Popovich on Spurs' individual stats: 'They really get screwed playing for me'

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich knows a thing or two about doing his job, even if his decisions to protect his players come under fire a few times each season.

San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald shared the transcripts of more than 12 minutes of conversation between reporters and Pops over the first two games of the Western Conference Finals.

For the 18-year veteran head coach, there's certainly method to his minutes-allocation madness. Not surprisingly, it's all part of a plan that keeps the Spurs at the top year after year.

We’ve done it every year for a decade. We want minutes down during the year, in some cases to prevent injury and have minutes there at the end, but as players have gotten older, it’s become more important. This year, we wanted to keep everybody about 30 or less. That’s always been the plan. It’s nothing new. And then extend them in the playoffs. Again, maybe it’s right maybe it’s wrong. It’s just the way we do it.

The coach consistently defends his decisions to rest veterans when necessary throughout the season, and when reporters queried Popovich this week about his self-discipline to not overplay guys on his roster, he wondered aloud if their numbers are sacrificed by the strategy.

I always think about our guys sometimes, and their stats. They really get screwed sometimes, playing for me. If you win 62 games, and some of them are by a decent margin, I bet our guys play fewer fourth quarter minutes than most good players on any team. I’d be willing to bet that. It hurts their stats, without a doubt, but luckily I’ve got players who don’t think about that.

Luckily, winning all the time probably trumps bitterness about fourth-quarter minutes.