The Chosen

 

作者 skymay (隨遇而安) 看板 NBA
標題 [外絮] 波波維奇：場上暴君，場下朋友，人生贏家
時間 Wed Jun 12 23:19:54 2013

Gregg Popovich：The Bully, The Buddy, The Winner

Surly, seemingly impossible to please, the Spurs coach is still somehow,
deservingly, beloved

-- 顯而易見，不管看起來多麼難以取悅，馬刺隊主教練仍然，也應當受到人們的喜愛。

BY JOE POSNANSKI

NBCSports.comupdated 12:41 a.m. ET April 19, 2013


 

Rule No. 1 on how to ask Gregg Popovich a question: Do not ask if he’s
happy. He’s not happy. There are no exceptions to this. Well, it’s possible
that he might be happy when he’s with his wife or friends in the best
restaurant in any given city (and it’s ALWAYS the best restaurant), drinking
the right wine, talking about the world. But he’s not going to talk to you
about that. As a basketball coach, he’s not happy. Ever.

<如何向波波維奇提問>

第一條準則：不要詢問他是否高興。他肯定不高興，沒有例外。當然，當他和妻子或者朋友
一起坐在某城市最好的餐館裡，品嚐著合適的美酒談天說地的時候，他可能是高興的。但是，
他不會和你談這些。作為一個籃球教練，他永遠不高興，永遠。

Example 1 (David Aldridge on the sidelines): “Are you happy with …”

例1 (David Aldridge在場邊採訪)：「你感到高興嗎，關於....」

Pop: “Happy? Happy? Happy’s not a word we think about in the game.”

波波：「高興？高興？比賽時沒人會去想這個詞。」

Example 2 (reporter before game in Los Angeles): “Are you happy that the
playoffs are about to begin?”

例2 (在洛杉磯的賽前採訪)：「季後賽就要來了，你高興嗎？」

Pop: “Happy is not a concept coaches are comfortable with.”

波波：「所有教練都不喜歡『高興』這個詞。」

* * *

You might expect Gregg Popovich would let a question go every now and again.
Hey, it’s a long season. You might expect that on the long, long road, after
a good win, after a tasty meal, after seeing an old friend, Pop might relent
and give a generous answer to a dumb question, an obvious question, a poorly
worded question, an empty question. Pop knows the game. The questions, most
of them, are just prompts for a barren sound bite that will work on the late
local news or fit into a tidy space underneath the “Tim Duncan scored 22
points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Spurs won again” line in the game
story.

或許你認為波波維奇會允許一個問題反反覆覆地被人提起，畢竟賽季是很漫長的。或許你會期待，
在漫漫客場之旅中，在一場勝利以後，在一頓佳餚以後，在拜訪一位老友以後，波波維奇會大發
慈悲，回答那些愚蠢的問題，那些顯而易見的問題，那些很難回答的問題，或者那些根本沒有答
案的問題。波波了解這個遊戲，大部分提問的目的，都是發表在當地新聞報紙上，或者用來填充
「鄧肯怒砍22分12籃板，馬刺再次取得勝利」這種標題下面小小的一片空白。

But he cannot relent. Ever. He cannot let the questions go because at his
core, Gregg Popovich -- wine connoisseur, reader of people, former Air Force
captain and Division III coach, disciple of Larry Brown and Dean Smith,
winner of 905 games and four NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs --
has a deep and unrelenting sensitivity to stupidity. He cannot turn off that
sensitivity. He will not turn it off, not now, not next week, not in Portland
on a Tuesday or Utah two days later or back at home the next week. Bad
question equals bad answer. Every time.

然而波波不會大發慈悲，永不。他不容忍這類問題的原因是，在他內心深處，波波維奇——這位
品酒家、閱人者、前空軍球隊教練、Larry Brown 和 Dean Smith 的愛徒，在聖安東尼奧馬
刺隊獲得了905場勝利和四次冠軍的贏家——深深地厭惡著愚蠢。他無法抑制這種對蠢事的敏感，
他也不會去抑制它。今天不會，下週也不會，週二在波特蘭也不會，兩天之後在猶他也不會，下
週回家以後也不會。糟糕的問題只會得到糟糕的回答，永遠都是這樣。

And so, when someone like TNT’s Craig Sager -- wearing some ridiculous suit
-- wanders over between quarters to ask Pop how hesitant he is to pull Tim
Duncan out of the game, well, he can’t help himself. Yes, of course, Pop
COULD say: “We all know how great Timmy is but we have to get him his rest.
We’re not all as young as we used to be Craig!” That’s all Sager wants.
That’s all anyone wants from these sideline soirees. But, dammit, that
question just gnaws at Pops intestines.

所以，當 TNT 的 Craig Sager——那位永遠穿著詭異顏色西裝的記者——在兩節之間詢問波波
維奇他是如何難以決定是否將鄧肯換下場時，沒人幫得了 Sager 了。 是的，波波維奇可以這樣
說：「我們都知道鄧肯打的多麼好，但是他需要休息。我們都不像從前那樣年輕了，我的
Craig！」這是 Sager 希望得到的答案，這也是大家希望從場邊採訪聽到的對話。然而，這個
提問剛剛好觸動了波波維奇那根敏感的神經。

“I can’t play him 48,” he barks, and he stops cold, wielding silence,
because that’s his greatest weapon against the brainlessness. Silence.
Television can’t deal with silence. Reporters can’t do anything with
silence. Pop, meanwhile, thrives in silence and always has. Once, when he was
young, he longed to work top-secret intelligence in Moscow. He had the
constitution for it. Instead, he became a basketball coach.

「我不能讓他上場48分鐘。」波波維奇大聲說，然後突然閉上了嘴巴，沉默。沉默是他對付那些
無腦問題的最大法寶。電視轉播無法應對沉默，場邊記者無法在沉默的基礎上有任何發揮。波波
維奇很享受這樣的沉默。曾經，波波維奇年少時，他憧憬著成為一名外派莫斯科的頂級情報人員。
他有著情報人員的特質和能力，卻成為了一名籃球教練。

* * *

 

Rule No. 2 on how to ask Gregg Popovich a question: Never ask him something
obvious. He really hates that.

