SAN ANTONIO – It was a rare peak behind the curtain.

The cantankerous Gregg Popovich, the coach who snarls at “talk about” questions and loathes the pointless in-game interview, can, if he wants, share bits and pieces about what makes the San Antonio Spurs’ system so special.

Tuesday was one of those days.

In a good mood the minute he walked into the media room at AT&T Center, Popovich shared some thoughts on what the Spurs do and why they do it.

The credit probably belongs to Ralph Lawler, the longtime Clippers broadcaster who was recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Popovich entered the room, singing “Hollywood” and offering Lawler some advice – “keep the pigeons off of it.”

From there, he went a little in-depth about NBA teams canceling shootarounds, a bandwagon Popovich said he and the Spurs hopped on “two decades” ago.

“I just think it was the modus operandi for every organization. It was habit. It was what everyone did. If you didn’t do it, you were recalcitrant or you weren’t doing your job,” Popovich said. “Some owners would look and say ‘Why aren’t you doing a shootaround?’ If you were a young coach, you have to have a shootaround because you’re doing what you have to do. And, basically, half of them are total crap – a total waste of time.

“… In general, shootarounds could be kaputskied.”

Modus operandi. Recalcitrant. Kaputskied.

Popovich went on to say that the time lost during a shootaround doesn’t necessarily get made up in the film room.

“With us, film is short and directed – very specific on certain items,” he said. “You can’t do a coaching clinic every time you do a film session or you lose them all. But if something is directed, like pick-and-roll defense, transition defense or how the ball was shared or not shared and you get after it and do it, it makes sense to most players.

“That’s our way.”

Doc Rivers and the Clippers, like the Spurs, also prioritize mental and physical rest ahead of practice.

This season, the Clippers have made shootarounds more of the exception than the rule. The team typically won’t hold a shootaround on the first game of a trip that involves a time zone change, before the second game of a back-to-back or if they practiced the day before a game.

There’s a good chance the team won’t hold a single shootaround on its current five-game trip.

“I think it’s something you do if you feel it’s right for you to do it for your team,” Rivers said.

Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com