San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Thanks, Pop
Silas appreciates warm welcome to coaching fraternity.
As a rookie NBA head coach, the Houston Rockets’ Stephen Silas was thrilled when one of the league’s coaching legends offered him a few words of encouragement during the preseason.
That the legend happened to be the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, someone Silas has always admired, made the brief conversation last month in Houston even more meaningful.
“He made a point to get to me and just tell me he was happy for me and proud of me and to stick to my guns and do it the way I want to do it,” Silas said before Saturday’s game at the AT&T Center.
“It really meant a lot coming from him because I don’t really know Pop that well,” Silas added.
The Rockets hired Silas, 47, to replace Mike D’Antoni in October. The son of former NBA player and coach Paul Silas, Silas has stints as an assistant with the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets, Cleveland, Golden State, the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets and Dallas over the previous 20 years.
Throughout that journey, which also included a stint as a scout for Washington, Silas admired what Popovich did on and off the court.
“There are so many amazing things about Pop, not just as a coach with all the wins and championships, but just the person,” Silas said.
Popovich, who is set to turn 72 on Jan. 28, is the NBA’s alltime winningest coach, with 1,567 victories (regular season and playoffs combined) entering Saturday’s game.
But Silas said Popovich’s impact on the league goes well beyond his record.
“He’s just an amazing, amazing person all the way around,” Silas said. “Whether it’s the social justice stuff, whether it’s political stuff, the championship teams and how he managed the championship teams, whether it was younger guys, older guys, doing it different ways, whether it was a post-up team or a driving team or now kind of the transition-type thing they have got going on, he is really, really good and somebody I looked up to from afar.”
Hammon, Eubanks could return soon
Popovich suggested that three members of the organization going through the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols could rejoin the team this week.
Assistant coach Becky Hammon, reserve big man Drew Eubanks and an unnamed staff member have been in quarantine in Los Angeles since Jan. 7. After defeating the Los Angeles Lakers that night, the Spurs traveled to Minneapolis, leaving the three behind.
The quarantine process can
last up to 14 days.
Popovich was asked before Saturday’s game if he has a clearer picture of when the three could rejoin the team.
“All we get is projections,” he said. “I think they will be with us sometime (this) week. But other than that, I don’t have anything more specific.”
Citing legal reasons, the Spurs have declined to say whether the three tested positive. Quarantine
also is required of players and staff members who have been exposed to someone who is positive.
Johnson has a fan in Rockets coach
Keldon Johnson’s 29-point performance in the Spurs’ 109105 loss to the Rockets on Thursday left Silas raving about the forward from Kentucky.
“Oh, man, so much impressed me,” Silas said of Johnson’s play, which include a career high in points. “The way he attacks the rim, the poise he plays with — what is he, a second-year player? He fits right into their system.”
Johnson spent most of last season in the G League after the Spurs drafted him 29th overall in 2019.
“The thing that the Spurs really are so good at is developing players, having them fit into their system, but also identifying players who can flourish under their system,” Silas said. “He is one of those guys, and he was really hard for us to handle last game.”
Samanic late scratch with a sore throat
The Spurs ruled out forward Luka Samanic for Saturday’s game with a sore throat.
The announcement came just a few hours before tipoff.
Samanic, who the Spurs selected 19th overall in 2019, joined an injury report that listed four other players as out: Eubanks, guard Derrick White (toe), Quinndary Weatherspoon (knee) and Keita Bates-Diop (upper respiratory infection).