By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-06-07 16:53:21
2026年6月7日，星期日，在纽约麦迪逊广场花园进行训练期间，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊（右）站在NBA总决赛场地标识上与教练组的一位成员交流，准备迎接与纽约尼克斯队的总决赛第三场较量。
纽约——在过去18个月里，在这个国家的街头和公共步道上，你或许曾瞥见过他们的身影：一位前大学控卫，身边伴着他那高得多的知己——一个icon级巨人，曾在奥运会上与蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 和德怀特·霍华德 (Dwight Howard) 激烈肉搏。
对于大多数在加利福尼亚州圣莫尼卡码头、明尼苏达州洛林公园或佛罗里达州南海滩漫步的人来说，这两个人平平无奇。而这或许正是马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 喜欢与助理教练马特·尼尔森 (Matt Nielsen) 在休息日的下午结伴散步的原因。
在温暖的阳光和不为人知的惬意中，两位老友可以畅谈篮球，或者闲话家常，而无需向任何人提供即时答案。在那些街头和公共步道上，事情似乎也没那么紧迫。
但是，在曼哈顿的街道上，在任何靠近麦迪逊广场花园的地方，在一周内尼克斯队即将捧起NBA总冠军奖杯、而约翰逊麾下的马刺队距离被淘汰仅剩两场败仗的关头？
想要暂时逃离这一切，可就没那么容易了。
“我还一直没能抽空出去散个步，”约翰逊在周日说道。
寻找答案显然比享受氛围更重要。但如果马刺队想要从总决赛0-2落后的泥潭中挣脱出来，如果他们想要破坏纽约人的庆祝派对——甚至比第三场比赛中预计到场的最瞩目贵宾的安保团队还要彻底——他们就需要像约翰逊和尼尔森平时结束城市漫步归来时那样。
带着清醒的头脑。
带着清晰的目光。
以及清晰的计划。
“要想真正稳住系列赛的阵脚，必须让球员们心中有数（保持明确性），”约翰逊说，“我认为这个词非常重要。”
建立这种明确性——无论是关于目标、角色还是任务——是他接替格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 执教首个完整赛季的首要任务。马刺队上下的每个人都表示，这是他们迅速崛起的一大关键。
从维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)，到老将哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 和卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)，再到新秀迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 和卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant)，乃至板凳末端的俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo) 和凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk)，大名单上的每个人都非常清楚这位39岁的主教练对他们的期望。
在常规赛中，没有任何含糊其辞。在季后赛对阵明尼苏达和俄克拉荷马城落后时，也没有任何犹豫不决。如今随着球队准备迎接第三场比赛，同样没有任何含混不清。
如果存在含糊，那就会成为问题。
“当队员们开始产生怀疑时，”巴恩斯说，“进攻就会变得停滞。”
马刺队的凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson)：“没人喜欢输球。但想想看，我们来到这里，观看录像，为明天做好准备。我们的能量依然高涨，依然没有改变。大家还是会欢声笑语，开开玩笑，但我们很清楚自己给自己挖了个小坑，我们也知道这一点……” pic.twitter.com/ByoKiXhVIc
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) June 7, 2026
这并不意味着不需要做出调整。显然，马刺队需要在攻防两端找到限制卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 的办法，他们也需要深入剖析在圣安东尼奥那两场本可以赢下的比赛中，最后两分钟里所犯的错误。
寻找解决方案，就像他们整个赛季所做的那样，是一项通力合作的工作。这绝非来自约翰逊下达的一道命令，也不是来自波波维奇在更衣室里的一次简单训话，更不是来自防守大师肖恩·斯威尼 (Sean Sweeney) 的某一个神来之笔。
这源于日常的努力。源于每一个人。
“大家聚在一起钻研录像，”约翰逊说，“互相争论，自我检讨。给彼此反馈，想办法在下一场比赛中帮助队员们。”
当一个人认为一切都得围着自己转时，问题就来了。这会搅黄街区派对，也会偷走所有的快乐。整个体系也会因此分崩离析，因为每个人都害怕去指出那个掌权者的错误。
约翰逊从不这样行事。他主动从各种渠道寻求真实、坦诚的反馈，不仅来自波波维奇，还来自这支聪明且富有才华的教练组的每一位成员。前文提到的前奥运国手尼尔森，是他经常征询意见的对象。而已经同意在下赛季出任奥兰多魔术队主教练的助理教练斯威尼，则是另一位。
科利斯·威廉姆森 (Corliss Williamson)、迈克·诺伊斯 (Mike Noyes)、斯科特·金 (Scott King)、拉沙德·刘易斯 (Rashard Lewis) 以及一整间屋子的录像协调员们，都在积极地献计献策。这才是教练组应有的工作方式。
在第二场比赛尾声阶段，当文班亚马在双方战平且时间仅剩10秒时抢下防守篮板后，马刺队是否应该叫个暂停？也许应该，但这是一个值得整个教练组重新评估的问题。一方面，布置一个战术并压时间打最后一攻，可以确保最坏的结果也不过是进入加时赛。
但另一方面呢？所有的数据都表明，马刺队在转换进攻中迅速推进——这正是他们最擅长的打法——比让尼克斯队落位防守，更有可能投中绝杀球。
如果这种情况在第三场比赛中再次出现，马刺队可能会采取不同的策略。但这必须是在他们讨论过之后——也许是在切尔西区或中央公园散步时讨论出来的——并得出了最终答案。
而当局势再次变得紧迫时？
约翰逊也许不会有完美的计划。
但他一定会有一个清晰的计划。
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Why Mitch Johnson’s quest for clarity serves Spurs well in Finals hole
Why Mitch Johnson’s quest for clarity serves Spurs well in Finals hole
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson, right, talks to a member of his coaching staff as they stand on the NBA Finals court logo during practice at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, June 7, 2026, ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.
