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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v SPURSJune 13, 2007Gregg PopovichCLEVELAND, OHIO: Practice Day Q. I know the deed isn't done yet, still one more win to get, but when you begin to talk about dynasties and being among one of the great teams in history, what does that mean to you? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: That doesn't even enter my head because I think that's all psycho babble. When I think of dynasties, two come to my mind real quick, UCLA and Bill Russell. Everything else is just talk after that. Q. Tim was talking about how you brought in some guys who were journeymen and they finally get their first rings after years with you guys. How do you identify who those kind of players are that will fit your system, and how proud do you feel when they finally get a ring like Michael might? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Who are you referring to? Q. Michael Finley. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He hasn't gotten a ring yet. Q. I said "if," I'm sorry. COACH GREGG POPOVICH: You just kind of threw me on that. Q. Guys you've brought in before who finally get a ring with you, how do you know who's going to fit on your team? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: That's a pretty subjective process. It may not always work, but it's a lot easier to put pieces around somebody like Tim Duncan than most other players. Tim has such an empathy for people; he has such a disposition where he welcomes people and figures out so easily how to put them to the best use, so to speak, for lack of a better phrase. It allows us to decide if we've got enough defense, if we need more three-point shooters, if we need kind of like utility infielders in a way. They fit around Duncan very easily. So we just try to find guys who have that kind of character and who were willing to accept that role, who have gotten comfortable in their own skin, this is your role, can you do that. Those are the kind of guys that we look for, given that they have that level of talent in that position or that role that we're looking for. Q. Have you ever thought you needed another, quote-unquote, superstar, or do you think as long as you have Tim -- COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, we've never -- we didn't know that Tony was Manu were going to become who they are when we drafted them, obviously. So we never really thought about or -- we're going to make a trade, we need a second superstar. We never did that. We just tried to groom the people that we had, and those two guys obviously turned into very good players. Q. Your system, you guys get a lot of credit for unwaveringly sticking to your system and it's been the model for a few other teams now. First of all, do you ever have to tweak that system or have you changed it at all through the years, and do you ever see your guys starting to lose it or get away from it? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, all that is true. It's not in concrete. I mean, we fail, we succeed, we tweak, we throw things out, add things, like most other systems, but I think because we won, all of a sudden ours gets held up, and it's probably overdone. Q. Game 4 tomorrow night, you're up 3-0, everything is rolling for you right now. How do you keep the guys focused at this point and to not have a letdown, and we talked about not having a letdown in the two games in San Antonio. Were you happy with last night's performance and how do you keep the guys on track? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I don't think that they need a Knute Rockne for Popovich, put it like that. They're in the NBA Finals. I would depend on their character and their experience to understand what that means. So if we do not win tomorrow night, it's not going to be because they weren't focused. It's going to be because the other team was better that night. I don't worry about that. Q. I'm sorry if you've already addressed a little bit of this, but would you consider Bruce Bowen the epitome of your team for his consistency, for his ability to do what he does so well without really being that flashy, considering what you guys have done and accomplished over the last five years? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, I don't think I could say that exactly (laughing). That might be a bit much. How can we be anything but thrilled with what Bruce Bowen does? Next to Avery Johnson, he's gotten more out of his ability than any player I've ever been around. He knows exactly what his limits are, he knows how to get the most out of what he does and what he's been given, and he works his fanny off to stay at that level. So in that sense he's probably the greatest example on our team of work ethic and ability to take advantage of whatever gifts you've been given on this planet. Last night he was probably our most important player, and it wasn't really the points and the defense. When you add the rebounds to it, it's like he played a complete game. So I was thrilled for him because his first two games he had some problems in those areas, and last night he got it all done when we needed it, because the big boys didn't play all that great. Q. In your career you've been unwaveringly consistent in deflecting credit. Where does that come from, that attitude? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, it's appropriate because this game is about players and what they do, and players win and lose. As coaches we do the best job we can to create an environment for success to hopefully happen, but when it does happen, that praise or credit should definitely go to the players. That's the way it should honestly be, so I don't have any problem in understanding that. End of FastScripts |
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