By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-07-06 15:23:01
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。
周六，马刺新秀见面会在胜利资本训练中心举行，马刺新秀哈里森·英格拉姆 (Harrison Ingram) 为媒体和受邀嘉宾展示了几次投篮。
萨克拉门托——在上周的 NBA 选秀大会上，马刺队在第 48 顺位选中了哈里森·英格拉姆 (Harrison Ingram)。几天后，英格拉姆发现自己身处河滨步道的一家餐厅里，与一位名人堂成员面对面坐着。
英格拉姆渴望向马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 请教。众所周知，吉诺比利在 1999 年的选秀大会上以倒数第二顺位被选中，最终成就了一段辉煌的职业生涯，其中包括四枚 NBA 总冠军戒指和一个斯普林菲尔德名人堂席位。
然而，首先，英格拉姆必须弄清楚他吃的是什么，以上帝的名义，戈登·拉姆齐的名义。
“他们端上来了各种各样的东西，”21 岁的英格拉姆说道。“我都不知道，像是三文鱼鳄梨？某种哈密瓜，炸的。异国情调的食物。”
英格拉姆发现谈话比菜单更有启发性。
吉诺比利的经历给了他很大的鼓舞。吉诺比利现年 46 岁，是马刺队篮球运营部门的特别顾问。
“他从第 56 顺位开始，他说这并不容易，”英格拉姆说道。“他必须努力赢得一切。但他说，在马刺队，这是一个非常好的组织，对于那些在选秀大会末段被选中的球员来说，他们可以在这里得到发展和公平的机会。”
有一点是肯定的：如果英格拉姆能够达到吉诺比利那样高的水平，那么马刺队就不会在乎他是吃炸哈密瓜还是炸虫子了。
毫无疑问，这种情况发生的可能性微乎其微。
更有可能的是，马刺队希望英格拉姆——这位身高 6 英尺 6 英寸的前锋，他的大学生涯分别在斯坦福大学和北卡罗来纳大学度过——能够成为一个更大号的特雷·琼斯 (Tre Jones)。
琼斯是 2020 年的二轮秀，他已经成长为一名稳定的 NBA 控球后卫，可以在任何一支球队中做出贡献。
英格拉姆职业生涯的下一步始于周六的萨克拉门托，他将在那里完成自己的马刺队首秀，参加一场对阵夏洛特黄蜂队的夏季联赛比赛。
但首先是与吉诺比利的晚餐，吉诺比利帮助英格拉姆规划了前进的道路。
“他谈到了发展，以及相信自己的重要性，”英格拉姆说道。“不要担心其他人走的路。走好你自己的路。”
作为一名二轮秀，英格拉姆进入 NBA 时并没有像马刺队首轮秀、康涅狄格大学后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 那样受到关注和追捧。
作为今年的四号秀，卡斯尔是马刺队秋季主力阵容的必然人选。
而英格拉姆则需要为进入球队而战。他可能会得到一份双向合同。如果历史可以作为参考的话，英格拉姆——就像他之前的许多马刺队二轮秀一样——可能会在奥斯汀的球队附属 G 联赛球队中度过他大部分的新秀赛季。
“无论付出什么代价，无论是去 G 联赛还是留在主队，”英格拉姆说道，“我都准备好了，为了实现我的梦想。”
马刺队看到了英格拉姆身上许多值得欣赏的地方，他们认为他就像 NBA 中的一把瑞士军刀。
在斯坦福大学的两个赛季里，英格拉姆扮演着类似控球前锋的角色，负责控球和组织进攻。转学到北卡罗来纳大学后，英格拉姆打的是身材偏小的 power forward，利用他的接球投篮三分球能力来拉开空间。
在大三的时候，他场均能为北卡罗来纳焦油踵队贡献 12.2 分和 8.8 个篮板，三分球命中率为 38.9%。
“（在北卡罗来纳大学），他从一个主要的球员变成了一个次要的球员，”马刺队总经理布莱恩·赖特 (Brian Wright) 说道。“改变自己的比赛方式并不容易，但他做得很好，为那支球队做出了贡献。这就是你喜欢他的地方。”
英格拉姆说，“无论付出什么代价也要赢球”的态度一直是他大学生涯的标志。
他打算把同样的态度带到 NBA。
“我知道我的角色不是马上就去得分，尤其是如果我和维克多·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 以及德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 一起进入主力阵容的话，”英格拉姆说道。“我的工作就是让他们更容易地发挥。那就是抢篮板、防守、在有机会的时候投进空位投篮，快速做出决定。就做这些事情，努力想办法赢球。”
英格拉姆的韧性在马刺队的夏季训练营中就已经引起了一些人的注意。
“你从第一天就能看到他的竞争力，”卡斯尔说道。“他来这里就是为了努力赢球，尽他所能帮助我们赢球。”
英格拉姆是一位国际象棋爱好者，他的人生下一个目标是完成经济学学位，他给人的印象是温文尔雅。
别搞错了。他来到圣安东尼奥的时候，肩上也背负着一些压力。
英格拉姆是 2021 年达拉斯圣马可高中毕业的全国顶尖大学球员之一，他曾入选麦当劳全美最佳阵容，似乎注定有一天会成为 NBA 的乐透秀。
在今年的选秀大会上跌落到第二轮的后半段，这激发了英格拉姆在开始他的 NBA 职业生涯时的斗志。
“仅仅因为有 47 个人在我的前面被选中，并不意味着他们比我强，”英格拉姆说道。“我会每天都来这里，努力训练，争取我的上场时间。”
如果有一天，英格拉姆对作为一名二轮秀所能取得的成就产生怀疑，他只需要找到吉诺比利，然后请他把炸哈密瓜递过来就行了。
点击查看原文：Harrison Ingram aims to continue Spurs' second-round magic
Harrison Ingram aims to continue Spurs’ second-round magic
Spurs draft pick Harrison Ingram hoists a few shots for the media and invited gursts Saturday morning at the Victory Capital Performance Center Saturday as the Spurs draft picks were introduced.
