Gregg Popovich Gives Seal of Approval to Brad Stevens

It's no small deal to get a compliment from San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich. Both because he's easily the best head coach in the game today, and because they can be a bit hard to come by - unless his wife is asking him to be nicer.

So it should come to the delight of Brad Stevens, and frankly all of Celtic Nation, that the Coach seemed to go out of his way to sing the 37 year old Head Coaches praise last night:

From Boston.com

'When they were on TV, I watched the game, [to] see what I could pick up, [to] see what he did, because he did such a fine job,' Popovich said.

'Yeah, and the answer was no,' Stevens said with a laugh, doubting that there was anything perhaps the NBA's finest coach could learn from a young college coach.

It should be noted that Popovich also joined Stevens courtside before the game for a brief conversation. The praise for Stevens didn't end with one brief quote to the media though. Popovich continued his praise speaking to what he saw when he would sit down to watch Stevens' Butler Bulldogs.

Courtesy Jay King:

“Good teams all have the same trademarks. It’s not like somebody owns the secrets to it,” said Popovich. “But they were a disciplined team, they were a creative team, they were committed, they played great D, unselfish on offense. It’s all the same things that win, but they did it consistently – year after year after year, game after game after game"

Pop continued on, continuing his praise parade down the Danny Ainge block, complimenting Ainge for thinking outside of the box and bringing in someone who was actually coaching well, not just 'another name' (which seems like a long winded way of saying 'Good job on keeping PJ Carleisemo in the broadcaster's booth'). He finished his interview, with a cherry on top. Melting the hearts of any Celtics fan who was listening:

“In this league, with the number of games and as talented as teams are … patience is probably a big commodity, especially in someone’s situation who’s used to winning night after night after night,” Popovich said. “It’s a little bit different when you’re rebuilding a program, and so patience on everybody’s part is really important. Danny (Ainge) has it and he understands the situation. All it will do is improve as time goes on, guaranteed.”

Ah, the waxing of our head coach by the great Gregg Popovich. It massages my temple, takes off my shoes, tells me to forget about all the bad basketball I've watched lately cuz it's just about me tonight.

Greg Popovich guarantee. It get's better, friends.