By Michael C. Wright, 2024-10-01 04:46:00
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。
圣安东尼奥——在今夏代表法国队参加奥运会的六场高风险、高压力的比赛中，维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)吸取了宝贵的经验教训，他希望将这些教训运用到他在圣安东尼奥马刺队的第二个NBA赛季中。
“在奥运会上赢球很难，”他说，“但输球却很容易。”
作为2023年NBA选秀的状元，文班亚马在奥运会上承受的压力与他在联盟中获得一致认可的年度最佳新秀赛季时所面临的任何压力都不同。文班亚马明白，在NBA“可能需要很长时间才能再次经历这样的事情”，但他也意识到，运用学到的经验教训可能会加速马刺队重返争冠行列的步伐。
“这可能是我一生中最激烈的体育经历，”文班亚马在谈到奥运会时说，“我很幸运能有机会体验这些。我也感到自豪。在所有的淘汰赛中，我们40分钟都全神贯注于一件事：下一场比赛。作为一个团队，拥有这种程度的专注力，我们所有人朝着同一个目标努力，这建立了一些东西。这种情感太过强烈，难以抑制。你必须尖叫或哭泣。它太强烈了，无法抑制。”
因此，期待着文班亚马能够将这种情感转化为帮助马刺队在新赛季中取得进步，与新加入的老将克里斯·保罗和哈里森·巴恩斯一起，将上赛季的22场胜利提升到一个新的高度。马刺队在2023-24赛季派出了联盟中最年轻的阵容。但在整个夏天，主教练格雷格·波波维奇见证了球队的基石球员在法国队取得了巨大的进步。
2023-24赛季结束后，文班亚马在圣安东尼奥待了大约两个月，努力提高自己的力量，然后前往参加奥运会。球队目前将文班亚马的体重列为235磅，比他新秀赛季时的体重增加了25磅。这位法国人表示，增强力量“是让我能够扩展比赛的主要因素”，这增强了他对抗的能力，并提高了整体运动能力。
波波维奇看到了所有这些努力在法国队身上的体现。
“他在奥运会期间稳步提升，最终变得非常强大，”波波维奇说，“他的侵略性和身体对抗能力是最重要的。他正在理解需要付出什么，他将得到什么，以及他需要付出什么来应对这类事情。国际篮联的比赛对抗更加激烈。所以，可以说，这对他来说是一个很棒的小型培养皿。能够每天、每场比赛都做到这一点，这就是他真正成长的地方。他在决赛中对阵美国队时拿下了26分。这有点像大卫·罗宾逊的事情，我当时并不知道他拿了26分。维克托也是这样，因为他能做很多不同的事情。”
新队友巴恩斯也观看了奥运会，他称金牌争夺战是一场“双赢”，因为美国队最终获胜，而文班亚马也表现出色。
“这显示出他这个年纪的球员在这样的时刻在主场打球所表现出的成长和成熟，”巴恩斯说，“我认为人们没有意识到他所承受的压力。在那个阶段打出那种水平的比赛，打出那种比赛，真是太棒了。这表明他已经准备好承担更大的责任，不仅是在进攻端还是防守端，而是在领导力和对那些可能没有经历过那个阶段或那种情况的球员说话方面。”
事实上，得分后卫德文·瓦塞尔在媒体日谈到文班亚马第二年的前景时，做出了一個大胆的预测，并向NBA其他球队发出了警告。除了在夏天增强核心力量外，这位20岁的球员还专注于基本功，同时专注于提高篮下终结能力。
文班亚马还在夏天花时间与退役的三届NBA最佳第六人贾马尔·克劳福德一起练习运球。
“比赛节奏对他来说正在放慢，”瓦塞尔解释说，“他看到了所有的事情，阅读比赛，他想投出的投篮，终结进攻。他的每一步都在成长。（凭借）他去年的数据，他所经历的历练，对他来说（仍然）在进步，这对今年的联盟来说将是非常可怕的。我可以告诉你。”
然而，文班亚马想要展现的是，在一个他希望能够证明对年轻的马刺队最终扭转局面、迈向季后赛至关重要的艰苦夏天之后，在第二个赛季中取得丰硕的成果。
“这些期望，我只是像多年来处理所有其他期望一样处理，”他说，“我只是专注于我的实际责任。我可以说，我很高兴这些能力得到了认可。我的重点始终是赢球和让我的队友变得更好。这与前几年没有什么不同。只是去年，我们的期望是学习和了解自己。今年，我们期待着胜利。”
点击查看原文：Wembanyama feels 'really lucky' for his Olympic experience
Wembanyama feels ‘really lucky’ for his Olympic experience
SAN ANTONIO – Six high-stakes, pressure-packed games at the Olympics in France over the summer taught Victor Wembanyama a valuable lesson that he aims to apply in his second NBA season with the San Antonio Spurs.
