Spurs Coach Popovich Enjoys Doing Things His Way

[duncan228]

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich enjoys doing things his way
By Jan Hubbard

Before the first game of the season between the Spurs and Suns, Shaquille O’Neal was complaining about the Hack-a-Shaq strategy employed by San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

The Spurs had repeatedly fouled O’Neal in the playoffs last year, and O’Neal, a notoriously poor free-throw shooter, didn’t like it. He called it "cowardly."

Jerry Brewer — a reporter for the East Valley Tribune, a suburban newspaper in the Phoenix area — told Popovich he should foul O’Neal as soon as the game started.

How many coaches do you know would take a suggestion from a reporter? There may be one, and Brewer was talking to him.

So five seconds after the opening tap of the season, Popovich had Michael Finley foul O’Neal, who was clearly stunned. But then he looked at Popovich, who was laughing and giving Shaq the thumbs-up sign, and O’Neal got it.

It was a joke.

And that’s Popovich, who is every bit the iconoclast.

He is a funny, intelligent man, but he has no use for dumb questions or in-game interviews that are mandatory for NBA coaches. That led to a highlight on ESPN Wednesday night when his focus on playing the Lakers was interrupted by the requisite interview.

The first question was OK, so he answered it. The second question was regarding how he planned on stopping Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter.

The look on Popovich’s face would have melted concrete, but he managed to rein it back to sheer sarcasm.

"I probably have no idea," he said abruptly.

Anyone who has dealt with Popovich’s biting humor burst out laughing.

The game was a thriller with the Spurs winning 112-111. Popovich is one of the premier defensive coaches in the league, but was asked after the game if he could appreciate the great offensive performance of both teams.

"Do I look thrilled?" he answered, wryly.

With a veteran team, Popovich has a different approach than most NBA coaches. He does not have gameday shootarounds at home. He’d rather his players rest.

This year, he introduced Yoga as a weekly exercise, and the players seemed to embrace it.

He demands players to play hard and be efficient, but he doesn’t worry about home-court advantage in the playoffs or what the team record is in December. And he is the first to admit that part of that luxury is courtesy of Tim Duncan.

So it’s not a surprise that with the Spurs facing their most brutal stretch of the season that Popovich is looking forward to it. A week from today, San Antonio begins a 12-game stretch with 11 of those games on the road.

In early February, eight of those games are on the road because the Spurs have to vacate their arena while the rodeo is in town. It happens every year and the Spurs refer to it as "the rodeo trip."

Popovich loves it.

"It’s old news and trite by now, but I’ll say it again," Popovich said. "We try to use the rodeo trip as a silver lining — being on the road so much — and try to come together, realizing it’s tougher on the road and get a little bit of a bunker mentality and develop a little bit of that edge we talk about.

"If you can win on the road, theoretically you can win at home, and win on the road come playoff time. It really changes things up. It’s a good test and a good measure of where we are at the time playoffs come, so we look forward to that challenge."

The Spurs will not be away the entire time, however. They have four days between one set of road games and will spend it at home. And there is also the five-day All-Star break that will separate another set of road games.

Still, it’s tough to play that many games away from home, so we’ll learn something about the Spurs. From Popovich’s viewpoint, however, it’s more important that they learn about themselves.

[m33p0]

The game was a thriller with the Spurs winning 112-111. Popovich is one of the premier defensive coaches in the league, but was asked after the game if he could appreciate the great offensive performance of both teams.

"Do I look thrilled?" he answered, wryly.

[pawe]

11 out of 12 games on the road is tough. They will be tested.