By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-10-12 14:28:14
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
来自媒体席上的一个问题让格雷格·波波维奇露出了厌恶的表情，这可是他的拿手好戏。
这个问题涉及阵容预测和猜测，并带有一丝事后诸葛亮的意味。这个问题很有可能会被波波维奇无视。
尽管如此，在又一个晚上，圣安东尼奥最受欢迎的大胡子替补球员充分利用了他的传球、空切和投篮时间。周三晚上，一位专栏作家提出了一个值得讨论的话题：桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利(Sandro Mamukelashvili)本赛季需要做些什么才能获得更多上场时间？
“你是谁？”波波维奇怒吼道，“他的经纪人？”
当然，这只是个玩笑，波波维奇随后露出了一个狡黠的笑容。接着，他详细而耐心地解释了这位来自格鲁吉亚的25岁猛将如何在进入他的第五个NBA赛季之际取得了进步，以及为什么马刺队的教练组应该给他更多机会。
但是，如果说这个答案揭示了马穆克拉什维利目前状态的任何信息，那么它更能说明这位74岁的名人堂成员在进入他作为马刺队主教练的第29个赛季时的心态。
截至10月初，波波维奇还没有开始暴躁。
但如果本赛季马刺队如愿以偿呢？
他很快就会变得暴躁起来。
从历史上看，马刺队赢球越多，波波维奇就越暴躁。几乎毫无例外，他在输球后的新闻发布会上总是比赢球后说得更多。这可以追溯到蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)时代，那时的失利少之又少，而两位数的连胜只会加剧他的易怒。
要弄清楚这一点，并不需要心理学硕士学位。当波波维奇有课要上，有流程要强调时，他似乎最自在。当每个人都期待总冠军，或者当每场比赛的结果似乎都背负着全世界的重量时，他就不会那么爱开玩笑了。
因此，在过去的两个赛季里，当马刺队都取得了22胜60负的战绩，并且从未染指过季后赛席位时，波波维奇却始终保持着乐观的态度，这并非巧合。偶尔也会有崩溃的时候，因为在经历了所有这些失利之后，任何人有时都会感到沮丧。但在大多数情况下，他没有愁眉苦脸。
他没有咆哮。
他甚至对来自媒体席上的评论没有任何意见。嗯，至少对大部分评论没有意见。
但那是马刺队最后一个没有维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)的赛季，也是他们第一个有文班的赛季。即使他们每晚都拼尽全力，但事实是，那些比赛的比分通常并不比周三对阵奥兰多的季前赛结果更重要。主要目标只是取得进步。
现在，波波维奇会坚持说，这一直是球队的目标，无论是与邓肯、马努·吉诺比利(Manu Ginobili)和托尼·帕克(Tony Parker)一起进入NBA总决赛，还是与凯塔·贝茨-迪奥普(Keita Bates-Diop)和马穆克拉什维利一起进入乐透区。波波维奇会说，他从来没有在训练营里进行过一次训练，想着要赢得总冠军。
但他同时也从未忽视过球队的潜力所带来的所有东西。当人才水平提高时，风险也会随之增加。随之而来的是压力，而且不仅仅是来自外部的压力。
例如，如果马刺队在进入1月份，甚至进入牛仔竞技表演赛期间徘徊在0.500胜率附近，并且附加赛席位开始成为一种真正的可能性呢？还有谁会比波波维奇更想要这个呢？
几年前，有一段时间，他看起来可能再也无法执教一场有意义的NBA比赛了，而他似乎对此感到平静。但文班的到来带来了意想不到的希望，这也意味着潜在的失望也重新回到了人们的视野中。
因此，另一个变化即将到来。在某个时刻，也许很快，马刺队就会在一夜又一夜地打得很好，而成功会让这位经验丰富的主教练再次变得暴躁起来。
然后，当某个来自媒体席的人问起另一个他一直讨厌的问题时，波波维奇会再次怒目而视，咆哮连连。
如果这次他是认真的呢？
我们就会知道马刺队正在取得进步。
2024年10月7日，德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥，在AT&T中心球馆举行的NBA季前赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)与圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)(5号)交谈。马刺队以107-112不敌雷霆队。
周一上午，在维多利亚资本表演中心举行的马刺队媒体日活动上，马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇发表讲话。
2024年10月9日，在弗罗斯特银行中心球馆举行的与奥兰多魔术队的NBA季前赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇与后卫克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)交谈。圣安东尼奥以107-97战胜了奥兰多。
2024年10月9日，在弗罗斯特银行中心球馆举行的与奥兰多魔术队的NBA季前赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇与后卫克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)(3号)和中锋维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)(1号)交谈。圣安东尼奥以107-97战胜了奥兰多。
周一上午，在维多利亚资本表演中心举行的马刺队媒体日活动上，马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇发表讲话。
点击查看原文：Will Gregg Popovich be grumpy again? If the Spurs are lucky
Will Gregg Popovich be grumpy again? If the Spurs are lucky
From the media peanut gallery came the kind of question that Gregg Popovich has been known to loathe.
