By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-10-30 00:49:03
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。
一场闹剧般的比赛，马刺遗憾落败
好吧，我猜这算是个好兆头，因为我讨厌这场比赛。这才是赛季的第三场比赛，而且这支年轻的马刺队，非常不正式地说，并不打算在未来几个月里一路攀登到总冠军的宝座。他们的期望很现实，成长计划也很扎实，所有的说辞也都很动听。我们被告知，球队在赛季初会有些生疏，你看，我们现在可不就是淹没在生疏里嘛。我讨厌这样。
并不是说我没有耐心，虽然我确实如此。我想我只是准备好用不同的标准来要求这支球队了。他们已经赢得了这种待遇，不是吗？是的，他们赢得了。我们在这里待了很长时间，克制着自己的情绪，陪伴着一支需要在 NBA 生活的残酷现实中磨练自己的球队一起成长。这并不是说这个过程已经结束了；只是我认为他们已经准备好进入下一个阶段了。
那是什么阶段呢？在这个阶段，你不会因为在与对手的比赛中休息了三节而得到免费通行证。一个特别讨厌的州际对手，我们将在未来十年左右的时间里与之正面交锋，争夺每一寸空间。与这些家伙的战斗不仅仅是从现在才开始；战斗一年前就开始了，每个人都需要清醒过来。
我不需要每个人都达到杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)的水平。他们不必对着麦克风告诉整个城市……滚蛋。我的意思是，如果他们愿意的话，欢迎他们也这样做，但我不需要他们这样做。我需要他们做的是以他为榜样。我需要他们接受这样一种态度：可以激动起来，带着一点醋意来打这场比赛。这不是一场友好的野球比赛，也不是一次很酷的学习练习。这是玩真的。风险很高。拿出你最佳状态的最佳时机是昨天，其次是现在。
这是一个非理性球迷的言论。我知道。我内心理性的篮球思维明白，赛季之初是为了解决问题，花太多时间为小样本事件而烦恼，就等于是在炮制几个月后我宁愿收回的观点。这支球队看起来和去年很像，但他们在体系中加入了一些相当大的变化，期望它从一开始就火力全开是不合理的。
话虽如此……等我们周四打爵士的时候，我会保持理性的。这可是该死的火箭。这可是弗雷德·范弗利特(Fred VanVleet)对我们的小兄弟[文班亚马]说三道四，狄龙·布鲁克斯(Dillon Brooks)在每一个可能的时刻都表现得糟糕透顶。这支球队，即使输掉一节比赛，也应该让马刺感到恶心。坦率地说，我已经厌倦了 NBA 赛季的例行公事，厌倦了装成一个篮球僧侣，在场边点燃蜡烛，试图达到顿悟的境界。我想让我的血液沸腾起来。我想感受一些东西。我想为十月份的胜利而兴奋，为失利而烦恼。如果我们做不到这一点，那我们到底为什么还要来这里呢？
这不是一篇冷静的篮球分析文章。这是我作为一名球迷的意向声明。我很认真地对待马刺的这个赛季。我为他们设定了一个很高的门槛，如果他们没有达到，我会很生气。此刻，这些家伙从更衣室里传达出来的所有信息都是，他们想要被鞭策。他们想要挑战。他们想变得伟大。好吧，我来满足他们的要求。
练习结束了。是时候让马刺加入比赛了。
收获：
- 我现在几乎不想过多地谈论杰里米·索汉，因为我不想毒奶他，但他看起来棒极了。他就像一个永动机。他强壮、速度快、意志坚强。他甚至打出了我从未想象过的精准度。他似乎完全摆脱了过度思考篮球复杂性的束缚，终于开始打那种对他来说很容易的原始的、本能的比赛。我喜欢这样。我希望他也喜欢这样。感觉我们第一次真正看到了那种可以与文班亚马并肩作战、每晚填补空缺的球员类型。文班在篮球场上几乎无所不能；他只是不能同时做所有的事情。这就是为什么你需要一个像杰里米这样的球员。
- 说到维克托[·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)]，这位“高个子男孩”的开局很慢。同样，如果你戴上“理性球迷帽”，这可能也是意料之中的事。然而，有一件事变得非常明显，那就是当他状态不佳时，马刺也很难完全进入状态。这是可以理解的！我的意思是，如果你有这样一名球员，那么你就围绕他来建队。这在某种程度上是 NBA 球队的全部意义所在。前几场比赛已经清楚地表明，要让这些配角发挥正常水平，他需要多么出色。他不能在进入第四节时只得到 5 分。他不能出现失误。他不能只是一个在场上吸引眼球的高个子。这对一个 20 岁的孩子来说是巨大的压力，但维克托说他想要这种压力，所以，你知道……伙计，就看你的了。
- 我仍然不知道我对如今 NBA 赛程中那些迷你系列赛的看法。我知道这对旅行和其他类似的后勤工作有好处，但在刚刚打完一场比赛后马上又和同一支球队交手，这感觉太不自然了。这与我一直以来认为常规赛篮球应该是什么样子背道而驰。我是一个看了大量棒球比赛的人，棒球的整个常规赛都是围绕着连续多次与同一支球队比赛而展开的。但是！这还是很奇怪。我相信我会习惯的。
- 虽然，几年前我也说过，我相信我会习惯马刺在主场穿黑色球衣，但读者朋友，我没有。我仍然讨厌这样。那是客场球衣。我们不是在客场。NBA 长大点吧。把你的房子收拾干净。你们距离马戏团就差三个噱头了。
赛后新闻发布会你问我答
- 距离马戏团就差三个噱头了，这个比喻很有意思。什么样的噱头会让你忍无可忍？
