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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKENDFebruary 14, 2016Gregg Popovich Additional FileToronto, Ontario - Postgame West 196, East 173 Q. Pop, of all the guys you gave the clipboard to to draw up a play, who drew up the best one tonight? GREGG POPOVICH: DeMarcus Cousins. We gave him the clipboard and he said get out of my way, go flat on the baseline and I'm shooting it, and he made the three. That might be the only one that worked all night long. But they had a ball. Great young guys. You can tell how much they love it, and just seeing them interacting with each other and the humor back and forth and everything, it was a great show for the fans. Q. After seeing everything that Paul George went through with USA Basketball and coming back, how good was it to see him play like that tonight? GREGG POPOVICH: I'm actually amazed looking at him. Every time he runs up and down the floor and jumps up for those dunks and everything, I'm thinking, wow, the human body must be amazing, it really must be amazing. To come back and play at that level athletically, it just stuns me every time I see him out there. You kind of go like that (indicating) because you can't believe he's just doing that all of a sudden. I know it's taken him a while, but it's pretty incredible. It's great that he's back. Q. What moments do you take away this past weekend with coaching Kobe for his last All-Star Game? GREGG POPOVICH: You know, it's kind of bittersweet. You remember all the struggles against him and all the competitiveness and you respect him so much for bringing it night after night after night. You know, a lot of players don't understand that responsibility to be able to do that at that level, and he does it fiercely for all these years. So to see him now, it's like the passing of a generation much he's been such an iconic figure for so long, and he passes it on to that other group of young guys that you saw out there tonight. So I'm just thrilled that I was able to be here and see that, just like the other night when he came to San Antonio, I think he hit six threes against us. I was actually thrilled. It was just great to watch him shooting and doing what he does. So he's a great one. Q. Was anyone on the West team surprising you in terms of how competitive they were? Did anyone surprise you with how serious they wanted it or was everyone just having fun? GREGG POPOVICH: I've been around these guys a long time, so I already know how competitive they are, and nobody really surprises me in that way. Pretty much have a book on all the players by now. Q. Was there any one player in particular, maybe Russ or something, that actually seemed to legitimately want to win more? GREGG POPOVICH: They all wanted to win. I mean, it's a thing, especially guys like Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant who have been here before, they love those moments. They want to win badly, no matter what it is. Q. Can you capsulize what this weekend was like for you, just as an experience? GREGG POPOVICH: Sure, it was a joy. It's the most fun I've ever had at an All-Star Game just because of the predominant group of the young talented kids coming up like the new stars and watching them interact with each other was a thrill for me. We had fun at practice the other day. They're just a fun loving group and they enjoy each other, as much as they enjoy the game. So it was a lot of fun for me. And dinner at night wasn't bad either. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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