SACRAMENTO — A few days after the Spurs made Harrison Ingram the No. 48 pick in last week’s NBA draft, he found himself in a Riverwalk restaurant, seated across the table from a Hall of Famer.
Ingram was eager to pick the brain of Manu Ginobili, who famously parlayed his spot as the second-to-last pick in the 1999 draft into a career that included four NBA championship rings and a spot in Springfield.
First, however, Ingram had to figure out what the in name of Gordon Ramsay he was eating.
“They were bringing all type of stuff,” the 21-year-old Ingram said. “I don’t even know, like a salmon-covered avocado? Some kind of cantaloupe, fried. Exotic food.”
Ingram found the conversation even more enlightening than the menu.
He took heart in the journey of Ginobili, now 46 and a special adviser to basketball operations with the Spurs.
“Coming from the 56th pick, he said it wasn’t easy,” Ingram said. “He had to earn everything. But he said being in the Spurs organization, it is such a good organization for those late picks to develop and get a fair shot.”
This much is certain: If Ingram pans out anywhere close to the level Ginobili did, the Spurs won’t care if he eats fried cantaloupe or fried worms.
Make no mistake, the odds are overwhelmingly against that outcome.
More likely, the Spurs are hoping Ingram — a 6-foot-6 forward who split his college career between Stanford and North Carolina — can become a bigger version of Tre Jones.
A second-round pick in 2020, Jones has developed into a steady NBA point guard who would be a contributor on any team.
The next step in that matriculation for Ingram began Saturday in Sacramento, where he was set to make his Spurs debut in a Summer League game against Charlotte.
But first came dinner with Ginobili, who helped Ingram chart the way forward.
“He talked about the development and just kind of buying into yourself,” Ingram said. “Don’t worry about what other path everybody else is on. Just run your own race.”
As a second-rounder, Ingram does not enter the NBA with the hype or pedigree afforded the Spurs’ first-round pick, Connecticut guard Stephon Castle.
The No. 4 overall pick, Castle is a shoo-in for the Spurs’ main roster this fall.
Ingram will have to fight to make the team. It might be on a two-way contract. If history is any guide, Ingram — like many Spurs’ second-rounders before him — could spend much of his rookie season with the club’s G League affiliate in Austin.
“Whatever it takes, whether it’s the G League to stay with the main team,” Ingram said, “I’m ready to do it to achieve my dreams.”
The Spurs see much to like about Ingram, who projects as something as a Swiss Army knife in the NBA.
In his two seasons at Stanford, Ingram occupied something of a point-forward role, handling the ball and initiating offense. After transferring to North Carolina, Ingram played as an undersized power forward, using his catch-and-shoot 3-point ability to stretch the floor.
He averaged 12.2 points and 8.8 rebounds as a junior with the Tar Heels, and made 38.9% of his 3-point tries.
“(At North Carolina), he went from more of a primary to a secondary player,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. “It’s not easy to transition your game that way, and he did a great job adding to that team. That’s what you like about him.”
Ingram says that “whatever it takes to win” attitude has been his calling card throughout his college career.
He aims to bring the same approach to the NBA.
“I know why role is not going to be to score right away, especially if I’m on the main team with Victor (Wembanyama) and Devin (Vassell),” Ingram said. “It’s my job to make their job easier. That’s rebounding, defending, knocking down open shots when I get them, making quick decisions. Just doing stuff like that, trying to figure out ways to win.”
Ingram’s toughness has already turned heads early in Spurs’ summer camp.
“You saw his competitiveness from Day 1,” Castle said. “He’s just coming here to try and win, do whatever he can to help us win.”
A chess aficionado whose next life goal is to finish his economics degree, Ingram can come off as mild-mannered.
Don’t get it twisted. He arrives in San Antonio with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Ingram was one of the nation’s top college recruits coming out of Dallas’ St. Mark’s High School in 2021, a McDonald’s All-American who seemed on track to one day be an NBA lottery pick.
Falling to the bottom half of the second round in this year’s draft has lit a fire under Ingram as he begins his NBA career.
“Just because there were 47 guys drafted ahead of me doesn’t mean they’re better than me,” Ingram said. “I’m going to come here every day, work hard and try to earn my minutes.”
And if the day ever comes when Ingram should doubt what is possible as a second-round pick, all he needs to do is find Ginobili — and ask him to pass the fried cantaloupe.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News