“It’s hard to win games in the Olympics,” he said. “But it’s very easy to lose games.”
The No. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA draft, Wembanyama experienced pressure at the Olympics unlike anything he had ever faced in the league during a unanimous Rookie of the Year campaign. Wembanyama understands it might take “a long time before I experience something such as this” in the NBA, but he also recognizes that applying the lessons learned might fast-track San Antonio’s path back to contention.
“It was maybe the most intense sports experience in my life,” Wembanyama said of the Olympics. “I felt really lucky to have the chance to live those experiences. I felt proud as well. During all elimination games, for 40 minutes we were locked in thinking about one thing: the next play. As a team, it builds something to have this level of concentration, all of us towards the same goal. The emotion is just too much to contain. You have to scream or cry a little bit. It’s too much to contain.”
So, expect Wembanyama to channel it toward helping San Antonio improve its 22-game win total from last season alongside veteran new additions Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes. The Spurs fielded the league’s youngest team during the 2023-24 season. But over the summer coach Gregg Popovich watched the team’s franchise cornerstone grow tremendously with Team France.
After the conclusion of the 2023-24, Wembanyama spent approximately two months in San Antonio working to improve his strength before departing for the Olympics. The team currently lists Wembanyama at 235 pounds, up 25 pounds from his listed weight as a rookie. The Frenchman said gaining strength “is the primary thing that allows me to expand my game,” increasing his ability to play through contact and improving overall athleticism.
Popovich watched all the work manifest itself in France.
“He improved steadily throughout the Olympics and ended up being very formidable,” Popovich said. “His aggressiveness was the big thing, and physicality. He’s understanding what it takes, what he’s going to get, and what he’s got to give back to counter that kind of thing. FIBA is much more aggressive. So, it was a wonderful little petri dish for him, so to speak. To be able to have to do that every day and every game, that’s where he really rose as it went along. He scored 26 points against the USA team in the Finals. It was kind of like a David Robinson thing where I didn’t really know he had 26 points. It was like that with Victor because he can do so many different things.”
New teammate Barnes watched the Olympics, too, calling the gold medal game a “win-win” because Team USA emerged victorious while Wembanyama also excelled.
“It just shows the growth and maturity that he has for a guy his age to be playing in that type of moment at home,” Barnes said. “I don’t think people realize, just, the pressure he was under. To play at that level at that stage, to have that type of game, it was huge. It shows he’s ready to take on a bigger role, not only in the offense or the defense but just in terms of leadership and speaking to guys who maybe haven’t been on that stage or been in that situation.”
In fact, shooting guard Devin Vassell offered a bold prediction and a warning for the rest of the NBA when discussing Wembanyama’s Year 2 prospects at media day. In addition to gaining core strength over the summer, the 20-year old homed in on fundamentals while focusing on finishing better at the rim.
Wembanyama also spent time working dribble moves over the summer with Jamal Crawford, a retired three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
“The game is slowing down for him,” Vassell explained. “He’s seeing everything, the reads, what shots he wants to get to, finishing. Every step of his game is growing. [With] the numbers he was putting up last year, the runs he was going on, for him to be [still] improving, it’s going to be scary for the league this year. I can tell you that.”
What Wembanyama wants to show, though, is fruitful manifestation on the floor in Year 2 from a laborious summer he hopes proves key in the young Spurs finally turning the corner toward postseason contention.
“These expectations, I just manage like I’ve managed all the others for years,” he said. “I just focus on my actual responsibilities. I can say I’m glad these abilities are being recognized. My emphasis is always going to be on winning and making my teammates better. It’s no different than previous years. It’s just that last year, our expectations were to learn and know ourselves. This year, we expect from us to win.”
By Michael C. Wright, via ESPN