By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-30 13:24:03
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。
犹他州盐湖城 - 11月26日：2024年11月26日，在犹他州盐湖城的三角洲中心球馆，圣安东尼奥马刺队临时主教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)在与犹他爵士队的酋长杯比赛下半场对裁判大喊大叫。
接下来是什么？
米奇·约翰逊的教练生涯正是从回答这个问题开始的，而自那之后，他也从未停止过对这个问题的思考。
他正在学习如何接受它。
四周前的一个周六下午，约翰逊来到了弗罗斯特银行中心，当时他还有充裕的时间。助理教练可以深入研究一些事情，他们可以专注于一个问题，并花时间去解决它。
但到了那天傍晚，约翰逊已经无法再这样做了。他需要负责一切。他敬仰的导师格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)正在接受治疗，马刺队后来称之为轻度中风。
与此同时，首席执行官R.C. 布福德(R.C. Buford)和总经理布莱恩·莱特(Brian Wright)决定由约翰逊接替这位联盟历史上胜场最多的教练，并且期限不定。约翰逊，这位38岁的前斯坦福控球后卫，之前的执教经验主要只有一次NBA夏季联赛。
如果约翰逊想知道波波维奇的情况——他的感觉如何，预后如何，何时可能回归——这很自然。
但那天晚上有一场比赛。
约翰逊需要向他的球队发表讲话。
然后他必须准备好一个计划，喊出第一个战术，并回答所有主教练都会问的问题：
接下来是什么？
“你没有选择，只能继续前进，”约翰逊说，“无论是下一个战术，下一个动作，还是下一场比赛。”
2016年，当马刺队聘请约翰逊去奥斯汀与他们新选中的首轮秀，一位名叫德章泰·穆雷(Dejounte Murray)的西雅图同乡一起工作时，他的能力很快就显露出来。在当时还是波波维奇助教、现任犹他爵士队主教练威尔·哈迪(Will Hardy)看来，约翰逊就是一个“彻头彻尾的控球后卫”。
是的，约翰逊的主要任务应该是指导穆雷。但一个控球后卫不能把自己局限于一个位置的专业知识。正如哈迪指出的那样，约翰逊总是知道所有五名球员在每个战术中应该处的位置。
随着时间的推移，队里的每个人都认识到约翰逊似乎总是对一切做好准备。他在2019年晋升到波波维奇的教练组，并在2021年和2023年波波维奇缺席比赛时担任过主教练。
但在那两次，他知道“接下来是什么？”这个问题只是暂时的。2个半小时后，波波维奇就会回来回答这个问题。
而现在呢？随着波波维奇的缺席期限仍然不定，而且约翰逊很有可能至少在未来几个月内继续执教，他已经接受了对这支球队的掌控感。
当20岁的维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)想知道接下来是什么的时候，他会看着约翰逊。
当39岁的克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)想知道接下来是什么的时候，他也会这样做。
这位主教练，无论是否只是临时主教练，都明白这其中蕴含的责任。
约翰逊说：“很多时候，你就是你想让球队看起来、感觉起来和成为的样子的一种声音或代表。”
在他担任代理主教练四周后？约翰逊的球队越来越像他，感觉也越来越像他， 就是 他。
这支球队在本赛季原本不应该有什么竞争力。拉斯维加斯预测他们的战绩大约在34胜48负，在西部联盟排名倒数第三。虽然马刺队可能会迎来一段低谷，但他们在周日前往萨克拉门托的比赛之前，仍然胜多负少。
他们已经打破了某些固有印象。在波波维奇中风后的第二场比赛，马刺队来到了快船队的新球馆Intuit Dome。那天晚上，马刺队一度领先26分，但在最后时刻崩盘，以104-113输掉了比赛。赛后，一位洛杉矶媒体不停地向随队报道的圣安东尼奥记者询问球队的教练计划。
马刺队不可能让这个人执教一整个赛季，对吧？
好吧，问问周围的人。在管理层和更衣室里，普遍的看法是马刺队对约翰逊的表现非常满意，结果也证明了这一点。这不仅仅是过去11场比赛7胜4负的战绩。
看看他们是如何统治第三节的，要知道一年前这还是他们的最大弱点之一。看看他们在第四节最后几分钟是如何有目标地比赛的，要知道一年前他们经常在最后时刻崩盘。诚然，像保罗和哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)这样的老将的加入对此有所帮助。但这也反映了教练在坚持既定方针的同时进行调整的能力。
“你必须能够保持专注，”约翰逊说，“而且要一直保持专注。”
这意味着他已经不再拥有四周前作为助理教练走进弗罗斯特银行中心时的悠闲了。他不能只专注于一个问题。
每一个战术，每一个动作，每一场比赛，马刺队都想知道接下来会发生什么。
约翰逊会给他们答案。
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson gestures to point guard Chris Paul during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Dallas. Dallas won 110-93. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson reacts to a call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson talk to his team during the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson talks with San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) as they go into a timeout during the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson talks to guard Stephon Castle (5) and center Victor Wembanyama (1) during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Wizards, 139-130.
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson talks with NBA referee Ben Taylor during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Wizards, 139-130.
