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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v SPURSJune 8, 2007Gregg PopovichSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day Q. Is there a way to keep Parker from getting to the basket? From what I've seen, it would be pretty tough. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I mean, if there is, I hope nobody figures it out. Q. In the fourth quarter last night, the Cavs seemed to make a surge back. Could you talk possibly about what concerns you may have had from slippage or lack of focus on your guys' end, or is that just kind of expected from that at that point in the game? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know that there are answers to those kinds of questions. An NBA game is -- it has several times in the game where momentum shifts. You know, there are going to be times when a team turns it over a little bit or doesn't make shots, and one team goes up on the other team. I think it goes back and forth. The best thing about an NBA game is it's 48 minutes and you know that's going to happen. When it does happen, it's usually missed shots and turnovers. Q. From a coaching standpoint, there wasn't anything that your guys were doing that you were disappointed in, you still felt like they were giving the effort and all of that? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Sure, sure. Q. I was hoping you could talk about what maybe you learned from Hank Egan during your Air Force days there, what your relationship is with him and what it's like to kind of being on the other side now. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, that would take a real long time. Is there anybody that you've known for 35 years? That would take a very long time. But suffice it to say that the first practice plan that I ever did was with Hank Egan, you know, some 30-whatever years ago. So that's how far we go back. You know, talking about what drills to run in a practice, we did that together for six years after I played for the man, and he taught me basketball. He taught me basketball as a player. He disciplined me, he stroked me and kicked me in the butt, and then we coached together for six years, and then we coached another seven or eight here in San Antonio. He's meant the world to me as far as basketball and a personal relationship, with he and his wife Judy, living at their house while I was a cadet at the Academy. We go a long way back. Q. Is that difficult coaching against him in The Finals, and how much are you -- COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It's a pain in the neck, you know, it really is, because you're at each other's throats trying to win, but at the same time you know what your relationship is. So it's tough for that reason. Q. Are you still talking to him much during The Finals or anything? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Oh, yeah. I mean, I had a message on my phone last night after the game and that sort of thing. I mean, he's the classiest of class acts. That's not going to change at all. Q. Going into that Lottery ten years ago, did you think you guys need to win, you needed to get Tim, or was the previous season just an aberration? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He wasn't even on our radar screen. We didn't even talk about him. I don't remember all the guys that were there, but I think Keith Van Horn was in that same draft and there was somebody else. There were two or three people we thought might have a chance. We were like third or fourth by winning percentage or record. We thought we were going to pick third or fourth, something like that. And we talked about all those guys and how they would fit with our team and what we had. I don't think we ever mentioned Tim Duncan's name until the Lottery came. Q. And then when the Lottery happened, immediately you said, okay, now we're going to win, we've got Tim Duncan? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: A whole lot of things changed for a whole lot of people (laughter). I'm one of them (laughter). Q. When a first game goes like it did yesterday, and obviously you would rather be on the side of it you were, have you ever been in these situations that changes the way players feel about this, there's openings, you don't quite know your opponent, then you come in and you have a 15, 18-point lead in the fourth quarter, do they relax coming into next game? Do you have to treat it any different? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, as a coach you always feel you need to say certain things just to cover all the bases. But with these guys, they've heard it all before and they've heard it from me, so I try to do a good job of not boring them to death with obvious things, like don't be too happy with the win, that win is over, it doesn't mean anything now, this is the only important game, all the things that you all could think of yourselves. What we'll do is focus on things that we saw in the film that we can do better at both ends of the court, and we'll be very direct with them on what they need to do to have an opportunity to win against a team that's going to play better than it did in Game 1. Q. Like a lot of the players, I don't read the newspapers, but I assume that the challenge has been put out to LeBron James about after the first game he had and the build-up coming in, what do you expect to see from him coming into the next game? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, LeBron is a great competitor, obviously very gifted, and he'll do everything he can to be more aggressive for both himself and for teammates. I think you'll just see somebody who's even more focused than he was in Game 1. You know, what specifically he and the staff are going to come up with, I won't know until game time. Q. How important are good character guys to your success here in San Antonio, and secondly, with all the controversy that you hear in a lot of franchises nowadays, do you think that's some of the reason why maybe people don't look at you as they would, a big market, and hold you up to the same hype and whatnot? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I can answer the second part more quickly. It's irrelevant how people hold us up or don't hold us up or talk about us or don't talk about us. It's got nothing to do with real life. The first part of your question, character is a big part of it. I think with any good basketball team, I think for a team to really achieve, character is important because character is a direct reflection of an ability to handle criticism, an ability to be happy for teammates' success, to understand the big picture, people that have gotten over themselves and understand that it's about the group, all those sorts of traits come from character. Without that, it's not going to get done. Q. Can you talk a little bit about whether your offensive philosophy and approach changed at all when Manu and Tony were integrated into the culture of the Spurs as opposed to the team from the late '90s? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Sure. I guess the biggest thing with the arrival of Tony and Manu, the biggest change was for me probably; I had to let up control. Where most of us like to be in control, or at least think we're pulling the strings for the most part, I learned quickly that they had more to offer by being in random situations than I did by trying to control things with things I concocted on paper that in reality didn't do a whole lot but looked good on paper. So they taught me to release the reins a bit, and their play, their random play and their aggressiveness, their passion on the court meant an awful lot. So that was really the change. You know, it quickens the pace, it adds more creativity on the court, and people enjoy playing with them and people enjoy watching them. So that probably is what changed the most. End of FastScripts |
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