<如何向波波維奇提問>

第二條準則：永遠不要問他那些顯而易見的問題，他討厭這些。

Example (before a game in Golden State): Pop talked a bit about how poorly
his team was playing -- he thought this was the worst his Spurs had ever
played going into the playoffs. A reporter asked: “Are you concerned about
that?”

例子 (在與金州勇士隊比賽賽前)： 波波談到了最近球隊的狀態一直不好——他認為這是他執教
以來進入季後賽前最爛的球隊。有個記者問到：「你對此感到擔心嗎？」

Pop (glaring): “No. The [stinkier] the better. Come on, man.”

波波維奇（怒視）：「不，球隊越爛越好。你滿意了吧。」

* * *

He really was content in the 1980s as basketball coach of Division III
Pomona-Pitzer, which is actually two colleges (Pomona and Pitzer) come
together to form one team. Yes, people will say that kind of nostalgic thing
all the time -- “Oh, I was so carefree when I had my first job and couldn’t
afford to pay the rent.” But, with Pop, everybody could sense his
contentment. “He was happy as could be,” his longtime friend and Spurs GM
R.C. Buford says, knowing full well that he’s using the “H” word.

80年代，波波維奇擔任 Pomona-Pitzer 聯隊的教練，他那時感到很滿意。是的，人們總是會
講述各種舊時記憶——「oh，當我開始第一份工作的時候，我窮到付不起房租。」但是對於波波
維奇來講，所有人都可以看出他的滿足。「你能想到他有多開心，他就有多開心。」波波維奇的
好友，馬刺隊總經理 R.C. Buford 如是說，他使用了開心這個詞。

Pop worked out of a closet. No, not a small office. An actual closet. Well,
it was close to the court. He and his family lived in a dorm. He did not have
a scholarship to offer or a budget to recruit or a salary to speak of. All he
had were a bunch of pretty smart kids to teach basketball, and the Xs and Os
that moved energetically around his mind. It was a fun way to live.

波波維奇當時在壁櫥裡工作，不是叫作壁櫥的辦公室，是真正的壁櫥，就在球場旁邊。他和他的
家人住在學校宿舍。他手上沒有獎學金可以派發，沒有預算去請幫手，也沒有任何可以用來誇耀
的薪水。他有的僅僅是一群聰明又喜愛籃球的孩子，以及滿腦子的跑位戰術。波波維奇過得挺舒
服的。

Popovich had played basketball at Air Force, for a hidden gem of a coach
named Bob Spear, who started the program at Air Force. Spear’s first
assistant coach was Dean Smith -- later they wrote a book together. They
still give out the Bob Spear Award at Air Force to the player who best
represents himself in sports, academics and military endeavors -- it’s the
highest award an Air Force player can win.

波波維奇曾在空軍球隊打球，當時的教練是 Bob Spear─一顆被埋沒的鑽石，他創立了空軍球隊。
Spear 第一位助理教練是 Dean Smith，兩人後來合著了一本書。直到現在，空軍學院仍在評選
「Bob Spear 獎」，旨在獎勵那些在運動、學術及軍事領域均有傑出表現的球員，這是空軍學院
球員所能得到的最高獎項。

And Bob Spear believed in motion, constant motion, non-stop motion. He
believed that motion (cutting and sliding, picking and rolling, running the
baseline, weaving in and out) was the great equalizer in basketball. The
Spear Shuffle, they used to call the movement. Spear used to say a team could
do anything as long as the players just kept moving.

Bob Spear 崇尚跑動，一直跑動，永不停歇的跑動。他認為不斷的跑動（切入切出、掩護擋拆、
底線跑位、剪切進出）是籃球的精髓。有一種跑位被命名為 Spear 輪轉。Spear 曾說過，只要
球員不斷跑動，他們可以做到任何事情。

Pop learned that. He would have those Pomona-Pitzer kids running their guts
out. He mixed and matched their talents, designed an intense man-to-man
defense, got those kids to believe that should win even though the school had
NEVER won (in his first year, they lost to Caltech, which had lost 99
consecutive games). Eventually, Pop led his team to the Division III
tournament for the first time, in, well, ever. Yes, it was fun. They treated
him great. Heck, in 1987, the school granted him a paid sabbatical. He was
thrilled. He did not want to go back to school -- he already had his master's
degree -- so he went to study basketball. He traveled to Chapel Hill to watch
his coach’s protégé, Dean Smith, coach his Tar Heels. Oh, Smith was a
master at having his players move, Pop was taking it all in. Then one day,
one of Smith’s former players came around around and he saw Pop taking
copious notes.

波波維奇繼承了這個思想。他教授 Pomona-Pitzer 聯隊的孩子們如何跑位。他為球員們量
身訂製了一套有效的人盯人戰術，說服孩子們相信自己會贏球， 雖然當時他們歷史上從未取
勝過（波波維奇執教第一年，他們輸給了 Caltech ，這是他們連續第99場比賽失利。）最
終，波波維奇把球隊第一次帶入了分區淘汰賽。 這個過程太有趣了。1987年，校方獎勵了
波波維奇一次帶薪學術休假的機會。 他並不想重返學校——他已經有碩士學位了——所以他
決定繼續鑽研籃球。他去了 Chapel Hill 觀看他的恩師 Dean Smith 執教北卡球隊。Smith
是個球員跑動戰術專家，波波維奇把他的思想全挖了過來。一位 Smith 曾執教過的球員表示，
他看見波波維奇在旁邊做了大量的筆記。

“Hey,” Larry Brown told Pop. “You’re not doing anything here. Come back
with me to Kansas, and I’ll give you a bunch of things to do.”

