消息來源：http://tinyurl.com/l4xdn83
http://sports.sina.com.cn/nba/2013-08-14/11086723473.shtml
內容：
Summer Dreaming: Coach Of The Year
HANG TIME, Texas – It’s summertime and that means that all NBA coaches are
undefeated. They have sunny forecasts for their new lineups, hot plans for
training camp and picture nothing but blue skies for the 2013-14 season
openers that will tip off in less than three months.
But let’s face it. Some of these men won’t make it to the February trade
deadline. A couple could get the ax before Christmas. Then again, we can
count on the cream of the crop to get the most out of their teams.
So let’s go right to next April and figure these are the five most likely to
be filling my Coach of the Year Award ballot:
Erik Spoelstra, Heat — There is not a more thankless job in the NBA than
being coach of the best team with best player. Oh sure, you get the
championship rings and a nice paycheck, but not all the respect that’s
deserved and certainly very few of these awards. Even though Phil Jackson’s
teams won a record 11 titles in Chicago and Los Angeles, the Zen Master was
named Coach of the Year only once (1996). Now it’s Spoelstra who’s getting
the Rodney Dangerfield treatment, as if he’s only around to be shoved aside
by LeBron James when things occasionally get uncomfortable. However, it’s
more than just filling out the lineup card and rolling the balls onto the
court when your team has won back-to-back championships, been to The Finals
three years in a row and had a historic 27-game winning streak. When the Heat
check in with the best regular-season record again in April and embark on
their quest for a three-peat, Spoelstra should finally get his due.
熱火的主教練Erik Spoelstra
Spo的發展方向和禪師有喜劇性的相似，都是執教聯盟最好的球隊和球員，也都
和年度最佳主帥獎沒什麼緣分。 禪師在湖人和公牛一共拿到了11個總冠軍戒指
，但只在1996年得過獎。新賽季，Spo將有機會追平禪師的獎項成就。其實，上
賽季打出27連勝，Spo的執教功力就已經可見一斑了。如果明年四月份，他還能
讓熱火保持聯盟戰績第一，並且有希望三連冠，Spo絕對有機會捧回獎杯。
Doc Rivers, Clippers — All the time, energy and talks that went into getting
Rivers to make the coast-to-coast jump will be proven worth it when this
loose bunch of talent learns what it means to play with a purpose every
night. Suddenly Clippers brass will be wondering why they wasted time
tap-dancing the past two seasons with Vinny Del Negro rather than bringing in
an elite-level coach to transform the Staples Center sideshow from Lob City
carny act into a real contender in the West. Despite the summer on-court
improvements by the Rockets and Warriors, L.A.’s upgrade on the bench will
make a bigger difference. Maybe not in terms of wins (56) from last year, but
attitude, poise and, eventually, playoff performance.
快艇的主教練Doc Rivers
和火箭以及勇士等球隊相比，快艇休賽期的主要精力都放在了升級角色陣容
上。另外，就是招徠了冠軍級教頭Rivers，和前任Vinny Del Negro 相比，
Rivers的實力無疑更強。但是，他也需要在賽場上率隊打出更好的表現去證
明自己。
Tom Thibodeau, Bulls – If you had to cast him as a great movie character
from the past, Thibodeau would be the Black Knight from “Monty Python and
the Holy Grail”. Playing the entire season without MVP Derrick Rose? ‘Tis
but a scratch. Losing Luol Deng and getting Joakim Noah banged up in the
playoffs? Just a flesh wound. The Bulls just keep grinding, because Thibs
keeps grinding. He’s a no-excuses guy who believes in defense and competing
and can get that message across to his players. The only question about him
is why it took so long for somebody to recognize Thibodeau as more than just
an excellent assistant coach. Now, hopefully, he’s got Rose back at full
strength — left-footed dunks included — and that means Chicago is back to
being more than just a streak-busting bane in the existence of the two-time
defending champions. The Bulls are in the hunt because Thibodeau will never
let them lose the scent.
公牛的主教練Tom Thibodeau
Thibodeau的執教功力在上賽季得到了淋漓盡致的展現，損失了Derrick Rose
，季後賽又傷了Luol Deng等人，但公牛依然表現出了強勁的戰鬥力，這就是
Thibodeau的功勞了。新賽季，Thibodeau將擁有一個健康的 Rose，陣容上已
經完備。再加上Thibodeau長久以來給球隊灌輸的鐵血防守理念，公牛有望比
上賽季更強，而Thibodeau，也順理成章會成為最佳主帥的有力爭奪者。
Gregg Popovich, Spurs – You just can’t have a list of the top coaches in
any NBA season without including Pop. He’s the dean of the fraternity — in
fact, the longest-tenured coach in any major North American sport — and the
truth is we could just give it to him every year and retire the trophy. So
Tim Duncan pops back up with an All-NBA first team performance last season at
age 37, Tony Parker continues to blossom and reach new heights at 31, the
Spurs come within a 30-second mental breakdown of winning their fifth
championship in June and the world acts like they’d found an elixir of
youth. The truth is the Spurs simply keep drinking Popovich’s Kool-Aid and
continue to defy anyone who annually predicts their demise. When the real
Western Conference contenders line up for the start of the playoffs next
April, he’ll have the Spurs there again.
馬刺的主教練Gregg Popovich
Popovich的執教履歷讓其他主帥難以比肩，而且除了第一年的半途接任之外，
Popovich每一年都率領馬刺殺入季後賽，且四次奪冠。近幾年，在外界普遍唱
衰馬刺，在核心陣容日漸老齡化的前提下，Popovich依然帶領馬刺重返總決賽
，還險些將熱火熄滅。可以預想的是，有Popovich這樣的教練，明年四月份的
馬刺，依然令人望而生畏。
Mike Brown, Cavaliers – The last two seasons that Brown walked the sidelines
in Cleveland, his teams won 66 and 61 games — both the highest totals in the
NBA — and yet it wasn’t good enough. Brown earned Coach of the Year honors
in 2009, but because the Cavs with LeBron James couldn’t bring home the real
hardware — the Larry O’Brien Trophy for a championship — he was shown the
door. How interesting that now he’s back and could get considerable
recognition and even win this award again just for getting a young Cavs team
out of the lottery and into the playoffs. Brown was out of his element in
that Lakers experience, but being back in Cleveland will put his thumbprint
on the defense and produce enough of an upbeat season to maybe even get
LeBron looking back home again as a free agent in the summer of 2014.
騎士的主教練Mike Brown
Brown在2009年贏得過最佳主帥獎，但即便有LeBron James幫忙，Brown也沒能
拿到過總冠軍。新賽季，Brown 重返騎士，這一次帶領的將是一支全新有潛力
的球隊。如果他能調教的好，不但有機會再次追逐主帥獎，或許還能幫助騎士
吸引LeBron鳳還巢。
PS.近40年，該球隊的教練能夠在獲得最佳教練獎時，還能在該賽季順利拿下NBA總
冠軍的教練到目前只有兩個人，一個是禪師另一個是波波。