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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: GRIZZLIES v SPURSMay 25, 2013Gregg PopovichMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: Game Three San Antonio – 104 Q. Could you talk about first the comeback from 18 in the first half and include in that your five‑man substitution in the first quarter, what your intent was there? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, to start the game, you all saw it; I don't remember the stats. We had maybe eight turnovers in the first quarter. It looked like those five guys had been asleep since Tuesday, and so we thought we might as well get five different bodies out there and at least start to compete and not be as sloppy as that group looked. For whatever reason, I have no clue, but it was one of the worst starts I've ever seen. We just made the change and hoped we could sustain the hit, get the guys back in, and it was a real test of their character to continue to pound and pound and pound. That's what happened. Really proud of their‑‑ not really their effort so much but their ability to mentally hang in and stick with each other and continue to play. Q. You just talked about Tim and what he's able to do in overtime to help get you guys over the hump ‑‑ GREGG POPOVICH: You know, he was huge the other night in overtime and got it done for us, and he did it again tonight. That's why he is considered as great as he has for the last 17 years. He's been unbelievable. He feels a responsibility to carry us in those kinds of times, and he did it again tonight. Q. Obviously‑‑ GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know what else to say. He was fantastic. Q. Obviously you need another win, but what would it mean for him to get back to The Finals? GREGG POPOVICH: We've got Game 4 Monday night, and there's no past, there's no future, there's only Game 4, just like there was Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, and now Game 4 is all that exists for us. Q. When you got into the overtime, do you think the experience you've had in the overtime this playoff season, this is your fifth overtime period, fourth game, you guys have a sense of what they need to do in an overtime period that helps them a little bit? GREGG POPOVICH: I hope they do because I don't. You don't plan what's going to happen in a game. You try, you strategize, but you don't really know what's going to happen in those situations. I mean, these two teams are evenly matched and they're both hard‑working teams and you wouldn't assume that you're going to jump out to an eight‑, nine‑point lead in overtime. That's just not something that you can strategize or plan on. Q. When the Grizzlies were up by as many as 18 points in the first quarter, what did you tell your guys during the time‑out? GREGG POPOVICH: The first half I was grandfatherly, and in the second half, what word can I say? I was ugly because I wasn't going to watch it again. So maybe I helped them get through, stick together in the first half, but in the second half they didn't need that again, they needed to get nasty and ugly and angry, and so that's what I tried to make them. Q. Manu's game tonight, were his rebounds as big as the points that he scored for you guys? GREGG POPOVICH: That's a great point. He's been doing that the whole playoff. He hasn't been shooting the ball well, but he's such a competitor, he knows that there are other things that he can do in the game. He's had some games where he's had a lot of assists and he's hitting the board a lot. You see him in there fighting with Zach trying to get the boards because the bigs can't do it by themselves with a guy as good on the board as he can. Manu's board and overall basketball knowledge and play are really important to us, even if he's not shooting it well. Q. Talk about how Splitter and Duncan have evolved together. Tim said he feels a lot more comfortable with him now. What's the difference from now and a year ago? GREGG POPOVICH: Well, Tiago has been starting basically the whole season, so I think they've gotten time together the way Tim and Fabricio Oberto had time together a few years ago. Tiago has been hurt quite a bit in his first few years here, but this year he's been healthy, and they've read each other position wise and how to work with each other. Timmy is going to look to shoot more jump shots than in previous part of his career, and Tiago is a great roller, so they work well together in that way. Q. You guys have put so much scoring around the big three these past couple years, but when you see the stats sheet like tonight, does it surprise you what these guys can continue to do this far down the road? GREGG POPOVICH: Parker and Duncan and Ginobili you mean? No, it doesn't surprise me. They're competitors. They've been playing together for quite a while, and what I saw tonight is what I've seen many times from those three guys. Even if somebody isn't playing well, they're going to stick with it and support each other, and they did tonight. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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