「那誰，」Larry Brown 對波波維奇說，「你在這兒閒著也是閒著，跟我去 Kansas 吧，
我給你找點活做。」

Brown and Popovich knew each other a little bit. They had met a few times.
They crossed paths in 1972 when Popovich tried out for the Olympic Team and
Brown was helping out coach Henry Iba. In 1976 Pop actually tried out for the
Larry Brown’s ABA Denver Nuggets. Pop had one lingering memory from the
tryout. He was guarding David Thompson (Pop prided himself on his defense)
and he worked himself into excellent defensive position. Thompson promptly
jumped over him. Popovich did not make the team.

布朗和波波維奇並不陌生，他們有一些交集。1972年，波波維奇試訓了美國奧運隊，當時布朗正
給主教練 Henry Iba 打下手。1976年，波波維奇試訓了 Larry Brown 的 ABA 丹佛金塊隊。這
段試訓經歷讓波波久久不能釋懷。他當時對位 David Thompson（波波一直為自己的防守感到驕
傲），波波維奇站在了一個完美的防守位置上，接下來 Thompson 一下子就把波波維奇過了。
然後就沒有然後了，波波維奇沒能留隊。

“He was a good player,” Brown says. “He impressed me, he really did. He
was smart. He knew where to be. I liked him. When I saw him just hanging
around Coach Smith’s practice, I thought: ‘No, you need to be DOING
something.’”

「他是個好球員。」 Brown說，「他給我留下了印象。他很聰明，知道如何跑位。我很喜歡他。
當我看到他在 Smith 教練的訓練裡不斷徘徊的時候，我想：『這樣可不行，你需要做點事
情。』」

So, Pop went to Kansas. Here’s a list of names for you: Gregg Popovich
(Spurs coach), RC Buford (Spurs GM), Bill Self (Kansas coach), John Calipari
(Kentucky coach), Mark Turgeon (Maryland coach), Danny Manning (Tulsa coach),
Kevin Pritchard (Pacers GM), Bill Bayno (assistant Minnesota), Alvin Gentry
(former coach of Suns) and John Robic (assistant at Kentucky).

於是，波波維奇去了 Kansas。這裡有一串名單：Gregg Popovich (馬刺主教練)，RC Buford
(馬刺總經理)，Bill Self (堪薩斯主教練)，John Calipari（肯塔基主教練），Mark Turgeon
(馬里蘭主教練)，Danny Manning (圖爾薩主教練)，Kevin Pritchard (溜馬總經理)，
Bill Bayno (明尼蘇達助教)， Alvin Gentry (前太陽主教練)，以及 John Robic (肯塔基助教)。

All of them either played or coached at Kansas in the five years Larry Brown
coached there. How does that happen? Truth is, Brown’s basketball knowledge,
his thirst for it, his intense and perhaps sometimes unhealthy love of the
game … it is contagious and overpowering for the people around him. “I know
this story is not about me,” Brown says. “But if you coach for me, you will
become a head coach. You just will.”

在 Larry Brown 執教堪薩斯的五年間，上面這個名單裡的每個人都或在隊中執教，或是隊內球
員。這是如何做到的？關鍵在於，Brown 的籃球知識，他對籃球的渴望，他對比賽強烈到病態
的熱愛...這些感染了他身邊的所有人。「我知道這篇故事的主角不是我，」Brown 說，「但是
只要你為我工作過，你未來將會成為一名主教練。你一定會。」

Buford (who was a KU assistant when Pop arrived): “There’s no doubt that
Larry gave both Gregg and myself a new way to look at the world. Neither of
us thought we were going to be in the NBA. That was the furthest thing from
our minds. Larry opened up those possibilities.”

Buford (時任堪薩斯助教) 說：「毫無疑問，Larry 賦予了我和波波維奇一個全新的視角。當時
我倆誰也沒有想過能進入 NBA，那像是個遙不可及的目標。 Larry 讓一切都有了可能。」

Larry Brown really is a basketball savant, with all the factors that go along
with that word. Here’s a story that defines him: Not too long ago, he was
sitting in the stands watching his grandson play in a youth basketball game.
When the game ended, his grandson was goofing around with a friend, and
Brown noticed that the friend had a weird hitch in his shot. He immediately went
down to the court and gave the boy a 15-minute shooting lesson. He could not
help himself. “If a wino on a street corner wandered up to Larry and told
him he had a good out-of-bounds play,” Buford says, “Larry would listen.”

Larry Brown 是個籃球專家，他知道關於籃球的所有事情。下面這個故事很有意思：不久之前，
Brown 去觀看了他孫子的一場籃球比賽。比賽結束以後，他的孫子和一個好朋友留下來繼續玩。
Brown 立即發現他孫子的朋友投籃時姿勢有點古怪，於是他過去幫那個男孩進行了15分鐘的投
籃訓練。這一切都是 Brown 下意識做出來的。「如果街角的一個酒鬼衝到 Brown 面前，說他
有一個絕妙的邊線球發球戰術，」Buford 說，「Larry  一定會聽聽看。」

So this was the atmosphere Gregg Popovich entered at Kansas and it was
intoxicating. Suddenly, he was around all this basketball talk, this
basketball talent, a constant back and forth of ideas about all the stuff he
cared about -- team building and off-the-ball defense and the high
pick-and-roll. He had seen Paris.

這就是波波維奇來到堪薩斯時遇到的籃球氛圍，令人陶醉。 突然間，波波維奇的周圍充滿了對籃
球的討論，身邊全是有天賦的人 ，反反復復出現的全是他關心的話題——如何凝聚球隊、無球防
守以及高位擋拆。他好像來到了天堂。

According to a wonderful little column in the Lawrence Journal-World, a
couple of his Pomona-Pitzer players called to say they had seen him on
television and were worried he wasn’t coming back. Popovich assured them
that he was coming back … and he did. For one year. Then he went to work for
Larry Brown as assistant coach of the Spurs. Eight years later, he was
coaching the Spurs himself.

