Pop at the Euroleague Final Four

An NBA Head Coach at the Euroleague Final Four
by: Jonathan Givony - President
May 2, 2009

Seeing the typical globetrotters of the NBA landscape (Bryan Colangelo, David Griffin, Donnie Nelson, R.C. Buford and others) at the Euroleague Final Four is nothing new—you come to expect that year in and year out. But seeing an NBA head coach right next to us in the stands is something completely different altogether.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decided to take advantage of his team being eliminated from the NBA playoffs early by making it over to Berlin. We had a chance to sit down with him briefly in between games to pick his brain on a number of topics, and were happy to see how friendly and engaging he was.

Jonathan Givony: Why did you decide to come over here?

Gregg Popovich: There are lots of reasons. For one, I love traveling. I love going overseas. I love basketball. Since we just lost, this was my first opportunity to come over for this in a long time. It’s a great thrill, and Berlin is a great city. The atmosphere here is unbelievable. This is a chance to mix in a vacation with business at the same time.

Jonathan Givony: When you’re watching games like these, are you still looking at them from the eyes of a coach? Seeing the stuff they run and trying to pick up a few things here and there?

Gregg Popovich: Oh sure. I’m much more anal in that sense. In this game for example I saw a great out of bounds play that I’m going to steal for sure. I like to see how different coaches manage the game. How they sub. What they’re doing offensively and defensively. There is always something you can learn. If you think there is nothing else to learn, than you better retire.

Jonathan Givony: Are the players that we just saw, like Ramunas Siskauskas and David Andersen, good enough to play in the NBA?

Gregg Popovich: I Don’t feel comfortable talking about individual players. I don’t want to go there.

Jonathan Givony: From what you’ve seen, can the level of the players here translate to an NBA setting?

Gregg Popovich: I see guys that I like. The majority have already been drafted and NBA teams have their rights. Or perhaps they are happy with where they are. You always see players you like.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Blogging-Through-the-Euroleague-Final-Four-3202/

I believe one of the players that the Spurs have rights to is in the Euroleague final four. I'm pretty sure, but I can't recall who it is.

manufan10 wrote:I believe one of the players that the Spurs have rights to is in the Euroleague final four. I'm pretty sure, but I can't recall who it is.

You may be thinking of Vassilis Spanoulis, the Spurs recieved him in the Scola trade, then released him so he could go play in Europe.

ryno wrote:

manufan10 wrote:I believe one of the players that the Spurs have rights to is in the Euroleague final four. I'm pretty sure, but I can't recall who it is.

You may be thinking of Vassilis Spanoulis, the Spurs recieved him in the Scola trade, then released him so he could go play in Europe.

There you go. Well, then they don't have his rights anymore, do they?