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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v SPURSJune 9, 2007Gregg PopovichSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day Q. Tony Parker, is he known more for being your championship point guard or more for being Eva Longoria's fiancé? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I think it's a toss-up, probably a toss-up. Q. Does he get recognized more for Tony or being Eva's guy? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I've said this from the first time he came at 18 or 19. He's the most mature young guy I've ever been around in my life. A lot has happened to him quickly, and I can remember when he first came after about a week or two, he came in and he told me he bought a house, and I was like, what about a bank, what about a mortgage, what about this? He goes, I already did that, Pop. I'm from Europe. So I think he was telling me something. Q. During the middle of the year, you talked about how you understood how you guys might not have the same hunger as Phoenix and Dallas because you had what they were looking for and that if you guys didn't improve your style and improve your play, you could be a one-and-doner in the spring. I'm wondering is there anything you can look back at and point to and say this is what we did to turn it around? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, obviously the first half of the year we weren't playing as well as we have in the past, knowing full well that our history has been that we're usually better after the All-Star break. Just before and just after the All-Star break is when we were at our worst. If I had to pick a game it would be at Milwaukee when they had an unbelievable amount of points in the paint, and we were just awful. At that point I met with a few of the guys, and we showed some film and also made the statement that we were going to make no trades, and I thought that was all important. I wanted them to look at each other and understand that this group is going to have an early summer vacation or we're going to get it together and remember what it takes for us to win, and that begins with defense and the board. And we hadn't really done that consistently. We were like in the middle of the field goal percentage defense. We were like 14th at the time. And usually we're first, second or third. And that's where we needed to be if we wanted to do something good. So we went through all that, and at that point their focus changed, and we ended up by the end of the year being where we usually are. I think we were second in field goal percentage defense. But that was the process. Q. Was there a time at Pomona when you thought that you would have been satisfied with staying at that level? I know you enjoyed coaching there, and is the baseline of everything, you are as a coach now, was it pretty much in place there, the things you believed in then? Have they stayed relatively unchanged moving up through the levels? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, at Pomona I spent a good amount of time with Coach Brown and Coach Nelson, and if you can't learn something from those two guys then you're pretty much an idiot. I'd like to think that I gained some basketball knowledge from those guys. But as far as what you basically and fundamentally believe, you know, you pretty much already know that and have to go with what you think your strengths are. But sure, I would have been fat, dumb and happy to be at Pomona forever; I loved it. Q. Why did you guys decide to bring Manu off the bench midway through the season, and how does having him as a sixth man benefit you guys? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I'm not sure there's a real intelligent answer for it. It's just a feel. It was a seat-of-the-pants sort of a thing at the time. The bench wasn't really producing a whole lot. I thought maybe it would be easier for Michael or Brent to play with the starting group and get something done, especially since Timmy gets doubled so much and their shooters, and that would give us more energy and offense and activity off the bench. And I'm fortunate in that Manu is the kind of guy that obviously cares more about the team. Sure, he'd rather start, but he'll do whatever he's got to do for the team and would take it well and not moan and groan about it, so I was able to do it. Q. When the league changed the rules regarding hand checking and all that sort of thing, how concerned were you that your team wouldn't be able to adjust to that and might lose some of that edge that you guys had defensively the previous years? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, initially that's part of it. I thought we were going to have to adjust to that because it didn't allow for any kind of physicality at all on the perimeter. But I was really more worried about what it meant inside with the calls that littles got going against bigs. That's the part that I still think is a little disjunctive. It's stuff for the officials. It's really tough. But you've seen a lot of cannonball plays where guys just project themselves at the bigs when they drive, and sometimes the shots are inventions and have no chance whatsoever, but they're going to go to the line most of the time. Well, that's the way the rules are. Everybody has got to adjust. It's fair for everybody. But that, I thought, would affect us a lot, because Tim Duncan is our major player, and if you take away his blocked shots, his defense down there, that makes it a little bit tougher. So I was worried about that, so we had to make some adjustments for that reason. Q. How did you guys kind of adjust to that? How did Timmy adjust? How did the guys on the perimeter adjust? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, Timmy had to learn to pick and choose his battles a little bit more, couldn't go after everybody. We had to have a four man out on the court that would understand that he had to take part of that role, and Fabricio Oberto has been great in that regard. He's really taken all that heat off of Tim, and Tim can kind of be the backside defender. Even though Oberto is not a seven-footer, he knows how to play. He's been there plenty of times before, and it lets Timmy come from weak side. Q. A lot is being said about the Spurs' experience. Can you tell me about how that actually translates on the court? Is it maybe just the patience of letting the play double up or not getting rattled if you guys are down? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know. I think a lot of it is just psycho babble, something a lot of us say. If you're experienced it's logical and theoretical that you should be able to do things better. That's probably true. But at some point, talent and youth can trump that. Cleveland has that going for them. I guess we have experience going for us. But I'm not exactly sure where it translates other than mental and emotional awareness on the court. You know, things like the adversity that's going to arise and how you handle adversity in a series, those sorts of things. Q. You're going for a fourth title, yet you don't seem to have the reputation of some of the other NBA coaches. Do you think it's because you don't wear an Armani suit or you're not a Zen master, and do you care? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No (laughter). I'm not being a wise-ass, no, I don't care. Q. Can you tell us why that even is? Your record stands up against anyone, yet -- COACH GREGG POPOVICH: If I don't care, it follows that I haven't given any time thinking about why it is. Q. So much has been made about Tim Duncan and how great it's been and just speaking of coach P.J. Carlesimo, he was speaking about some of the things that makes Tim Duncan great. In your mind what makes Tim so special, and I know the question has been asked where he ranks amongst the big men of all time. I just want your thoughts on that. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, a player's abilities are obvious. I won't go there. He's a talented guy, we all know that. What makes him special probably, and no one really knows it, is his disposition, his kindness and empathy toward other people and his sense of humor. He's got a hell of a sense of humor and exhibits it throughout games. A game will be tied with four minutes to go, and he's going to exhibit the sense of humor. It's incredible. I think that's what makes him special. Q. Along with that, could you talk a little bit about the level that Tim is playing defensively in these playoffs, and have you found -- I mean, everyone focuses on his health, but have you found that when he's not at top health it really affects his defense more than the offense? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Absolutely. He does whatever he does offensively pretty naturally. But on defense, this was probably his best year defensively in three, four, five years, and I mean, not just blocking shots or rebounding, but being in position, guarding people one-on-one on the post or out on the floor. He had an excellent year defensively, and it's continued in the playoffs and even increased based on blocked shots and that sort of thing. So it's been a special year for him defensively. End of FastScripts |
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