NEW YORK — On sidewalks and public pathways across this country over the past 18 months, you might have caught sight of them: a former college point guard with his much taller confidante, a giant of a man who once banged bodies with Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard in the Olympics.
To most folks strolling down Santa Monica Pier in California, or around Loring Park in Minnesota, or through South Beach in Florida, the two men are unrecognizable. And perhaps that’s what Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson enjoys about those off-day afternoon constitutionals with assistant Matt Nielsen.
Out there in the sunshine and the anonymity, a couple of friends can discuss basketball or talk about life without anyone demanding immediate answers. On those sidewalks and public pathways, maybe things don’t seem so urgent.
But on the streets of Manhattan anywhere close to Madison Square Garden, during a week when the Knicks are closing in on an NBA championship and Johnson’s Spurs are two losses away from elimination?
It can be tougher to get away from it all.
“I have not got out and gone for a walk yet,” Johnson said Sunday.
The answers, it seems, are taking precedence over the ambience. But if the Spurs are going to climb out of a 0-2 hole in the NBA Finals, and if they want to spoil New York’s celebration even more than the security detail of Game 3’s highest-profile anticipated guest, they will need to do it the same way Johnson and Nielsen typically return from their customary city hikes.
With clear heads.
With clear eyes.
And with a clear plan.
“To really settle into a series, there needs to be clarity for the players,” Johnson said. “I think that word is really important.”
Establishing that clarity — of purpose, of roles, of objectives — was his top priority heading into his first full season as Gregg Popovich’s replacement, and it’s something that everyone around the Spurs says has been a key to their quick ascent.
From Victor Wembanyama, to veterans Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet, to rookies Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant, to end-of-the-bench guys Bismack Biyombo and Kelly Olynyk, everybody on the roster knows exactly what the 39-year-old head coach expects of them.
There was no ambiguity in the regular season. There was no ambiguity when the Spurs fell behind by a game in playoff series against Minnesota and Oklahoma City. And as the team heads into Game 3, there’s no ambiguity now, either.
If there were, that would be a problem.
“When guys are second-guessing,” Barnes said, “that’s when things get stagnant.”
Spurs Keldon Johnson: “No one likes to lose. But you think about it, we come in and watch film, and we’re ready for tomorrow. Energy is still high, energy is still the same. Still laughing and joking, but we understand we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole, and we know that… pic.twitter.com/ByoKiXhVIc
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) June 7, 2026
This doesn’t mean there aren’t adjustments to be made. Clearly, the Spurs need to find answers for Karl-Anthony Towns at both ends of the floor, and they need to dig into the mistakes that were made in the final two minutes of both winnable games in San Antonio.
Finding solutions, as it’s been all season, is a collaborative effort. It does not come from Johnson issuing an edict. It does not come from a single locker-room visit from Popovich. It does not come from one master stroke by defensive guru Sean Sweeney.
It comes from the work. From everybody.
“You dig into the film,” Johnson said. “You argue, beat yourself up. You give each other feedback, figure out how to help the guys for the next game.”
When one person thinks it’s all about him, it can be a problematic thing. That’s how block parties get canceled. That’s how joy gets stolen. And that’s how a whole system can fall apart, because everybody’s afraid to tell the guy in charge he’s wrong.
Johnson hasn’t operated that way. He’s sought out real, honest feedback from a variety of sources, not only from Popovich but from each member of a smart, talented staff. Nielsen, the aforementioned former Olympian, is a constant sounding board. Sweeney, the assistant who’s already agreed to become the next head coach in Orlando, is another.
Corliss Williamson, Mike Noyes, Scott King, Rashard Lewis and a room full of video coordinators all pitch in ideas. That’s how this should work.
Should the Spurs have called timeout late in Game 2, after Victor Wembanyama grabbed a defensive rebound with the score tied and 10 seconds left? Maybe, but that’s an issue worth reevaluating as a staff. On one hand, drawing up a play and holding for the last shot would have guaranteed a worst-case scenario of going to overtime.
But on the other? All of the numbers say the Spurs were far more likely to score the game-winner by pushing up the floor in transition, when they’re at their best, than by letting the Knicks set up a defense.
If that situation arises in Game 3, the Spurs might take a different approach. But that will be only after they’ve discussed it — maybe even on a walk through Chelsea or Central Park — and come up with an answer.
And when things get urgent again?
Johnson might not have the perfect plan.
But he’ll have a clear one.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News