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Nice to see Pop taking time to actually answer questions, and not just be snarky. I Wish he showed the media here the same respect.
In yesterday's french newspaper L'Equipe , there was an interesting Pop interview. It was done just before the game against Washington on January 29th.
What convinced you to re-sign with Spurs for five more years?
There are personal reasons that I will keep for myself. But professionally, I take a lot of fun with these young people. They are all so talented, while being so raw. Some of them are just barely out from high school. A lot of them are now just going to university for one year before going pro. Their coaches don't have enough time to teach them discipline and fundamentals. This the most gratifying part of my work: be able to develop young people like Victor and be sure that they start their career on the right path. When we played the le every year, my job was radically different. It was a precision work: making the right decision at the right time, drawing the right system, doing the right subs ution, analyzing plays. It is now back to the teaching: shooting drills, video sessions to teach them good habits, rigor and consistency in their work ethic. Sometimes, it's fun to do, sometimes I'm going after one of them (laugh). There is however one sure thing, I'm happy with doing that.
Spurs' strategy draws a lot of comments from those who believe or wish that Spurs were already a top team. How do you react to theses crticism and what is your plan?
You know, people's opinions... They don't know, they don't understand. When they see us drafting someone like Victor, everybody know he is talented. But it's not just about talent. Michael Jordan's first le arrived in his seventh year in the NBA. Nikola Jokic has just won his first ring and it took him eight years. We have the right to hope that things will go faster with Victor, but we can't skip steps. It takes time to shape a team. If it were that easy, you would have a different champion every year. These last twenty years, we find the same franchises at the top. Our cycle of success lasted a long time, it stretched over three decades. But there is a time when you have to start from scratch again. We are at that time.
Do you see any similarities between what you are doing and what OKC has done?
We do exactly the same thing. Sam (Presti) has been great but it took him some years to get to that point. They had many draft picks and are starting to get the benefits from them. We must have the same patience,pick the right players. We are in this process of adding pieces to the puzzle. Some of these pieces will stay forever with Victor. We will also have to use well all the draft picks we have ac ulated these last years. But nothing should be rushed. The ones that things should move faster or that don't understand we aren't winning all games.. it says more about them than about basketball.
Spurs are well under the salary cap, have 30 draft picks in the next seven years and have made more trades in the past two years (Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, DeMar DeRozan) than during the previous twenty years. Is it that your plan?
It shows that our front office around Brian Wright and RC Buford has made a good job in financial and strategic terms. We are eager to get benefits from that. It's true we were lazy trade wise(laugh). Out program was in autopilot mode with Tony, Tim and Manu. We only did small tweaks. What is great with Victor is that he has an at ude and personality like Duncan. You can easily coach him, while often, young players think they know everything. He has some confidence on his abilities, but he is ready to learn and listen, deal with both the positive and the negative. Your best players must be treated like the other ones or else it can't work.
You said you were in "observation mode" with Wembanayama. What conclusions do you draw about him after half a season especially after moving him to the center spot?
He plays center sometimes, and a lot of people consider him a center because he is the tallest on the floor, but nowadays there is no longer traditional PG or C. Everything is switchable. You will see sometimes Victor isolated on a wing, sometimes in the low block, sometimes in an axial pick and roll. He will be sometimes the ball handler or bring up the ball after a rebound. He does everything, which is exactly what I expect from him. He wants that too and has the skills to do so. This "observation time" was necessary. We didn't know him well enough. Highlights videos are not enough. It took twenty, thirty matches to see where he was comfortable and what was the obvious things to fix. He had to adapt to the roughness of the game, because he had a target on his back and everybody wanted to get physical with him. He had a tendency to dribble in crowded areas, because he's good ball handler, and had a lot of turnovers like that. He quickly understood that he had to dribble less to counter the speed and athleticism of the opponents. Sometimes he is close to the 3 point line on the defensive end, we try to work on ways to have him closer to the ring. He is also discovering his opponents. His career is just at a very early stage. We're working on his 3 point shot, shot selection and consistency. All of that will take time.
Could you have speed up the process by adding one or two veterans?
We decided not do that for two reasons. First, to keep the powder dry, that is to say waiting before spending some money to keep our financial flexibility. Once the core will be set, it will be important to add some free agents. Add a vet this year won't have help us to win the le. It would have been a waste of money and, more importantly, a waste of playing time that we must use to develop other players around Victor. Just look at Devin Vassell, he is becoming great and wasn't at that level when we got him. He gained confidence, BBIQ and has raise his defensive level. Adding a vet would have slow down that process for him and other players. I want to have that core growing and that Victor grows with them.
Nice to see Pop taking time to actually answer questions, and not just be snarky. I Wish he showed the media here the same respect.
Very useful interview. Thanks, Bruno!.
Agree or disagree, this lends a lot of clarity to the Spurs' process of building around Victor. While I understand what Pop is suggesting in terms of not skipping any steps, I also believe that considering the talent that Victor has.. the Spurs should not shirk away from adding veterans who will help him grow better. I understand that it is best to groom young talent to know what you have and build around it, but there is only so much molding one can do of players like Malaki Branham who seem to suffer from structural issues in playing defense or being unable to shoot efficiently. Plus yes, basketball is getting increasingly position-less, but the correct adjective to describe it is more skill-based rather than position-based.
