SportsHubLA

The Western Conference Finals will be full of familiar faces for the Lakers and Spurs when the series tips off Wednesday night. Many of them have been down this road before. Fish and Tony. Kobe and Duncan. Phil and Pop.

For that last duo, this will be their second time meeting in the conference finals. The first was in 2001, when P.J. and the Lakers swept Pop’s Spurs on their way to back-to-back championships.

There are 13 championship rings between them. While one was the dominant coach of the 90s, the two have shared success in the 2000s. The winner of this series could potentially claim the crown for team of the decade.

You get the sense that these guys know each other a little bit.

Pop is more of a defensive-minded coach than his Zen counterpart, a fiery competitor with an in-your-face approach that demands excellence from his players.

When you think Phil, you think triangle. P.J. may be just as synonomous with the triangle as Tex Winter. Phil has a more in-your-head approach.

When you look at their backgrounds, you can tell the differences between what makes them who they are.

Phil prepped in North Dakota, where he was a four-sport star in high school before attending the University of North Dakota.

Pop attended the Air Force Academy, where he played basketball before serving for five years. During that span, he spent time in Eastern Europe, and then, the former Soviet Union. Unsurprisingly, he played on the Armed Forces Basketball Team during his time overseas.

Pop is real fiery on the sideline, while P.J. appears to be more laid back than some would like. But don’t assume a lack of passion from P.J. He’s been seen giving the refs an earful from time to time right from his seat on the Lakers bench.

But for both, it was an uphill climb in landing their first NBA head coaching gigs.

After his playing career with the Knicks and the Nets wrapped up in 1980, Phil had difficulty even landing an assistant job. He spent time coaching semi-pro ball, namely in the ABA, where he won a championship as the coach of the Albany Patroons. It wasn’t until 1987 that Phil got his shot as an assistant on the bench for the Chicago Bulls and then head coach Doug Collins.

Pop, meanwhile, was a Division III head coach at Pomona Pitzer College. He began that position in 1979. It was during that time that Pop formed a bond with Larry Brown, who gave Pop his first crack at the NBA as an assistant with none other than the San Antonio Spurs. The year was 1988, and Brown was just starting his long list of helming stops in the league.

P.J. was named the Bulls head coach in 1989. Pop didn’t receive his first head coaching job until he named himself to the position in 1994 while he was the gneral manager for the Spurs.

What they have done since being in those respective posts is simply WIN.

Phil has won nine titles as a head coach of the Bulls and Lakers, tied for most all-time with the Red Auerbach. Pop has won four titles, all of course coming with the Spurs.

With San Antonio’s Game 7 win over the Hornets on Monday, Pop picked up his 100th career playoff win. By accomplishing this feat, he joined P.J. as one of only four coaches to reach the century mark in playoff wins. (The others are Pat Riley and Brown.)

Definitely Hall of Fame credentials. While Phil has already punched his ticket to the Hall, Pop’s is sure to come.

Earlier this decade, the feeling was whoever was going to win the championship was going to have to go through either P.J.’s Lakers or Pop’s Spurs.

The two more than had their epic battles along the way. They met in four consecutive years in the playoffs from 2001 to 2004. It was Pop’s Spurs that ended the Lakers’ quest for a fourth championship in a row in 2003. Who can forget Derek Fisher’s game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds remaining, which helped the Lakers get past the Spurs in 2004?

How do they match up head-to-head? Phil has won 14 of the 21 games the two coaches have faced each other in the postseason and three of the four series.

The 2008 version of this rivalry brings the same excitement that it did in years past. The roles have somewhat been reversed. The Lakers are now the “young,” inexperienced team, while the Spurs boast a cast of wily vets.Let the tipoff begin and let the media wars ensue between these two coaches. Pop got it started early this year when he voiced his displeasure about the Pau Gasol trade.

What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension…I just wish I had been on a trade committee that oversees NBA trades. I’d like to elect myself to that committee. I would have voted no to the L.A. trade.

Phil, is probably saving his rebuttle for some time during this series.

It’s Phil and Pop, getting after it once again.

Discuss: