By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Gregg Popovich shared his thoughts on long-range shooting in the NBA in Sam Smith’s recent article on the subject – and the veteran coach had an interesting take for what seems to be one of the league’s most spectacular moves. To put it shortly, was “never a fan”, as he admitted.
“These days there’s such an emphasis on the three because it’s proven to be analytically correct,” Popovich mentioned. “Now you look at a stat sheet after a game and the first thing you look at is the threes. If you made threes and the other team didn’t, you win. You don’t even look at the rebounds or the turnovers or how much transition D was involved. You don’t even care. That’s how much an impact the three-point shot has and it’s evidenced by how everybody plays.”
Popovich’s stance only makes sense, given that the Spurs aren’t critically acclaimed for their emphasis in three-point shooting.”I hate it, but I always have. I’ve hated the three for 20 years. That’s why I make a joke all the time (and say) if we’re going to make it a different game, let’s have a four-point play. Because if everybody likes the three, they’ll really like the four. People will jump out of their seats if you have a five-point play. It will be great. There’s no basketball anymore, there’s no beauty in it. It’s pretty boring. But it is what it is and you need to work with it.”