By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer | San Antonio Express-News, 2024-04-17 13:31:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准
2024年3月17日星期日，在德克萨斯州奥斯汀，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋文班亚马（1号）在NBA篮球比赛的加时赛中封盖了布鲁克林篮网队后卫丹尼斯·施罗德（17号）的上篮。（美联社照片/埃里克·盖）
在文班亚马的新秀赛季中，场场如此，马刺队控卫特雷·琼斯都会坐下来，等待不可避免的时刻。
至少每场比赛一次，而且通常比那更频繁，一名对手控球手会在进入禁区时有点过于自信，意识到篮筐处潜伏着7英尺3英寸的羞辱，然后像一个刚刚跳进有鲨鱼的大海的游泳者一样，掉头回到3分线外。
琼斯说：“当他们看到有一条小道开启时，你可以看到他们的眼睛一亮。”“然后当他们看到他冲进来时，就会迅速闭合。”
NBA还没有官方统计抢先中止投篮尝试的数据，但如果有的话，可以肯定的是，20岁的文班亚马本赛季在这方面领先全联盟。
他以场均3.6次、总计254次封盖领先全联盟，成为NBA历史上最年轻的实现这一成就的球员。
仅此一项就足以让文班亚马进入NBA年度最佳防守球员的讨论中，这是一项从未有新秀赢得过的奖项。
“他绝对是一位候选人，”达拉斯球星凯里·欧文在3月份赞不绝口地说。
NBA年度奖项的投票于周二截止，由覆盖联盟的100位媒体成员收集。结果将在整个季后赛期间分批发布。
文班亚马将成为年度最佳新秀奖的热门人选，他是自蒂姆·邓肯在1997年以来首位获得该奖项的马刺球员。唯一的问题是他的胜利是否会一致，或者俄克拉荷马城的切特·霍尔姆格伦可能会偷偷获得几张选票。
同样，自邓肯以来，文班亚马几乎肯定将成为联盟中第一位新秀，入选联盟两支最佳防守球队之一。
文班亚马场均得到21.4分、10.6个篮板和1.2次抢断，再加上超乎寻常的盖帽次数，他至少应该入选全NBA荣誉名单。然而，考虑到马刺队22胜60负的战绩，在他职业生涯的第一个赛季中，他似乎不太可能进入3个5人球队之一。
年度最佳防守球员的投票可能会更加激烈。
非官方的出口民意调查表明，明尼苏达中锋鲁迪·戈贝尔是最有可能赢得他第四座哈基姆·奥拉朱旺奖杯的球员，这将使他和本·华莱士以及迪肯贝·穆托姆博一起并列成为获得该奖项次数最多的球员。然而，文班亚马肯定会获得第一名选票，这对一位新秀来说意义非凡。
公平地说，联盟中没有哪个球员比文班亚马更多地破坏了对手球队的进攻计划。
本月早些时候在Frost Bank Center的一场比赛之前，费城教练尼克·纳斯承认，他大部分的准备时间都花在为他的球队找办法以避免填充文班亚马荒谬的盖帽总数上。
纳斯说：“我的第一个想法是我们在进攻端在做些什么，以不让他盖掉100个球？”“这是我的第一个想法。他能盖掉很多球，如果他盖掉了，这意味着他改变了其他人的计划，并阻止了球员们直接杀到篮下。”
那天晚上，文班亚马封盖了76人队的7次投篮，这是他作为一名新秀，24场比赛中至少完成5次盖帽的比赛之一。
即便如此，如果文班亚马赢得今年的年度最佳防守球员奖，那将——恰如其分地——被认为是一种窃取。
戈贝尔的理由相当简单：他是联盟中防守最好的球队的防守核心，这反过来又帮助明尼苏达取得了56胜26负的战绩，并成为西部季后赛中排名靠前的球队之一。
2024年4月2日，科罗拉多州丹佛——在丹佛球馆举行的比赛中，在第四节比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队的文班亚马（1号）盖掉了丹佛掘金队的雷吉·杰克逊（7号）的投篮。
他的统计数据与文班亚马的统计数据不太一样。戈贝尔以162次盖帽的总盖帽数排在NBA第五位，而他的52次抢断落后于文班亚马的88次。
历史不利于文班亚马的提名。
自1984年成立以来，年度最佳防守球员奖从未授予过表现不佳球队的球员。
马刺队以NBA第22名的防守成绩结束了这个赛季。然而，当文班亚马在场的情况下，他们的表现就像一个排名前5的球队，比每100次控球提高了7分以上。
文班亚马也通过了眼球测试。他许多的盖帽不仅仅是盖帽，而是对手的彻底羞辱——要么是“爸爸盖帽”，正如马刺队电视分析师西恩·埃利奥特著名的那样，要么是排球扣球，把球击飞到篮板上或观众席上。
马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇说，他不知道文班亚马是否在欧洲打更注重外围的比赛时，计划作为一名新秀在盖帽方面领先联盟。
波波维奇说：“但这就像一个要求（对于马刺队来说）。”“我们希望他在篮下，我们希望他在篮板和盖帽方面表现出色。”
波波维奇接着说：“显然他有天分。”“但我需要向他展示他在很多方面都有天分，这些是他不知道的。”
如果文班亚马在那之前不知道，他现在知道了。
NBA的其他球队也都知道了。
洛杉矶湖人队教练达尔文·哈姆说：“他的最大特点是不能教或培养的，那就是他的竞争天性。”“他是个有竞争力的孩子，他总是做出让球队获胜的投篮——追逐投篮、改变投篮、盖帽、拿下强强篮板。”
哈姆和其他NBA教练在颁奖投票中没有发言权。球员也没有。
问问文班亚马的马刺队队友，他们见证了他一个又一个标志性新秀赛季之夜，他们的选择很明确。
琼斯说：“他肯定度过了一段年度最佳防守球员式的时光。”
原文如下：
Victor Wembanyama’s DPOY bid now in voters’ hands
[Image] San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks a shot by Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder (17) during overtime of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Night after night throughout Victor Wembayama’s rookie season, Spurs point guard Tre Jones would sit back and await the inevitable.
