http://tinyurl.com/3h8fkh Thirst for first quenched By Peter May One of the more memorable phone calls Doc Rivers received Sunday night came from his counterpart in Detroit, Flip Saunders. The two are close - Rivers assisted Saunders on the US Goodwill Games team in 2001 - and the Celtics coach had an idea what the call was all about. Doc Rivers礼拜天晚上接到一通很有纪念性的电话，来自他底特律的对手，Flip Saunders 。这两个人很熟，Rivers在2001年美国亲善赛(这是啥？)时是Saunders的助理—而这个 Celtics的教练知道这通电话要说什麽。 "Now, the monkey is off your back," Saunders told Rivers. A few laughs ensued. “现在，你背上没有猴子罗(比喻芒刺在背)。”Saunders跟Rivers说。接着是一阵大笑。 "Yeah," Rivers said, "but we're still not finished. We want one thing. The same thing you want." More laughs. “是啊。”Rivers说”但是我们还没完成。我们想要一样东西。跟你们想要的一样的东 西。”更多大笑了。 Rivers understood from whence Flip came. He now is no longer The Coach That Can't Win A Playoff Series. Until the Celtics mauled the Hawks Sunday, Rivers had coached four teams into the playoffs, and all had been first-round casualties. Rivers知道Flip为何而来。他现在再也不是「没办法赢季後赛系列战」的教练了。直到 Celtics在礼拜天打爆老鹰队为止，Rivers 已经带领四支球队打进季後赛，但是全都在 第一轮阵亡。 After losing Game 6 in Atlanta, he briefly held the record for most games coached in the playoffs without winning a series. Now that mark belongs to Kevin Loughery who, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, has coached 27 playoff games and never won a series. 在亚特兰大输了第六战後，他成为执教最多季後赛比赛，却从来没有赢过任何一个系列 的教练纪录。现在这个纪录归给了Kevin Loughery，他执教了27场季後赛，从来没赢过 任何一个系列。 Saunders, for the longest time, was the epitome of the coach who couldn't get it done in the postseason. Never mind that the reason he couldn't, or didn't, had as much to do, or more, with his team than his coaching. Saunders有很长一段时间也是季後赛输家的缩影。不管他是不能、没有办法，还是别的 ，是他的球队的关系还是他的执教。 For seven straight years, from 1997 through 2003, Saunders got the Minnesota Timberwolves into the playoffs. And in each of those years, he got them no farther. He coached 29 games in the playoffs over those seven seasons and won only seven. Kevin Garnett was there for each and every one of them. 从1997年到2003年连续七年，Saunders带领明尼苏达灰狼队打进季後赛。在每一年，他 都没有办法继续向前。在那七年他执教了29场比赛，只赢了7场。Kevin Garnett在那每 一支球队里，年复一年。 Cleveland coach Mike Brown, meanwhile, won his very first playoff series. But, unlike Rivers and Saunders, he had had several years as an NBA assistant, in Indiana and San Antonio, where his teams generally fared well in the postseason. He has a ring from his 2002-03 season with San Antonio. 同时，克里夫兰教练Mike Brown在他生涯第一个季後赛系列就获胜。但是不像Rivers和 Saunders，他之前在 NBA当了七年助理教练，在印第安纳和圣安东尼奥，那时候这两支 球队都在季後赛生存的很好。他在2002-2003年跟圣安东尼奥一起时得了一只冠军戒。 "For me, it's tough to imagine not getting out of the first round," Brown said. "But it's probably going to happen someday." “对我来说，很难想像没办法在第一轮脱颖而出。”Brown 说”但是某天它也可能会发 生。”(译注：会不会太嚣张？) Rivers never served a minute as an NBA assistant, although he said Gregg Popovich wanted him on the Spurs bench right after he stopped playing. Saunders was the Wolves' general manager when he replaced Bill Blair 20 games into the 1995-96 season. Rivers从未当过NBA助理教练，虽然他说 Gregg Popovich要他一不打球就来马刺教练团 。Saunders那时是灰狼队的GM，在1995-1996年球季，他把只当了20场教练的Bill Blair 换下，自己走马上任。 He did some time as a college assistant at Tulsa and his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. 他在Tulsa大学和他的母校，明尼苏达大学当过大学助理教练。 