By Tom Orsborn, Sports reporter | San Antonio Express-News, 2024-04-04 13:59:00
由Google Gemini Pro人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇对年轻阵容的发展感到满意，其中包括新秀维克托·文班亚马，该阵容已在上半赛季中得到了发展。自每年的牛仔竞技大会公路之旅以来，圣安东尼奥队战绩为 7-10。
新奥尔良——格雷格·波波维奇喜欢说教练永远不会满意，但最近他很难掩饰他对球队感到满意。
在执教马刺队的第 28 个赛季的最后几天，波波维奇指导了一支球队，该球队需要在最后六场比赛中打成平手，才能比 1996-97 赛季的战绩好一场，而 1996-97 赛季是马刺队历史上最差的 20-62 赛季。受到一系列伤病困扰，包括首发球员德文·瓦塞尔和杰里米·索汉赛季报销，马刺队将难以实现这一目标。
但是，这些对波波维奇来说都无关紧要。他很高兴得知 NBA 最年轻的球队已经从 11 月和 12 月创纪录的 18 连败的黑暗时期取得了很大进步，并致力于在 2023-24 赛季 4 月 14 日主场对阵底特律之前取得更大的进步。
“输球很糟糕，但看到他们本赛季取得的进步真的令人欣喜，”波波维奇说。
马刺队（18-58）在 7-10 战绩中迎来了周五晚上对阵鹈鹕队（45-31）的比赛，因为他们在牛仔竞技大会之旅中战绩为 1-8。在那段时间里，他们的胜利包括五场战胜胜率更高的球队，包括竞逐西部第一种子名额的俄克拉荷马城。
这些事实让球队中的每个人都很高兴，而不仅仅是波波维奇。
“我们一直表现得很好，每个月都在进步，”控球后卫特雷·琼斯说。“显然，我们的记录并没有显示我们一直在比赛的方式，但我们每场比赛都变得越来越好。”
琼斯将上升趋势归因于该小组变得更加成熟。
“我认为这只是我们成长，互相了解，建立默契，学习彼此在球场上如何发挥作用，”琼斯说。
另一个因素集中在马刺队打出更加积极的篮球。
“我们从起跳开始就增加了更多的对抗性，”中锋扎克·科林斯说。
他们还在比赛中响应逆境的方式中表现出更强的精神韧性。
“我们不会垂头丧气，”科林斯说。“我们不会说，‘哦，我们又来了。’球队已经开始比赛，我们已经做出回应。年初的时候，我们出来就会被打败，我们只会屈服。我们不再这么做。”
也许最重要的是，与新秀明星维克托·文班亚马一起比赛的舒适度也提高了。
“随着时间的推移，他们变得越来越好，”波波维奇说。“一开始很奇怪。没有人知道在维克托身边该做什么。他不知道在他们身边该做什么。他们从未合作过，也没有和维克托体型的人合作过。所以这需要时间，但他们现在舒服多了。”阅读更多：经过一个赛季的评估，马刺队面临有关文班亚马的辅助阵容的决定
尽管与这位身高 7 英尺 3 英寸的天才完全一致的工作仍在进行中，但对于如何最好地利用他的惊人技能有了更好的理解。
同样，这位 20 岁的法国人也仍在学习 NBA 比赛。
“维克托在（进攻）端引起了很多关注，所以我们正试图从中学到一些东西，而他仍在调整，”琼斯说。“在防守方面，他能够在篮筐和油漆区周围漫游并影响如此多的投篮，我们只是试图学习如何利用我们的这种资产。”
联盟中的波波维奇的同行对马刺队的成长以及 NBA 所有时间的冠军教练为使所有工作都围绕文班亚马进行点击而所做的努力印象深刻。
“波波在让文班亚马在一个赛季内成长方面做得很好，”在周二马刺队以 110-105 战胜掘金队之后，掘金队教练迈克尔·马龙在文班亚马获得三双并获得 23 分、15 个篮板、八次助攻和九次盖帽之后说道。
“波波继续让他进入新的和更多的环境，在那里他可以成为控球后卫，可以成为发起者，”马龙说。“他让他处于接球投篮的情况，肘部（孤立）的情况，他只是阅读防守并进行比赛。因此，对他具有的学习曲线有多快以及他在第一年取得的进步印象非常深刻。”
其中很大一部分原因是波波维奇不断推动已经高度积极主动的文班亚马做得更好。
这位 75 岁的教练说：“如果他把它交了出去，他没有抓住它，我就嘲笑他。”
文班亚马表示，他喜欢与波波维奇共事。
“我们谈了很多，我们相处得很好，我们在一起笑得很开心，”文班亚马说。“他仍然要求苛刻，而我也是。”
和波波维奇一样，文班亚马对球队的进步感到满意。
文班亚马说：“回顾本赛季，我可以看到我们的进步，也看到了我的进步。”“即使感觉每一场比赛都一点一点，但是如果你每天都这样做，经过整个赛季，就会累积成更大的东西。这是我在赛季第一场比赛中无法做到的事情。我对我们变得更好的方式感到自豪。”马刺队对阵鹈鹕队：如何观看比赛、著名统计数据、球员新闻
对于想要结束赛季的彩票球队来说，这是可以理解的，但马刺队正在带着不同的视角接近休赛期：他们渴望另一个揭幕战。
“如果赛季今天开始，我们将处于不同的位置，”前锋切迪·奥斯曼说。
这对波波维奇来说高兴就足够了。
“如果他们能在艰难的赛季中以这种精神赢得胜利，这预示着未来会发生伟大的事情，”波波维奇说。
原文如下：
Popovich says it’s been a ‘real joy’ watching Spurs develop
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is pleased with how the young roster, including rookie Victor Wembanyama, has developed over the second half of the season. San Antonio is 7-10 since its annual rodeo road trip.