At least once a game, and usually more often than that, an opposing ball-handler would get a little gung ho entering the paint, realize the 7-foot-3 dose of humiliation that lurked at the rim, then U-turn back to the 3-point line like a swimmer who had just jumped into the ocean with Jaws.
“You can see their eyes light up a little bit when they see there is a lane opening up,” Jones said. “Then quickly closing when they see him coming in there.”
There is no official NBA statistic for preemptive, aborted shot attempts, but if there was, it is a safe bet the 20-year-old Wembanyama led the league in them this season.
He already led the league in blocked shots, totaling 254 and averaging 3.6 per game to become the youngest player in NBA history to accomplish that feat.
That designation alone was enough to propel Wembanyama into the conversation as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, an award no rookie has ever won.
“He is for sure a candidate,” Dallas star Kyrie Irving raved in March.
Ballots for the NBA’s annual awards were due Tuesday, collected from a swath of 100 media members covering the league. Results are set to be released piecemeal throughout the playoffs.
Wembanyama is a shoo-in to earn Rookie of the Year honors, the first Spurs player to do so since Tim Duncan in 1997. The only question there is whether his win will be unanimous, or if Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgrem might sneak a few votes.
Likewise, Wembanyama is almost certain to become the first rookie league-wide since Duncan to be named to one of the league’s two All-Defensive teams.
After averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals to go with astronomical block numbers, Wembanyama ought to at least gain consideration for All-NBA honors. Given the Spurs’ 22-60 record, however, it appears unlikely he will crack one of the three five-player teams in his first season.
Defensive Player of the Year voting could be closer.
Unofficial exit polling suggests Minnesota center Rudy Gobert is the favorite to win his fourth Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, which would tie him with Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo for most all-time. Wembanyama is sure to garner first-place votes, however, and that is no small potatoes for a rookie.
It is fair to say no individual player in the league wrecked opposing team’s offensive game plans than Wembanyama.
Before a game earlier this month at the Frost Bank Center, Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse acknowledged the bulk of his preparation time was spent devising ways for his team to avoid padding Wembanyama’s ridiculous block totals.
“My first thought is what are we doing offensively to not let him just block 100 shots?” Nurse said. “That’s my first thought. He can block a lot of shots, and if he’s doing that it means he’s altering others and preventing guys from going to the rim just in general.”
Wembanyama blocked seven 76ers attempts that night, one of 24 games of at least five rejections he produced as a rookie.
Even so, if Wembanyama were to win this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award, it would — aptly — be considered a steal.
Gobert’s case is straightforward enough: He is the defensive centerpiece of the league’s top defensive team, which in turn led Minnesota to a 56-26 record and one of the top seeds in the Western Conference playoffs.
[Image] DENVER, COLORADO - APRIL 02: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs blocks a shot by Reggie Jackson #7 of the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter at Ball Arena on April 02, 2024 in Denver, Colorado.
His counting statistics aren’t quite on the same level as Wembanyama’s. Gobert ranked fifth in the NBA in total blocks with 162, while his 52 steals lagged behind Wembanyama’s 88.
History is working against Wembanyama’s candidacy.
Since its inception in 1984, the Defensive Player of the Year award has never gone to a player on a losing team.
The Spurs finished the season with the NBA’s 22nd ranked defense. With Wembanyama on the floor, however, they performed like a top-5 unit, an improvement of more than seven points per 100 possessions.
Wembanyama also passed the eye test. Many of his blocks weren’t just blocks but abject humiliations of an opponent — either “Dad blocks,” as Spurs TV analyst Sean Elliott famously called them, or volleyball spikes off the backboard or into the bleachers.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he doesn’t know if Wembanyama, who played a more perimeter-oriented game in Europe, planned on leading the league in blocks as a rookie.
“But that was like a requirement (for the Spurs),” Popovich said. “We wanted him at the basket and we wanted him rebounding and blocking shots.”
“Obviously he’s gifted,” Popovich continued. “But I needed to show him he’s gifted in a whole lot more ways than he knows.”
If Wembanyama did not know that before, he does now.
The rest of the NBA does too.
“His biggest trait that you can’t teach or coach is his competitive nature,” Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “He’s a competitive kid and he makes winning plays all the time — chasing down shots, changing shots, blocking shots, coming up with strong rebounds.”
Ham and the rest of the NBA’s coaches do not get a say when it comes to awards votes. Neither do the players.
Ask Wembanyama’s Spurs teammates, who saw him night after night throughout one of the most impressive rookie seasons in league history, and their choice is clear.
“He’s had a Defensive Player of the Year-type year for sure,” Jones said.
By Jeff McDonald, Spurs Writer, via San Antonio Express-News