjaytai Yeah, Pop and Phil Jackson are probably my first and second on that list! Indeed, and neither Ginobili nor Timmy seems to age. Freaks of nature!
What makes this even funnier is that Shaq had criticized the Hack-a-Shaq strategy the previous days. LMAO when he did that at the beginning of the game. Popovich is the best.
***** If Kim Kardashian is the only famous Armenian you know, then you know nothing. Jerry Tarkanian is in the basketball hall of fame and Kirk Kerkorian is one of the founding fathers of Vegas. I'm sure as hell proud of them.
I’ve been a Mavs fan for about 40 years now, so needless to say I got no love for the spurs. But I got nothin but respect for Coach Pop. This is easily one of my favorite moments ever. 5 seconds into the regular season 😂😂😂
Popovich almost single handedly forced the NBA to change the hack a shaq rule. He proved that centers who cant shoot free throws are a liability and shouldnt be on the floor in clutch moments. He destroyed deandre jordan with this strategy too.
Strayspider Strut That's Fabricio Oberto, a now retired Argentinean player that played for the Spurs for a few seasons. 2004 Olympics champion, one of the guys with Manu Ginobili that kicked out the USA team !!
@@halloweenmew7776 Stupid people deserve to be chastised. It doesnt matter how long ago some makes a mistake. They must atone for it. Time doesnt take away a mistake, atonement does.
all time lovely moment, I gotta say - and Im a Patriots fan to put this in perspective - Pop is my favorite coach of all time. This never ages. Pop 4 lyfe.
Plot twist the Spurs lost by 1 point after being in foul trouble in the first quarter. This win was the difference between the Spurs playing the Lakers and playing Dallas in the playoffs.
Yep. But not as crappy as before though. I remembered the 7th or 8th seed having a record 3 games below 500. While the West's 8th seed has around 45-50 wins.
misternoobie west and east since golden states rise have been extremely top heavy, no longer the juggernaut they used to be. It’s usually golden state/spurs/random other top3 team.
Seriously how do so many people not understand this? Shaq sucks at free throws so he fouled him with the knowledge he probably wouldn't make either of them, or in this case it was just a joke to mess with Shaq so early in the game.
Amosite Noah You seem to be a little slow. It's a strategy that teams used to get Shaq at the free-throw line; due to his horrible efficiency at free-throw shooting. The Spurs have executed the "Hack-A-Shaq" strategy on the Suns in the 2008 playoffs, which resulted in the Suns' complete defeat; Shaq shot 64 free-throws in 5 games only to make 32! That's an abysmal 50% in just 5 games. Now to explain the joke. The coach in the middle who was laughing, Gregg Popovich, devised a playful joke to remind Shaq about the "Hack-A-Shaq" at the beginning of this game. It's quick to understand if you follow NBA basketball, but it kills the joke when I have to explain it like this.
2008, Coach Bud as assistant coach for Coach Pop. 13 years later, Coach Bud already a Coach of the Year winner twice and Pop still at Spurs. I'd love to see Pop still around when one of his 21st century's ex players become a head coach.
+Brohanism I've wondered about that. Here's a try at an answer. League average FT rate is about 75%. So a 1/1 foul will produce an about 1.3 points. The league avg Offensive Efficiency is about 1.02 points per shot. So against your average player on your average team, hack-a-person would not be good. Better to let him take a shot. Against players with a FT less than ~ 60%, the hack a person might work. But only about 10% of the league's players are that bad at the line. Then there's the problem of fouling out. I would still expect more hack-a-DeAndre, as he's shooting only 44% this year. A 1/1 on him should give only -0.65 points avg, vs the Clippers 1.04 points Off Eff.
N Marbletoe im completely with you it doesnt make sense for everyday game. but when you are playing dwight or deandre or someone else like that is on the court, why not have your number 9,10,11 or 12th man on roster (one of the worst 4 on the active roster) foul 3-4 times or until they bench deandre, etc... these guys enver get more than 5 mins play time make them more useful
+Brohanism Agree. And it doesn't have to be full on haq. it can be guarding really tight, so might get a steal. Do it a few times, not too much, sneak it in there when the Clips are on a roll, break up their rhythm.
