By BrunoPassos | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-07-03 01:51:40
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。
至少现在，是时候说再见了，感谢所有人的关注。
又一年 NBA 选秀大会落幕，这篇文章多少和它有关。马刺队用掉了他们的两个乐透签中的一个，并交易掉了另一个。后者在推特上的浏览量、卡特拉岩石广场的直播观看人数以及距离广场几英尺远的胜利训练中心内聚集的人数，引发了三种截然不同的反应。这篇文章也多少和这些有关，以及更多。
周三，我在岩石广场亲历了现场，并在充满争议的首轮比赛结束后听取了马刺队总经理布莱恩·赖特(Brian Wright)的评论。第四顺位选择了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)，一个与球队兴趣密切相关，并且至少能填补一个迫切的阵容需求、还有提升空间的球员。第八顺位，某种程度上的延期让球迷们充其量是不满，最糟糕的是愤怒。赖特还是他平常的样子，在当时尚未正式宣布交易的情况下面带微笑（马刺队一如既往地选择不对交易发表评论，而他们的交易伙伴明尼苏达森林狼队则公开表示欢迎），并冷静地回应记者提出的其他问题，比如他们相信斯蒂芬首先是一名篮球运动员（控球后卫的角色还有待观察），以及他们对长远规划充满信心。他谈到要继续稳扎稳打，“一砖一瓦地建设”，这在你刚刚选中“卡斯尔（城堡）”的时候显得恰如其分。
（选秀夜是我的最爱，一部分原因是我仍然喜欢离事情中心更近一点，但主要是因为能与球队周围的人互动，与球队工作人员叙旧，与 Project Spurs 的保罗·加西亚就当晚的进展坦诚交流，也许还能从传奇人物迈克·门罗那里听到一个故事。我会到场，写一篇报道，然后在接下来的几天里，通常会和网站主编 J.R. 威尔科一起对它评头论足。）
周四第二轮比赛结束后，赖特谈到了与森林狼队的交易：
你必须权衡什么对未来才是最好的。我们觉得我们得到的回报方案是合理的，值得放弃第八顺位……我们觉得这对签位的价值来说是公平的。
后来，赖特谈到了第二轮新秀胡安·努涅斯，谈到如何通过识别球员的某些优势，并预测他们在马刺体系中如何完善这些优势。考虑到他组建一支争冠球队的总体思路，这个答案似乎很恰当：
你必须投入时间，你必须投入努力。你不能一蹴而就，直接知道最终结果，但你可以押注那些通常会导致进步的因素。
马刺队一直在积累的是各种因素，也许不是那种能让球迷兴奋的因素，而是赖特在寻求增加球星影响力，以及我猜想，应对“第二奢侈税线”的可怕现实时，与同行谈判的筹码。他一直坚定不移，即使有些人已经准备好看到由球队年轻的超级巨星带领的更精彩的篮球比赛。
尽管我理解，但我不是来粉饰太平的：正如激进没有内在的优点一样，谨慎也不等于天才和远见。每件事都有机会成本，你可以举出一个交易第八顺位的例子，不仅是因为他们现在如何围绕维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)建队，还因为他们如何发展成为比选秀夜回报更有价值的争冠资产。由于球迷和分析师们获得的信息有限，他们所能做的就是相信长远规划——或者至少理解赖特的简略说法。大多数优秀的篮球头脑似乎都有一个长远规划，而伟大的篮球头脑能够看透它。
在报道马刺队的这几年里，我见过格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)十几次耸耸肩，说出“这就是篮球”的某种版本，这句口诀似乎有助于将球场上发生的事情置于宇宙中的正确位置，同时为了简单起见将其抽离出来。在你的领域取得成功的途径，可能是不把事情复杂化，让像波波维奇这样的人能够作为老师和炼金术士，正确地划分比赛的各个要素。虽然我对他重复这句话的大部分经历，都是他用它来回避不想回答的问题，但我认为这也为他这位七旬老人与更衣室里崭露头角的 Z 世代球员之间创造了一种方便的交流方式。这是他在马刺队常规赛倒数第二场对阵掘金队之前再次抛出的一句金句。我不记得具体内容了，但我敢肯定，他是在拿（前Pounder作者，现Corporate Knowledge作者，我的朋友）马修·泰南开玩笑，因为他问了一个关于第21场比赛和第81场比赛的不同策略的问题。波波维奇假装睡着了。他带着一丝坏笑和耸肩，为那一晚定下了基调。那一晚，虽然对马刺队 2023-24 赛季毫无意义，但却以文班最后一次展现天赋、无条件的激情和“去你的”的意志力，为他的新秀赛季画上了句号。只是一个与任何更广泛的含义无关的，纯粹的篮球之夜。
讽刺的是，对于我这个过度投入的业余博客写手来说，就像我在过去 7 年的大部分时间里，作为 Pounding the Rock 的特约记者一样，“这不可能只是篮球”。否则，你还能做什么呢？深夜在更衣室里，在一群真正的职业记者中间无所事事；把你的休息时间都花在挖掘数据和观看视频分析或预测上；因为一些在第 42 场和第 43 场比赛之间就会失去价值的文字组合而失眠；第二天早上 8 点还要打卡上班，准备重新开始这一切。你每发一篇帖子就清空了杯子，然后再把它装满，并希望你所关注的故事，能够像赖特和波波维奇试图演绎的那样，最终达到高潮。你没有太多空间去耸肩、坏笑，也没有空间去忽略对第二奢侈税线的学习，如果有的话，也许是时候培养一个新的爱好了。
篮球的一点是，它本身就是一种体验和思考练习。这意味着，每年都会有一个团队，凭借必要的投入，无论是球员的汗水和才华，还是像赖特这样的管理层的远见卓识和洞察力，能够共同登上顶峰；这意味着，无论外部世界如何运作，无论是不公正和被操纵的机制，还是在这个充满不确定性的鱼缸里所有的情感和旅程，最终都可能得到回报；这意味着，人们，包括我们这些球迷，以我们自己个人的、超然的但仍然有意义的方式，能够赢得胜利。这就是我们关心的原因，也是为什么我们难以离开的原因，即使这种练习要求你把目光投向2031 年。并不是说赖特和他的批评者没有共同的目标——他所规划的道路只是被证明不那么直接，是用甘特图和某种篮球 AutoCAD 绘制出来的，我相信写下最终的结局会是一件非常愉快的事情。