根據一篇專欄的報導，Pomona-Pitzer 聯隊的孩子們在電視上看到了波波維奇，他們擔心波波
不會重返自己的球隊。波波維奇向他們保證他會回來，他也這麼做了。他在 Pomona-Pitzer
聯隊又執教了一年。然後他以助理教練的身份加盟了馬刺，輔佐主教練 Larry Brown。八年後，
他成為了馬刺隊的主教練。

* * *

 

Rule No. 3 on how to ask Gregg Popovich a question: Never try to trick him or
coax him into saying something controversial. It won’t work. And he doesn’t
like it.

<如何向波波維奇提問>

第三條準則：永遠不要耍詭計或者引誘他說出一些引發口水的回答。他不吃這一套，他也不喜歡
這一套。

Example (in Los Angeles before Lakers game): “Pop, with the problems the
Lakers are having, would you want them in the first round of the playoffs?”

例子 (在與湖人比賽賽前)： 「波波，鑑於湖人隊目前麻煩纏身，你希望在季後賽第一輪遇到他
們嗎？」

Pop: “Do you really think an NBA coach would answer that? … Give me credit
for being halfway intelligent.”

波波維奇：「你真的認為一名NBA教練會回答這種問題嗎？...可讓我省點心吧。」

* * *

Gregg Popovich mixes two traits that seem hopelessly incompatible. He is an
intense, driven and often curmudgeonly man. His sideline interviews are
legend. His red-faced screaming sessions are on video. Remember, this is the
man who in 1996 -- as GM of the Spurs -- fired coach Bob Hill (who had won 62
and 59 games the previous two years) and hired … himself. He had never
coached a single NBA game.

波波維奇成功地將兩種看上去互相衝突的性格結合到了一起。他倔強，勤奮，有時候還很小氣。
他的場邊採訪被認為是經典，他紅著臉吼叫的情景被錄下來。記住他在1996年——時任馬刺總
經理——炒掉了 Bob Hill（前兩個賽季分別贏了62場和59場）然後䀻雇了......他自己。當時他
還未曾指教過一場 NBA 比賽。

And, at exactly the same time, his players like him so much that, to a man,
they call him a players’ coach.

就在那時，球員們變得對他十分喜愛。

How does that work?

波波是如何做到的？

“Pop is first and foremost, a salt-of-the-earth good guy,” says Danny
Ferry, who played for Pop, worked with Pop and is now GM of the Atlanta
Hawks. Yes, it begins there. People just like Pop. They can’t help it. Announcers
who get little access and information still like Pop. Reporters he crushes
with sarcasm still like Pop. Players he screams at or cuts down with biting
remarks still like Pop. It is uncanny. “He has the best demeanor of any
coach,” Kansas coach Bill Self says in deep admiration. “The absolute best.”

「波波是最好的，特別好的一個人」Danny Ferry 說。他曾為波波打球，與波波共事，現任老鷹
隊的總經理。是的，一切從那時開始了。 大家就是喜歡波波，誰也不能抗拒。 對具體細節所知
甚少的發言人喜歡他，被波波諷刺和拒絕的記者們喜歡他，被波波吼罵或者換下場的球員也喜歡
他。 就是這麼奇怪。「他有著最棒的教練風範。」堪薩斯主教練 Bill Self 尊敬的說，「最棒的，
沒有疑問。」

In the Spurs’ last three games of the season -- to Los Angeles, to Oakland
and back home to San Antonio -- you could see that demeanor at play. The
Spurs lost all three games. In the Lakers loss, the Spurs played poorly and
were outhustled by a desperate Los Angeles team trying to find its soul
without Kobe Bryant. Pop promptly sacrificed the Golden State game by resting
all his starters -- the backups performed admirably for three quarters and
were blown out in the fourth. Then, back home on fan appreciation night
against Minnesota, the Spurs played their starters for the better part of
three quarters, led the game, then faded in the last with Tim Duncan, Tony
Parker, Manu Ginobli and others on the bench. A look over to the sideline
caught Pop stifling a yawn.

在馬刺隊本賽季最後三場比賽中，你可以看出他的指教風格。在洛杉磯的失利中，馬刺隊打得
很差，被失去 Kobe 後破釜沉舟的湖人隊搞得精疲力盡。波波立刻放棄了與勇士的比賽——
他輪休了先發球員，替補堅持了三節然後在第四節被一波流帶走。接下來，回到主場對陣灰狼，
馬刺前三節消耗主力，然後在 GDP 休息的第四節輸掉了比賽。場邊鏡頭捕捉到了波波在打哈
欠。

The games meant nothing to the Spurs -- they had essentially locked up the
No. 2 spot in the Western Conference playoffs -- but it is true that they
have played poorly for a while. The Spurs have not won a road game since
February. They finished the year forced to play a jumble of lineups and
losing seven of their last 10. This was a lot for Pop to worry about. And Pop
-- everyone who knows him will tell you -- tends to find things to worry
about even when everything’s going well.

這幾場比賽對馬刺意義不大——他們已經鎖定了西部第二——但是他們確實打得很差勁。他們
自從二月份開始就沒有在客場取得過勝利，他們輸掉了過去10場比賽中的7場。這些都值得波
波維奇感到憂心。 而且波波——大家都知道他會怎麼說——即使在球隊一切順利的時候也會想
方設法找出點問題。

So, no, he was not especially agreeable in his press gatherings. He would
begin each one in grim silence seemingly hopeful that today would be the day
nobody would ask a question. When the questions came, well, this exchange at
Golden State more or less captures the spirit of the thing:

所以，他在面對記者時顯得非常抗拒。他會以沉默開場，好像盼著今天沒人提問。當問題被拋
出的時候，下面這個發生在金州的場景會讓你有所感受。

Reporter 1: This Warriors team plays fast and shoots a lot from the perimeter
... are there differences between this Warriors team and teams of the past?

