Gregg Popovich Thinks Foreigners Work Harder Than US Players
By Daniel Nicks
Gregg Popovich hates you. He hates turnovers. He hates the media. And he hates US basketball players. Okay, so some of that is an exaggeration – kind of.
"“[American kids] have been coddled since eighth, ninth, 10th grade by various factions or groups of people. But the foreign kids don’t live with that. So they don’t feel entitled,” he says, noting how many clubs work on fundamentals in two-a-day practices, each lasting up to three hours. “Now, you can’t paint it with too wide of a brush, but in general, that’s a fact.”… “[International kids] have less. They appreciate things more. And they’re very coachable.”"
Via Seth Wickersham | ESPN.com
Geez, Pop. Tell us how you really feel.
That’s the thing though. Popovich has his opinions, he has his methods and he’s won championships as a result of them. So as controversial as his statements may be, I’m inclined to side with them – simply because the basketball mind they are coming from.
You can’t exactly blame the guy either. As Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are all from outside the United States. And as Wickersham states in his article: “… Popovich is a pretty worldly guy. He majored in Soviet studies at the Air Force Academy. He speaks Russian and Serbian. He played on military basketball teams during his stint in the armed forces, traveling Eastern Europe in the ’70s.”
With the rise of foreign players in the NBA, it’s food for thought. At the very least.