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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURSJune 7, 2014Gregg PopovichSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day Q.  Coach, how much over the years you've been coaching has the three‑pointer changed as far as opening the game, maybe how you've built your roster and assembled your lineups like you did with Bonner in the last series? Has there been an evolution where you have to have that in your game and your precepts change where maybe you have to defend against it? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: It's obvious it's changed the game. It makes it tougher to cover that much room defensively on the court, so you do have to pay attention to it defensively. It's a heck of a weapon. I hate it. To me it's not basketball but you gotta use it. If you don't use it, you're in big trouble. But you sort of feel like it's cheating. You know, like two points, that's what you get when you make a basket. Now you get three, so you gotta deal with it. I don't think I don't think there's anybody who is not dealing with it. Q. Pop, how has your offense evolved over the years from being centered around Robinson and Duncan to now where it's free‑flowing? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, very frankly, we try to be as good of a defensive team as we can be. We're not as good as we used to be defensively. So if that's going to diminish, you need to do something at the other end of the floor to make up for it. We changed our pace, and the way we approach things at the other end of the floor to make up for what we're going to lose defensively. That's the bottom line. Q. Along those lines, does your offensive tempo help you retrain opponents' scoring? You don't often see other players put up big numbers against you. Does that start with the offensive end? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I don't know where it starts. For me it starts with defense. We concentrate a great deal on that end of the floor because I don't think you can be the last team standing without being a good defensive club. But having said that, we know that to win we need to score, and that's where the pace comes in, but it's a tricky thing. You know, you can have pace. We had pace last game and we had 23 turnovers. That's not what we're looking for. We're not looking for a quick shot or anything like that, but, it's something that has to be massaged and you have to walk a fine line to get it the way you want it. Q. Pop, when you limit guys' minutes in the regular season, in addition to resting your top players for the playoffs, how much of that is getting your bench ready as far as getting them to play big minutes and be ready for the playoffs? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: For us it's both. We've protected guys for many years minutes‑wise. And I've said before I've often felt guilty because their lifetime stats are going to be worse than everybody else's, because of the way I've sat them over the years. But it also does develop the bench, give them some confidence to play. And hopefully in the end when playoff time comes, sometimes it a role player that steps up in a certain game and has a heck of a night and helps you. Q. A few players said they feel freedom coming off the bench, that they don't have to look over their shoulder and worry about making a mistake. They feel free to play. Is that something you purposely try to get them to feel? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I'm probably harder on the starters than I am on the bench. If you're a bench guy and you make a mistake and you get pulled, it's tough on you. You want the bench to be more perfect in some ways but we expect the starters to set the example in the way we want to play and oftentimes the bench comes in and plays better. It happens. Q. When you've got two teams that have both a commitment to defense and want to play at a certain pace, I think you had 27 points off turnovers, they had 28, I think you combined for 40 turnovers. Is that going to be the trade‑off? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: My guess is you won't see that tomorrow night, turnover‑wise. I don't think either one of us will turn it over as much as we did. In that regard we were both pretty sloppy. Q. With the way Tim was so effective when the game started the other night and he only ends up with ten shots. Is that enough and is does he ever come to you and demand more? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, the other thing Timmy has ever demanded is he wants to play the point and he thinks I've held him back. True story. He thinks he's a point guard. We don't call his number the way we used to call his number. He just gets it out of flow, and we don't really overdose on anybody, as far as calling somebody's number. Mario Elie is still waiting for me to call a play for him. Q. I know there is nothing you can do about the schedule but with two days off between games, is there a tendency to overthink what you did wrong, what you want to do in Game 2? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, it's hard to stop thinking, but you try to discipline yourself so that you don't start thinking of things that are nonsensical and overcoach, get too clever, that sort of thing. When it comes down to it, it's about the players and the fundamentals and execution. So being overly clever doesn't work well. Q. If I'm assuming correct, if the story wasn't in jest, can you expound on Tim's wanting to play point guard? COACH GREGG POPOVICH: There is nothing else to it. That's the story. You see him bring it up once in a while. He brings it up with three more dribbles than he needs to, he should throw it ahead to anybody in the same color uniform. But he'll get three more dribbles in, just to practice in case I do it, which I'm really going to do. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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