Inside The Spurs

Gregg Popovich Still Having 'Fun' Coaching Rebuilding Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are 20-59 but Gregg Popovich is still having fun.

Jeremy Brener

Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
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It's been a long year for the San Antonio Spurs, especially after racking up their 59th loss of the season Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns.

The team's record is the worst in the Popovich era by over 10 games, but despite the losing, the Hall-of-Fame coach is still enjoying his job ... large in part to the fact that the team remains competitive.

"It's fun coaching them," Popovich said. "Obviously, it was going to be a tough night for them but their competitiveness was great. They got better after the first quarter. I think we were intimidated. Played very competitively, and executed pretty damn well against a very good basketball team. I was happy for them. I thought they did a good job."

The Spurs may not have the same level of talent that the other 29 NBA teams do, especially in the first year of a true rebuild, but their competition level is something they can control and take advantage of.

Playing against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns, the Spurs surrendered an early 17-point deficit in the first quarter. But the team was able to cut that in half midway through the third quarter.

Point guard Tre Jones emphasized the team's ability to stay competitive after the team's loss against the Suns on Tuesday.

“Just trying to be competitive," Jones said. "Play our hardest and try to do all of the little things. Try to do things the right way and let the rest take care of itself. Obviously, they [Suns] are super talented. After that first quarter, we played them pretty much even the rest of the way. They came out hot and we came out slow. We were able to get on a few runs there. Got it close but just didn’t have enough.”

With just three games remaining on the team's schedule, the Spurs will remain competitive in hopes that building those good habits will translate into wins in the not-too-distant future.

Then, Popovich might have even more fun coaching this team.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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