記者1：這支勇士隊節奏很快，他們會有很多外線跳投。 你認為現在的金州隊跟以往有什麼不
同？

Pop: I don’t spend much time thinking about the past. All I care about is
what they do now.

波波：我不關心過去，我只關心現在。

Reporter 1: What do they do now?

記者1：那他們現在做得怎樣？

Pop: What you said.

波波：就像你說得那樣。

Reporter 2: Is there a danger against them because they shoot so many threes?

記者2：他們投了很多的三分球，這對你們是個威脅嗎？

Pop: People shoot the ball well, that’s a good thing.

波波：球員手感好，這是一件好事。

If you prefer you prefer, the exchange could also be translated like so:

如果你願意，這個談話其實可以這樣翻譯：

Reporter 1: This Warriors team plays fast …

記者1：這支勇士隊節奏很快......

Pop: You are wasting my time.

波波：你在浪費我的時間。

Reporter 1: What do they do now?

記者1：那他們現在做的怎樣？

Pop: Still wasting my time.

波波：你還在浪費我的時間。

Reporter 2: Is there a danger …

記者2：他們投了很多的三分......

Pop: And now you’re wasting my time.

波波：現在換成你來浪費我的時間了。

But here’s the kicker: One of the two reporters stuck around after the
session ended. And he and Pop talked for a few minutes about life, asked
about each other’s families, laughed it up like old friends. It’s like
Popovich is two men. He’s the hard-ass coach who rips into you and ignores
you and acts like you have to be the dumbest person on earth. And he’s Pop,
the salt-of-the-earth good guy, who cares about your family, who would be
there even if everyone else abandoned you, who wants the best for you at all
times. Maybe all successful coaches, in some way, have to be both bully and
buddy. But nobody -- nobody on earth -- slips between those two personas as
easily (and as often) as Pop.

但是還有另一件事：上面兩個記者中的一個在採訪結束後並沒有離開，他和波波聊了幾分鐘人
生，討論了彼此的家庭，最後像老朋友一樣大笑。波波就像一個雙面人。他是最難纏的教練，
他不斷地提出要求，忽略你的表現，如同你是世上最蠢的人。他又是世界上最好的好人，他關
心你的家庭，即使全世界拋棄了你，他還會陪著你，他永遠希望你能做到最好。或許所有的成
功教練都需要具備這兩方面的性格，但是沒有人能像波波維奇一樣在兩種人格之間切換得如此
容易。

“No, he’s the best at it,” says Larry Brown, who found it tough at times
in his coaching career to display that second persona. “I think it’s just
because, deep down, Pop’s as decent a guy as you will ever meet. He can yell
at the players because they trust him. They know he’s got their backs.”

「不，他最擅長這個。」Larry Brown 說，他曾在生涯中感到切換第二人格的不易，「我想
原因是，波波內心深處是一個你能遇到的最善良的人。他敢衝球員吼叫，因為球員們信任他，
波波知道自己得到了球員們的支持。」

“The key is relationships,” Buford says. “He’s the best I’ve ever seen
at building those relationships.”

「關鍵是關係。」Buford 說，「他是我見過的最擅長處理與球員關係的教練。」

“How does he do it?” I ask.

「他怎麼做的？」我問。

“He just, um, he just does. He builds their trust. People believe in him.”

「他是......嗯......他就是做到了。他贏得了別人的信任。」

* * *

 

Rule No. 4 on how to ask Greg Popovich a question: Never try some jokey
question to break the ice or get some quirky answer. He’s not in the mood
for that. Ever.

<如何向波波維奇提問>

第四條準則：永遠不要嘗試用搞笑問題來打破僵局或者尋求某種離奇的回答。波波維奇沒有
這個心情，永遠都沒有。

Example (in San Antonio before Minnesota game): “Hey Pop, do you want to
offer an over-under on how many points Kevin Durant will score tonight?”
(Durant needed a bunch of points to win the scoring title … in the end he
did not even play).

例子 (在與明尼蘇達灰狼比賽前)：「嗨~ 波波，你想猜一下杜蘭特今晚會得到多少分嗎？」
（杜蘭特需要得到很多分才能成為得分王，但是結果他並未上場。）

Pop: “No.”

波波：「不。」

* * *

People call Gregg Popovich a system coach -- he has a system, he coaches to
that system every year -- and it’s probably true to a point. But only to a
point. For a long time, yes, the Spurs were one kind of a team. They were a
plodding, defensive team that would choke a game to the death. They were a
team that prompted David Stern -- according to this revealing story by Yahoo’
s Adrian Wojnarowski -- to moan that the Spurs were uninteresting and
unappealing.

人們稱波波維奇為體系教練——他有自己的體系，他每年都在使用這個體系——這一點雖然正
確，但只是一方面。長久以來，馬刺一直沒什麼變化。他們是一支緩慢沉重的防守型球隊，把
每場比賽都變成絞肉機。根據雅虎記者 Adrian 的報導，David Stern 曾抱怨馬刺的無趣和
乏味。

Of course, the Spurs did not care if they were uninteresting or unappealing
-- they reveled in it. The zenith was probably in Phoenix -- May 16, 2007 --
when the Spurs and Suns were tied at two-games apiece. That was Mike D’Antoni
’s Suns, who averaged 110 points a game -- five guys on that team scored
15-plus a game.

Only, it wasn’t that Suns team. Two Phoenix players -- star Amare Stoudemire
and his backup Boris Diaw -- had been suspended for clearing the bench after
San Antonio’s Robert Horry had committed a flagrant foul. It was a wild
series, filled with bitterness, and all game long the Phoenix crowd shook the
building with their cheers and boos -- one longtime Spurs observer said he’s
never seen a crowd like that in any arena. But it didn’t matter. It never
did with those Spurs. Bruce Bowen (who Stoudemire had called a dirty player)
made the last three-pointer, San Antonio won the war of attrition 88-85, and
the Spurs went on to win the NBA championship.

