Gregg Popovich on the three point shot: “I’ll never embrace it”

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is letting his curmudgeonly side out again.

In Toronto to face the Raptors (a game the Spurs later lost) Popovich was asked about the three-point shot and how the use of it more and more in recent years has revolutionized the game. Popovich is not a fan, as reported by James Herbert of CBSSports.com.

“I still hate it,” Popovich said. “I’ll never embrace it. I don’t think it’s basketball. I think it’s kind of like a circus sort of thing. Why don’t we have a 5-point shot? A 7-point shot? You know, where does it stop, that sort of thing. But that’s just me, that’s just old-school. To a certain degree, you better embrace it or you’re going to lose. And every time we’ve won a championship, the 3-point shot was a big part of it. Because it is so powerful and you’ve gotta be able to do it. And nobody does it better than Golden State, and you know where they’re at. So it’s important. You can’t ignore it.”

These kids today and their new-fangled toys.

This is not a new stance for Popovich, he said the same thing back during the Spurs last title run and said it before that as well.

This year’s Spurs are 23rd in attempted three pointers by a team, taking nearly seven fewer threes a game than last season. With the current roster makeup (read: LaMarcus Aldridge) they are going to shoot more midrange jumpers. The two seasons prior to that (including the 2014 title run) the Spurs were middle of the pack in the league at taking threes. Popovich doesn’t love it but freely admits he needs the shot to succeed.

He also admits that he doesn’t have an answer for the Golden State Warriors and their brand of three-ball inspired offense. Not yet, anyway. He likely has until late May to come up with one.