By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-05 13:32:42
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。
2024年10月31日，犹他州盐湖城：在三角洲中心举行的与犹他爵士队的比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)向他的球队大声喊叫。
洛杉矶——通常情况下，他们会听到他的声音。在门口冲他们吼叫，让他们快点。提醒他们他没时间耗一整晚。警告他们如果迟到会发生什么。
但这一次，马刺队更衣室里的球员们不需要任何口头上的催促。大巴已经在等着了。出发时间——“10:45”——像往常一样用大号字体写在白板上。而且，一条信息已经清晰而响亮地传达了。
“他首先确保的事情之一，”一位马刺队的工作人员谈到格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)时说，“就是我们仍然会去吃晚餐。”
距离这位将聚餐视为“锤炼球队”不可或缺一部分的人1400英里之外，马刺队在周一深夜没有他们的名人堂主教练陪伴下共进晚餐。在输给快船队的比赛中，他们在加密货币网球中心球馆(Intuit Dome)挥霍了26分的领先优势后，登上大巴，前往波波维奇认可的餐厅，做着马刺队一直在做的事情。
他们点了好吃的食物。他们分享着新老故事。即使缺少了一位关键人物，他们也让彼此之间的联系更加深厚。
这就是37岁的助理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)在周一谈到“常规安排”时所表达的部分含义，他目前无限期地代替波波维奇担任主教练。
自从周六波波维奇出现健康问题后，没有人确切知道他会离开球队多久。约翰逊通过电话与他进行了交谈，但球员们还没有。每个人对他的回归都表示乐观，即使没有人愿意或能够猜测具体时间。
那么在此期间呢？马刺队试图继续下去，就好像他们仍然能听到这位75岁的老帅在门口的咆哮。周一晚上，这意味着马拉基·布拉纳姆(Malaki Branham)知道他最好快点穿好衣服，因为他知道接下来的晚上有多重要。
“那些波波维奇的晚餐对我们，对球队来说，意义非凡，”马刺队三年级后卫布拉纳姆说道。
当然，没有这位老家伙，一切都不一样了。尽管约翰逊和其他马刺队成员尽力而为，但赛前惯例和比赛中的暂停环节也略有不同。他们可以接近正常。但不完全正常。
正如布拉纳姆指出的那样，约翰逊保持着相同的规则，叫着相同的战术，“说着和波波维奇一样的话。”
但是脏话少了吗？
“嗯……”布拉纳姆笑着说，“是的。”
由于波波维奇的情况存在很多未知数，而且围绕在他身边的圈子即使按照马刺队的标准也显得格外严密，因此对未来几周和几个月的情况妄下结论是危险的。但值得注意的是，球队选择约翰逊来模仿波波维奇的声音，这可能说明了一些问题。
两年前，当波波维奇因赛前健康问题缺席对阵湖人的比赛时，资深助理教练布雷特·布朗(Brett Brown)接管了当晚的比赛。这是一个自然的选择，因为布朗曾在费城担任过全职主教练，比波波维奇的任何一位教练组成员都更有经验。
但这一次，马刺队选择了一位更年轻的教练，他走的是许多在圣安东尼奥起步并取得成就的教练所走过的自下而上的道路，从迈克·布登霍尔泽(Mike Budenholzer)到詹姆斯·博雷戈(James Borrego)再到威尔·哈迪(Will Hardy)。约翰逊可能永远不会像这些人一样获得执教NBA球队的永久职位。但如果波波维奇的缺席时间超过一周左右，那么让一位有前途的年轻教练得到更多的锻炼是合情合理的。
话虽如此，周一在马刺队的更衣室里，没有人认为应该对波波维奇缺席的时间长短做出任何假设。文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)谈到这位法国中锋时，就像波波维奇经常说的那样，开玩笑说“他会想比他应该回来的时间更早回来，但这就是波波维奇”。克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)注意到感觉波波维奇仍然在身边，“因为我们知道如果我们不防守，我们会听到他的批评。”
“即使他现在不在我们身边，”文班亚马说，“我们仍然觉得有必要证明他试图教给我们的东西是正确的。”
换句话说，他们没有计划改变常规安排。周一晚上，当更衣室里的时钟接近晚上10:45——白板上“晚餐”字样下方潦草地写着的出发时间——时，每位球员都确保自己没有迟到。
波波维奇没有在门外冲他们咆哮。
但他们仍然能听到他的声音。
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 04: Interim coach Mitch Johnson reacts on the sidelines during the first half against the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome on November 04, 2024 in Inglewood, California.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul has a word with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich reacts after a call by the official, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - OCTOBER 30: Head Coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs talks with his team during a timeout during the second half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on October 30, 2024 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder defeated the Spurs 105-93.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, right, speaks with Spurs guard Chris Paul, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich yells at his team during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Rockets, 109-106, in their first home game of the season.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talked with San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Rockets, 109-106, in their first home game of the season.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich talks with guard Chris Paul (3) during a time out in the second half of their NBA home opener with the Houston Rockets at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. The Spurs beat the Rockets 109-106.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talks to San Antonio Spurs guard Blake Wesley (14) during the first half against the Houston Rockets at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
点击查看原文：Amid Gregg Popovich's absence, his voice still carries
Amid Gregg Popovich’s absence, his voice still carries
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - OCTOBER 31: Head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs yells to his team during the second half of a game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on October 31, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
LOS ANGELES – Normally, they would have heard him. Barking at them from the doorway to get a move on. Reminding them he didn’t have all night. Warning them what would happen if they were late.