The best part was shaq's terrible hook shot right afterwards
He got distracted
What a brick
that was horrendous lol
It was straight brick city, baby
The funny thing is I've been explaining for years why the Hack a Shaq was only a good strategy against the 2000 Lakers and this shows why. Prime Shaq hit those little hook shots like 80% of the time so it was better to put him on the line. With Deandre Jordan and Older Shaq the strategy makes no sense because its not like they are making their two pointers every time.
For those who need context or don't understand, Pop used a technique called hack-a-shaq (where you intentionally foul a big man who's a poor free-throw shooter) in the playoffs last year against this Suns team. Shaq got pissed and told the media he thought it was cowardly move. So the very next year, these two teams play again in the first game of the season and Pop does this. It's his way of saying, "I hope you're ready again, because I'm going to be doing this all season"
Sol_Protege ı fucking love you, man. Big thanks.
I heard another version. Shaq complaint about pop not only hack-a-shaq when they were behind but also even when they were leading the game. Pop did this to tell Shaq he would also do it when it was tie in the game.
“For non-english speakers”
And the comment is written in english...😂
@@dariolorenzi6411 speakers not readers xD
@@dariolorenzi6411 ahhh you beat me to it! LOL
*It worked here too. The joke has softened Shaquille, made him smile, unfocused his thoughts. That's why he missed his shot here. Clever move, Gregg Popovich.*
It was just a joke...stop
@@ericchavez9213 he was also joking
That's why popovich is the best coach in the league. It's the little psychological games like this that separates the legends. Truly a master of his craft
@MUFC who asked?
Also, Shaq sucks outside of about 2’ from the basket.
Pop: "Finley, go use your first foul to play a joke on Shaq."
Mike: "Damn..."
Is this the oldest comment?
@@yallugly4317 the bestest
12y damn
Damn dude I don’t think I have a comment on CZcams 13 years old
This comment is older than most of the CZcams users nowadays
Pop seems like a real prude at interviews, but he really got a great sense of humor.
In one of the games (recently, like past two seasons) where he sat down Duncan, ... in the 'reason' column why he wouldn't let his player play, he wrote - "old."
He's a coach first and foremost and doesn't like the whole interview process. It's understandable. I'd hate to be constantly questioned about my job too, especially with some of the dumb questions they ask.
victory01 he didn't like drama at all. Great coach.
Richie A Pop is no prude he gets it in.
victory01 Pop what did you see on the offensive end?? Like what? Such a broad question lol.
@Stephen Norman Both teams played hard.
55-27 and they finished 6th in the west.... good lord....
Makes you wonder WTF happened to the NBA
+Tr3Tr 3 They were 2 games out of the first spot.
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:
1 Los Angeles Lakers (57-25, clinched Pacific Division title, and home court advantage for the Western Conference playoffs)2 New Orleans Hornets (56-26, clinched Southwest Division title, winning conference record tiebreaker over Spurs)3 San Antonio Spurs (56-26)4 Utah Jazz (54-28, clinched Northwest Division title)5 Houston Rockets (55-27, winning conference record tiebreaker over Suns)6 Phoenix Suns (55-27)7 Dallas Mavericks (51-31)8 Denver Nuggets (50-32)
+Tr3Tr 3 The West was always a powerful conference
+Dark Star Press Gaming Not this season their not.
Odell Beckham Jr. Lol still better than the East. I'd still say they are.
I don't know what's funnier, Pop's joke, or the Shaqtin' a Fool-worthy layup attempt later in the possession
That actually wasn't THAT bad of a hook shot lol.
That was the birth of Shaqtin' a fool, actually. Shaqtually.
@@03Misael21 he hit the side board. blake and timmy went on shaqtin for that
He got in his head
@@03Misael21 😂😂😂what??? This was beyond bad. This was more than bad. And this was from SHAQ, so even worse. But it happens 😂
Tim Duncan didn't even try to jump and tip the ball lol
アンナの白猫テニス cz he was scared
Andi Muhammad You're not that smart are you
...Is that not a violation?
Rage Against The Hygiene Only if neither player touches the ball I think.
Looks like you're right. I checked the NBA rulebook and it says nothing about it. In FIBA rules, it is a violation. In NBA it is fine not to contest.
jesus christ a 55-27 record ranked only 6th in western conference?
+Pinoyako11705 95-05 basketball was bad as fuck man lol
+Tavs96 Bad in the good way :)
+Tom H lol this was 2008 tho
Khoi Le Ik
i got into shock as well when i noticed that.
