Gregg Popovich Quotes

Defense is one man guarding the ball and four others helping him

Being able to guard the pick and roll makes you a high asset in the NBA.

It's a war of wills out there on the court. You have to have a stronger will than your opponent, and every guy on your team has to feel that same way against the guy he's guarding.

Defense all starts with the ball and the rim-protector is the last resort, the last line of defense. I take pride in that.

Good basketball always starts with good defense!

The difference between a good defensive team and a bad defensive team is as little as three possessions

You can play hard. You can play aggressive. You can give 120% but if one guy is out of position then someone is running through the line of scrimmage and he is going to gain a bunch of yards.

Always have your players go and pick-up the guy who draws the charge.

That's how we like to play basketball, is be physical down there in the paint and force teams to the perimeter.

Goal of mine is to make first team All-Defense. The way you do that is guarding the best players.

That's how you get better on defense; not just 'oh, man, my guy beat me,' but you have to think about, 'okay, my man beat me, so I either have to pick up the next man, or I'm going to give somebody a foul.

When you look at older teams in the finals, Miami and San Antonio, they're not really the most explosive or athletic team but they're always in the right position defensively.

If you start chasing around trying to get steals for your own benefit, then you really put your defense at a disadvantage. It's not a big thing for me; if it happens, great.

Defensively, I think I'm very versatile, I can guard different positions.

You need to defend as a team to defend well.

You have to defend the perimeter guys otherwise you're going to struggle getting playing time or staying on the court.

I've had some difficulties, but I've also done some good things on defense. So it's just all about effort... You've got to take it personal and work as hard as you can on that end of the floor.

I want to guard the best wings and big on every team. I want to make their night tough to gain that respect defensively around the league.

Here I am, playing with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd is my coach, I'm in Brooklyn, New York, they lobbied for me to be here... Regardless of my circumstances, I'm here.

If a guy is shooting a shot in the corner 70 percent of the missed shots usually come off that other side and 30 percent hits off the front rim so just playing the percentages and kind of studying your teammates' shots throughout the course of the game.

I've always loved blocking shots.

Kobe Bryant should know how to defend a pick and roll.

LeBron's probably the best player in the world, so you just have to make it tough for him, make him take tough jump shots and things like that.

LeBron is one of the greats. He's going to hit tough shots. You have to be able to live with them and limit everyone else around him.

I never thought I'd lead the NBA in rebounding, but I got a lot of help from my team-mates - they did a lot of missing.