Popovich Uses His Wizardry on No-Name Rookie

Having followed the NBA for decade upon decade, I’ve finally figured you out, Master Coach Greg Popovich. For instance, let’s take your newest draft pick, some dude named George Hill who may or may not be a real person. Apparently, he’s injured. So you took advantage of this bittersweet opportunity to announce the following to the world (from The Indy Star):↵↵⇥“I’ve been impressed,” Popovich said. “More than anything, he’s obviously an absolute NBA defender. He does a great job defensively. He’s got a knack for steals, deflections, getting a piece of the ball here and there. He really understands that side of the court. Secondly, I’m really impressed with his mental toughness; he’s not intimated by anything. He’s got a great demeanor about him.”↵↵

I kind of slack on the less-glitzy parts of the draft, and hate college ball, so I have no idea who George Hill is. His name doesn’t exactly help matters. I do know, though, that he didn’t play for a notable D-1 program, and essentially showed up at Spurs camp owing this team his life and nascent reputation. Now he takes some time off -- just in time for Pop to unleash some boilerplate praise for this otherwise unknown quantity. This is how you become a Spur. This is how Bowen was hand-crafted. Hill now spends some time deep in some bunker, atop a mountain, or in disguise watching practice. He’s carefully, deliberately rolled out only to expose unmistakable positive. Pop periodically hammers away at the messsage.↵
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↵And voila, by mid-season we’ve got our newest solider in the ranks, find that had to be, perfect match delivered by destiny. Now if only some of the league’s zanier teams could shore up their public relations like this. They’d never be accused of having a draft bust again -- provided, of course, they could stay out of the high lottery.↵