On the NBA Beat Ep. 163: Paul Garcia: The Young Spurs “Finally Get the Keys to the Car” - a podcast by Lineups

Gregg Popovich finds himself in an unfamiliar position after a quarter-century of coaching the San Antonio Spurs. For the first time, he’ll be tasked with leading a youthful group packed with promising but largely unproven players – a group projected by most to miss the playoffs by a landslide. In the offseason, the franchise parted with veteran mainstays DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay, and months earlier, it bought out LaMarcus Aldridge’s contract. As a result, the youth movement is firmly here. And Popovich, 72, appears energized for his new challenge, expecting to lead a fast-paced team where playing time will be spread around generously. Project Spurs’ Paul Garcia, who also hosts the Spurscast and writes for Analyzing the League, spoke with OTNB to help preview the young team’s season and further describe the new dynamic. Discussing the youngsters, with special emphasis on Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Josh Primo, Paul gets us ready for San Antonio’s season to tip off in T-minus three weeks.    
3:01-3:29: "This is a new thing for the city here in San Antonio and for the fan base, and it's kind of exciting…that it's a lot of young players and a lot of these players, they're gonna finally get the keys to the car. … Now all of a sudden it's up to Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker, all of these young players. It's their opportunity now to basically see how far can they go, what kind of level can they get to."7:40-8:22: "(Popovich)'s excited because I think that for him it's a new challenge in the sense of he's never been in this situation, (at least) in a very long time where the expectations aren't there to become a playoff team or become a championship (team) like the expectations have always been for San Antonio. But instead it's learning, 'How can I help these young guys develop? Who might turn into a star down the road here?' … He’s also gonna change his approach. He already said because they’re young, because they’re quick, they’re gonna try to play fast.”
15:27-15:34: “Now that DeRozan’s actually gone off this team, they’re gonna have better, more athletic, more energetic type of defenders.”26:51-27:21: “The date that I’m watching right now – and we’re all watching here in San Antonio – is October 18. Right now, the Spurs have 17 players on guaranteed contracts. So by October 18, they have to get their roster down to 15 players on guaranteed contracts. So they’re gonna have to either waive or trade two players. And when you look at this roster, you see a bunch of young players, and then you see those two veterans. We’re kind of watching in these next few weeks here before the season starts, ‘Is (Thaddeus) Young still on the team? Is (Al-Farouq) Aminu still on the team?’            
32:17-32:53: “What you really saw from (Devin Vassell) was on the defensive end, just how good he is in anticipating passes incoming to an opponent, and he could get those steals, just really good about reading and providing help defense. … Now what was interesting to watch was how the team purposely wanted to see how he runs pick-and-roll in summer league, and so he got his opportunity – he played in like five games – and he did very well.”    
36:02-36:26: "Whenever I get asked this question about who's gonna be the successor to Pop, I always say basically, in my opinion, that if Becky (Hammon) is not hired by anybody else, I think that she would take over as the next head coach whenever Pop decides to retire. … I really feel like she is the strongest candidate to get the job here."Sponsor: Use code TBPN during sign-up at DraftKings.com to claim your free shot at millions of dollars in total prizes.

Further episodes of On the NBA Beat

Further podcasts by Lineups

Website of Lineups