也就是说，至少现在，出于所有最好的个人原因，这件事“只是篮球”，至少在我能以一种相当投入和规律的方式，为读者带来什么方面的内容而言是这样。长远规划，以及文班带来的所有可能性，都不是我能帮助讲述的，但我将与其他人一起享受这个过程。我感谢 JRW 为我提供了写作的平台，感谢所有阅读和参与的人，感谢 PtR 和马刺队提供的访问机会和独特体验，感谢你们在选秀夜最后一次关注我。认识那些默默无闻的面孔，他们让这一切成为可能，就像与球员和教练互动一样令人愉快。无论是好是坏（但主要是好的），这都是一项关于人际关系的事业，我很高兴能从中收获一些属于自己的小小的人际关系。
点击查看原文：Thoughts on draft night in Spurs-land, and a personal farewell
Thoughts on draft night in Spurs-land, and a personal farewell
For now at least, so long and thanks for all the clicks.
Another NBA Draft has passed, and this post is sort of about that. The Spurs used one of their two lottery picks and dealt another, the latter move creating three entirely different waves of reactions depending on if you were scrolling Twitter, watching live from The Rock at La Cantera’s plaza, or huddled inside the nearby Victory Performance Center a few feet from the plaza, and this post is sort of about that, too. And more.
I was at The Rock on Wednesday to take in the scenes and Spurs GM Brian Wright’s comments at the end of a divisive first round. At 4? Chalk, someone strongly linked to team interest and who fills at least one pressing roster need, with room to do more. At 8, a sort of deferment that left fans unfulfilled at best, exasperated at worst. Wright was his usual self afterward, smiling around the then-still unofficial trade (the Spurs, in their typical fashion, chose to not comment on the transaction while their trade partners in Minnesota reveled openly) and coolly leaning into other points set up by reporters, such as their belief in Stephon the basketball player first (the point guard part TBD), and the confidence in taking the long view. He talked about continuing to move deliberately, “build this thing brick by brick”, which is fitting when you’ve just drafted a Castle.
(Draft night is a favorite of mine, partially because I still get a kick out of being a little closer to ground zero but mostly because of the interactions with others in the team’s orbit, catching up with team personnel, reacting candidly with Project Spurs’ Paul Garcia about the night’s developments as they unfold, and maybe taking in a story from one of the GOATs, Mike Monroe. I’ll show up, punch out a story, and typically geek out with J.R. Wilco, this site’s editor-in-chief, about it in the days that follow.)
On Thursday following Round 2, Wright did speak on the Timberwolves deal:
You have to weigh the calculus on what’s best ultimately for the future. We felt like the package we got was one that made sense to move off the 8th pick for… We felt like it was fair value for what the pick was worth.
