Q&A with Herb Simon Owner of Pacers plans no changes at top Despite closing in on 50-loss season, O'Brien will be back as coach, Bird will return as president By Mike Wells Posted: April 9, 2010 http://www.indystar.com/article/20100409/SPORTS04/4090346/1088/SPORTS04/ Owner-of-Pacers-plans-no-changes-at-top http://tinyurl.com/ychjtva Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon doesn't like watching his franchise suffer through a fourth consecutive losing season. 印地安纳溜马队的老板 Herb Simon 不乐意看到他的球队挣扎着度过连续第四个失败的 球季。 But despite the potential for the first 50-loss season in more than two decades (the Pacers are 30-48 with four games left), Simon said in a recent interview that coach Jim O'Brien will return for his fourth season and team president Larry Bird will continue to lead the club's rebuilding project. 但尽管有可能成为二十年来第一个超过 50 败的球季（溜马战绩 30 胜 48 败，还剩 4 场比赛），Simon 在最近的一次访谈当中说教练 Jim O'Brien 会继续执教他第四个球季 ，而篮球事务总裁 Larry Bird 也将继续负责球队的重建计画。 "The losses aren't where we want them to be, but we feel like things are getting there and there's light at the end of the tunnel," Simon said. Simon 说：「输球不是我们想要的结果，但我们觉得事情正在走上轨道，在隧道的另一 端会有光明等着我们。」 Question: The franchise will finish with its worst record in more than 20 years. What are your thoughts about that? 问：球队将以二十年来最糟糕的战绩结束这个球季。对这件事你有什麽看法？ Answer: It's always frustrating when you lose. It just doesn't feel good. From that point of view, it's very frustrating. We feel we have a plan and we feel we're moving along with that plan. So we see the light at the tunnel when it comes to having salary cap space (in 2011). 答：输球总是让人很沮丧的。感觉就是很不好。从这个观点，这样的战绩确实让人感到 很挫折。我认为我们有计画，而且正在依计画前进。因为 2011 年我们将空出大笔薪资 空间的缘故，我们认为未来是光明的。 Q: Is it frustrating that you're winning meaningless games for the third straight season when you could be increasing your draft odds? 问：当有机会提高你的选秀顺位时，却赢了一堆无意义的比赛，这已经是连续第三个球 季发生这种事了。你觉得这会让人感到挫折吗？ A: The wins mean a lot for the players, they mean a lot for the coach, they mean a lot for the franchise. The crowds are very excited when we win and people are starting to feel that there's some hope with this team. I think it gives us hope for next season. 答：胜利对球员而言意义重大，对教练也是，对球队亦是如此。人们对胜利感到兴奋， 而且开始觉得球队未来好像有希望。我认为这能带给我们下个球季的希望。 Q: What about these wins hurting your draft chances? Teams that are in the playoffs got better with high draft picks. 问：那对於这些胜场降低了选秀机会，有何看法？现在的季後赛球队，就是因为过去有 高选秀顺位签才有办法进步。 A: There's no guarantee the first pick is going work out. Look at some of the previous picks. You definitely like a high pick, but you never sacrifice losing -- at least in this franchise we won't -- to get a better pick. That doesn't feel good and it's not the right way to do it. The fans who come out every game expect us to do our best and try our best and play our best. That's what this franchise stands for. 答：没有人保证状元就一定打得出来。看看之前的选秀吧。当然你总是会想要个高顺位 ，但牺牲胜利去换取好一点的顺位，并不值得 -- 起码在这只球队我们不会这样作。那 感觉很不好，也不是正确的方法。来看球的球迷们希望我们尽全力、打出最好的球赛。 而那也是这只球队的存在意义。 Q: Jim O'Brien has a losing record as coach of the team. Where do you stand on his future? 问：Jim O'Brien 担任这只球队教练的纪录胜少败多。你怎麽看待他的未来？ A: That will be a basketball decision and I haven't heard any information that he won't be back next season. So he'll be the coach next season. 答：那将是个篮球事务方面的决定，而我还未曾听过任何提到他下个球季将离开的消息 。所以他下个球季也将继续任教。 Q: Can the same be said about Larry Bird? The two of you have always had a handshake agreement when it comes to his contract. 问：那 Larry Bird 也是一样吗？你们之前总是以非正式协议的方式处理他的合约。 A: Yes, Larry will be back next season. It'll be up to him on if he wants to return after next season. Larry is a no-nonsense guy. He calls the shots the way he sees them and he's never going to compromise his values, which I appreciate. 答：没错，Larry 下个球季也会继续任职。下个球季之後则看他的意向如何。Larry 从 不做没有意义的事。他总是预见了某些事情才作决定，而且对自己的价值观绝不妥协。 我很欣赏这点。 Q: The fan base questions whether Bird can get the job done. You obviously must have a different feeling. 问：球迷们质疑 Bird 到底能不能把总管的工作做好。显然你一定有不一样的看法。 A: All I can tell you is I sit next to Larry at games and after every timeout there's a line of people waiting for his autograph. There may be some people that criticize him, but he's a special person. He's confident that he'll get this thing turned around. 答：我只能告诉你，当我坐在 Larry 身旁看球时，每次暂停过後总是有大排的人等着 签名。一定有某些人会批评他，但他是个很特别的人。他有自信能将局面翻转过来。 Q: Will you give any suggestion on how to improve the roster this summer? 问：你会对今年夏天如何改善阵容提出任何建议吗？ A: In basketball, one player can make a big difference and that player could be a first-round pick or a second-round pick. Danny (Granger) was the 17th, Reggie Miller was the 11th and they've been pretty good players. It's just a matter of doing your homework. A team that's a losing team needs help in a lot of places. We have a wide variety of areas we can improve. It's up to Larry and David (Morway, general manager), and I'm sure they'll make the right choice. 答：篮球方面，一位球员可以引起巨大的改变，而他可能是第一轮或第二轮。Danny Granger 是第 17 顺位，Reggie Miller 是第 11 顺位，而他们都是非常好的球员。问 题只在於事前功课作得足不足。一只输球的球队肯定有很多方面需要帮助。我们确实有 很多方面必须改善。而这交给 Larry 和 David Morway 决定，我相信他们能做出正确 的抉择。 Q: Where's the franchise financially? Your attendance is slightly better (14,032 average, according to ESPN.com, fourth worst in the NBA, with two home games left), but there are a lot of reduced ticket prices involved in that. 问：球队的财政状况如何？进场率是稍微改善了点（根据 ESPN：平均 14,032 人，联 盟倒数第四，还有两场主场），但这和票价调降很有关联。 A: There's a long way we have to go financially because of the slowdown in attendance, the lower ticket prices, the fact we have to make some special deals right now. Our gross is down like half of what it was when we were winning. We have a lot of room to improve. 答：在财政方面我们还有很长的路要走，因为进场率低迷，票价低的关系，我们现在必 须做一些特别的措施来因应。整体收益比起之前球队赢球的时代大约砍了一半。我们还 有很大的改善空间。 Q: There always seem to be rumors floating around about how much longer you'll continue to own the team. What's your stance on the situation? 问：一直有关於你会继续拥有这只球队多久的传言在流传。对於这样的情况，你的观点 如何？ A: There was an article in Forbes -- and I don't know where it came from -- but there's been no talk with anyone about selling this team. I'll continue to own this team. 答：在 Forbes 上有篇文章提到这件事 -- 我不知道他的消息是从哪来的 -- 但我没有 和任何人谈过卖球队的事。我将继续拥有这只球队。 题外话：Mike Wells 写完这篇访谈的报导後，信箱被 Indianapolis 愤怒的乡民灌爆了 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.112.241.159