Gregg Popovich Doesn’t Watch Film On Other Teams

Before his Spurs beat down the Celtics on Sunday, 111-89, Gregg Popovich — who had missed the last two games with an undisclosed medical condition — spoke to an assemblage of reporters. The famously pithy Spurs coach admitted he doesn’t watch film of other teams, preferring to focus on his own players. He also discloses his unique brand of “tough love” with his own players, and why it’s not important he watch other teams.

When a reporter asked whether Pop noticed any difference in Rajon Rondo since the Celtics point guard came back from an ACL tear, Pop admited he didn’t know because he hasn’t seen any film.

“I don’t see any reason to watch film. When my team has a game and [they] have zero turnovers and shoot 60 percent, and the other team scores 40, then I’ll start worrying about the other teams. But until that happens, I’ve got enough to correct and teach on my team, and that’s how I spend my time.”

When another reporter followed up to figure out how Popovich prepares for a new opponent, he cut through the BS — as he so often does — and reaffirmed how simple this game can be when you boil it down to the basics:

“One of the assistants will tell me something. I believe whatever they tell me. So if they say, ‘we’re gonna do this on the pick-and-roll,’ I say, ‘OK,’ or ‘I don’t know if I want to do that,’ and then you go play. I mean, have you seen a sercret play lately? Or a new pick-and-roll defense? Or some new amazing continuity offense that nobody can guard? It’s the same stuff every night. Whoever executes the best; whoever is the most competitive and does both on a consistent basis for more of the 48 [minutes], that’s the team that wins. Take it to the bank.”

PREACH!!!!

Popovich also goes on to explain how he handles new Spurs players they’ve drafted and whether they fit into San Antonio’s winning paradigm:

“The question is good in the sense it’s still subjective. It’s not an empirical sort of situation. You can make a mistake, and we have some guys along the way that I did have to talk to, or whatever. And, our method is usually tough love. I don’t think coddling someone, and blowing smoke at them really works. And beating them to death mentally doesn’t really work. So to give them a clear picture of what’s demanded and needed, is the first important thing. And then showing the care and concern after that: being for them on the court. Caring about what they do off the court. Understanding who they are on the planet, what makes them tick. You do all that, and if that doesn’t get through, get rid of ’em.”

Hopefully one day Popovich puts all his methods and coaching philsophies in a book, but if he did that he wouldn’t really be Popovich anymore — take note Phil Jackson — so we’ll have to rely on this impromptu sessions when he holds court with reporters. Still, there’s no one else we’d rather listen to about NBA coaching, and if we were a young college player hoping to find success in the NBA, we’d pray we got drafted by the Spurs. There’s no other franchise or coach who properly incubates and then breeds success like Popovich and the estimable Spurs staff he’s put together. Their record over the last 17 years speaks for itself.