Popovich: “With 4 or 5-points shots, the NBA would be turned into a real circus”

Gregg Popovich’s aversion to three-point field goals is well known. The legendary coach, who boasts the best resume among all of the currently active coaches, has always favored basketball based on fundamentals, tactical knowledge, solid basic concepts. For that reason he has rejected some of the aspects of how the game game has evolved during the last 10 years, such as the increase in players indiscriminately launching half-court shots or even from further in the NBA. It’s something that does not necessarily mean that tactics suffer as a result, but it smacks of stylistic boredom - it also implies the total elimination of mid-range or post play which results in insistence on long shots or points under the rim. Popovich, who won his five NBA titles with the Spurs with a very different brand of basketball absolutely hates how the game is becoming cheapened.

“I’ve said before I’m just hoping that the league ends up with a 4-point shot or a 5-point shot so we can make it a real circus. It’ll be a different sport. It won’t even be basketball, it’d just be a bunch of crap,” Popovich recently assured in a clearly humorous tone, but full of meaning. The coaching legend has always rebelled against anything that might devalue the game and, in fact, almost always his Spurs are among those who shoot the fewest three-pointers per game (they’re 11th this season in that statistic). And, although the evolution of the game forces the Texans to throw more and more threes, they are almost always the ones who try the least per tournament. Let’s review their numbers:

We can see here that, in recent years, the Spurs have progressively increased their three-point attempts, but that they always remain among the bottom NBA teams in that regard. In fact, they haven’t been in the top ten since 2012-13 and this year, they have made the top 20 for the first time since 2014-15.

A clear sign of intentions on the part of Popovich, who once again made it clear that he does not agree with some of the recent trends in basketball. At 74 years of age, it’s unlikely that he is going to change his opinion any time soon - even if his purist approach hasn’t always paid off: for the fourth season running, the Spurs have failed to make the playoffs. A bad retirement plan for a man with five rings, six finals and a huge number of records that have made him a legend.