The San Antonio Spurs bowed out of playoff contention on Wednesday following a heartbreaking 113-103 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. After the game, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich fielded questions from the media wherein the legendary shot-caller revealed exactly why he remains proud of his boys despite their poor showing in this season-ending loss.

After being down big, the Spurs went on a furious run in the fourth period to make a ballgame out of the contest. In the end, their comeback came up short, but their effort was still praised by coach Pop:

“I'm proud of them for hanging in there, after playing so poorly,” Popovich said.

The Spurs are a young team and their inexperience was evident in this one. Nevertheless, they still crawled their way out of a big hole to avoid an embarrassing blowout.

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“They've never quit all year long. Tonight was another example,” coach Pop said.

All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray clearly wasn't a hundred percent in this one, but coach Pop refused to use this as an excuse for his team.

Popovich has no regrets over this season, saying that he “enjoyed” coaching this young group throughout the year. It's back to the drawing board for the Spurs now, though, and it will be very interesting to see what the future holds not only for this team but more importantly, for the 73-year-old Gregg Popovich.