Tag: Minnesota

Capturing lightning in a bottle: Remembering Pecherov and Paspalj

Only hard-core NBA fans remember much about the career of Oleksiy Pecherov.

During his three-season career in the NBA, all of his five career starts came in the first eight days of November 2009.

Sure, they came on a miserable Minnesota team and most people weren’t watching that closely. His team would win only 15 games that season.

But in a game on Nov. 4, 2009, against Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics, Pecherov erupted for 24 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes. It marked the only time that Pecherov would ever score more than 15 points in his career.

Danny Chau of Hardwood Paroxysm.com lists Pecherov’s big game for journeyman NBA players.

Pecherov’s might be the most stunning. It sparked a memorable line from Brendan Jackson on Celtics Hub.com afterwards:

“I just can’t fathom how a guy like this, that was guarded by Kevin Garnett, was able to have a game like this,” Jackson wrote after the game.

A similar game never came again. And Pecherov soon was out of the league.

Chau’s list is pretty complete, although he doesn’t mention one of the most memorable footnote players in Spurs history and his one shining moment.

That would be Zarko Paspalj, the chain-smoking 6-foot-9 power forward from Montenegro who played with the Spurs in the 1989-90 season. Paspalj’s big game came on Jan. 20, 1990, when tossed in 13 points — the only double-figure scoring game of his career — in 14 minutes in a 126-99 loss at Denver.

Paspalj grabbed four offensive rebounds and blocked two shots in the game against the Nuggets. He never had more than one blocked shot in any of the other 22 games of his NBA career. He produced 11 offensive rebounds in the remaining 168 minutes of his brief career with the Spurs.

Obviously, the cigarettes must have prepared him for Denver’s altitude for that big game.

Spurs Way apparently rubbed off on Tolliver

Anthony Tolliver’s career with the Spurs lasted 19 games at the start of the 2008-09 season. Since then, he’s logged 111 games with three other teams, the most recent 65 of them coming with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Reading between the lines on this story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, however, it seems apparent Tolliver learned something during his short stint in silver and black.

“Sometimes it’s good to have a coach (who) likes to be a jerk,” Tolliver said.

Speaking to the newspaper in the wake of Kurt Rambis’ firing earlier this week, Tolliver describes the characteristics he thinks would be ideal in a new coach in the Great White North. Though Tolliver explicitly cites Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau as a model, it’s not hard to listen to his comments and think Gregg Popovich.

Again from the Star-Tribune piece:

Asked what kind of coach the team needs to hire next, Tolliver said, “Someone who’s going to be a disciplinarian. Kurt’s a really nice guy. Sometimes that got in the way. I’m not saying he’s too nice, but sometimes it’s good to have a coach no likes to be a jerk.

“I know several players on the Bulls and nobody really liked Tom Thibodeau, but that’s O.K. You don’t have to like the coach. You just have to be able to play for him.”

Sound familiar?

Speaking more specifically about the Xs and Os of the Timberwolves’ yet-to-be-tabbed new coach, Tolliver says the new guy should be more focused on defense. Or, though Tolliver didn’t phrase it this way, more like Popovich.

“I never really thought the offense was a problem, the defensive side was,” Tolliver said. “We scored enough points to win games. We struggled with the ability to get easy buckets in crunch time, but our main problem was the defensive end. Whoever they bring in next, it’s really important that they be a defensive coach.”

Who that guy is remains to be seen. Although, if Minnesota really wants a defensive-minded coach, it probably won’t be Don Nelson.

Report: Raptors to target Lindsey for GM opening

For the third time in as many summers, Dennis Lindsey’s name has come up in connection with another team’s general manager search.

, the Toronto Raptors are preparing to target Lindsey, who just finished his fourth season as the Spurs’ assistant GM, as a candidats in their front-office hunt.

Bryan Colangelo currently holds dual titles of president and GM in Toronto but, according to the report, is willing to surrender GM duties to the right candidate.

Lindsey is believed to be on that list, along with former New Orleans general manager Jeff Bower and Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski.

According to the Yahoo! report, Toronto has not scheduled interviews with any candidates, and might not commence with a formal search until next month.

Lindsey has been a hot commodity almost since joining the Spurs prior to the 2007-08 season. In the past two summers, he turned down GM positions in Minnesota and Phoenix.