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Bones Hyland and Zeke Nnaji are passing the crash course in Jokić ball

One of the most difficult aspects of coaching for a team with winning expectations is trusting and committing to an unproven player.

There are rare high profile exceptions. Gregg Popovich has been coaching the San Antonio Spurs for a long, long time, and there was a time when he was forced to trust a young rookie point guard named Tony Parker. The French point guard was clearly an excellent talent, and the team’s previous starting point guard was a then 38-year-old Terry Porter. Popovich committed to the rookie Parker early, starting him every single game he played through a playoff exit to the Shaq-Kobe Los Angeles Lakers.