Following the slight stroke he suffered at the beginning of November, Gregg Popovich gave up his place on the Spurs bench to Mitch Johnson. The latter has now been in charge of Spurs for nine matches, but he has not yet led a training session.
This is the charm and the flaw of the regular season: the matches and the trips follow one another and for several weeks sometimes, the teams do not have time to do a simple training session. The Spurs were finally able to train this Monday, with Mitch Johnson in charge.
“It’s like it’s come full circle for me, because I played for him in Summer League. It was really cool,” commented Tre Jones. “As we don't always have days to train, we know it's important for a team like ours, so we were focused. »
He doesn't shout as much as Gregg Popovich
If, during matches, and the playmaker confirms it, the interim coach “does exactly what Gregg Popovich made us do”in training, Mitch Johnson was able to impose his voice.
“There are clearly differences between them. Mitch tries to make us play with confidence and a lot of freedom. He has been pushing us in this direction since he took charge,” insists Tre Jones. “It tries to help us think about the next action when things don't go our way. Without Gregg Popovich by our side, we are missing our coach. But Mitch talks a lot and makes sure we stay focused, that we do things right. »
Zach Collins, for his part, believes that there is “no real difference”although he notes that “Mitch Johnson hasn’t yelled at us that much yet” than the five-time NBA champion could do. Maybe it will end up happening and maybe he will even take a technical foul. ” I hope. I would love that. That would be great,” continues inside. “I hope we’ll be at +15 when he does that. »
