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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS VS SPURSMay 13, 2017Gregg PopovichOakland, California - Practice Day Q. How is Kawhi doing and is he expected to play tomorrow? GREGG POPOVICH: He's going to play. Q. Did he fully participate in practice today? GREGG POPOVICH: Absolutely. Q. Pop, what's the basic defensive approach to that sort of four-headed monster that Golden State presents? GREGG POPOVICH: Did you ask me what the key was? Q. No, what the basic approach is. GREGG POPOVICH: Pray. (Laughter). Q. Was Game 6 against Houston sort of a template for how you'd like to see them play, defend? GREGG POPOVICH: This is a totally different animal. Every team is different. Every team poses different threats. Every team has great players, and this far into the Playoffs, everybody is competitive and probably at the top of their game. Q. LaMarcus is a rhythm player. Was it very important for him to have such a big performance in Game 6? Do you think that'll have some sort of carryover? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't think too much about carrying over this, that or the other. Somebody asked me if -- somebody did actually ask me when we started the Houston series what I would take from the '95 series, if you guys remember that. Q. What do you think of the job that Mike Brown has done taking over on the fly when Steve [Kerr] -- GREGG POPOVICH: Mike who? (Laughter). Q. Mike Brown. GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know any Mike Brown. Mikey has done a great job. Steve was really smart in hiring him. He didn't hire him for this reason. Steve didn't want this to happen. But you know, they know each other well. Mike knows the program well. Steve is right there with him, you know, in his ear. They're doing things the way they've done it for a while now under Steve's leadership, and Mike is a good soldier, and he will be, as he has been, great in continuing the way they play and what they do. Q. What did you see from him as a young assistant? Could you see right away that he was a guy that was destined for head coaching? GREGG POPOVICH: You know, he just has a presence about him. He has a confidence. He has a presence. I just enjoyed him when I got to know him. He's got a great mind. He understands the game. He knows what it takes to win. He's strong enough to make demands fairly and follow through, and he's great with people. So what more could you ask? Q. Pop, last year you said the more guys who are playing well at any given time, that's the team who advances the farthest. Seems like you have a lot of players playing well, you look at [Jonathon] Simmons, you look at [Patty] Mills -- GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I think as the series went on in Houston, we had more and more guys participate and play well, got confident, and did a good job. But when the Playoffs come, that's players' time. We try not to screw it up as coaches. Maybe we can add something here and there and do a good job, but all in all, players perform in the Playoffs, and I thought we did that really well in Game 6. Q. Did you hear what Mike said about you yesterday? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't really listen to anything you guys say. Q. No, he said it. GREGG POPOVICH: I know, but then he said it to you and then you repeat it and I don't hear it because I don't listen. Q. But I'm looking for a good response from you. GREGG POPOVICH: I know you are. Q. You're supposed to play along. GREGG POPOVICH: Okay. Start over. Q. They asked him if he was intimidated to coach against you, and he said, no, he can take you, you're like 70. GREGG POPOVICH: 68. Those two years are important. None of this is a question of intimidation. When it comes to coaching, that's all malarkey. Q. What is the one quality that stood out about him when he came here, something that you noticed about him before he took that job at Golden State? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, Mike and I have been friends a long time. He's the same guy I've always known, I guess. Q. He said he credited you for setting that up and said he felt rejuvenated when you invited him out to the coaches' camp out there. GREGG POPOVICH: Well, no matter what happened, no matter what we did, he's the same guy. You asked me if I noticed anything different about him, and I didn't, because he's the same guy. Q. Did you ever think that we would reach this point in the presidency so fast where things were just all over the place? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't think many of us thought we'd be in this position. We certainly hoped that he would do well and hoped that there would be less drama, but it certainly obfuscates the job at hand in many, many ways for many people. That's too bad. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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