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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v SPURSJune 10, 2007Gregg PopovichSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Game Two Q. Since you've been through many of these before, have you ever noticed any difference between when your team has two days off or the other team versus one in these series? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I have not. Q. At least you've had some time to think about it. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: A lot of time. Q. In the last series with the Cavs in Detroit, early in the series, Rasheed Wallace had a number of blocks in the early games and they made a point that they weren't going directly into the chest of the big guys of the Pistons, and they did that later in the series and felt that changed things for them. Is that something that you anticipate seeing from them after Tim had the five blocks in Game 1? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, actually I haven't given that much thought, to tell you the truth. You know, it's hard to anticipate what a team might do because I think at this point in the season, most of us are what we are. There will be adjustments made by both teams, but I don't think they're going to be major. That's hard to do this late in the season. Q. Can you go over your thought process when you had Manu coming off the bench as opposed to starting, and how did that change the dynamic for you guys? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: At the time when we did it, we felt that we weren't getting a lot of production out of the bench, and at the same time we thought maybe two things could happen simultaneously that Michael or Brett could feel more comfortable with the starters and maybe benefit from the double teams that Timmy receives, and at the same time, we'd have more offense and energy coming off the bench with Manu. And lastly, in Manu we have someone who would accept it. He would rather start, but the team is more important to him, so I was able to do it. Q. How has he evolved as a player over the years? I know he has that whirling dervish kind of style that in the old days kind of drove you crazy? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Right. Well, he came with that. We didn't coach that for anything. Manu is Manu, and before he got here, he was a heck of a player. Not when we drafted him, but by the time we brought him, he had won European championships and been MVPs and that sort of thing and played in huge games. And when I first got him, I just had to learn that I had to let go of the reins a bit because he was special in a lot of ways, and holding him back really took away from his effectiveness, and it took me a little while to learn that. He is who he is. Q. Obviously the teams that get to The Finals are very good defensive teams, and it seems like the team that plays the best defense year in and year out tends to win the championships more often than not. Why do you think teams don't prioritize whether it's in the draft or free agent players who have defensive skills primarily and maybe you can coach them up to the offensive stuff? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: That's a hard question. I think that most of us are probably geared toward talent. I know that's a simplistic word, but talent overrides everything else, and I think that most people would be paranoid about drafting someone who was just a defender, as opposed to someone who exhibited talent, as we usually describe it. That's probably the bottom line. Q. What would you point to what the Spurs have done for these years that would have held up in previous eras against the other great teams? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: The thing that's synonymous with other good teams in the past is having the central player on your team have a great combination of competitiveness, character and talent, and all those teams had it, and the thing that characterizes us is with David and then Tim. When you look at all those teams, whether it's Bill Russell, Celtics; or Larry Bird, Celtics; or Magic or Kareem, Lakers; or Hakeem, Rockets, whatever you want to say, there's always somebody like that. Q. I believe you used the word discombobulated to describe your offense for that stretch in the first half in Game 1. In that stretch and also in the regular season when you've had offensive droughts against them, in general what have you not been doing in those stretches, given that they're also playing good defense? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Right, it's always a combination. One combination is you have to give the other team credit for playing pretty good D. But when you go back and look at the film, it's usually a combination of turnovers, missed shots, which is normal and can happen to anybody, and a lack of movement, lack of ball and player movement, not letting the game come to each individual but forcing the issue, not playing within the system. And when you combine it with missed shots and turnovers and another good NBA team, runs will be made. Q. Early on in Game 1, Michael Finley had it looked like a couple of good shots and spun them in and out. Did he become tentative at that point or did you tell him to shoot more? What was the thought process? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Michael knows he's got the green light as soon as he touches it. If he's open and doesn't shoot it, he's going to sit. Q. A little lighthearted question. Any thoughts on what happens to Tony Soprano tonight? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Who? Q. Tony Soprano. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, I haven't thought about that. End of FastScripts |
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