With Steve Kerr still ailing due to complications with his past back surgery, Mike Brown has been acting as the interim coach of the Golden State Warriors for the majority of the postseason. Brown is stepping into some big shoes with Kerr being out. But Brown has handled things quite well and has guided the Warriors to a 6-0 record in the playoffs.
Yet Golden State’s Western Conference Finals match-up against the San Antonio Spurs presents an interesting challenge for Brown, especially from a coaching angle. The Spurs, after all, are coached by Gregg Popovich, who is routinely praised as one of the best coaches of all-time. But Brown has plenty of coaching experience himself having coached the Cavaliers and Lakers, so he is by no means a novice.
Plus, Brown has worked with Popovich in the past, and he’s not intimated by the Spurs coach, mainly because if it comes down to it, Brown knows he could beat Popovich up. Via Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group:
“I think if I was an official I’d be intimidated,” Brown said. “But nah, I think could beat Pop up. He’s like 70.”
“He’s a great coach and he’s going to have his guys prepared,” Brown said. “But I feel like we have a great team that can more than equal his group. If I had a team that wasn’t capable, then maybe I’d be a little bit worried about it. But he’s going to have his team prepared the right way, and hopefully we will be with ours.”
Just a great zing by Brown, but he may be underestimating Popovich’s old-man strength. Popovich was also in the Air Force, so maybe the Spurs coach can rely on his military experience in a hypothetical fight with Brown.
Either way, though, Brown is right. The Warriors shouldn’t fear the Spurs since they have showed in the postseason that they literally can’t be beat. It’s Popovich and the Spurs who should have some fear, not the Warriors.