What is the point of utilising folks with less skills in previously important positions such as PG (for e.g. force fitting Sochan there) when you can get a more skilful player (either Tre Jones or trade for a competent PG like his brother, as I kept arguing for before this season itself)? These are follow up questions I would love to ask Pop. But knowing Pop.. he wouldn't answer them as coaches and FOs like to answer in generalities and not specifics and perhaps rightly so. At least I hope these questions bother the team think-tank as they continue to plan for becoming a contender.
The media here is as dumb as a bag of hair. They ask dumb leading questions to generate clickbait tag lines.
No surprises here.
This is how the Spurs have done it in the past. Get lucky with the number 1 pick to land the super star player and build through your draft picks.
Oh, and this pretty much puts a stake in the heart of those wanting Trae Young. His acquisition would be the opposite of what Pop is discussing about keeping the powder dry.
Trae Young was never going to happen. Just a speculative wet dream of some overzealous media analyst. And nothing more than that.
Well this was surprisingly honest and in-depth by Pop. Great interview and an interesting perspective.
Couple of points I found the most intriguing - at one point he talks about adding pieces around Webmy, some of whom would be gone and others would stay with him forever - as if there’s confidence Wemby will have a Tim Duncan like one team career and they’re more concerned with opening an extended championship window down the line than about pleasing Victor in the near future so that he won’t leave.
Also, RC back with an active role in the FO? Might have missed the news.
Are his responses translated to French back to English here? Or direct quotes.
Pop just murdered 90% of y’all:
“The ones that think [sic] things should move faster or that don't understand we aren't winning all games.. it says more about them than about basketball.”
The answer to that last question was quite incisive.
I can't say I agree with everything he says, but from his words, he clearly has a plan.
The interview was published in french and I've translated it for here. I've been cautious with not altering what he said but, if there is a part you find weird, I can double check it.
I mean it's pounding the freaking rock. It always has been. Sometimes you can't see the results until you see the results.
He treats the French reporters in San Antonio like mushrooms. I've watched him shut down those types of questions from French reporters down at local pressers.
It is all about venue.
"teach them discipline and fundamentals."
Really? This years team has been taught fundamentals?
Confirmed, even tho it's been obvious. Vassell is one of Pops Pets.
"Just look at Devin Vassell, he is becoming great and wasn't at that level when we got him. He gained confidence, BBIQ and has raise his defensive level. Adding a vet would have slow down that process for him and other players. I want to have that core growing and that Victor grows with them."
He is becoming above average imo, and i will rejoice if he blows past that ceiling to "great".
Defensive level has been raised from "uber slacker" to "slacker". May the progress continue.
But wow, this dude is on the team as addition to Core Victor as long as Pop is here -no matter what.
Let's hope he gets much better and someone, anyone on the Spurs org outside of Pop can get Vassell out of Kobme mentality.
1 million % disagree that adding the right vet for the right price would have screwed up growth and future Championship plans.
Props for the translation.
Bruno did you ever meet Mélissa Theuriau in person?
This interview appears to lay out the vision and plan clearer than anything has before.
They intend to keep drafting and playing young guys until a clear core has developed.
THEN they will consider adding veterans to help them win.
To me this says that this year and offseason we are unlikely to make a splash, or even a ripple, in trades or FA, unless it is to bring in another young talent.
You can expect us to add a draft pick or two to the roster and not much else.
I can't say that I love it, but they have a plan. We'll see if they can make it work and keep Wemby happy.
I think it’s right to still have questions and even concerns with the process, but this interview was helpful. If I can think and not react to all of these losses, I find myself agreeing with the long game. It’s just that Victor’s so good already
That interview makes him sound actually very reasonable, insightful, someone who has a very long range plan for what needs to be done.... Nah! I heard from very good sources here and was promised that he is senile and is a blithering idiot. Good try, Pop, trying to fool us!
I have to say this...Tim Duncan won a le in his second year, Pop.
That vassell info…was so ing depressing to hear….
He also said in preseason they would be focusing on winning this year cos that's important to validate your work and improvement. (Which is true, at some point losng discourages you and makes you doubt) Except they didn't win more. If last year, I would have validated entirely this ITV, this year, I believe Pop overestimated the quality of the group and how hard it is to win in the NBA...
He's is a bit backpedaling here... And he can patronize everyone but I would have liked L'Equipe to ask him about that weird and failed Sochan experimentation (messing up with his develompent) and the Collins failure... Nobody understood... Not to mention he honestly looked a bit lost at times this season. But he's having fun teaching the kids... OK.
Speaking of, I'm actually surprised he's talking about kids and young players out of high school when Keldon is in his fifth year, Devin and Tre in their fourth, and Wemby has two years as a pro... I love Pop and always supported him but I have that strange feeling he's not totally in phase with the reality of the NBA and this team. One thing is sure, this team deoesn't get much better without adding players next year. Will everyone be OK to see them suck ass for another 2 years? Not sure.
Then again, he says it's about learning good habits and getting used to the NBA for Wemby and others, but there's only so much a coach can give you from that regard. There's a lot you can learn about the game, work ethic and the NBA from a veteran around you coaches can't. Countless players will tell you how important some vets were for their careers as rookies. Pop may be a bit presomptuous here to believe he can teach it all... He never really did that in his career, always coaching contenders. And so far, that doesn't look that good.
Last edited by JPB; 02-07-2024 at 11:55 AM.
Yup... the RC tidbit was the most interesting to me..
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