Prior to the Spurs 118-105 win over the Nets on Thursday, Gregg Popovich sat down with announcer Bill Land to discuss the play of the Spurs’ youngsters. He talked about how Dejounte Murray is learning to combine his skills with his vision on the court and Lonnie Walker IV’s willingness to be coached.
He praised Derrick White’s flexibility in accepting any role that is asked of him (while also admitting he has not been 100% healthy lately, which explains a lot), and basically called Jakob Poeltl a clone of some of his favorite centers over the years — such Malik Rose, Fabricio Oberto, and Tiago Splitter — who knew their roles, didn’t try to play outside themselves, and did their jobs well.