[SAEN] 科尔谈波波维奇：“我知道他会好起来的”

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Kerr on Popovich: ‘I know he is going to get well’

From left: Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich greet each other following the NBA preseason game at Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. The Spurs won 122-117.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr offered some encouraging words Saturday about Gregg Popovich’s physical well-being.

The Hall of Fame coach remains in a rehabilitation program after suffering what the Spurs called a mild stroke on Nov. 2.

“We keep communicating and I know he is going to get well,” Kerr said. “The doctors are feeling great about all of that, so very happy about that. But it is always tough to see someone you love who is not healthy.”

Kerr, who helped the Spurs win NBA titles in 1999 and 2003 as a player, is one of Popovich’s closest friends in the coaching profession.

“He means the world to me,” said Kerr, who was an assistant on Popovich’s Team USA staff that won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “Tough to know he going through this medical situation. Think about him all the time."

The Spurs said on Nov. 13 that Popovich, 75, is expected to make a full recovery but that a timeline for him returning to the bench had not been determined. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson is serving as acting head coach.

Johnson was part of Kerr’s Team USA coaching staff in Las Vegas in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.

“Mitch is really smart, a great teammate in the coaches’ room,” Kerr said. “He was a big part of all our conversations pre and post practice. He is a really good coach, good guy. I know Pop loves him and feels very strongly about what a good coach he is, and that’s what I saw in Las Vegas."

Johnson said he enjoyed working for Kerr.

“Great guy, great leader,” Johnson said. “Him and Pop are very close, so it was a great experience.”

Kerr has fond memories of Barnes

Kerr is highly grateful for Harrison Barnes’ contributions to the Warriors’ 2015 NBA championship team, the first of four won by the franchise during the Stephen Curry-Klay Thompson-Draymond Green era.

“I love Harrison, one of my all-time favorite players,” Kerr said of the 32-year-old forward, who the Spurs acquired in July in a three-team trade involving Sacramento and Chicago.

Barnes spent his first four seasons with Golden State after it drafted him seventh overall in 2012.

“Just incredibly professional, was such an instrumental part of our run,” Kerr said. “When this thing got started, he was right in the middle of it and just a wonderful human being and a hell of a player. He kind of unlocked a lot of lineups for us just by being able to switch and guard guards, but also had the strength to guard big guys down low.”

Barnes scored 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range, in the Spurs’ 104-94 win over the Warriors.

It was his third straight game scoring 20-plus points. During that span in which the Spurs went 3-0, he averaged 22.3 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 60% (9 for 15) from the 3-point line.

“I don’t really have too many expectations coming into games offensively,” Barnes said. “It’s mostly just reading and reacting off the guys who are out there. Sometimes you get more shots than others, but the biggest thing is just being active, moving.”

Kerr also praised Chris Paul, who the Spurs signed to a one-year deal in the summer after he spent one season with the Warriors. Paul finished with nine points and seven assists against his former team.

“Chris was a joy to coach last year, just the ultimate professional,” Kerr said. “His preparation on a daily basis, his leadership, it was all so obvious to see. When you coach someone like that, you sort of realize, OK, this is why he’s been so good, this is why he’s had the career he’s had.”

Conservative approach to injuries

Victor Wembanyama returned to action Saturday night after missing three games with a bruised right knee, but the Spurs were still shorthanded without Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan.

The Spurs downgraded Vassell from questionable to out after shootaround Saturday morning. The team’s second-leading scorer last season has missed the last four games after an MRI revealed a bone bruise in his left knee.

Vassell has played in only four games this season after returning from offseason foot surgery that sidelined him for the first nine games this year.

“We said at the start of this thing we were going to be conservative with him, so he’s probably frustrated as much as anybody with us a little bit,” Johnson said. “But we have a big picture in mind here and he’s trending really, really well.”

Keldon Johnson (tight right hamstring) arrived at the Frost Bank Center listed as questionable, but the Spurs scratched him after he warmed up.

Sochan is expected to be out into December after undergoing surgery more than two weeks ago to repair his fractured left thumb. The club is optimistic he could return before Christmas.

“He is doing really, really well,” Mitch Johnson said.

Although Wembanyama has been able to do plenty of cardio work, the Spurs have been careful to keep his thumb protected from contact.

“If you hit it, that’s a setback,” Mitch Johnson said. “So it’s a weird one. He probably feels like he can do more than he’s doing, but again, we need that thing to heal properly.”