Freeze is plenty smart, we just differ on an opinion is all.
It's a fresh game last night, so I will use it as a PERFECT example.
Pop. Great coach. Controls every detail.
53 minute game. 48+5 OT. 53.
Tony Parker 18 minutes.
Boris Diaw 19 minutes.
Kawhi Leonard DNP.
So, I was asked, if Iiiiiiiiiiiiii am the coach, me, CP, how can I "not play my best guys?"
Well, did Pop?
We in the same game, why am I playin balls out, while he restin guys?
He played Duncan 40 minutes.
Tim Duncan sat out the game before. In fact, Duncan has sat out multiple games this year.
Has Kobe?
Pop is a coach, I am a coach, so I can do what he does, right?
If Pop wants to play his whole team, all 12, then I can play my 12. If we win, great, pat them boys on the back for a job well done.
But if Pop only gonna play 9, why am I usin 12? What did I gain last night?
If I play Kobe 31 minutes, and Nick 28, and Jordan Hill 29, and Clarkson 20, do we still win? Maybe, maybe not. But I bet my chances are lesser than Kobe 40, Young 32, Hill 35, and Clarkson barely works up a sweat.
Coach can control what does or doesn't happen. Pop just showed you.
If I believed in conspiracies, I'd say Pop doesn't want us to get a top 5 pick, wanted to rest 2-3 guys, AND now has a motivational angle to use on his players to remind them any given night you can get beat, even by bad teams.
Like Phil used to, when we would face the Bobcats.
But what do I know? I'm just a "fantasy" thinker.