(no subject)
Q. Most of the guys that come into the NBA feel that first and foremost they have to have a shot, so they offensively advance. Is this a fault of coaching and is coaching a guy to be a good defender easier or harder than coaching him to be a good scorer?
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, it's always tougher to teach a guy to be a good defender, because you have to have a willing candidate, and there are not that many guys who are willing to buy in and make it something that's going to have to be focused on day after day through a whole season. Everybody wants to score. Everybody wants to shoot. Fewer people want to fill roles, know their strengths and weakness, concentrate on their strengths. Even if their weakness is shooting or offense, they always think that they can get better, and to a degree they can. But there's a ceiling on everybody, and if you can find players who understand that ceiling and are willing to work at the other end of the court, then you've got something special.
Bruce is a good example of that. He's not the most effective offensive player, but he's figured out what he can do offensively to stay on the court because he's such a good defender. So if he was trying to do things at the offensive end that hurt his team, it would diminish what he does defensively and he would be sitting. But he's smart enough not to do that. There are not too many guys like that.
COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, it's always tougher to teach a guy to be a good defender, because you have to have a willing candidate, and there are not that many guys who are willing to buy in and make it something that's going to have to be focused on day after day through a whole season. Everybody wants to score. Everybody wants to shoot. Fewer people want to fill roles, know their strengths and weakness, concentrate on their strengths. Even if their weakness is shooting or offense, they always think that they can get better, and to a degree they can. But there's a ceiling on everybody, and if you can find players who understand that ceiling and are willing to work at the other end of the court, then you've got something special.
Bruce is a good example of that. He's not the most effective offensive player, but he's figured out what he can do offensively to stay on the court because he's such a good defender. So if he was trying to do things at the offensive end that hurt his team, it would diminish what he does defensively and he would be sitting. But he's smart enough not to do that. There are not too many guys like that.