1996-05-20, By Buck Harvey
希尔的命运：为什么钱不再重要
他们将在本周进行讨论。只有到那时，我们才能了解一些关于他们的事情，以及谁将成为下一季马刺队的教练。鲍勃·希尔(Bob Hill) 会想要钱吗？还是格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich) 会想要执教大权？
从表面上看，他们似乎相处融洽，这场对决似乎不可能发生。希尔表示，是波波维奇在与爵士队的第五场比赛之前走进了教练办公室，并建议他们一起做一个“大学风格”的事情。于是，就有了那场著名的“Hoosiers”的放映。
周日也没有什么迹象表明事情不对劲。希尔早上在残酷的 12 岁儿童篮球世界里度过。
其他的家长都出现在滚石橡树购物中心，在 3 对 3 比赛中大喊大叫，为孩子们加油。希尔也来为最小的儿子所在的队伍执教。
穿着短裤和两天没刮的胡子，希尔站在那里大声喊着：“把他逼到中间……现在包夹！包-夹！”
这就是希尔，他热爱并了解 X 和 O 的战术。如果他有时让每个人都知道这一点，那么这不会让他的球员感到困扰。他与从大卫·罗宾逊到裁判的每个人都相处得很好。对于那些想知道的人来说，希尔和查尔斯·巴克利也会相处得很好。
如果有什么不同的话，那就是希尔太过度在意。他不喜欢冲突，他与球星们交朋友，部分原因是他知道这不会损害教练的生存。但是，责怪他没有在对阵爵士队的比赛中更猛烈地鞭策马刺队是无稽之谈。难道有哪个教练可以给马刺队带来他们所缺乏的大赛心脏吗？
因此，大多数特许经营权可能不仅希望希尔在合同的最后一年回归，而且还会给他一个续约合同。他三年期的合同将在下赛季结束，在联盟中排名前三分之一。
如果马刺队不稳定的财务状况是一个因素，那么这将是第一次金钱影响了波波维奇的运营方式。从交易查尔斯·史密斯到提高工作人员的薪资，一切都表明这些马刺队并不吝啬。
此外，冲动反应也不是一个因素。当然，这个特许经营权传统上会在午餐吃得不愉快时更换教练。罗宾逊七年来已经为五位教练效力。
但是，如果有的话，这可能对希尔有利。波波维奇在两年前接手马刺队时，公开的目标之一就是延续性。
然而，波波维奇在 1994 年也说了其他话。他的球队将如何变得更强硬，以及常规赛将变得不那么重要，因为季后赛的勇气才是最重要的。爵士系列赛证明了这一点，除了这一点之外。
周日，波波维奇几乎没有发表任何公开讲话。但他所说的话却很意味深长。“我们不只是输了，”他说。“我们被羞辱了。这绝对不是朝着正确的方向前进。”
对于那些试图揣摩总经理心思的人来说，这句话应该用霓虹灯打出来。记住，希尔在犹他州那个命运攸关的最后一个晚上说出了完全相反的话。
然而，这里还有其他因素在起作用。波波维奇总是说，他的内心告诉他成为一名教练，但他的头脑告诉他成为一名总经理。了解他的人都知道，他内心也进行着同样的斗争。而没有什么比看到他的球队没有反击更能激发他教练内心的激情了。
因此，可以推测，续约合同不会到来；菲尔·杰克逊和乔治·卡尔在本赛季都做到了没有续约合同。如果希尔凭借他在这里两年取得的 121 场胜利的成绩坚持下去，那么波波维奇更有可能想起约翰·卢卡斯也曾带着罗宾逊取得过胜利。
比赛前的赔率：希尔留任的可能性是 50%。
点击查看原文：Fate of Hill: Why money matters less
Fate of Hill: Why money matters less
They will talk this week. And only then will we learn a few things about them - and about who will be the Spurs’ coach next season. Will Bob Hill want the money? Or will Gregg Popovich want the reins?
No such showdown appeared likely, not the way they seemed to get along. Hill said it was Popovich who walked into the coaches’ office before Game 5 against the Jazz and suggested they come up with “a collegiate thing.” Thus was born the famous showing of “Hoosiers.”
Sunday also gave little evidence anything was up. Hill spent the morning in the cutthroat world of 12-year-old hoops.
Other parents showed at Rolling Oaks Mall to shout some encouragement during a 3-on-3 tournament. Hill showed up to coach the team of his youngest son.
Wearing shorts and a two-day beard, Hill could be seen standing, yelling, “Work him to the middle . . . now double. DOU-BLE!”
That’s the Hill who loves and knows X’s and O’s. And if he sometimes lets everyone know this, then it doesn’t bother his players. He relates remarkably well to everyone from David Robinson to the refs. For those wondering, Hill would do fine with Charles Barkley, too.
If anything, Hill takes that to a fault. He doesn’t like confrontations, and he befriends the stars partly because he knows that can’t hurt a coach’s survival. But to blame him for not kicking the Spurs harder against the Jazz is specious thinking. Could any coach have given the Spurs the big-game heart they lacked?
Most franchises, then, would probably want Hill back not only for the last year of his contract, but also would reward him with an extension. His three-year deal, up at the end of next season, ranks among the league’s bottom third.
If the Spurs’ iffy financial condition is a factor, then it would be the first time money has altered how Popovich does business. Everything from the trade of Charles Smith to the upgrading of staff salaries indicates these Spurs aren’t cheap.
Also, a knee-jerk reaction is not part of the equation. Sure, this franchise traditionally changes coaches when lunch doesn’t sit well. Robinson has played for five in seven years.
But, if anything, that might be in Hill’s favor today. Among Popovich’s public goals when he took over the Spurs two years ago was continuity.
Still, Popovich also said other things in 1994. How his teams would develop toughness, and how less would be made of the regular season, when playoff mettle was all that counted. The Jazz series defined everything but that.
Popovich said little for publication Sunday. But what he did say was telling. “We didn’t just get beat,” he said. “We got humiliated. It definitely was not a step in the right direction.”
For those trying to read the mind of a GM, the quote should be typeset in neon. Remember, Hill said the exact opposite the fateful last night in Utah.
Still, there is something else at work here. Popovich always said his heart told him to be a coach, but his brain told him to be a GM. Knowing him, the same internal battle goes on. And nothing gets the blood pumping in his coaching heart more than seeing his team not fight back.
A guess, then, is that an extension isn’t coming; both Phil Jackson and George Karl made do without one this season. And if Hill presses with his record of 121 wins in two years here, then Popovich will be more likely to remember that John Lucas won with Robinson, too.
The pre-talk odds: It’s 50-50 that Hill stays.
By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News