Good read linked below on new Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego. Borrego arrives in Charlotte after spending the last three seasons with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. One thing I think the common NBA fan gets wrong about the Spurs’ culture is that they don’t realize how player-focused it is. Everything within the “Spurs Way” is about getting the players to perform at their highest level. From the sound of this interview, it looks like Borrego has shipped the “Spurs Way” to North Carolina and is ready to get to work.
I asked Borrego to detail his approach to player development. What I heard in reply was a “less-is-more” concept: Don’t flood young players with so much correction they are overwhelmed, but still hold them to expectations. “My philosophy is you maximize what they do well, first,” Borrego said. “Don’t try to complete the entire puzzle” on the fly. We get lost as coaches in trying to create this incredible player overnight, and we end up losing our player. …We’ll identify a few areas, two or three areas, that we want to focus on right now in the summertime and we’ll work on those.”
For more on Borrego:
-New Hornets coach is ready to work (LINK)
-‘Really humble’ Spurs coaches deserve more credit (LINK)
-James Borrego Q&A (LINK)
