Gregg Popovich Quotes (152 Quotes)


    Sean Marks you know he's feeling good. He's sat on that pine a long time, but that's about the third or fourth time (in the past two weeks) he's come in and did a great job for us.

    It was a great win out there for us tonight. We did a good job on the boards, especially in the second half. That is good for us because we have struggled on the boards at times this season.

    I just think of it as two bad performances, and if it doesn't get better, we'll be in big trouble. . . . But there's no time for frustration.

    Turn on the news and you're going to see the negative. It reflects society. People pay more attention to those things. It's not specific to sports. It's across the board.

    It's a day-to-day thing with him. He never really knows until he gets out there and gets going. Once he makes a move where he has to pivot in the post or change direction on the court, you can see if he's got to gather himself too much or isn't fluid. If he looks stiff-legged, that's usually what I'm looking for.


    I guess logically one could make that statement. I don't know if it's true or not. If one is offered home-court advantage . . . anyone who says they would turn it down is obviously an idiot.

    I feel like we wasted (Duncan) tonight. We had a tough time getting those kind of games from him this season, so when he does get one of those, we'd like to win.

    They're a totally different club. Mike started to institute a system last year and tried to change some priorities. It's a physical, defensive club.

    Houston is always very difficult for us to score against. It's always a grind when the Rockets and Spurs play each other.

    You can't give them a 13-point (lead) and expect to come back unless you play a perfect game. And we certainly didn't do that.

    Because we're guessing at some of this, the conservative approach seems to be wiser to me, ... If we screw up the other way, we'll dash our playoff hopes.

    They know they have to share the ball to win and they know Tim is always the common denominator. We're fortunate in that regard. If we had problems there ego-wise, it could develop into a pain in the neck.

    Once in a while maybe we're a little too confident. But tonight we matched their toughness and aggressiveness and came out with a victory.

    You know, people foul out and get hurt. That's about it.

    He's been our most consistent player and the guy that's held it together for us offensively. He's given us that punch to sustain the record we have.

    He found a realtor, looked at homes, bought one and furnished it, got a mortgage and the whole deal, ... Did it all when he was 19. I don't know if I could find my way out of town.

    We just tried to pace him between bathroom breaks so he could get back in time.

    It's kind of a reward for all the work and effort Timmy's put into making the organization what it is,

    I thought Tony needed somebody that would give him that attention on a daily basis in depth. Having (a different) voice, too, I thought would be really good for him. We told him to listen to this guy. Whatever he tells you to do, do it and let's see what happens.

    He's been determined to be a threat when he catches the basketball, either to shoot or to drive. Just in general, he's competing and playing, rather than thinking and wondering.

    Anybody that doesn't get a kick out of watching our team play should look in the mirror. It reflects more on them.

    I thought Sacramento played great tonight. They did a wonderful job defensively and offensively on us tonight.

    We had a good performance tonight out of a lot of people. We had good focus all night long.

    He's always energized. Seriously. There's not one thing that makes him get going and makes him step it up a level. He plays at that pace all the time.

    Larry is Larry. You can just imagine. He's in the middle of a tough situation. But personally, I think he relishes it. He wants to fix it. That's what he enjoys. It makes him tick. This is no different than a lot of other things he's had to deal with.

    He came in (to the locker room) four times to go to the bathroom. It took him the whole game to get comfortable shooting the ball, but he had energy.

    Good win for us against a very good team. We needed to get back to who we are and what our personality is. I thought we did that tonight.

    Sean is important to the chemistry of our team. We're thrilled to have him back.

    To watch his progress over this short year and a half has been just amazing. He's put in the work, he has the desire and he also has the persistence and mental toughness to drive a team his way, to have them do what he thinks is necessary. ... He's going to be one of the best for a very long time.

    I thought they were more committed, more aggressive, more physical. The only guy who maintained his effort on the boards was Tim (Duncan). We're going to need more help from our guards.

    By and large, with all the publicity Bruce gets for his style of defense, I think he does a great job of containing his emotions, not letting a referee's call get to him or another player's comments. I think he does a great job of staying on high ground, just coming and competing and going home.

    If Karl calls us, I'll talk to him. But I'm not going to go recruiting. We're going to respect Karl's space and his time and let him make some decisions. If we're part of his decision, I'll be real happy with that.

    It has been patented. Larry loves the pure part of the game. The things most people think are selfish, he doesn't think in those terms, like somebody shoots too much. If I was supposed to be the weak side helping and I didn't come to help my teammates, I'm selfish. Those sorts of things, the purity of the game. His whole game is predicated on players playing for each other, feeling the responsibility for each other and performing.

    And I look forward to seeing all of you in four or five years when we have the next Nellie retirement party in another town.


    Duncan was very fundamentally sound, ... We didn't make him that way. He just continued it for us.

    That's the least of what we worry about. We've got a lot of things to be concerned with on our own team, and that's how we spend our time.

    It's great to see guys who had to work to get their positions in the league. No matter where it might be, they have stuck with it. They might have been in several different places or it may have taken certain players a while to get there, but they're a testament to what hard work is all about and it's good to see they're appreciated on an NBA team.

    People get a little bit more cautious. People want to take care of the ball, value possessions a little bit more.

    Mutombo did a good job tonight. Whether it changes the series, I dont know.

    You want to give everyone a run so they get in shape.

    I thought Tony did a great job of really stepping it up when he wasn't having a very good game. Down the stretch in the fourth quarter he really stepped up on both ends of the court and did a great job for us.

    Every time we got within four or five, they would get an offensive rebound.

    I'll be checking minutes more than I've ever checked before, and making sure that people are getting enough playing time. Some nights, that'll be a real tough thing to do.

    He and Timmy have always had some great duels. Not seeing (Garnett) on the court is very strange, because you know what a competitor he is.

    Our philosophy here is kinda like participatory management,

    With Dallas, it's just fun to watch Avery transform a team, philosophically, into a team that can win with offense or defense. They've won a lot of games that they wouldn't have won in the past because they didn't stop anybody.

    They're a fine basketball team. Terry has done a great job of coming in and putting in a new system and then having the team respond to it.

    It just reinforces that playing defense gives us a chance to win any game, any night, even if the offense isn't there. This was another good example of that.

    He accepts people. He makes them feel comfortable. He helps make the pieces fit around him.


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