But this time, the players in the Spurs’ locker room didn’t need any vocal urging. The bus was waiting. The departure time – “10:45” – was written in large print on the white board, just like always. And a message had been conveyed, loud and clear.
“One of the first things he made sure of,” a Spurs staffer said of Gregg Popovich, “was that we’d still go to dinner.”
Fourteen hundred miles from the man who made breaking bread an integral part of pounding the rock, the Spurs dined without their Hall of Fame head coach late Monday night. After letting a 26-point lead slip away in a loss to the Clippers at the Intuit Dome, they piled into the bus, headed to a Popovich-approved restaurant, and did what the Spurs always have done.
They ordered good food. They shared stories, old and new. And they allowed connections to deepen, even with a key piece missing.
This is part of what Mitch Johnson, the 37-year-old assistant who’s filling in indefinitely for Popovich as head coach, meant Monday when he talked about “regularly scheduled programming.”
Nobody knows for sure how long Popovich will be away from the team after experiencing a health issue Saturday. Johnson visited with him via telephone, but the players hadn’t. Everyone sounded optimistic about a return, even if no one was willing or able to guess when that might be.
So in the meantime? The Spurs tried to carry on as if they could still hear the 75-year-old barking from the doorway. And Monday night, that meant that Malaki Branham knew he’d better get dressed in a hurry, because he knew how important the rest of the evening was.
“Those Pop dinners are everything to us, to the team,” Branham, the third-year Spurs guard, said.
Of course it wasn’t going to be the same without the old guy. As hard as Johnson and the rest of the Spurs tried, the pregame routine and the in-game huddles weren’t quite the same either. They could be close to normal. But not normal.
As Branham pointed out, Johnson kept the same rules, called the same plays, and “said the same things as Pop does.”
But with less profanity?
“Mannnn,” Branham said, breaking into a laugh. “Yes.”
Because there’s so much unknown about Popovich’s situation, and because the circle around him is keeping things tight even by the Spurs’ standards, it’s perilous to jump to many conclusions about how the next few weeks and months might go. But it might be telling that the organization chose Johnson to be the one to try to emulate Popovich’s voice.
Two years ago, when a pregame health issue caused Popovich to miss a game against the Lakers, veteran assistant Brett Brown took over for the night. It was a natural choice, because Brown had been a full-time head coach in Philadelphia, and had more experience than anyone on Popovich’s staff.
But this time, the Spurs are going with a younger guy who’s followed the bottom-up path taken by many accomplished coaches who got their starts in San Antonio, from Mike Budenholzer to James Borrego to Will Hardy. Johnson might never get a permanent gig leading an NBA team, as those guys did. But if Popovich’s absence lasts longer than a week or so, it makes sense to give an extended look to a young coach with a future.
That being said, there was no sense in the Spurs’ locker room Monday that anything should be assumed about how long Popovich will be away. Victor Wembanyama, sounding like Popovich often does when discussing his French center, joked that “he’s going to want to come back earlier than he should, but that’s Pop.” Chris Paul noted how it felt like Popovich was still around, “because we know if we don’t defend, we’re going to hear about it.”
“Even if he’s not with us right now,” Wembanyama said, “we still feel the need to justify what he’s trying to teach us.”
In other words, there were no plans to change the regularly scheduled programming. And as 10:45 pm – the bus departure time scrawled on the white board under the word “DINNER” – approached in the locker room Monday night, every player made sure not to be late.
Popovich was not barking at them outside the door.
They could hear him anyway.
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 04: Interim coach Mitch Johnson reacts on the sidelines during the first half against the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome on November 04, 2024 in Inglewood, California.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul has a word with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich reacts after a call by the official, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - OCTOBER 30: Head Coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs talks with his team during a timeout during the second half of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on October 30, 2024 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder defeated the Spurs 105-93.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, right, speaks with Spurs guard Chris Paul, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich yells at his team during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Rockets, 109-106, in their first home game of the season.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talked with San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Rockets, 109-106, in their first home game of the season.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich talks with guard Chris Paul (3) during a time out in the second half of their NBA home opener with the Houston Rockets at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. The Spurs beat the Rockets 109-106.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich talks to San Antonio Spurs guard Blake Wesley (14) during the first half against the Houston Rockets at Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News