Gregg Popovich Philosophies

Gregg Popovich is truly a force of character. Following around his ideas is always informative. Here are some from his talk with FIBA coaches some time around 2015. 

 On Character:

"Usually, they am what they am. ... If this kid is selfish, you're not changing him. It's gonna come out in the wash, it's gonna come out in an important part of the game and you gotta get rid of him.
The fiber of your team is the beginning of everything that you do. We talk about we want players who have gotten over themselves. 
If you've gotten over yourself, you know it's not about you. It's about this person and this person, and what we do as a group.
So how do you figure that out?
In our case when we're drafting somebody, or signing someone. It's not the game that i want them to watch. that easy you can tell, He can play, He can shoot. He's a rebounder, he plays good D. How do they react to their teammates in timeouts? They're losing the game, do they go hide? They're winning the game, they beat their chests like they just discovered a cure for cancer. 
You know, realize, it's just basketball. You can see that in a person. at practice, how hard they compete. How they react with their coach. Are they respectful to the game, to their teammates, to the coach. that tells you a whole lot more, than if he's just a good player. so that starts to tell you about character. "
On Motivation and Leadership:
Play your bench, it's important to develop the bench. Depend on their character.I think you have to have accountability. For us the thing that works best is total, brutal, between-the-eyes honesty. I never try to trick a player, or manipulate them. ... I think being honest with people is great. Somebody's doing well, You tell them they did well. But you don't have a different system for Duncan and Parker and Ginobili than you do for number 12 13 14. You need to have the same standards for everybody. You can treat people differently, because each one is different. but they all have to march to the same drummer.  to the same standards.

 On assessing talent and working together:
We believe in a participatory deal. ... We do it together. If we win a championship or we lose in the first round, we did all that together, and life goes on. I'm not overly sad, maybe for a couple days, if we lose in the first round, but I'm not all that excited, if we win a championship. because its basketball. Get over yourself. Bust your ass, do the best you can do. and them go home, or go get a beer. but its not to be jumping off a building on a loss, or thinking that you're some kind of a hero, if you win. 
If you win, act like you do it all the time. and you didn't do anything special. If you lose, go back to work. try to figure it out. 
So for us its participatory. 

On Recovery:

How do you get over that? How do you get them back? If they have character, it helps. But again, it's all about honesty. 
They sat down when we started training camp. And they watched every minute, of game 6 and 7. That was hard for them. Every minute. Because what I didn't want is them feeling sorry for themselves, having a pity party, oh the basketball gods were against us. we probably should've won it. ... That's the last thing i wanted. I wanted them to feel the pain. all over again, let them know that it was in our hands. and we could've done A, B and C to finish the game off. We didn't do it. and we're not gonna blame the coach, we're not gonna blame that player, we blew it. we're gonna look at every frame of this film to see what we could've done. and we did it. and i just asked them. 
This season will be a measure of who each of us is as a human being. this will be the measure of your character. of your courage, of your fortitude. to see if we can get back to where we were.  and we will or we wont. 
 On Goals:

My goals are very basic in general. We don't talk about "We have to have the most wins." We had the most wins last year, we didn't set out to do that. it happened. We dont talk about winning the conference, we don't talk about winning the championship. honest. cross my heart. Never in one year did i know we're gonna get this done. We are the best team. february march april, we are gonna kick ass. It's obvious were the best team. never have we talked about that. or felt like that.
It's ingrained in those guys that it's a journey. it's a process. it's difficult. the joy is in the process. the joy really isn't the final culmination. It fades away pretty quickly. and life goes on. But that journey is what you're proud of. that process is what you feel the camaraderie for with your teammates.  
... 
The goal for us has been. to be the best prepared team we can be by playoff time and the most healthy. 
...
It is important I think, to have the big picture rather than this week. let's win three out of this five games. It's not the deal. What it means is. we can't skip steps. and we start at the beginning. 
...
But its the beginning of many building blocks to get back where they need to go. I think that process, that pride in work on a daily basis is what grows the spirit. and grows the character. and makes them feel like they deserved to win the championship. your team has to feel like they deserved it. like they worked harder than everybody else. It doesn't necessarily mean you ran suicides all morning long. i mean you know that mental is as much a physical part, that they prepared, that they gone over it. they're repeated the defensive drills. 
link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBZTPtENQCY
Extracting this to lay terms and my personal interpretation:

  1. People are who they are. People don't change that much. 
  2. You get a glimpse of a person's character by how they react to things
  3. Make people accountable. Be direct and honest.
  4. Set the same standards for everybody. Don't play favorites
  5. If you win, be humble. If you lose, don't feel sorry for yourself. Try to figure it out.
  6. Don't play a victim. It's always within us to strive for progress and improve.
  7. The end isn't the goal. What's important is the work towards the goal.

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