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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v SPURS

June 14, 2007

Gregg Popovich

CLEVELAND, OHIO: Game Four

Q. You've obviously been in these situations before, just the close-out aspect of it. Is there anything different about that? Do you approach or your players approach it any differently, or is it just another game?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It goes through your head. You know what's possible. If we were to win, we know it's over, and that's great. But that goes in and right out because you know it's more important to focus on this being one more game. That's what we try to do with the basketball team. We don't talk to them at all about the import or what it means. They already know that. We just hope we execute well and play well.

Q. There's a gap between the perceived large distance that I think the public and we feel there is between these two teams, what I'm sure you feel is a much closer gap between the two teams in terms of who can win and who can lose a game. Can you speak to kind of that -- I don't want to say paranoia, but that uncertainty that a coach feels regardless of whether or not he's up 3-0 in a series?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Sure. There's always an underdog and an overdog, so to speak. But basically from a coaching standpoint, I think we know what a fine line wins and losses are. For instance, Game 3 could have gone either way. Momentum changes in this sport quite easily. The people who play are human beings, and their confidence levels rise and fall from game to game, from series to series, from year to year, all those sorts of things. And we know that it's best to take advantage of opportunities when they're available because other circumstances that aren't in your control at times can pop up. You can have a bad shooting night, you can get a tough call here or there, somebody can get sick, all sorts of things can happen. So we know what a fine line it is basically.

Q. When you got both David and Tim there was those huge one-year jump, I think 35-win improvement. Can that still happen in the West? Can Portland hope to make that jump that quick or is there too many good teams now?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I think that would be unfair pressure to put on whatever young kid is drafted in Portland. We all can guess what we think is going to happen, but I believe that the two guys you're talking about are like 18 or 19 years old. When David came out, I don't remember how old he was, but I think he was about 23. He played at the Academy, he played service ball after that. He was very mature already. I think that's a huge difference, emotionally, physically, and I don't think those young men can be put in that same category as far as being prepared to go do that.

Q. Obviously Elson is playing with you. What do you tell him and other rookies as far as big games like this?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Absolutely nothing. I guess I'm a bad coach (laughter), I don't know. I don't tell them anything, honestly, not a word. We've got practice this morning, we play the game tonight, this is the defense, this is the offense, go do your job. That's about it.

Q. PJ Carlesimo talked yesterday about the playoffs last year for Tim Duncan and Manu and how they ended for both of them. Do you think they used that as motivation for this season in any way, and how would they have used it?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I think all players use their past experiences, mostly to remind themselves again how few these opportunities might be for a player, that when you do have an opportunity to do something grand, you need to do the best job you can to take advantage of it. So I think when players remind themselves of tough losses like our Game 7 against Dallas last year, it helps motivate them and understand the situation they're in, that they want to do everything they can to not let that happen again.

Q. In situations like The Finals, the media like to focus on an X factor, somebody who does something special, Bruce Bowen in recent days, Robert Horry always with this situation, Tony now this year with his start in the first couple games. In all that, where is Tim Duncan's place and what does he mean to all of that, all that happens?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Tim is the common denominator. It doesn't matter what year he's been in or what championship year. He's got a different cast around him from '99, '03 and '05. He's welcomed them all, he's found a way to help them all fit, feel comfortable in their roles, and not many players can do that. But he is that easy to play with and his skills are so fundamentally sound that other people can fit in more easily, and I think that's the key to the whole thing, the way they fit around him.

Q. If Tim is the common denominator, what does that make you?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I guess I'm just somebody who tries to make sure that the environment is such that they can thrive. I think that's what most coaches try to do. We teach, obviously, the technical part of the game and what the system might be, but overall I think we try to create an environment, on the bus, on the plane, on the court, in their lives, so they can be as successful as possible. But they do the actual winning.

Q. The other night, talking to Cavalier players, they said we couldn't make the plays down the stretch, the Spurs did, they came through, made the plays. How much do you think experience in this situation plays a factor in that happening?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, I think that definitely if a player, a team has a core of players that have been together for a while, it follows that execution is probably a little bit easier for that group under pressure because they've done it before and they know what situations are best for them, both offensively and defensively.
If you haven't been together that long, it's a little bit more difficult to react, because five people have to react in a team defense or in an offense. And if one person doesn't react properly or the timing is off or the communication isn't there, then execution can stop. Even though we're experienced, we do it.
The other thing is, at the end of games offense looks a lot better when the shots go down. Oftentimes fans and media will say, well, this team didn't execute. They might have executed very well but the ball didn't go down. Cleveland had some open shots and they didn't go down. Michael hit a three. Bruce hit a three. Tony Parker hit a three. Tony is not a three-point shooter, but it went down. So sometimes that's why they call it a game.

Q. It's conventional wisdom that after a few years no matter how good a coach is the players start to tune him out and start listening to his motivations and it does not seem that has happened with you and Tim. Is your relationship more than player-coach? Has it become a genuine friendship, and does that factor into the fact that you still be able to push his buttons and motivate him?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I think when you've been with a player for a long time I think it's in a way like a marriage where respect grows, and that respect and trust is important to make it work, and I think that's what I try to do with the players. Like I've gotten on Tony when he was real young, you know, the vein thing and the whole thing he talks about and all that stuff, crazy, that's all true. But he knows I care about him, and there will be times off the court where we'll spend time developing a relationship.
You can't just have a basketball relationship, I don't think, because over time that gets real old, and that's the way it's been with Timmy. Obviously I've been with him the longest. Oftentimes we don't even have to speak. When you're with your best buddies, sometimes you don't say anything, you're just in the same room and you don't need to talk. Oftentimes if he has a game that's not great, I don't say a word to him. I don't say to him, well, Timmy, I think you should do this. We'll watch him once in a while, but basically he takes care of himself.

Q. Looking at tape of Game 3, you saw that the Spurs were out-rebounded, Cavaliers had more assists, less turnovers. What are the things you want to address for Game 4 that you might have learned from Game 3, some lessons that you want to improve on for Game 4?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No real lessons. You know, turnovers are a part of the game. We all know we should rebound. They might out-rebound us or we might out-rebound them, but that's not a lesson, in my opinion. They don't need that lesson. They already know what makes up the game. We're just going to try to execute our defense and our offense as well as we can. Wherever the turnovers and rebounds end up, that's what happens.

End of FastScripts

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