當然，馬刺也不在乎他們自己是不是無趣或者乏味——他們恰恰喜歡這樣子。2007年馬刺與
太陽的系列賽裡充滿了碰撞。在菲尼克斯，觀眾的呼聲把屋頂都要掀翻了——一位馬刺觀察家
表示，他從沒在其他球館見到如此狂熱的球迷。但是這一切都沒關係，它們不會對馬刺球員造
成影響。 Bruce Bowen 冷靜地投進最後一個三分，88-85馬刺帶走了勝利，邁進了總決賽。

That was San Antonio basketball under Popovich. They were tougher than you.
They were meaner than you. They were sounder than you. And they were more
willing to bore the heck out of everybody in order to win. For 11 consecutive
years, they finished in the top three in the NBA in defensive rating, and
every one of those years they were bottom half in the league in pace of play.
Slow it up, grind ‘em down, hack-a-Shaq, pound-the-rock -- RAWHIDE!

這就是波波維奇手下的馬刺隊。他們比你更強硬，比你更刻薄，比你更完整，比你更願意付出
一切來取得勝利。他們能連續11年佔據聯盟防守排名的前三名，而且每一年都在進攻節奏排名
的後列。放下速度，壓制對手，砍鯊戰術，敲擊石頭——鞭子就這樣揮起來了！

But that’s not San Antonio basketball in 2013. No, this year, San Antonio is
playing just about as fast as anybody in the NBA (they finished the season
sixth in pace of play -- by far their highest spot in Pop’s tenure). Younger
players like Kawhi Leonard (acquired from Indiana in a draft-day deal), Danny
Green (a former second-round pick in Cleveland who was picked up off waivers)
and Tiago Splitter (a late-first round pick from Brazil who runs much better
than you would expect a big man to run) have made the Spurs a much more open
team.

但是，2013年，馬刺變樣了。他們和其他 NBA 球隊一樣快（進攻節奏排在聯盟第六，波波維奇
執教以來的最高值）。年輕球員們，Kawhi，Green 和 Tiago，讓球隊成為了一個更開放的隊
伍。

“I think they play a more European style of basketball than most,” Larry
Brown says. “I think they’ve become a really pretty team to watch play.”

「我認為他們比以往打得更像是一支歐洲球隊了。」Larry Brown說，「他們成為了一支很具
有觀賞性的球隊。」

This speaks to another reason Pop is so good at this, something obvious but
often overlooked: He’s a really, really good basketball coach. He is
constantly breaking down the game, but all coaches do that. What seems to
separate Pop and his staff is the higher-level thinking. They spend an
inordinate amount of time looking at the rules, the style of play, the trends
that are coming and the trends that have run their course.

這就是波波維奇成功的另一個原因，一個很顯而易見卻又常常被忽視的原因：他確實是一個很好
很好的籃球教練。他總是在解讀比賽，但是所有其他教練也這麼做。把波波維奇和其他教練區分
開的是他的深度思維。其他教練用了太多的時間分析規則，考慮戰術，預測未來的聯盟趨勢。

“The Spurs style of play has evolved with its players and the rules probably
better than any other team,” Ferry says.

「馬刺的比賽風格隨著球員和規則的改變而進化，這是比其他球隊好的地方。」Ferry 說。

* * *

 

Rule No. 5 on how to ask Gregg Popovich a question: Never offer him coaching
advice or pretend to know too much. He doesn’t like that.

<如何向波波維奇提問>

第五條準則：不要給他提出執教建議，或者假裝自己比他懂得多。他不喜歡這樣。

Example (reporter before game at Golden State): “Do you think against a
young team that it would be good to build a big lead?"

例子 (在與勇士比賽賽前)：「你認為與年輕球隊比賽可以更快的建立起大的領先優勢嗎？」

Pop: “I don’t know how to go out and get a big lead. If you know how to do
it, let me know.”

波波：「我不知道如何取得一個大的領先優勢。如果你知道怎麼做，告訴我。」

* * *

Gregg Popovich despises attention. This is not the typical coach “Oh, no, it
’s not about me, it’s about the players, point the camera at them,” kind
of hustle. No, Pop is a genuinely private man. He is genuinely uninterested
in publicity and deeply allergic to praise. When he was named Coach of the
Year in 2012 -- unbelievably, it was only the second time in his amazing
career -- he was so uncomfortable about it that some of his friends thought
he might just turn it down.

波波維奇不喜歡被關注。但他也不是那種「喔，不，不要拍我，球員們在那裡，把鏡頭對著他
們」的教練。波波維奇真誠的保持著低調，他對宣傳不感興趣，對讚揚感到過敏。當他榮獲
2012年最佳教練的時候——很難相信這才是他教練生涯第二次獲獎，他表現得是如此的侷促，
以至於他的一些朋友覺得他就要暈過去了。

Of course, there are plenty of people who doubt his brilliance, who say that
Popovich has simply been a recipient of absurdly good fortune. He inherited a
team with Hall of Famer David Robinson and lucked into the first pick in the
draft the year Tim Duncan graduated. Beyond that, he has coached Tony Parker
and Manu Ginobili for more than a decade. Of course, someone might point out
that Pop only coached Robinson and Duncan together for two of his four
championships (and Robinson was no longer a great player for the second).
Someone also might point that Parker was the 28th pick in the draft and
Ginobili was taken late in the second round -- ANYBODY could have had them.
Their greatness only emerged AFTER they became Spurs and were coached up by
Popovich and his staff. Someone might point those things out … but it woudn’
t be Popovich. He’d be the first one to agree that he’s simply a lucky
stiff who just didn’t screw up great players.