It involved speculation and lineup construction, and it was tinged with a faint note of second-guessing. There was an excellent chance it would go nowhere.
Still, after another evening in which San Antonio’s favorite bearded benchwarmer made the most of his ball-moving, back-cutting, shot-swishing minutes, the topic merited discussion: What, a columnist asked Wednesday night, does Sandro Mamukelashvili need to do to play more this season?
“What are you?” Popovich snarled. “His agent?”
This, of course, was a joke, which Popovich followed with a quick grin. Then he offered a long, thoughtful explanation of the ways a 25-year-old bruiser from the nation of Georgia has improved heading into his fifth NBA season, and why the Spurs’ staff might be well-served to give him an extended look.
But if this answer revealed anything about the status of Mamukelashvili, it might have said even more about the mindset of a 74-year-old Hall of Famer entering his 29th season as the Spurs’ head coach.
As of early October, Popovich isn’t grumpy yet.
But if this season goes like the Spurs hope it will?
He’ll be grumpy soon enough.
Historically, the more the Spurs have won, the more curmudgeonly Popovich has become. Almost without fail, he has more to say in press conferences after losses than he does after victories. This dates back to the Tim Duncan days, when those losses were few and far between, and when double-digit winning streaks would ratchet up the irritability.
A master’s degree in psychology is not required to figure this out. Popovich seems most at ease when he has a lesson to teach and a process to emphasize. The jokes don’t flow as freely when everyone expects championships, or when the outcome of every game seems to have the weight of the world attached to it.
It was no coincidence, then, that the last two seasons – when the Spurs went 22-60 both years and never sniffed playoff contention – featured Popovich at his consistently upbeat best. There were occasional cracks, because with all of that losing, sometimes the frustration can get to anybody. But for the most part, he didn’t scowl.
He didn’t snarl.
He didn’t even have a problem with the comments from the media peanut gallery. Well, not with most of them, anyway.
But that was during the Spurs’ last season without Victor Wembanyama, and ruing their first season with him. Even if they were trying to win every night, the truth was, the score of those games usually didn’t matter much more than the result of Wednesday’s preseason affair against Orlando. The main objective was just to make progress.
Now, Popovich will insist that’s always been the goal, whether it was on the way to the NBA Finals with Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, or on the way to the draft lottery with Keita Bates-Diop and Mamukelashvili. Popovich will say he’s never conducted a practice at training camp thinking about winning a title.
But he’s also never been oblivious to everything that comes with a team’s potential. When the talent level rises, so do the stakes. Then comes the pressure, and not just the external variety.
If, for instance, the Spurs are hovering around the .500 mark heading into January, or even into the rodeo road trip, and a play-in berth starts to feel like a real possibility? Who is going to want that more than Popovich will?
There was a point a couple of years ago when it looked like he might never coach a meaningful NBA game again, and he seemed to be at peace with it. But landing Wembanyama led to unexpected hope, and that meant potential disappointment reentered the picture, too.
So another change is coming. At some point, and perhaps soon, the Spurs will start playing well, one night after the next, and the success will make a veteran coach irritable again.
Then, when someone from the media peanut gallery asks another of the questions he’s been known to loathe, Popovich will scowl and snarl again.
And if he means it this time?
We’ll know the Spurs are getting somewhere.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talks to San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half of the pre-season NBA match-up at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs fell to the Thunder, 112-107.
Spurs head coach Greggg Popovich speaks during Spurs Media Day activities Monday morning at the Victory Capital Performance Center.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich talks to guard Chris Paul during the first half of their NBA preseason game with Orlando at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Oct 9, 2024. San Antonio beat Orlando 107-97.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich talks to guard Chris Paul (3) and center Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of their NBA preseason game with Orlando at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Oct 9, 2024. San Antonio beat Orlando 107-97.
Spurs head coach Greggg Popovich speaks during Spurs Media Day activities Monday morning at the Victory Capital Performance Center.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News
