|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA ALL-STAR WEEKENDFebruary 12, 2016Gregg PopovichToronto, Ontario Q. There was a story online on ESPN via the magazine about resting players and the damage an 82-game schedule can do for an NBA player. You were at the forefront of resting guys anyway. But have you used your own science to determine how much an NBA body can stand? GREGG POPOVICH: My science? Q. Well, you know, you do that little thing with the test tubes. GREGG POPOVICH: You know, we just intuitively for a long time just felt that it was a pretty taxing situation, mentally as well as physically. The break now and then -- for instance shootarounds, I think a lot of shootarounds are just a waste of time, as if somebody's going to become a better shooter or play better defense that night because there was a shootaround that morning. We felt, if you didn't have the shootaround, it was one less activity to show up for mentally and physically. Not that we're going to go compete and knock heads or anything, but just the relief of not having to prepare and get on a bus, and go over, and go up and down the court in a situation where you're not really loose anyway, but you're halfway loose or you could be getting extra sleep and relaxing. We thought it was important. It's not that we had any scientific knowledge. We just felt that it made sense and it was logical. So we've been doing that sort of thing for a long time. Q. Would you like to see the 82-game schedule reduced? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, everybody would like to play 30 games for the same pay, but that would be ridiculous. So at this point, I think for me the 82 games are fine. And people need to figure out and adjust what they can do to make it a better situation for players. I think the schedules that came out this year were fantastic. Q. Getting rid of the four and five days? GREGG POPOVICH: I thought that was fantastic. Huge improvement. Now it's up to clubs to figure out how to cut here, cut there for the advantage of the players, and I think everybody can do that. Q. It's been a few weeks, but what do you make of Cleveland's decision to fire Coach Blatt? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't judge other teams. Q. Does it make any sense to you after their record and being in The Finals? GREGG POPOVICH: I feel for every coach that's ever been fired, including David. He's a great coach. But usually people are fired for circumstances that are beyond their control, and it usually has nothing to do with whether they're a good coach or not. I find that to be the case almost all the time. But as far as judging an organization, I'll leave that to you guys. Q. Have you been disappointed the way that coaches have gotten shorter leashes over time? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, of course, of course. We all know getting into this what the volatile aspects of the job are, but being humans you still hope for fairness and that sort of thing. But the bottom line is most firings have nothing to do with the ability of the coach, and that's the same. Q. If I could ask you about Brad Stevens in particular. Coming in as a college coach, a lot of guys haven't had success with that. What impressed you about him and why he was able to, I hate to say pull it off, but getting credibility from the players? He seems to be a pretty good X and O guy? GREGG POPOVICH: From that aspect, and I've said this before, Danny Ainge deserves a lot of credit. First of all, truth be known, Brad looks like he's 18, and Butler basketball has been fantastic. Before he was even in the NBA, I would watch tapes of their games and look at some of the things that he did. So among basketball people, it was common knowledge that he was a heck of a coach. But to bring this young-looking guy into the NBA and say, okay, you're going to have to command the respect of these guys, that took some courage on Danny's part. And he did it, and it's turned out to be the right choice because Brad is one of the top coaches in the league. He's a clinician, he's a technician, he's detailed. He knows what he's doing with his demeanor, and how young he is, he's unbelievable the way he carries himself. He's truthful and straight up with players. And in this league, that's the biggest thing they respect. That you're comfortable in your own skin. You don't try to trick them. You just tell it like it is, and he did that and gained their respect very quickly. Q. We know you spoke to David Blatt when he was appointed coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Have you spoken to him since he was fired? GREGG POPOVICH: Sure. Q. Can you tell us what you told him? GREGG POPOVICH: No. Q. Maybe just one word, a sentence? GREGG POPOVICH: None of your business. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|