- 唉，我的意思是，这些天来，我在任何时候都濒临崩溃的边缘，所以很难说。有可能当他们试图推广带袖球衣的时候，我就已经崩溃了，而且再也没有站起来。
- 是的，带袖球衣确实让人难以接受。
- 简直是太难接受了！它几乎毁掉了过去十年里的所有精彩集锦。它会变成这样：精彩的配合，精彩的扣篮，不可思议的传球，你见过的最不可思议的事情，但是斯蒂芬·库里(Stephon Curry)穿着那些孩子们在游泳池里穿的泳衣看起来像个傻瓜，精彩的盖帽。每次都让我失望。
- 这就像生活中充满了你需要学会忍受的小瑕疵。
- 这就像 NBA 让他们的馊主意毁掉了我的怀旧之情。
- 我更喜欢你的说法。
- 是的，这可能是我们在前进过程中应该采用的更健康的心态。
点击查看原文：What We Learned from the Spurs loss to the Rockets
What We Learned from the Spurs loss to the Rockets
A chirpy affair sees the Spurs come up short
Well, I guess it’s a good sign that I hated that. It’s the third game of the season, and this young Spurs team is, very unofficially, not exactly trying to climb all the way to a championship in the coming months. They have modest expectations, a solid growth plan, and all the right soundbites. We’ve been told to expect some rust coming out of the gates, and lo and behold, here we are—awash in it. I hate it.
It’s not that I’m impatient, although I certainly am. I think I’m just ready to hold this team to a different standard. They’ve earned it, right? Yeah, they’ve earned it. We’ve spent a long time around here practicing restraint and growing alongside a team that needed to cut its teeth on the hard truths of NBA life. It’s not that the process is over by any means; it’s just that I think they’re ready to move on to the next level.
What level is that? It’s the level where you don’t get a free pass for taking three quarters off against a rival team. A particularly annoying interstate rival that we’ll be going head-to-head with and competing for every inch of space with for the next decade or so. The fight isn’t just getting started with these guys; the fight started a year ago, and everyone needs to wake up.
I don’t need everyone to be on Jeremy Sochan’s level. They don’t have to get on the mic and tell an entire city to…go away. I mean, they’re welcome to get there if they’d like, but I don’t need them to do that. What I need them to do is follow his lead. I need them to adopt the attitude that it’s okay to get fired up and play this game with a little bit of vinegar. This isn’t a friendly pickup game or a cool learning exercise. This is real. The stakes are high. The best time to bring your A-game was yesterday, and the second-best time is now.
