Yesterday, Tom Tolbert had San Antonio Spurs‘ head coach Gregg Popovich on the show at KNBR 680AM Radio. Tolbert once played under Popovich on the Golden State Warriors‘ summer league team in the summer of 1992, when Latrell Sprewell was a rookie and Popovich was an assistant under Don Nelson.
Tolbert and Popovich’s discussions ranged from Becky Hammon and the hiring of women in the coaching ranks, to society’s acceptance of gay athletes, to the Spurs’ formula for success, to the Warriors, to the pampering of kids in youth sports as they develop competitively.
Regarding the Warriors, Tolbert asked Popovich what stood out to him as Steve Kerr and the Golden State staff led the Warriors on their championship run.
“They figured it out very quickly, what needed to be improved on the team, and that was basically a recognition of how valuable the basketball is,” said Popovich. “(Kerr) didn’t want to change the pace. He wanted to continue to play good defense and even get better. He wanted to take better shots. He wanted to have fewer turnovers, and that’s a process. You don’t just go run a drill for fewer turnovers. And so, from the beginning of the season to the end of it, he didn’t give in.”
In particular, Popovich pointed to Stephen Curry, whose turnovers were reduced from 3.8 per game last season to 3.1 per game this season.
“You could see them mature. Steph would in the past maybe throw a certain kind of pass. You saw it way less this year than you saw in the past because he realized the value of the ball and how important it is going to be when you come to playoff time, and how it’s going to happen for you in the playoffs,” said Popovich. “That’s a subtle thing, but he knew it quickly and they became a much more intelligent team in those respects. It carried over, because all of the other things were already there: the shooting, the talent.”
Popovich also praised Kerr’s management of the chess pieces:
The second thing was, I thought he manipulated the line-up throughout the year really well. Whether it was this kind of injury or that kind of injury. Sometimes he had to play big in certain situations. He knew when to go small. And, for his first year doing that, I thought that was brilliant. From the beginning of the season to the end of the season he stayed on it, he didn’t give in.
Further Reading
[NOTE: Michael Kirwan contributed to this report.](Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via Getty via RantSports)
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