As San Antonio Spurs legendary coach Gregg Popovich continues to recover from a mild stroke suffered near the beginning of this month, his backup point guard, Tre Jones, is sure to compliment the soon-to-be 38-year-old Mitch Johnson.
“Mitch is trying to just allow us to play real confident and with a lot of freedom. He’s been pushing that since he took over from day one,” Jones said of the interim coach, who took over on November 2.
Tre Jones’ effusive praise for Mitch Johnson
For Jones, who’s in his fifth NBA season – all with the Spurs – Johnson’s current role is a bit personal.
“It’s been amazing with Mitch so far. It’s kind of a full circle moment for me playing for him in Summer League and everything. It’s really cool for sure, but he’s been amazing for us,” Jones said.
In taking over the day of San Antonio’s first game after Halloween, Johnson led the franchise to their best win of the very young season to that point, a 113-103 victory vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“He’s been very vocal about having our backs, very vocal about making sure we stay locked in and we’re doing the right things,” Jones declared.
This stretch represents the third time Johnson, whose birthday is November 29, has served as the Silver and Black’s head coach, though the first of significant length. Hired as an assistant coach with the Austin Spurs in 2016, the Stanford University alum joined San Antonio’s bench in 2019. He served as the Spurs head coach for a game in 2021 and again in the spring of 2023.
Comparing Spurs’ interim coach to Gregg Popovich
“Without Pop on the sideline, you feel like you’re missing your head coach, someone that means so much to us on a day-to-day basis. But, Mitch has been there for us for sure,” Johnson said of how Johnson has filled in for the franchise’s Hall of Fame coach.
At the end of the day, though, the former Duke Blue Devil says much of the transition is incumbent on the players.
“He’s doing exactly what Pop had us doing. He’s still in constant communication with him and knows what we want to do. We all know the direction we want to be headed in. We know the little things that we need to be doing on a day-to-day basis.”
“They definitely have their differences,” Jones continued, before zeroing in on Johnson. “He’s been trying to help us continue to move on to the next play when things don’t go our way.”
Given the rigors of their schedule, the Monday between Saturday’s loss at the Dallas Mavericks and a Tuesday game vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder represented the team’s first practice since Johnson took the reigns.
“We know how important this is for a team like us.”
Seems like all that’s left for Johnson to truly integrate himself as a true head man is to pick up his first technical foul.
“He’s a nice guy, but he’s definitely got it in him.”
Sounds like Tre Jones thinks Mitch Johnson has tons of ability in him.
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