During Saunders's Biblical drought with the Timberwolves, Rivers used his bully pulpit as a network television analyst to defend his friend and colleague. 当Saunders在灰狼队突破不了乾旱期时，Rivers以电视球评的身分大力劝说，替他的好 友兼同事挺身辩护。 "Flip was in that same boat, and it's no fun," Rivers said. "When I was doing television, people were killing Flip and I defended him so hard. I said, 'People, they shouldn't advance. They're not good enough. They're the underdog.’ “Flip跟我在同一条船上，这可不是开玩笑。”Rivers说”当我在电视上当球评时，人 们想要杀了Flip，而我努力替他辩护。我说’人们啊你们要知道，他们不该晋级。他们 还不够好。他们那时是处於劣势。’” "And, finally, when Flip did have the players [2004], they got to the conference finals. And I believe to this day that if Sam [Cassell] didn't get hurt, they'd have made it to the Finals and might have won the whole thing." “终於，当Flip有该有的球员(2004年)後，他们打进了西区总决赛。而我至今仍相信， 要不是Sam Cassell受伤，他们可以打进决赛，甚至抱回冠军的。” Rivers knows he, too, was getting killed for not getting any of his teams past the first round. Rivers也知道，他自己也因为不能带球队突破第一轮而快被人家杀了。 And there's no telling what might have happened had the Celtics lost Sunday. (Team broadcaster Sean Grande speculated on the air that he thought it highly unlikely Rivers would have been brought back.) 不用说也知道如果Celtics礼拜天输了会怎样。(转播员Sean Grande说，他觉得 Rivers 非常有可能就不用回来了。) Rivers's mother, Bettye, made her first appearance of the season for Game 7 against Atlanta; she usually attends a dozen or so Celtics games, but this year was harder for her, following the death of her husband last November. Rivers的母亲，Bettye，今年第一次到球场看球就是对老鹰的第七战，她每年大概会来 看12场 Celtics的比赛左右，但是今年比较辛苦，因为她的老伴去年11月过世了。 But Rivers said yesterday his mother's visit had been planned for a while ("she didn't think we'd be playing that day, either," he laughed), and that he felt no huge sense of relief after finally moving on following the dispatching of the Hawks. 但是Rivers说他母亲已经计画一阵子要来看球了 (“但是她也没想到我们会打到那一天” 他大笑说)，而他在终於解决掉老鹰队後，没有感觉非常如释重负。 "It really wasn't all that of a relief," he said. "I'm very realistic with the teams I've had. We managed to get up, 3-1, on Detroit [in the first year the NBA went to seven games in the first round] with a lineup of Pat Garrity, Andrew DeClercq, Drew Gooden, Tracy McGrady, and Darrell Armstrong. But guys still kill you, and I don't think they do their research. “这真的没有那麽如释重负。”他说”我对於我们球队非常实际。我们在底特律曾经有 过3比1领先(NBA第一轮开始采用7战4胜制的第一年)，我们的阵容有Pat Garrity、Andrew DeClercq、Drew Gooden、Tracy McGrady和 Darrell Armstrong。但是那些家伙把我们 杀了。而我不觉得他们有作该作的研究。” "In my mind, prior to this season, I've had one opportunity, and that was my first year here, when we played Indiana. A lot of people still picked Indiana to win the series, even though we had the home court, because their guys had been injured and were coming back. But I still thought we should have won that series. “在我心里，在这季之前，我曾有过一次机会，那是我在这里的第一年，我们遇上印第 安纳。很多人觉得印第安那会赢那个系列，即便我们有主场优势，因为他们的球员要伤 癒复出。但是我仍然认为我们应该要赢那个系列。” "Other than that, every team I've had has been the underdog and has not had the home-court advantage. We pushed hard. We just couldn't break through."And this year? “除此之外，我的每支球队都是处於比较劣势，而且没有主场优势。我们打的很认真。 但是就是没有办法突破。”那今年呢？ "I thought, we should win," Rivers said. "And we did. It was tougher than expected, but we did." “我认为，我们应该要赢。”Rivers说”而我们的确赢了。比想像中艰困，但是我们赢 了。” --

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