NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 8, 2005

Gregg Popovich

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I was really thrilled for him, like you would be for anybody in that situation. But since we have done so much together, and he's been coaching so long and done such a great job in so many places, for him to finally have circumstances work out so that he could get that, was a real thrill. So I enjoyed it quite a bit.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He hasn't changed a lick, very honestly. He's exactly the same person that I laid on the sand with down in St. Croix when we drafted him and we talked basketball and tried to figure out who each other was and what we were thinking and what the future might hold, just to see if we got along or see if we clicked at all. He really hasn't changed much since then and he's basically an introverted, quite humorous, highly intelligent, easy-going guy, who has gotten over himself. He's not that impressed with himself. He just likes playing ball and he goes home and does whatever he does. That's him.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Sure. Obviously, they are both very good defenders. But beyond that, they give you different looks. They are always going to be there, Ben does it a little bit more with strength, and constant motion and an believable drive and Rasheed does it with his length and his talent. His length is really troublesome. He's got great timing. He anticipates well. He knows how to get from A to B on the court in an efficient manner. Ben, he's like Manu in a big man's body. He's everywhere. He's going to lay it on the line every minute, a competitor at the highest level for every minute of the game, and so when you've got both of those guys on the court at the same time, it's quite an awesome defensive front.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Do I have to tell you everything? Sabbatical is a long time.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I guess the quick and dirty would be I was able to go away for a whole year, which is pretty remarkable. I was dumb and happy as a professor teaching and coaching and nobody cared and I was happy with that. I spent the year at Carolina and at Kansas. I had known Coach Brown a little bit in the past because I had worked for Coach Egan, who was a coach at the Air Force Academy, I was an assistant and Larry was at Denver, the head coach there and I got to know him in that respect. Coach Smith came through Bob Spear, who was our first coach in the Air Force Academy and Coach Smith worked for him. And so he allowed me to come there and so you can imagine for a whole season, I was with those two guys, you know, in the film room, at practice -- well, that's not totally true, at Kansas I was at practice. But in the film rooms and stealing as much as I could steal and absorbing and just being with those guys in practice meetings and traveled with the team at Kansas and then went back to Pamona-Pitzer, you know, grateful that I had such a great professional year and able to learn from people like that. Then the following year, Larry came to San Antonio and asked me to come with him, and that was 16 years ago or so.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I think, I'm going to try to stay away from that phrase that got really old last year, so I'm not going to say, "The right way". I think both teams predicate what they do on defense, they are pretty demanding in that sense. Players' limits are predicated on that to a great degree. I think they are both good examples of the parts creating a whole that works, having pieces that fit, some pieces talented, some pieces not so talented but the whole allows it to happen because of those pieces. So I think in that sense, it's fun to watch how it comes together. But the other part of it is I think both teams have individuals that are really fun to watch. You know, you watch. Chauncey's strength and the way he uses it on the court to get things done. You see the talent of Rasheed or the hustle of Ben Wallace or a Richard Hamilton and you look at Tayshaun and you look at that long skinny body and wonder how he gets all that stuff done, but he does it because he's a real basketball player. On our team, we have four or five guys that are the same way and they are really fun to watch. I think either on an individual bases or a team basis, I think there's a lot to see.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I have absolutely no idea. I wouldn't give it any idea. You all would give thought because those are stories and you have to have stories or you'll get fired. I could care less. We're either sharp and in shape or we're not, I have no idea. We're just doing the best we can.