San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich took some criticism after the Game 6 overtime loss against the Miami Heat in the NBA finals, as he had Tim Duncan on the bench late in the game and also held Tony Parker out.
The Heat were able to grab two clutch offensive rebounds with Duncan out of the game and Popovich spoke after about why he made his choices and what he will do in Game 7 to help get the team to the championship despite being on the road.
"It's not that simple," Popovich said. "That's not why they got the threes. We were up five when they got their first three, and so redding and switching makes sense just to take away the three. But on an offensive rebound, it's one of the toughest things in the NBA, to pick up people. And we had one guy who didn't pick up. LeBron shot an airball when we were up five. They got the rebound, they got it back to him and he knocked it down."
"And then on the last possession, we were switching at the three‑point line to take away the three, and Boris Diaw has a little more speed than Tim Duncan, so it makes sense to have him out there redding at the three‑point line. Unfortunately we had two guys that went to LeBron and didn't switch with [Chris Bosh], and he went right to the hole. He's the guy who got the rebound, so it has nothing to do with Duncan."
"Not new at all," Duncan said of his late-game benching. "Something we've done all year. Obviously we were trying to protect the three‑point line. We had a lot of bodies in there to switch and get up on our shooters. [We had] two bad bounces off a rebound - we actually got the stops on the threes, and [then there were] bad bounces right back out for threes.
"It is what it is," he added. "Obviously, I want to be in there every minute of the game. That's just how we're built. But we've done it all year long. We've been successful with it. And if it comes down to it again, Pop will make the call again."
"I don't really care what it's been like for anybody else, ever, at any time," he said. "All I know is we have had a hell of a year, and we have an opportunity to win a championship tomorrow night. That's all that matters."