This is the irrational fan talking. I know that. The rational basketball mind in me understands that the beginning of the season is for working out the kinks, and that spending too much time fretting over Small Sample Size Theater is a recipe for cooking up opinions I’d rather have back a few months from now. This is a similar-looking team to last year, but they’re working some pretty big changes into the system, and expecting it to be firing on all cylinders from the get-go is unreasonable.
Having said that… I’ll be reasonable when we’re playing the Jazz on Thursday. This was the freaking Rockets. This was Fred VanVleet jawing at our boy and Dillon Brooks being the absolute worst at every possible moment. This is a team that should make the Spurs physically ill to lose even one quarter to. Frankly, I’m tired of going through the motions of NBA seasons and acting like some kind of basketball monk, lighting candles on the sideline and trying to reach enlightenment. I want to get my blood pumping. I want to feel things. I want to be FIRED UP about wins in October and annoyed about the losses. If we can’t do that, then why are we even here in the first place?
This isn’t a piece of calm basketball analysis. This is a statement of intent from me as a fan. I’m taking this Spurs season seriously. I’m setting a high bar for them to clear, and I’m going to be mad if they don’t. Everything that comes out of the locker room from these guys at the moment is them saying they want to be pushed. They want the smoke. They want to be great. Well, I’m here to acquiesce to that request.
Practice is over. It’s time for the Spurs to join the game.\
Takeaways:
- I almost don’t even want to talk too much about Jeremy Sochan right now because I don’t want to jinx it, but he looks awesome. He’s an absolute dynamo. He’s physical, fast, and tough. He’s even playing with a level of precision that I never would have imagined from him. He seems completely freed from having to think too hard about the intricacies of basketball and is finally just playing the kind of raw, instinctual game that comes easily to him. I love it. I hope he loves it. It feels like we’re getting our first real look at the type of player who can slot in alongside someone like Wembanyama every night and fill in the gaps. Vic can do almost everything on the basketball court; he just can’t do it all at once. That’s why you have a Jeremy around.
- Speaking of Victor, it’s been a slow start for the Tall Boy. Which, again, if you have your Rational Fan Hat on, is probably to be expected. However, something that’s become very apparent is that when he isn’t all the way right, it’s sort of hard for this Spurs team to be all the way right, too. Which is understandable! I mean, if you have a player like this, then you build the team around him. That’s kind of the whole raison d’être for NBA franchises. These first few games have shown exactly how right he needs to be for this supporting cast to work properly. He can’t have 5 points heading into the fourth. He can’t be turning the ball over. He can’t just be a tall distraction out there. That’s an awful lot of pressure to put on a 20-year-old, but it’s the kind of pressure Victor says he wants so, you know…here you go my dude.
- I still don’t know where I stand on these little mini-series that dot the NBA schedule these days. I know they are better for travel and other logistical things like that, but it just feels so unnatural to play a team again right after you just played them. It goes against everything I’ve come to believe regular season basketball should be. I say this as someone who watches copious amounts of baseball, where the entire regular season is built around playing teams multiple times in a row. But still! It’s weird. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
- Although, I also said I was sure I would get used to the Spurs wearing their black jerseys at home a few years ago and, reader, I have not. I still hate it. Those are the road jerseys. We are not on the road. Grow up NBA. Get your house in order. You’re like three gimmicks away from a circus.
WWL Post Game Press Conference
- Three gimmicks away from a circus is a fun turn of phrase. What kind of gimmicks would put you over the edge?
- Ugh, I mean, I’m so close to the edge at any given moment these days it’s sort of hard to say. There’s a chance I fell over the edge when they were trying to make sleeved jerseys happen and just never got up.
- Yea, the sleeved jerseys were a tough hang.
- The toughest of hangs! It kind of ruins any highlight montage from the last decade. It’ll just be like: Cool play, fun dunk, incredible pass, most amazing thing you’ve ever seen but Steph Curry looks like a dork wearing one of those swim shirts kids wear at the pool, awesome block. Bums me out every time.
- It’s almost like life is full of little imperfections you have to learn how to live with.
- It’s almost like the NBA has let their bad ideas screw up my nostalgia.
- I like mine better.
- Yea, that’s probably a healthier thought process we should go with moving forward.
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock