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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: JAZZ v SPURSMay 26, 2007Gregg PopovichSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Game Three Q. Where can you still be better? Where do you hope to be better? Where do you have to be better in these conditions? GREGG POPOVICH: We have to take care of the ball a lot better than we did in Game 2. They have 31 points off our turnovers in Game 2 and the only thing that saved us was our shooting percentage. We shot the ball very well, but had we not done that we would have had big problems. So here in Utah we've really got to take care of the ball better than we did. Q. The usual philosophy when you play in a hostile arena is try to take the crowd out early? Is that pretty much standard? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I don't know any formula for that other than trying to play well. That happens as a result of good play, so -- Q. Does it truly help a team to take the crowd out of it? GREGG POPOVICH: I'm sure there are times in the game where the crowd helps out the home team and if you can take those moments away, maybe it takes away a little bit of energy but it is not really a point of emphasis. Q. Coach, in the past, can you talk about how your experiences have helped so many when you go to these kind of environments? It never seems you are ever truly fazed. GREGG POPOVICH: We probably are fazed more than you might think, but we have got some pretty experienced players, and I think they realize that it is a 48-minute game. There are going to be moments when things don't look well. There is going to be adversity in every game. Teams are going to make runs. But the ability to not dwell on the opponent's run or a mistake by a teammate or oneself is really the key and focusing on the next play, whether it is defense or offense is the most important thing in the game, especially on the road. Hopefully, we can continue to do that. Q. You've already expressed that you were unhappy with your fourth quarter defense. Have you tweaked your scheme at all or is it simply a matter of executing it better? GREGG POPOVICH: We made mistakes. We just made mistakes in our coverage and what we wanted to do. We didn't execute very well, so hopefully we can do that better. Q. Does the unflappability you spoke of, does that come from the experience or do you need a certain sort of player or personalities on your team to develop that? GREGG POPOVICH: I don't want to overstate it. I didn't say we were unflappable, that was your word. So I would rather go with my words when I describe my team. We're unflappable at times and other times we're flappable. We are human. We are automatons. I think it comes from people being experienced and playing in these games a number of times and also from confidence in teammates and the ability to support teammates and understand that's a real important factor in these kinds of games, that teammates support each other. You don't leave anybody hanging out on a limb if they are having a bad night. Q. Pop, how do you as a coach and as a team not take too much or read too much into winning a playoff game, and conversely, not take too much from losing a playoff game? GREGG POPOVICH: We've spent a good amount of time in the past just in a philosophical sense trying to deal with that and we've got it down pretty well I think in the sense that we don't take a whole lot of joy out of a win. It is basically more of a relief to us and get back to work. When we lose a game, we want to figure out what the reasons are or what the reasons were, face it and try to cure it. So it is more of a very realistic approach where we realize sadness or joy after a game is really a fool's goal. Q. When you have this much time between games 2 and 3, do you use it all, or is there a point of diminishing returns in terms of preparation? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, if you mean by use it all, practice during that whole time, the answer is no. We've split it up between hopefully some efficient practice, meaningful practice and some rest. So we did a little bit of both. Q. The disciplined approach you just described about not enjoying the wins so much, that's something I think every NBA team would like to have and very few are able to develop. Can you put your finger on one or two reasons why you have been able to develop that over the years here and to have that? It is really a rare thing in pro sports. GREGG POPOVICH: Basically I think it is a reflection of the ability of the players we have to intellectually understand the positives and negatives of an approach to a win or a loss. I think they honestly believe it begins with Tim, that putting too much into a win as far as joy or we did this great, we did that great, doesn't really mean anything in the next game. And by the same token, understanding beating yourself too much in a loss doesn't do any good either. It is better to be real. They have that maturity to do it, approach it at that level. Tony, Manu, Bruce, Michael, they all feel that way about it. I think on an intellectual basis they are all in the same world. Q. How hard was it for you to develop that approach? GREGG POPOVICH: I was a cadet (smiling) they made me do it. I didn't want to do it. I just wanted to be a wise guy. Q. You've succeeded. GREGG POPOVICH: In being a wise guy (laughter.) Q. In both. Over the course of time that you've had this core group, can you almost see a measurable difference in that maturity and that support of one another and the -- I won't say unflappability but the consistency from the early years of Tim and Tony together to now? Is it vastly different? Do you look at them differently because of that and know they can handle things better? GREGG POPOVICH: I look at them differently in the sense that I don't have to talk to them about it. I can't remember the last time I talked to them about what you all are asking me about. They know it. It is reflected in the answers that they give. If we win tonight or if we lose tonight, their answers will reflect that. So it was a maturation for all of us the first couple of years, but after that they took it on themselves, and when new people come in, they see how those guys approach losses and wins and it just sort of becomes corporate knowledge for us. End of FastScripts |
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