當然，世界上永遠不缺懷疑波波能力的人，他們覺得波波只是碰巧繼承了一筆財富。他的隊中有
名人堂成員 David Robinson，然後又幸運地在鄧肯參加選秀那年抽到了一號簽。除此之外，
他執教 Parker 和 Ginobili 超過了十年。當然，有些人會指出，波波只靠著雙塔得到了四個冠
軍中的兩個（而第二冠時期 Robinson 的水平已經大不如前）。另一些人會強調 Parker 是
第28順位，吉諾比利是二輪秀——任何人都可能得到他們。但是他倆的能力只在來到馬刺以後
才被波波維奇全部發掘出來。有人還會有其他的話要說... 但這些反駁的話都不會從波波維奇嘴
裡說出。他會第一個承認自己是個幸運的人，而且幸運地沒有浪費這些偉大球員的天賦。

That part of Pop sears through the team. The Spurs are famously boring, of
course. They are famously camera shy. They do nothing to draw attention to
themselves. Ask any NBA fan to describe their style. Wait for those words:
Plodding, workmanlike, physical, dirty, featureless, colorless, odorless.

波波維奇這個特質影響了整個球隊。馬刺隊是出了名的無趣。馬刺球員是出了名的面對鏡頭害
羞。他們不做任何會引起注意力的事情。當問起任何 NBA 球迷有關馬刺的風格，下面這些詞
一定會出現：乏味，精工細作，使用身體，骯髒，毫無特色，無色無味。

Of course, on the court, it begins with their star Tim Duncan, who is
unquestionably the greatest boring player in the history of the NBA and
probably the history of sports. But even flashy players like Tony Parker and
Manu Ginobli temper their turbulent games and blend easily into the black and
white and gray uniforms that the Spurs wear. Young players blend in, too.
When they do not quite fit -- and this just happened to longtime Spurs player
and Pop favorite Stephen Jackson -- they are no longer part of the team.

在場上，Tim Duncan 帶領著球隊。他是 NBA 歷史上，亦或是任何運動史上最無趣的球員。
而像帕克和吉諾比利這種引人眼球的閃亮球員們，也輕鬆地就融入了這一抹銀黑之中。年輕球
員就更不用說了。當球員不再適合球隊——這剛剛發生在波波的最愛、船長傑克遜身上——
他們就會離開球隊。

“We know who we are,” Tim Duncan says, and that’s exactly right. The style
evolves, but the stuff that matters in San Antonio -- the unselfishness, the
motion, the toughness, the sacrifice to the team -- that stuff stays the
same. This year, the Spurs won 50 games for the 14th consecutive season.
That’s an NBA record. And 15 years ago, the Spurs didn’t win 50 only because
the lockout shortened the season to 50 games.

「我們知道自己的水平。」Tim Duncan 說的很對。馬刺的比賽風格在變，但是聖城的精神——
無私、跑動、強硬、為球隊犧牲——一直沒有變。今年，馬刺連續第14個賽季取得了50場勝
利。這是NBA的紀錄。 而15年前，馬刺沒有獲得50場勝利的原因是縮水賽季一共只進行了50
場比賽。

“It really shouldn’t be that hard,” Larry Brown says. “What they do in
San Antonio is what everybody should do. They have an ownership group, a
management group, a coach and players who are all on the same page, who all
went the best for the each other, who all want to go in the same direction.

「（這記錄）其實不應該有這麼難的。」Larry Brown說，「馬刺做的其實是所有人應該做的。
馬刺有一個所有權小組，有一個管理小組，有一名教練和一群球員，他們在一起，他們為彼此做
到最佳，他們擁有共同的目標。」

“That’s the thing that drives me crazy about the NBA. You just don’t see
that kind of commitment to each other that they have in San Antonio. There’s
just a trust. There are no egos. There is nobody trying to get credit. They
just all want to win.”

「這就是讓我對NBA瘋狂的原因。你很難在其他地方看到聖安東尼奧這種彼此之間的承諾。所有
人互相信任，毫無私心。沒人貪圖功勞，目標只有勝利。」

He sighs. Larry Brown coaches at SMU now.

Larry Brown 嘆了一口氣，他正在SMU執教。

“I just don’t see why it has to be so hard,” he says. “Pop sure makes it
look easy. … He’s the most underrated coach in the history of sports.”

「我只是不理解為什麼會這麼難實現。」他說，「波波做起來舉重若輕...他是運動史上最被低估
的教練。」

* * *

 

Rule No. 6 on how to ask Pop a question: Whatever the question, listen
carefully to the answer.

<如何向波波維奇提問>

第六條準則：無論問題是什麼，認真聆聽波波的回答。

* * *

Sometimes, Pop will slip up and reveal a little bit of himself. Maybe it isn’
t a slip. Maybe he’s really just looking to see if people are paying
attention. But when someone asks him how he knew Tony Parker would be able to
develop so many new skills as a player, Popovich muses: “Sometimes, you look
to see if the player has a sense of humor. It’s a long season.”

有時候，波波維奇會放下戒心透露一點真實的想法。也許他不是不小心，只是在考驗人們是否
在認真聽他講話。當被問及他怎麼知道帕克後來會開發出如此全面的進攻技巧時，波波謹慎地
說：「有時候，你需要考察一名球員是否具有幽默感。賽季真的很長。」

Now, see, that’s a fascinating thought. Have you ever heard a coach or scout
say that one thing they look for is a sense of humor? But, if you think about
it, yes, it makes perfect sense. It IS a long season. And think about how
much a sense of humor, an ability to not let the moment’s problems grow too
large or too serious, could help a player deal with the madness of an NBA
season.

看，這就是波波不同尋常的思維。你何時聽教練或者球探說出他們在考察球員的幽默感？但你
仔細想想，波波說的其實有道理。賽季確實很長。想想看幽默感確實能緩解那些隊內緊張的氣
氛，讓球員在 NBA 賽季的壓力下喘一口氣。

When someone asks Pop about facing this team or that team in the playoffs, he
shrugs and says, in the end, the Spurs can’t change who they are. Again: A
great point. Coaches -- Popovich among them -- spend so much time breaking
down every little detail and sometimes lose sight of that simple idea.

