Popovich blasts Spurs despite win over Mavs

The San Antonio Spurs may have won their 11th game of the season on Monday night, but you wouldn't have known if you talked to Gregg Popovich following the contest.

The Spurs bench boss blasted his team for playing down to their opponent, allowing a less-talented Dallas Mavericks squad to hang around deep into the fourth quarter.

"That was a pathetic performance on the part of the Spurs," Popovich told reporters. "You know, they had some guys out, we had some guys out, but they had a lot more out than we did. I thought we showed a lack of humility, a lack of respect for the opponent, a very pathetic performance at both ends of the court, both in execution and in grunt, in fiber, in desire. It was an awful performance. Oh, and they deserved to win the basketball game. I forgot to say that."

While surprised, Spurs newcomer Pau Gasol appeared happy with Popovich for calling out the team, noting that most coaches would just be satisfied with a win.

"It's still different," Gasol told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. "A win is a win and they're just happy. Then the next day you come and you clean up a couple things and then you move on. I love the attention to detail, I love the not settling for good enough. If we want to win a championship, we're going to have to be excellent. We're going to have to be better for more minutes. It's one of the many lessons to be learned in this league and this life. You can never let your guard down. You have to approach the game the same way regardless, and I don't think we did a good job of that tonight."

It's safe to say Popovich will be expecting a better effort from his team in Wednesday's contest against the Charlotte Hornets.