I could watch this clip over and over all day. Although a Laker fan I have the biggest admiration for Pop, immense coach.
Cavs fan since I was born and it was sad seeing my team getting swept by them, but Pop has to be the greatest coach of all time in my opinion. Spurs big three are also ranked as the greatest big three of all time
TheArjaytai Yeah, Pop and Phil Jackson are probably my first and second on that list! Indeed, and neither Ginobili nor Timmy seems to age. Freaks of nature!
+JimmyKingster like my balls! :D
Papa admires Pop. Noted.
Kendall Ray he's on the square
This is priceless. Nice to see Pop smile, and amazed at his willingness to sacrifice a foul for such an epic joke
Best NBA troll job ever.
That's a way to start the season
Pop was the origin of troll
@@migueldegreef6565 That dude will troll you in a minute.. 😂😂😂
What makes this even funnier is that Shaq had criticized the Hack-a-Shaq strategy the previous days. LMAO when he did that at the beginning of the game. Popovich is the best.
I always knew gregg popovich is the greatest coach in the history of the NFL.
Lame trolling attempt bro
JumO Micawayan i hope you guys know he's joking.........
Marvel_mercedes I think they know bruv
Marvel_mercedes I hope you know they were joking
His best work tho was when he managed those early 90's Jays teams....DominanT.
Even as a Laker fan you gotta love pop and his smart allic attitude.
***** The Lakers and Spurs had a sorta rivalry in the 2000-2010.
***** That was a completely unnecessary shot towards Laker fans.
comehonorface666 Well he did say he was a Celtics fan....
***** Kind of hypocritical of you to insult a fanbase for being insulting...
***** If Kim Kardashian is the only famous Armenian you know, then you know nothing. Jerry Tarkanian is in the basketball hall of fame and Kirk Kerkorian is one of the founding fathers of Vegas. I'm sure as hell proud of them.
This is why I love Pop, the guys awesome.
Back when Shaq was the star of Shaqtin' A Fool. lol
0:05 (hack-a-shaq takes place)
Shaq: who got me?
Pop: u mad bro?
Shaq: damn
+John Doe fucking memes, man, fucking memes
+John Doe i'm literally dying this comment is so funny. the u mad bro part absolutely nailed it
Lmaooooo
Ooooookkkayy pop, I see you. Oooookayyy.
THE LOOK ON SHAQS FACE LIKE "WHOS GOT JOKES?"
I’ve been a Mavs fan for about 40 years now, so needless to say I got no love for the spurs. But I got nothin but respect for Coach Pop. This is easily one of my favorite moments ever. 5 seconds into the regular season 😂😂😂
I love Bud sitting next to pop straight cheesin'
joke really is on shaq as he bricks his next shot LOL
u know the coach doesnt give a sh*t about u if he tells u 2 foul somebody to play a joke
lmao
Lol guinea pig
It's the First game of the Season chill
That’s a fact bro! Go in the game and waste one of ur 6 precious fouls in the opening seconds for a joke.
Because mike finley wasn't worthy or what? Gtfo lol
55-27 and yet they were 6th in the West?! WTTTFFFFFF?!
Different times, more contenders, less teams in massive W/L deficits
thanks Eye ain't stayin.
correct me if i'm wrong , but last year's spurs also had a 55-27 record but ended up being the 6th seed that year .
Yup. 14-15 Spurs had that record.
acb3534 nobody needs to correct you, since you looked at everyone posting the same thing, before being "correct".
Man you gotta love Pop. Such a regular, old school, funny but hardworking guy. Hope they win another one this year and I'm not even a spurs fan
Did they ?
its 2023...thank you
Popovich is the GOAT. We need to appreciate him while he's with us.
Popovich almost single handedly forced the NBA to change the hack a shaq rule. He proved that centers who cant shoot free throws are a liability and shouldnt be on the floor in clutch moments. He destroyed deandre jordan with this strategy too.
Pop's the best
Pop is one of the best coaches of all time
Best, to be exact too
Dat gold tooth behind pop tho
Looks like an evil henchman from Romania.
Holy shit.. Is that gold or plaque?
