1999-03-02, By Buck Harvey
凭感觉，还带点胆量：麦科姆斯会怎么做？
雷德·麦科姆斯(Red McCombs)说马刺需要时间。他说他对格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)有信心。
他还说：“马刺需要做的就是连胜四场，最好是从下一场对阵休斯顿的比赛开始。别从弱者开始，找一个硬骨头，干掉他们。”
但是，这是上周末在看球的麦科姆斯——他坐在新闻区，旁边是德州州长布什，当时德州大学输给了密苏里大学。这是这赛季只看了几场马刺比赛的麦科姆斯，他并没有把自己的希望寄托在波波维奇身上，他只想做一个好球迷。
所以问题是：如果马刺的老板是麦科姆斯，他会怎么做？
答案并不明确。麦科姆斯解雇了两位教练（鲍勃·韦斯(Bob Weiss)和杰里·塔坎安(Jerry Tarkanian)），并且半解雇了一位（拉里·布朗(Larry Brown)）。其中两次是在赛季中期做出的改变。尽管如此，对于教练解雇的丰富经验，麦科姆斯说没有一个公式。
“我认为任何老板都不能说他们把这个和那个放进电脑里，然后就说这就是结果，”他在周一说道。“这是一种直觉。当我觉得球员对教练没有反应时，我会对教练做出改变。这确实是判断教练的唯一方法。”
有时，麦科姆斯在球员有反应时也会对教练做出改变。就像上赛季在明尼苏达一样。当他买下维京人队时，所有人都告诉他好消息——丹尼·格林(Denny Green)的合同只剩下一年了。但麦科姆斯与格林谈得越多，看到球员对他反应的方式越多，他的直觉就越强烈地告诉他，所有人都错了。麦科姆斯给了格林一份新合同，帮助维京人解决了长期存在的问题。
麦科姆斯曾经有机会签下波波维奇，是在布朗在赛季中期离开之后。麦科姆斯放弃了，他记得波波维奇当时非常失望。麦科姆斯当时向波波维奇解释说，他不仅与布朗关系太密切，而且波波维奇需要拓展他的履历。“他做到了，”麦科姆斯说道，“当他跟随唐·尼尔森(Don Nelson)去了金州勇士队时。”
所以这就是麦科姆斯看到的现在和过去的不同之处，也是他为什么说他会对波波维奇保持耐心。“他是一位比赛的学者，也是一位商业的学者，”麦科姆斯说。“我今天对波波维奇充满了信心。”
但还有前台的动态。麦科姆斯有他所谓的“安全港”，鲍勃·巴斯(Bob Bass)。“当你身边有一个BB，子弹四处飞舞时，这是一种很大的安慰。”
彼得·霍尔特(Peter Holt)没有一个港口，无论是安全的还是不安全的。
巴斯可以在紧急情况下执教，或者帮助找到能执教的人。尽管如此，麦科姆斯还是第一个做出大胆举动的人，先是布朗，然后是塔克的赌博失败，然后是约翰·卢卡斯(John Lucas)弥补了这一损失。这一切都是麦科姆斯的愿景和决断。巴斯只是在被要求时才填补空缺。
麦科姆斯就像最好的老板一样做到了，他现在也用维京人队做到了。他与教练和球员建立了个人关系，然后根据这些关系做出相应的反应。“如果我不参与其中，我一分钱也不会投资到体育队，”麦科姆斯说。
那么，如果麦科姆斯现在拥有马刺队，他会怎么做？他会把犹他州的失利视为警钟，就像布朗最后的日子即将到来一样。他会让巴斯做好准备。
他会把手指放在风中，手放在钱包里。他会看到篮球方面，也会看到商业方面，因此会对球馆项目的未来感到严重担忧。
他还会利用自己的销售本能。所以，虽然麦科姆斯会等到他的直觉告诉他该行动时才行动，但他可能会像周一那样公开地说出来。
点击查看原文：From the gut, with some guts: McCombs' move?
From the gut, with some guts: McCombs’ move?
Red McCombs says the Spurs need time. He says he has faith in Gregg Popovich.
And he says: “All the Spurs got to do is win about four straight, and they might as well start with the next one in Houston. Don’t start with a weak sister. Get a tough one and kick 'em.”
But that’s the McCombs who watched hoops last weekend - sitting at press row next to Governor Bush as UT lost to Missouri. That’s the McCombs who has only seen a few Spurs games this season, who doesn’t have anything invested in Popovich, who wants to be the good fan.
So the question is this: What would Spurs owner McCombs have done?
The answer isn’t clear. McCombs fired two coaches (Bob Weiss and Jerry Tarkanian), and semi-fired one (Larry Brown). Two of those changes came in midseason. Still, for such a quality background in coach beheading, McCombs says there isn’t a formula.
“I don’t think any owner can say he put this and that through a computer, and so this is the way it is,” he said Monday. “It’s a gut feeling. I make a move on coaches when I feel like the players aren’t responding to a coach. That’s really the only way to judge a coach.”
Sometimes McCombs makes a move on coaches when the players do respond. Such as in Minnesota last season. When he bought the Vikings, everyone told him the good news - that Denny Green only had a year left on his contract. But the more McCombs talked to Green and saw the way the players reacted to him, the more McCombs’ gut told him everyone was wrong. McCombs gave Green a new contract and helped the Vikings solve a lingering issue.
McCombs had a chance once to sign Popovich, too, then after Brown left in midseason. McCombs passed, and he remembers Popovich being deeply disappointed. McCombs explained to Popovich then he was not only too linked to Brown, but also that Popovich needed to expand his re sume. “He did that,” said McCombs, “when he went with Don Nelson to Golden State.”
So that’s one difference McCombs sees between then and now, and why he says he would be patient with Popovich. “He’s a student of the game and a student of the business,” said McCombs. “I’d have all the confidence in Pop today.”
But there’s also the front-office dynamics. McCombs had what he calls his “safe harbor,” Bob Bass. “When you have a BB in the foxhole with you and the bullets are flying around, it’s a great comfort.”
Peter Holt doesn’t have a harbor, safe or unsafe.
Bass could coach in a pinch, or help find someone who could. Still, McCombs was the one who made a splash first with Brown, then botched a gamble with Tark, then made up for that with John Lucas. All of it was McCombs’ vision and decisiveness. Bass merely filled in when asked.
McCombs did it as the best owners do, and he does that now with the Vikings. He develops personal relationships with coaches and players, and then reacts accordingly with that knowledge. “I wouldn’t invest five cents in a sports team,” said McCombs, “if I didn’t have that involvement.”
So what would McCombs do now if he owned the Spurs? He’d have seen the Utah loss as an alarm not unlike when Brown’s last days approached. He’d have Bass warming up.
He’d have his finger in the wind and his hand on his wallet. He’d see the basketball side, but the business side, too, and thus a serious concern about the future of an arena project.
He’d also have his salesman instincts. So while McCombs waited until his gut told him it was time to act, he’d probably say publicly what he said Monday.
By Buck Harvey, via San Antonio Express-News