SAN ANTONIO — Chris Paul says he did not come to be a player-coach with the San Antonio Spurs, but the long-time NBA veteran sounds like one at the team Media Day.
With the Spurs still looking to emerge from their rebuild, the team's new point guard admits he watched them last season and noticed a few things that can help sharpen the squad.
"I played against, these guys last year. I watched them. I watch film," Paul said. "I saw how a lot of games last year they'd be winning, and then, you lose it down the stretch.
Losing leads was an issue with the Spurs last season.
San Antonio was 15-25 overall when leading after the first period last season and, more often than not, would lose leads late in games.
You can attribute that to young players not knowing how to manage the pressure of maintaining leads, but Paul believes that the Spurs need a calming presence during challenging moments.
And that's where he sees himself making an impact.
"Maybe a calmness in those times, and just make sure and understand that we still going to have growing pains and issues or whatnot," he said.
Now, he's not entirely scoffing at the idea of helping the players improve.
During his introduction conference, he did say he embraces the challenges of mentoring young players "very seriously."
That was apparent at Media Day when he pinpointed another area the Spurs can improve in this new season: Being vocal with each other.
"Allow them to use their voices and make sure that we grow as a team more than anything," he said.
His years of experience are expected to help advance the player and team's development, even if he isn't with the Spurs until the rebuild concludes.
"Playing hard is a talent, but it's not enough," he said. "So this team here didn't already show the ability to play hard and compete night in and night out, but now we got to figure out how to translate that."
Paul joins a team that was the youngest in Gregg Popovich's tenure as head coach last year, with an average age of 23.5. His commanding presence on and off the court will be needed, considering many players touched on getting more wins this season during Media Day.
"He's gonna be a great mentor for our young guys," Gregg Popovich said. "These guys haven't really had that. I can't even quantify how important that will be."
Make no mistake: the 36-year-old guard is focused on more playing time than being a coach on the court in San Antonio. That was a big reason he signed with the team after averaging a career-low 26 minutes last season in Golden State.
"I want to play. I want to compete, and so this was the best opportunity to do that," he said.
The Spurs' growing pains will still be felt, but Paul is ready to do his part and is thrilled to be a Spur during the ongoing rebuilding phase.
"I'm so excited about this young and talented team," he said.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5