當有人問波波維奇在季後賽對戰這支或那支球隊的看法時，波波維奇總會聳聳肩，然後說馬刺
就是馬刺，不會變的。這是很重要的一點。教練們往往花了太多時間來分解每一個細節，卻忽
視了那些簡單的東西。

When Pop is asked about his team’s poor finish and what he is thinking about
going into the playoffs, he says: “It’s a game of mistakes. Nobody is
perfect in what they do. You just go to work and keep repeating.” There’s
an awful lot in those three sentences. You could put that quote up on the
wall.

當被問及球隊可憐的結束進攻能力，以及他對馬上進入季後賽的看法時，他說：「比賽中總是
有各種錯誤，沒人是完美的。你只能去訓練，然後不斷地重複。」這三句話其實很有深意，建
議你把它寫到牆上。

Jeff McDonald has been covering the Spurs for the San Antonio Express-News
for six years now. He is often the sole newspaper reporter on the road
covering the Spurs, which means that he has witnessed more Pop press clashes
than just about anybody. Jeff says he likes Pop -- it’s all but impossible
not to like Pop -- and thinks he might be the smartest person he knows in or
out of basketball.

Jeff McDonald 已經為聖安東尼奧快報報導馬刺隊快六年了。 他經常是唯一一名在客場跟蹤
報導馬刺的記者，這讓他比其他人更多的體會了波波維奇的新聞發布會。McDonald 說他很
喜歡波波——誰不是呢——他覺得波波是他認識的人中最聰明的，不管是籃球圈裡還是圈外。

That’s not to say Jeff isn't frustrated by Pop’s moods, his grouchiness,
his unwillingness to ever cut a questioner a break. Jeff does get frustrated
sometimes. In those moments, he does what everyone does. He thinks: “Well,
that’s just Pop.”

但這並不代表 Jeff 沒有被波波傷害過。有時候，Jeff 也感到十分的沮喪。這時，他會像其他
人一樣跟自己說：「這就是波波啊...」

But he says there’s something else. Jeff says that sometimes, when he’s
standing there waiting to ask Pop something, he will think of a question. And
he will decide it’s not worded quite right. And so he will think of a
different way to ask it, and then a different way, and then, sometimes, a
DIFFERENT question emerges in his mind, a better one, a more challenging one,
a more direct one, and that’s the question he asks. And every now and then
-- not too often, but every now and then -- Pop will say: “That’s a good
question.”

有時候也不僅僅是沮喪。Jeff 說，當他站在場邊等待採訪波波維奇時，他會反復斟酌他的問題。
有時他會覺得提問的詞語不太合適，然後他就想出第二種提問方法，再想出第三種... 有時候他
腦海中乾脆會浮現出一個全新的問題，一個比之前那個更好的問題，一個更具有挑戰性的問題，
一個更直接的問題，而這成為了他最終問出口的那個問題。有時候——不是經常，是有時候—
—波波會回應道：「這是一個好問題。」

And when that happens, Jeff grudgingly admits, a part of him feels good. He
doesn’t necessarily WANT to feel good about it, to admit that Pop motivated
him to be better, but, dammit, that’s just what Pop does. It’s his gift. He
might gripe, he might grumble, he might scream, he might recede into
awkwardsilence. In the end, though, this never changes. As hopeless as it
may be, everybody works harder to try and make Pop happy.

當波波說出這句話時，Jeff 會勉強地承認，他感到十分高興。他其實並不需要承認對自己的提
問感到高興，不需要承認波波維奇鼓舞他進步，但是，不管怎樣，波波客觀上做到了這一點。
這是波波維奇的天賦。他會發牢騷，他會開啟吹風機，他會大喊大叫，他會突然進入令人尷尬
的沉默。波波維奇從來就是這樣的。與其徬徨無助，所有人都選擇了更加努力地訓練，這會讓
波波維奇高興。

--

圖片來源：

http://cdn.faniq.com/images/photos/photo_large/00/22736700-937.jpg

http://tinyurl.com/kvzy32l

http://binaryapi.ap.org/c51a47a227924ce8bbdfe9c230ec133b/512x.jpg

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/29/files/2012/08/6285734.jpg

http://tinyurl.com/mwpzpkz

http://tinyurl.com/k8586f2

http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/15/12/67/3452387/9/628x471.jpg

--

2013 NBC Sports.com Reprints

全文來源：http://www.ptt.cc/bbs/NBA/M.1371050398.A.F3F.html

原文：http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51591848/ns/sports-nba//

翻譯：http://bbs.hupu.com/5462434.html

--

2013.06.13 （Game 3 後記 by TK，談兩位波波維奇帶出來的奇兵）

他參加NBA選秀會落選，然後回學校擔任教職員，
後來被挖到歐洲打球，兩年前才終於有了機會和球隊簽了三年約。

另一個他，在選秀會第46順位才被挑中，
然後來來回回多次被釋出，最後又被球隊重新簽回來。

之前的球隊貼身報導指出，他們兩人常一同自主訓練，
有時在練習前兩小時就去投籃，只為有好表現，向教練團爭取更多的上場時間。

在職業運動，這個現實的戰場，他們深知自己擔任的這種角色，隨時會被下放。
停止向前，立刻就會失業，以致他們沒有一刻敢鬆懈。

只要你不是第一天看NBA，就知道這樣的小人物球員，
是這種職業球場屢見不鮮的故事。每一個角落都充滿這樣的人。

在動輒破千萬年薪的職業商場上，他們是綠葉球員，
而最低薪資的那一位，年薪才拿85萬美金。
在一次又一次給那些紅花的掌聲中，
他們只能把握每一個機會，默默做好自己該做的事，
然後期待有一份穩定的長約，不再被下放，可以發光發熱。

美國時間2013年6月12日，這兩位默默努力的小人物，終於在NBA戰場上熬出頭，
兩人聯手轟進13記三分彈，包辦了51分，
全隊三分球總量16顆，改寫NBA總冠軍賽歷史紀錄。
賽後，他們其中一位有感而發地說：「美夢成真了。」

他們分別是 Gary Neal 和 Danny Green。