NEW ORLEANS — Gregg Popovich likes to say coaches are never happy, but it’s been difficult for him lately to disguise how pleased he is with his team.
In the final days of his 28th season at the helm of the Spurs, Popovich is guiding a squad that needs to break even in its final six games to finish one win better than the 1996-97 team that finished a franchise-worst 20-62. Plagued by a rash of injuries, including season-ending ones to starters Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan, the Spurs will be hard pressed to deliver on that goal.
But none of that matters to Popovich. He’s deriving pleasure from knowing the NBA’s youngest team has made plenty of progress from the dark days of a club-record 18-game losing streak in November and December and is devoted to making even more before the curtail falls on the 2023-24 campaign April 14 at home against Detroit.
“Losing sucks, but to see how far they have come this season is really a joy,” Popovich said.
The Spurs (18-58) enter Friday night’s game against the Pelicans (45-31) with a 7-10 record since going 1-8 on their rodeo trip. Their wins in that stretch included five over teams with winning records, including Oklahoma City, which is vying for the No. 1 seed in the West.
Those facts have made everybody on the team happy, not just Popovich.
“We have been playing really well, getting better and better every single month,” point guard Tre Jones said. “Obviously, our recorddoes not show the way we have been playing, but we have been getting better every single game.”
Jones attributes the upswing to the group becoming more mature.
“I think that is just us growing up, getting on the same page as one another, building chemistry, learning how one another plays on both ends of thefloor,” Jones said.
Another factor centers on the Spurs playing a much more aggressive brand of basketball.
“We have cranked up the physicality a lot more from the jump,” center Zach Collins said.
They have also displayed more mental toughness in the way they have responded to in-game adversity.
“We don’t put our heads down,” Collins said. “We don’t go, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ Teams have gone on runs and we have responded. Earlier in the year, we would come out and get blown out and we would just give in. We don’t do that anymore.”
Perhaps most importantly, the comfort level in terms of playing with rookie star Victor Wembanyama has increased.
“They have gotten better and better as the year goes along,” Popovich said. “In the beginning, it was weird. Nobody knew what to do around Victor. He didn’t know what to do around them. They had never played before and with someone of Victor’s size. So it took time, but they are much more comfortable now.” READ MORE: After season of evaluation, Spurs face decisions about Wembanyama’s supporting cast
Although getting fully on the same page with the 7-foot-3 wunderkind remains a work in progress, there’s a much better understanding of how they can best utilize his amazing skills.
Likewise, the 20-year-old Frenchman is still learning the NBA game.
“Victor creates a lot of attention on (the offensive) end, so we are trying to play off that and learn somethings, and he is adjusting still,” Jones said. “Defensively, the way he is able to roam and affect so many shots aroundthe rim and paint, we’re just trying to learn how to play with that asset behind us.”
Popovich’s peers around the league have been impressed with the Spurs’ growth and the way the NBA’s all-time winningest coach has worked to make it all click around Wembanyama.
“Pop has done a hell of a job building him up in one season,” Denver coach Michael Malone said after the Nuggets barely escaped with a 110-105 win over the Spurs on Tuesday after Wembanyama flirted with a quadruple-double with 23 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and nine blocks.
“Pop continues to put him in new and more situations where he can be the ball handler, where he can be the initiator,” Malone said. “He puts him in catch-and-shoot situations, elbow (isolation) situations and he is just reading the defense and making plays. So really, really impressed with how quick of a learning curve he has had and the improvement he has made in just year one.”
A lot of it has to do with Popovich continually pushing the already highly motivated Wembanyama to do even better.
“If he turns it over, he doesn’t catch it strong, I’m on his ass,” the 75-year-old coach said.
Wembanyama said he enjoys working with Popovich.
“We talk a lot, we get along well, we laugh a lot together,” Wembanyama said. “He is still so demanding, and so am I.”
Like Popovich, Wembanyama is pleased with how much progress the team has made.
“Looking back on the season, I can see our progression but also my progression,” Wembanyama said. "Even though it feels like it’s little by little every game, when you do it every day, after a whole season, it adds up to something big. This is stuff I wouldn’t have been able to do in the first game of the season. I’m proud of the way we got better.” Spurs vs. Pelicans: How to watch the game, notable stats, player news
While it would be understandable for a lottery-bound team to want to get the season over with, the Spurs are approaching the offseason with a different perspective: They yearn for another opening night.
“If the season would start today, we would be in a different spot,” forward Cedi Osman said.
And that’s reason enough for Popovich to be happy.
“If they can have this kind of spirit in a tough season win loss wise, it portends great things in the future,” Popovich said.
By Tom Orsborn, Sports reporter, via San Antonio Express-News