Do you have any issues with Coach Pop's interview style?

it's good for basketball but not good for NBA as entertainment and business.

 

Its good for both because he's always in the spotlight. Draws more views and publicity to Pop and then the NBA as a whole.

If Pop was hurting the NBA, they would have fined the hell out of him.

 

100% this. TV audiences rule. The NBA is in a partnership with the TV networks. They are teammates. and Pop is letting his teammates down by playing this character stick and not answering appropriate questions.

 

His interviews are a little stale, but I mostly find them entertaining. I have zero beef with Popovich. Awesome, awesome coach. Maybe the GOAT. If McHale was anything similar, Rockets might still be playing.

 

Pops is one of the best, if not arguably THE best Head Coach in NBA history. Long as it works for him, I don't really care.

I think of Pops a lot like Mozart or Einstein. His brain just doesn't operate the same way as most other people. You could spend a lifetime being around Pops and still learn something new about basketball every day.

I just can't imagine what it like to be Pops and answer the same silly questions over and over again from reporters. Sure, he's not the most polite guy when it comes to half-time and post-game interviews, but do we really expect him to be happy that he has to think about something other than the game at half time? Or that he's going to willingly give Anything away post-game about his thought processes or what he's really thinking?

Pops cares about one thing and one thing only, and that's winning. It's why he'll sit his big 3 starters and eat a $250k fine. It's why he'll tell a bald-faced lie and say that he'll make no changes and then come out in game 5 with Thiago Splitter starting.

Is it a double standard that we let Pops slide on stuff like this when we don't let it slide for other Head Coaches? Of course it is... however, the concept of a double-standard implies that everyone should be held to the SAME standard. That's great in principle, but in reality when you have exceptional talent you have to make accommodations to allow them to work.

It's why we're okay with a Superstar go 3-24 and still have the green light to shoot. It's why the guy with the same experience who brings in 5x the revenue as you makes 3x the money, gets a bigger office, and nobody says jack when they set their own hours while you get blasted for being 5 minutes late to a meeting.

With exceptional gifts, you get exceptional latitude. It's not fair if you think every Head Coach should be held to the same standard -- IF you believe that just being a Head Coach is the basis of how you define that standard. It's perfectly fair if you believe that the best of the best should be free to dance to a different tune than the mediocre and sub-par Head Coaches.

And while part of the Coach's job is to answer media questions at the half, we have to remember that this wasn't what he signed up for when he joined the NBA. 18 years ago, coaches didn't have to do half-time interviews. They went into the locker room and did one thing... they put their minds to figuring out ways to win the game.

Personally, if I'm a Spurs fan, I'd rather have Pops 100% focused on winning than thinking about how he should be fielding a softball answer to an often silly question from a random reporter.

 

Nope!

 

No problem. His job is to coach, not answer media question. It's an entertainment business so coaches are now requested to answer media question. Some (or is it most) coach don't give a damn about the entertainment side of it.

Now, it would be great to have JVG ask him a basketball question and see if he continues to give a single word answer.

 

None at all.

 

hes just old.

old people dont give a ****.

 

Thanks Obama. No pop can't be pop. What's next, gun control ?

 

You have to understand that he is free to do what he wants regardless if he is a spokesperson, icon, or whatever. Expecting him to act the way you want him to is absurd, hes not a puppet.

 

Agreed. Pop also has a softer side to him for postgame interviews. It's obvious that he's just trying to keep up a manufactured persona. I'm sure in reality he probably thinks some of the questions are silly, but he exaggerates that for theater.

 

I call it entertainment. Otherwise it would be boring right..

I wish the interviewers threw more oddball questions other there so the players wouldn't be so bored.

 

[rQUOTEr]Doris Burke is tired of Gregg Popovich's short answers

At least one of the sideline reporters who interviews Popovich on a regular basis would like him to stop his act. Here's what Doris Burke had to say in an interview with Rembert Browne of New York Magazine:

Well, that does remind of what happened with you and San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich, when he wouldn't answer your questions besides saying “turnovers.”

DB: Yeah, and me choking back tears?

Yeah, I remember being very happily surprised that you admitted vulnerability after that. You’re like Hillary Clinton in that people expect you to prove toughness in a way that men don’t need to.

DB: Yes, yes, displaying a level of strength and a lack of vulnerability, because that’s what a prerequisite of the job is, when, in actuality, all of the things that make us human will help us do that job better. I’ve been expressing my vulnerability because it’s the truth. I was literally on the verge of tears. And my take on that Popovich situation has changed. We all used to give him a pass because he would say to us privately, "Well, I just can’t help myself. I’m in the game, and this is my job." But I don’t give him a pass anymore. It now frustrates me to the point where I want to say, "I’m not giving you a pass because I’ve seen you when Jeff Van Gundy walks over there, and the interaction is totally different."​

This portion of the interview occurs as part of a longer discussion of sexism and double standards in sports. It's not clear that Burke is calling Popovich sexist, because he often does the same to men on the sidelines. The difference in the case of Van Gundy is that he is a former coach whom Popovich probably respects more than he does a media member.

Whatever the case, that doesn't change the fact that Burke is right about the double standard at play. If Popovich truly takes his coaching so seriously that he can't tell Burke more than "turnovers" when she is perfectly professional, then he shouldn't be able to humor Van Gundy while he stumbles through a few questions. The only realistic interpretation of this situation is that he could give Burke and others several-sentence answers if he wanted to and chooses not to.

It's ultimately Popovich's prerogative not to answer these questions if he wants to, but it's probably time to stop acting as if that decision marks some admirable professionalism or seriousness that other coaches lack. Plenty of coaches have demonstrated in these playoffs that they can be professional in relation to their team and their media commitments. In fact, Popovich is arguably the only coach who decides not to do both. As Burke says, it's not necessarily because he's focused on his job. Maybe he just doesn't think these reporters deserve his attention.[/rQUOTEr]

 

After this ****storm against the Rockets this year.....No **** the media.

 

Pretty much. Doris needs to relax on that crying ****. Easy money for her...

 

I like Pop's shtick. I think it's silly that they interview the coaches after quarters. Halftime assistant coach, fine. End of game is the appropriate time to question people. Players/coaches should focus on winning and shouldn't break that concentration to fulfill the media/league's incessant need for content. The game would be good enough if you got some consistent refs and allowed defense/attitude back in the game...I digress...

Anyways, get over it Doris. He does it to guys too. He hired the first female assistant in the league...Yes, he opens up a little more for Van Gundy because Van Gundy knows what it's like to be in his shoes, to fulfill the annoying contractual obligations. Doris doesn't understand that, not because she is a woman, but because she is't a coach.

 

Pop can do what he likes because he's not hurting anyone other than a few feelings and that's just life. What I don't get is that his interview style is a reason why some people say they like and respect pop. They're more attracted to how he'll respond to a question instead of how he'll adjust to a player or whatever. I don't get how you can love a d******d. Sure, you can tolerate him, but there are people who admire his dickish answers and it's strange.

 

I think he is being a dick. Those guys have a job to do and giving a few cliched answers would take a little of his time and make their lives easier. Its not like they will stop doing the coaches interviews.