duncan228
04-21-2009, 12:53 AM
Popovich thrilled for Brown (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Popovich_thrilled_for_Brown.html)
Mike Monroe
It didn't take long for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to understand that Mike Brown, who was named the coach of the year Monday, was on a track to be an NBA head coach.
It was Popovich who first put Brown on an NBA bench as an assistant coach in 2000 after he had been a video coordinator, coaching intern and scout for the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards in the 1990s.
Brown's Cavaliers had the NBA's best record, 66-15, this season, earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They went 39-2 on their home court.
Watching a 30-year-old Brown's interaction with the Spurs in the 2000-01 preseason was all Popovich had to see to know Brown had the right stuff to be a head coach.
“When we put him on the bench, it didn't take very long into the first preseason to realize he had a knack for getting respect of players very quickly,” Popovich said before the Spurs' Game 2 victory over the Mavericks at AT&T Center. “He had great confidence in his knowledge of the game and could teach it and communicated it.
“It was obvious he knew when a kick in the pants was necessary and when a pat on the back was necessary, and he was good at both. So it was apparent pretty quickly he had all those qualities.”
Brown was with the Spurs for three seasons before Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, now the Mavericks head coach, hired him away from the Spurs by offering him a job as his assistant head coach. The Cavaliers hired him as their head coach in June 2005.
Popovich said the 122 media voters who select the NBA's postseason awards had “five or six” outstanding candidates for this season's coach of the year award.
“I think you (got it right),” Popovich said. “Oftentimes a guy with that kind of record gets overlooked, but he did a hell of a job with that crew. Look at where they are defensively, their numbers defensively and their wins at home. He did some amazing things, and he definitely deserved it.”
Carlisle, like Popovich a past winner of the coach of the year Award, was equally thrilled about Brown's honor.
“He's been a very steadying influence on a team that has a lot of veterans but also a lot of youth,” he said. “He's extremely well-deserving."
Fixing It: After allowing 21 second-chance points to the Mavericks in Game 1, the Spurs were much more aggressive, not only in going to the defensive glass, but in keeping the Mavericks guards from getting into the lane and forcing the Spurs big men to play help defense.
Final second-chance tally for the Mavericks on Monday: eight points.
The Mavericks didn't get their first second-chance points of the game until Jason Terry followed his own missed layin and scored on a putback.
Injury report: Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki played the second half with his left thumb wrapped, and also banged knees with Bruce Bowen in the third quarter. He finished the game with 13 points on 3-for-14 shooting in 39 minutes. ... Spurs backup forward Drew Gooden hit the floor hard after tracking down a rebound in the second quarter and left the floor shortly before the end of the first half. He returned for the second half, during which he played 11 minutes.
Mike Monroe
It didn't take long for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to understand that Mike Brown, who was named the coach of the year Monday, was on a track to be an NBA head coach.
It was Popovich who first put Brown on an NBA bench as an assistant coach in 2000 after he had been a video coordinator, coaching intern and scout for the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards in the 1990s.
Brown's Cavaliers had the NBA's best record, 66-15, this season, earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They went 39-2 on their home court.
Watching a 30-year-old Brown's interaction with the Spurs in the 2000-01 preseason was all Popovich had to see to know Brown had the right stuff to be a head coach.
“When we put him on the bench, it didn't take very long into the first preseason to realize he had a knack for getting respect of players very quickly,” Popovich said before the Spurs' Game 2 victory over the Mavericks at AT&T Center. “He had great confidence in his knowledge of the game and could teach it and communicated it.
“It was obvious he knew when a kick in the pants was necessary and when a pat on the back was necessary, and he was good at both. So it was apparent pretty quickly he had all those qualities.”
Brown was with the Spurs for three seasons before Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, now the Mavericks head coach, hired him away from the Spurs by offering him a job as his assistant head coach. The Cavaliers hired him as their head coach in June 2005.
Popovich said the 122 media voters who select the NBA's postseason awards had “five or six” outstanding candidates for this season's coach of the year award.
“I think you (got it right),” Popovich said. “Oftentimes a guy with that kind of record gets overlooked, but he did a hell of a job with that crew. Look at where they are defensively, their numbers defensively and their wins at home. He did some amazing things, and he definitely deserved it.”
Carlisle, like Popovich a past winner of the coach of the year Award, was equally thrilled about Brown's honor.
“He's been a very steadying influence on a team that has a lot of veterans but also a lot of youth,” he said. “He's extremely well-deserving."
Fixing It: After allowing 21 second-chance points to the Mavericks in Game 1, the Spurs were much more aggressive, not only in going to the defensive glass, but in keeping the Mavericks guards from getting into the lane and forcing the Spurs big men to play help defense.
Final second-chance tally for the Mavericks on Monday: eight points.
The Mavericks didn't get their first second-chance points of the game until Jason Terry followed his own missed layin and scored on a putback.
Injury report: Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki played the second half with his left thumb wrapped, and also banged knees with Bruce Bowen in the third quarter. He finished the game with 13 points on 3-for-14 shooting in 39 minutes. ... Spurs backup forward Drew Gooden hit the floor hard after tracking down a rebound in the second quarter and left the floor shortly before the end of the first half. He returned for the second half, during which he played 11 minutes.