Strayspider Strut
That's Fabricio Oberto, a now retired Argentinean player that played for the Spurs for a few seasons. 2004 Olympics champion, one of the guys with Manu Ginobili that kicked out the USA team !!
jakep1979 LMFAOO
LMFAO
What also amazes me about this is how good the camera work was here… It was totally on point
Pop has got to be the coolest coach of all time!
he should of known something was up when tim duncan didnt jump for the ball
Should have/should've* dumbass
@@khabibmcgregor3592 Why are you
acting like a fool over someone's spelling from three years ago
@@halloweenmew7776 Stupid people deserve to be chastised. It doesnt matter how long ago some makes a mistake. They must atone for it. Time doesnt take away a mistake, atonement does.
You acting like he killed someone dayum
@@khabibmcgregor3592 good catch
Best video on CZcams!
all time lovely moment, I gotta say - and Im a Patriots fan to put this in perspective - Pop is my favorite coach of all time. This never ages. Pop 4 lyfe.
Popovich is the brightest star in the NBA
Pop will forever be my favorite coach of all time
one of the greatest moments in nba history
watched this so many times over the years still makes me laugh
That was cool. Shaq can take a joke and dam sure can give them out as well. Coach P.was making amends in his own stylish way. I needed that!
0:24 Young Coach Bud 😂😂😂
You GOTTA love Gregg Poppovich! That dude is literally 1 of a kind! Love how Shaq took it too! Good stuff 💪💪💯
Thats one of the most creative jokes I've ever seen 🤣
Who else can u give u a thumps up and a smile right after a foul??? Only Coach Pop
This comes across my feed like once a year and I can’t help but rewatch this
Plot twist the Spurs lost by 1 point after being in foul trouble in the first quarter. This win was the difference between the Spurs playing the Lakers and playing Dallas in the playoffs.
Holy shit. That really shows how one small thing can make a big difference
Shabazz Meryith It was worth it, tho
+Shabazz Meryith they lost by 5 points so it didn't really make much difference
If it`s the funniest joke in the world, It`s worth it. -Seth Macfarlane
Johnny Melavo ffs johnny didnt see this
Not sure why this popped up in my recommendations in 2020, but I don’t regret the click.
Before everyone had perfect teeth.
That hook shot was a straight brick 😂
They have 55-27 at 6th place in the West because the east were very crappy back then. West teams have a lot of wins against the east teams.
Yep. But not as crappy as before though. I remembered the 7th or 8th seed having a record 3 games below 500. While the West's 8th seed has around 45-50 wins.
2k17. east is still a crap
East is often crap.
misternoobie west and east since golden states rise have been extremely top heavy, no longer the juggernaut they used to be. It’s usually golden state/spurs/random other top3 team.
Made my day man, thanks.
I mean damn how can you not love Pop😂😂😂
Got to love pop!!!!! Go Spurs!!!!
Seriously how do so many people not understand this? Shaq sucks at free throws so he fouled him with the knowledge he probably wouldn't make either of them, or in this case it was just a joke to mess with Shaq so early in the game.
It was your second guess toph...go practice some metal bending
"Seriously how do so many people not understand this?" Because it wasn't explained or clear...
Decore Noah What more explanation does your dumbass need? I mean the commentators in the vid even said what popovich was doing "hack a shaq"
Lgg714 Ok, and not many people know what that means
Amosite Noah You seem to be a little slow. It's a strategy that teams used to get Shaq at the free-throw line; due to his horrible efficiency at free-throw shooting. The Spurs have executed the "Hack-A-Shaq" strategy on the Suns in the 2008 playoffs, which resulted in the Suns' complete defeat; Shaq shot 64 free-throws in 5 games only to make 32! That's an abysmal 50% in just 5 games.
Now to explain the joke. The coach in the middle who was laughing, Gregg Popovich, devised a playful joke to remind Shaq about the "Hack-A-Shaq" at the beginning of this game.
It's quick to understand if you follow NBA basketball, but it kills the joke when I have to explain it like this.
Two GOATS right there kiddos- watch and learn!
This makes me so happy everytime I watch it
Hey it's Mike Budenholzer
Yep
its almost nearly impossible to see a smile on pops face like this anymore, one of the best coaches of the decade.
He smiled like Borat. It was only missing the: „Nice!“ 😂
Pop is Awesome! lol Best coach and great one-liners.