Wright spoke later about 2nd round selection Juan Núñez, of identifying players by certain strengths and projecting how they can round those out within the Spurs system. The answer felt apt considering his general approach to assembling a contender:
You have to put the time in. You have to put the work in. You can’t just fast forward to the end and know the exact outcome, but you can bet on the ingredients that usually lead to improvement.
What the Spurs continue to stack are ingredients, maybe not the kind that fans get going over, but the kind of currency that matters to Wright’s counterparts as he looks to add starpower and, I assume, deal with the harrowing realities of whatever a “second tax apron” is. He’s been steadfast in this, even when some are ready to see more compelling basketball speared by the team’s young superstar right away.
Although I get it, I’m also not here to provide spin: just as there’s nothing inherently virtuous about being aggressive, circumspection doesn’t immediately equate to genius and foresight. Everything has an opportunity cost, and you could make a case for one in trading 8, not just for how they might get embedded around Victor Wembanyama now but how they could develop into a more valuable contender-building asset than the return on draft night. With what limited access they have, all fans and analysts can do is buy into the long view — or at least understand Wright’s shorthand of it. Most good hoop brains seem to have one, and the great ones are able to see it through.
I’ve seen Gregg Popovich shrug out some version of It’s Just Basketball a dozen times while covering the Spurs, a mantra that seems to help place what happens on the court in its rightful spot in the cosmos while extricating it for simplicity’s sake. It’s possible that a way to excel in your field is to not overcomplicate it, allowing someone in Pop’s position to properly compartmentalize the elements of a game as both teacher and alchemist. And while most of my experiences with the reprise have been him using it to parry an undesirable question, I assume it also creates a handy shorthand between septuagenarian icon and the up-and-coming Zoomers in his locker room. It’s a nugget he dropped again before the Spurs’ penultimate game of the regular season against, well, the Nuggets. I can’t recall the specifics but I’m pretty sure he was ribbing (former Pounder, current beat fiend at Corporate Knowledge and my pal) Matthew Tynan on a question about the differing approach between game 21 and game 81. Pop pretended to fall asleep. With a smirk and a shrug, it became a fitting table-setter for a night that, while meaningless to the Spurs’ 2023-24 season, punctuated Wemby’s rookie campaign with one final display of talent, unconditional passion, and eff-you willpower. Just a night of good basketball unmoored from any wider implications.
The irony for the overly invested amateur blogger, as I’ve been for most of these past 7 years as a credentialed writer for Pounding the Rock, is that it can’t be Just Basketball. Otherwise what else are you doing idling in a locker room among actual career journalists late into the night, spending your downtime mining data and watching video for analysis or projection, losing sleep over a combination of words whose value will self-destruct somewhere between game 42 and game 43 and clock in for your day job at 8am the next morning, ready to do this all over again. You empty the cup with each post, fill it back up, and hope the story you’ve latched onto builds to the crescendo Wright and Pop are trying to play out. There’s not much room for shrugs and smirks and neglecting to study up on second tax aprons and, if there is, it might be time for a new hobby.
One thing about basketball is that it’s self-contained as an experience and thought exercise. There’s an implication that one group every year with the necessary inputs, be by it sweat and brilliance of the players or prescience and perception from suits like Wright, can collectively ascend to the top; that however things may work in the outside world, whatever the injustices and rigged machinations, all the emotions and journeys in this fishbowl through abject uncertainty might pay off; that people, including us the fans in our own personal and detached but still meaningful way, can win. That’s why we care, and why it’s hard to walk away, even when the exercise challenges you to cast your eye to the year 2031. It’s not that Wright and his detractors don’t share the same goal — the path he’s charting is just proving to be less direct, plotted out in gantt charts and some sort of basketball AutoCAD, and I’m sure writing about that final arrival would be a blast.
Which is to say, for now at least, and for all the best personal reasons, this thing is just basketball, at least in the sense of what I can bring readers in the way of appreciably invested and regular coverage. The long view, and all the possibilities enabled by Wemby, aren’t mine to help recount, but I’ll enjoy following along with everyone else. I’m thankful to JRW for the platform to write and for anyone who read and engaged, for the access and singular experience provided by PtR and the Spurs, and for taking it in one last time on draft night. Getting to know the unseen faces that make it all work has been as much a pleasure as interacting with players and coaches, For good and bad (but mostly good) this is a business about relationships, and I’m forever stoked to come out of this with a few small ones of my own.
By BrunoPassos, via Pounding The Rock