Gregg Popovich compares coaching current Spurs and championship-caliber teams / News - Basketnews.com

Gregg Popovich labels current San Antonio Spurs players as 'neophytes,' teaching fundamentals typically learned in college.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con-Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con-Scanpix

Gregg Popovich, with a wealth of experience in coaching and five NBA championships under his belt, led the San Antonio Spurs to their last title in 2014. The triumphant team featured stars like Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard.

2-pointers this season

54%29,3Points made:29,3Accuracy:53,6%Place in standings:17Record max:40Record min:19Most made 2FGs:Victor WembanyamaTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

However, times have changed, and San Antonio is now in a rebuilding phase. The spotlight is on the first pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, Victor Wembanyama, who is hailed as a generational talent, along with promising young guns like Jeremy Sochan and Devin Vassell.

It's no surprise Popovich acknowledges the shift in coaching dynamics with the current roster compared to his championship-caliber teams.

"There's more fundamental teaching done now than I had to when we were a championship-caliber team," Popovich noted. "That was more making decisions during games, calling a certain play, drawing a certain play, making a substitution, looking for mismatches, the mechanics of the game of chess, because those guys knew what they were doing and they were fundamentally sound. These [current] guys are neophytes.

"We're not at that stage," the winningest NBA coach continued. "This is more positioning on the court, spacial relationships, man in ball, all the stuff that they would do in college, but they did not go there. And if they did, they went for a year. It's a different kind of teaching. I don't get to do the game stuff as often as before because we are not in that position in all the games. Actually, the teaching is totally different. And how much time it takes, a lot of repetitions. As you can expect with kids who don't have the fundamentals."

San Antonio currently holds the third-worst league record with 8 wins in 42 games and ranks dead last in the Western Conference standings.

Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.