Damn this video was uploaded when Shaq was still in the league
wait, popovich is SMILING? I never thought I'd see that happen
I like seeing this kind of good humored thing in the NBA
What a man Pop is. Sense of humor in everything in life
Hey I love the Spurs and I gotta say that was hilarious. Was a good joke to get the season started.
if for some reason they make a movie about the Spurs, John Malkovich better play Pop haha
Donald Sutherland
@Mike S ?
Popovich was very old... 15 YEARS AGO!
This is awesome... I love it when basketball or even sports go off the norm and makes a call like that to make the game interesting or fun to watch.
I expected Shaq would play hacky-sack, now I feel let down.
pop look like a white grady off sanford and son
Coach pop face.. is immortal
And the thumbs up. LOL
Never seen that clip before. That was awesome. I met Gregg popovich and he is a delightful man.
MAN I MISS THIS SUNS TEAM
You mean you miss the team from two years earlier. Not the watered-down Shaq version.
Hahaha shaq nearly air balls the hook shot
LOL, greatest coach, greatest humor
2008, Coach Bud as assistant coach for Coach Pop. 13 years later, Coach Bud already a Coach of the Year winner twice and Pop still at Spurs. I'd love to see Pop still around when one of his 21st century's ex players become a head coach.
The story of this fued goes back to when Shaq would not rub IcyHot on Pop’s back while both in the steam room sharing one towel
Im honestly surprised at the amount of people who dont understand this tactic.
They have zero chance of understanding icing, right?! ha
The O'neal's surprised face was fantastic.
this is the best video in the entire world
good thing the camera focused on pop fast, or else the commentator(JVG?) probably would of assumed something completely wrong.
God I got recommended this was uploaded 11 years ago lol
This is why Greg Popovich is the greatest coach in the history of everything.
Greg Popovich is a Legend in my book for this alone 😂
He's was in Shaquille headNot entirely sure it was simply a joke
Classic Pop
Such a great moment in the NBA
Jeez 55-27 and Landed the 6th seed well that just tell you how stacked the alot of the Western teams were
What im confused about is it says Raptors Tv but they are not even playing.
all games in Canada say raptor TV, it's how they package the NBA package
Suns were 55-27 the year before but were a 6th seed in the West. 55-27 will have you winning the East in today's league.
Shaq: if you hack me that means you’re afraid of my dominance
Everyone else: yes that’s exactly what it means. Get in the line big guy.
The Mourinho of Basketball.
wait why dont people hack a shaq more then? like all game with bench players
They did that with Andre Drummond this year
+Brohanism I've wondered about that. Here's a try at an answer.
League average FT rate is about 75%. So a 1/1 foul will produce an about 1.3 points. The league avg Offensive Efficiency is about 1.02 points per shot. So against your average player on your average team, hack-a-person would not be good. Better to let him take a shot.
Against players with a FT less than ~ 60%, the hack a person might work. But only about 10% of the league's players are that bad at the line. Then there's the problem of fouling out.
I would still expect more hack-a-DeAndre, as he's shooting only 44% this year. A 1/1 on him should give only -0.65 points avg, vs the Clippers 1.04 points Off Eff.
N Marbletoe im completely with you it doesnt make sense for everyday game. but when you are playing dwight or deandre or someone else like that is on the court, why not have your number 9,10,11 or 12th man on roster (one of the worst 4 on the active roster) foul 3-4 times or until they bench deandre, etc... these guys enver get more than 5 mins play time make them more useful
+Brohanism Agree. And it doesn't have to be full on haq. it can be guarding really tight, so might get a steal. Do it a few times, not too much, sneak it in there when the Clips are on a roll, break up their rhythm.
+Moe Moe (Moe) no they fouled him like 5 times back to back
0:13 shaq's face!
he's like aww shit, it's gonna be a longggggg night
Shaq thinks it's cowardly. He can't accept the fact that Popovich is a genius 😂
"Hahahaha. But in all seriousness we're going to send you to the foul line if the game is still close in the fourth."
Lebron traveled
To clevland
There was no LeBron in this game idiot.
@@badger657 *ironic*
@@badger657 r/whooooosh
@@preetham1672 r/doublewooosh
and it freaking worked, he missed both free throws, wasted a possession.
Shaq is a Hall of Famer, but Pop is a freaking legend.
Vardaris you better believe it
holy shit that's Mike Budenholzer young asf
55-27 was 6th in the West....the West is no joke