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson yells to his players during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson talks to referee Tre Maddox during the first half of the San Antonio Spurs NBA game with the Golden State Warriors at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 in San Antonio. The Spurs beat the Warriors 104-94.
点击查看原文：As Spurs' Mitch Johnson keeps moving on, surging team follows
As Spurs’ Mitch Johnson keeps moving on, surging team follows
SALT LAKE CITY , UT - NOVEMBER 26: Mitch Johnson interim head coach of the San Antonio Spurs shouts at an official during the second half of their Emirates NBA Cup game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on November 26, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
What’s next?
Answering that question is how Mitch Johnson’s head coaching career started. He hasn’t stopped answering it since.
He’s learning to embrace it.
Johnson arrived at Frost Bank Center on a Saturday afternoon four weeks ago with the luxury of time. Assistants can dwell on stuff. They can focus on one problem, and take a while to do it.
But by early that evening, Johnson couldn’t do that anymore. He was in charge of everything. Gregg Popovich, his admired mentor, was being treated for what the Spurs would later term a mild stroke.
Meanwhile, CEO R.C. Buford and general manager Brian Wright had decided Johnson — a 38-year-old former Stanford point guard whose previous head coaching experience consisted mainly of one NBA Summer League — would take over for the winningest coach in league history, indefinitely.
If Johnson wanted to know what was happening with Popovich — how he was feeling, what the prognosis was, when he might return — that would have been natural.
But there was a game that night.
Johnson needed to address his team.
Then he had to get a plan ready, and to call the first play, and to answer the question head coaches always do:
What’s next?
“You don’t have a choice but to continue to move on,” Johnson said, “whether that’s the next play, the next action, the next game.”
When the Spurs hired Johnson in 2016 to work in Austin with their new first-round draft pick, a fellow Seattle native named Dejounte Murray, it quickly became clear he knew his stuff. To Will Hardy, the current Utah Jazz coach who then was a Popovich assistant, Johnson came off as “a point guard, through and through.”
Yes, Johnson’s main focus was supposed to be schooling Murray. But a point guard can’t limit himself to expertise of one position. As Hardy noted, Johnson always knew where all five guys were supposed to be, on every play.
Over time, everyone in the building recognized the way Johnson always seemed to be prepared for everything. He worked his way up to Popovich’s staff in 2019, and filled in as head coach when Popovich had to miss a night each in 2021 and 2023.
But on those two occasions, he knew the “what’s next?” questions were temporary. After 2½ hours, Popovich would be back to answer them.
Now, though? With Popovich’s absence continuing to be termed indefinite, and with a strong possibility that Johnson will remain in charge for at least a few months, he has accepted a sense of ownership in the team he’s leading.
When 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama wants to know what’s next, he looks at Johnson.
When 39-year-old Chris Paul wants to know what’s next, he does the same.
The head coach, interim or not, recognizes that comes with responsibility.
Said Johnson: “You are, a lot of times, the voice or the representation of what you want the team to look like, and to feel like, and to be like.”
And four weeks into his stint as acting head coach? More and more, Johnson’s team looks like him, and feels like him, and is like him.
It wasn’t supposed to compete for much this season. Las Vegas set its projected record at around 34-48, third-worst in the Western Conference. Although a slump might be coming, the Spurs head into Sunday’s game at Sacramento still having won more than they’ve lost.
They’ve already defied certain perceptions. Johnson’s second game after Popovich’s stroke came at the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome. The Spurs led by 26 points that night, only to fold down the stretch and lose 113-104. Afterwards, a Los Angeles-based media member peppered traveling San Antonio reporters with questions about the team’s coaching plans.
The Spurs couldn’t possibly stick with this guy for a whole season, could they?
Well, ask around. In the front office and in the locker room, the universal sentiment is that the Spurs are thrilled with how Johnson has carried himself, and the results show it. It’s not just the 7-4 record over the last 11 games.
Watch how they’ve dominated third quarters, a year after that was one of their biggest weaknesses. Watch how they play with purpose in the closing minutes of the fourth, a year after routine collapses. Granted, adding veterans like Paul and Harrison Barnes helped with that. But it also reflects on a coach’s ability to make adjustments while staying on message.
“You have to be able to be on,” Johnson said, “and on all the time.”
That means he no longer has the luxury he did when he walked into Frost Bank Center as an assistant four weeks ago. He can’t dwell on only one problem.
With every play, with every action, with every game, the Spurs want to know what’s next.
Johnson will have an answer for them.
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson gestures to point guard Chris Paul during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Dallas. Dallas won 110-93. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson reacts to a call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson talk to his team during the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson talks with San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) as they go into a timeout during the second half against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson talks to guard Stephon Castle (5) and center Victor Wembanyama (1) during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Wizards, 139-130.
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson talks with NBA referee Ben Taylor during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Wizards, 139-130.
San Antonio Spurs interim head coach Mitch Johnson yells to his players during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
San Antonio Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson talks to referee Tre Maddox during the first half of the San Antonio Spurs NBA game with the Golden State Warriors at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 in San Antonio. The Spurs beat the Warriors 104-94.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News