{"id":1982154,"date":"2026-06-10T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T07:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1982154"},"modified":"2026-06-10T10:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T07:00:32","slug":"calm-confident-spurs-continue-to-show-the-influence-of-gregg-popovich-in-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1982154","title":{"rendered":"Calm, confident Spurs continue to show the influence of Gregg Popovich in NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW YORK \u2014 The San Antonio Spurs don\u2019t win Game 3, and stay alive in these NBA Finals against the New York Knicks in the process, without having a significant level of collective self-belief.<\/p>\n

This was a young team coming off two painful losses at home and facing one of the most intimidating road environments of them all at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. No one would have been surprised if they had let go of the proverbial rope and gone down 3-0.<\/p>\n

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The job demanded extreme will. Focus. Force. Appropriate fear, of course, because that\u2019s the Spurs\u2019 way. They needed to muster all of the moxie that goes into meeting a moment like this, one that looked as if it had already passed.<\/p>\n

Instead, these Victor Wembanyama-led Spurs now have a chance to turn the series on its head in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. And as it turns out, the very traits that were required to respond so impressively were the focus of a speech given by legendary Gregg Popovich as the Spurs headed out of town two days before.<\/p>\n

Not long after the Spurs\u2019 bags were loaded onto their charter plane bound for the Big Apple, Popovich \u2014 who was not joining the team on the trip \u2014 made his way onto the plane and gave a rare rallying cry to remember. There was plenty of time to talk on the runway, as a flat tire on the plane ahead of San Antonio\u2019s caused a significant delay. So Popovich, the 77-year-old whose coaching career was cut short by a stroke in Nov. of 2024 and who now serves as the team\u2019s basketball president, decided to get on the plane for the first time all season and remind them all that this series wasn\u2019t over just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe basically said that even though we dug ourselves a hole, that we can dig ourselves out of it,\u201d Spurs guard De\u2019Aaron Fox shared with The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cHe told us just to be confident \u2014 to come out here and be confident, that there\u2019s a reason why we got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With longtime Spurs executive R.C. Buford and general manager Brian Wright leading the way in the front office, and Mitch Johnson running the show on the bench after taking over last season, Popovich has mostly stayed in the background of late. But he appears to be picking his spots to make a mark with his voice behind the scenes in these playoffs, including a locker room visit after Game 3 in the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City, in which he took a much tougher tone when the Spurs fell behind 2-1 in that series.<\/p>\n

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This time around, Fox said, Popovich was reminding them all that they deserved to believe. He spoke to the group for nearly 10 minutes, then spent an additional 20 minutes individually with players and coaches while seated next to star big man Wembanyama. He then left the plane before the Spurs finally embarked for New York.<\/p>\n

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As Fox sees it, the deliberate and thoughtful nature of Popovich\u2019s occasional messages has made them all the more meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always good when he comes around,\u201d said Fox, whose midrange dagger over OG Anunoby with 12.2 seconds left<\/a> put the Spurs up five and all but sealed it. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t talk to the group all the time whenever he\u2019s around. He\u2019ll talk to individuals every once in a while. But yeah, it definitely feels good whenever Pop addresses the group. (He doesn\u2019t) just address the group just to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Johnson shared during the Spurs\u2019 media availability on Tuesday, this group, which didn\u2019t make the playoffs last year, has shown the ability to parlay belief into elite basketball all season long. The Vegas oddsmakers had them pegged for 44.5 wins, only to see them finish just two games behind the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder for the league\u2019s best mark (62-20 vs. 64-18).<\/p>\n

Even in this series, there was a strange \u2014 almost delusional \u2014 sense of calm when they dropped the first two games. Wembanyama insisted he \u201cwasn\u2019t worried in the slightest<\/a>\u201d after the Game 1 loss and remained upbeat in defeat even after San Antonio dropped Game 2. And now, with the Spurs well aware that a win in Game 4 would spark panic in Gotham City while putting them in prime position to take control of the series at home in Game 5, they\u2019ll try to keep that trend going.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"How<\/p>\n
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\n How Gregg Popovich quietly became the Spurs\u2019 secret weapon: \u2018He\u2019s speaking life into you\u2019\n <\/div>\n
\n In his role as “El Jefe” after retiring from coaching last year, Gregg Popovich continues to mentor the Spurs players behind the scenes.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve played over a hundred games now,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe knew that the belief was going to be there. That doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to win or lose a game, just because you believe or not. There\u2019s a lot of things that go into it. But we\u2019ve just been honest all year. So, every time we keep getting asked about \u2018Do we believe? Are we confident? Can we do this? We do. That doesn\u2019t mean we always play our best. Doesn\u2019t mean that we don\u2019t make mistakes. Doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t lose games.<\/p>\n

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\u201c(But) we believe in what we put into this deal, and each other, and how we go about and how we operate and how we\u2019re going to respond. That\u2019s been through adversity and success throughout the season. \u2026That\u2019s not an age thing or an experience thing. That\u2019s a makeup and a personality thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castle\u2019s ascent and a Rockets what-might-have-been<\/h2>\n

When second-year Spurs guard Stephon Castle looked at the lottery landscape heading into the 2024 Draft, there was one prevailing thought that played a pivotal part in how he handled the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just looking on the defensive side of things (in San Antonio), where being able to pair with Victor was definitely a plus in my eyes,\u201d Castle told The Athletic<\/em> recently. \u201cI just thought it would have been a perfect fit, and I feel like it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the UConn product saw himself as the best player in the draft, he was less focused on going No. 1 and more concerned with fit. At the time, there were reports that Castle\u2019s choice not to conduct private workouts with several teams was driven by his desire to avoid teams that already had an established starting point guard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of those teams was the Houston Rockets, who ultimately took Reed Sheppard out of Kentucky with the third pick (after Zaccharie Risacher went to Atlanta with the first pick and Alex Sarr went to the Wizards at No. 2). Per league sources, Rockets coach and former Spurs assistant Ime Udoka was a huge fan of Castle\u2019s (which Castle said he was well aware of). But with veteran Fred VanVleet manning the point guard position and young Jalen Green at the two-guard spot, Castle and his camp sent the kinds of signals Houston\u2019s way that eventually led to him landing in San Antonio. Just as he\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"You<\/p>\n
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\n You may not know about Mitch Johnson, the San Antonio Spurs coach. Let me tell you\n <\/div>\n
\n A former college teammate said if the speed limit was 65 miles per hour, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson would be going 62.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI think being (in San Antonio) was always number one on my list,\u201d said Castle, who won Rookie of the Year in 2025. \u201cInternally, I always felt like I was the best player in that draft. (But) I didn\u2019t know what could happen. My agent always told me, like, anything can happen in a draft. Like, you could not work out for a team, not have talked to a team, and they can still take you. So, I mean, I wasn\u2019t really planning on playing in Houston. I didn\u2019t really know how any of that worked. I was kind of hoping I could slide my way to San Antonio. It kind of worked out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

To say the least.<\/p>\n

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The irony, of course, is that the Spurs have added two lead guards since adding Castle to their roster (Fox and Dylan Harper, who they took second last year out of Rutgers). But as Castle showed in Game 3 against the Knicks, when he finished with 23 points (8-of-14 shooting), five rebounds, five assists, just two turnovers and a plus-six mark, he\u2019s as important to their program as ever.<\/p>\n

Trade chatter and a few thoughts<\/h2>\n