Gregg Popovich hails Derrick White’s successful adaptation to Boston

As for his former assistants who have gone to the four corners of the league, Gregg Popovich takes pleasure in seeing his former players fly on their own and now progress away from San Antonio.

The Spurs recently reunited with Dejounte Murray, who they played a nasty trick on at the AT&T Center. Then that night it was the turn of Derrick White to cross paths with his former coach during a trip to Boston.

Work, determination and versatility

This time, the logic was respected and the Spurs took a good beating (137-93), with in particular 41 points from Jaylen Brown, but also 19 points from Derrick White, who also distinguished himself by his +/- to +41, testifying to the positive impact he was able to have on his team when he was on the floor.

“This game is above all a question of confidence. And I think we’ve seen Derrick’s confidence grow over the season. And today he plays at a very high level. He shoots with confidence, he plays with a lot of fluidity., explained teammate Malcolm Brogdon on Derrick White’s usefulness to the Celtics. “He’s one of those players who makes the game easier for everyone. Because he knows how to play and he has that flair. He is incredibly important to our team, on both sides of the pitch. We see his offensive game today, but people were mostly talking about his defense at the start of the season. He’s incredibly versatile.”

His departure from San Antonio was over a year ago, but Derrick White has proven a lot since then, including his ability to fit into a new environment whose goal is to win the title.

Adaptability from Colorado Springs

The reunion of this night was an opportunity for Coach Pop ‘to return to the evolution of his former back.

“Derrick is a really special case of someone who, over time, realized that he belonged in the NBA. He started in a small college D2 team (Colorado Springs) and enrolled in a Division 1 school afterwards (Colorado). We picked him up and he developed exceptionally well. He spent a lot of time before and after training, as well as in the summer leagues learning how to play”remembered Gregg Popovich. “The first thing you could tell was that he had an instinctive flair for the game. He understood the game. Most NBA players don’t have that stuff. He knew.”

As was the case between D2 and D1 university, then during his adaptation between the NCAA and the NBA through hard work, Gregg Popovich praised Derrick White’s ability to acclimatize to Boston.

“He added to his flair the development of his skills. He worked a lot on his shooting, his ball handling, the pick and roll, that sort of thing. He got better day by day because he put a lot of time into it. Then, it was necessary to convince him that he was in his place so that he gained confidence in him. And that’s what’s happened again since he’s been in Boston.”, concluded his former coach.