Gregg Popovich rips 'pathetic' Spurs after victory, says Mavs 'deserved to win'
'Pop' didn't take questions and instead blasted his squad, which managed a sixth straight win
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The San Antonio Spurs beat the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks 96-91 on Monday, but the result didn't please Gregg Popovich. The Spurs coach took no questions after the victory, instead telling reporters that their ethic was "pathetic" and the Mavericks deserved to win.
"That was a pathetic performance on the part of the Spurs," Popovich said, via the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald. "You know, they had some guys out, we had some guys out, but they had a lot more out than we did. I thought we showed a lack of humility, a lack of respect for the opponent, a very pathetic performance at both ends of the court, both in execution and in grunt, in fiber, in desire. It was an awful performance. Oh, and they deserved to win the basketball game, I forgot to say that."
The Mavericks were without Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut, Deron Williams, Devin Harris and J.J. Barea. San Antonio rested LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker. Generally, when the Spurs sit players, the active ones step up and play with the same spirit. Popovich clearly didn't think that was the case this time, even if they won their sixth straight.
If you think process is more important than results, then you probably love this. San Antonio big man Pau Gasol didn't mind it.
"Most coaches are happy just to win," Gasol said, via the San Antonio-Express News. "A win is a win and they're just happy. Then the next day you come and you clean up a couple things and then you move on. I love the attention to detail, I love the not settling for good enough. If we want to win a championship, we're going to have to be excellent. We're going to have to be better for more minutes. It's one of the many lessons to be learned in this league and this life. You can never let your guard down. You have to approach the game the same way regardless, and I don't think we did a good job of that tonight."
Dallas (2-11) probably won't see this as a moral victory. It did, however, get an efficient 23-point performance from Seth Curry and a 20-point, 9-rebound night from Harrison Barnes. While San Antonio has the luxury of being self-critical after wins, the Mavs are just desperate to get healthy and find a way to stop a six-game skid.
