By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-03 11:50:03
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。
周六在冰霜银行中心举行的比赛下半场，马刺队的杰里米·索汉（中锋）与明尼苏达森林狼队的杰登·麦克丹尼尔斯纠缠在一起。
洛杉矶——最终，杰里米·索汉只是想分享这种体验。
摔倒在冰冷坚硬的篮球场上比看起来要有趣得多。每个人都应该试试。
前臂上的地板擦伤现在非常流行。每个人都应该拥有一个。
这就是这位讨厌的马刺队前锋在周六第三节中段的想法，当时他在追逐一个篮板球时，热心地拽着明尼苏达队的杰登·麦克丹尼尔斯(Jaden McDaniels)的衣领，把他拖倒在地。
“我当时正在摔倒，”索汉说。“我真的不想自己摔倒，所以……他得跟我一起。”
如果你相信这个解释，索汉还有一座桥要卖给你——一座他很可能稍后会付之一炬的桥。
在他第三个 NBA 赛季的初期，这位 21 岁的索汉似乎重新发现了成为每个对手都讨厌的球员所带来的变态的快乐。
把麦克丹尼尔斯添加到反索汉球迷的名单中吧。
这位森林狼队前锋在与索汉的冲突后跳了起来，双手抓住对手的衣领。
“我很惊讶我没有被驱逐出场，”麦克丹尼尔斯说。“但这就是篮球。这种（事情）会发生。”
并非巧合的是，在索汉身边，这种事情似乎发生得越来越频繁了。
杰里米·索汉是马刺队六场比赛中的第二得分手，场均得到 17.3 分，还有 8.5 个篮板和 3.3 次助攻。
与麦克丹尼尔斯的冲突——导致两名球员都被吹罚技术犯规，球队安保人员冲进球场以确保头脑冷静——只是索汉每晚对抗事件中的最新一起。
索汉将这些时刻归结为简单的竞争。当他说他的疯狂行为是有方法的时，请相信他。
“在马刺队在冰霜银行中心以 113-103 击败森林狼队之后，索汉说：“你可以听到——整个观众，每个人都很兴奋。“但对我来说，我仍然保持冷静……是他对这件事做出了反应，而且精神上没有完全集中。”
周一，当马刺队首次造访洛杉矶快船队闪亮的新球馆——价值 20 亿美元的 Intuit Dome 时，索汉将再次检验他的假设。
“这是他比赛的一部分，”马刺队中锋维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)说。“有时这也会有好处。”
索汉本赛季更容易钻到对手的皮肤下的原因之一是，他对自己更感到自在。去年这个时候，马刺队正试图把索汉这个圆钉子塞进打控球后卫的方孔里。
这对任何人都没有用。
这个实验在 11 月就被取消了，但到那时，索汉对自己的处境已经非常沮丧，以至于他发现很难激起自己去激怒对手的欲望。
当马刺队在夏天签下 39 岁的控球后卫大师克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)时，没有哪个球员比索汉更高兴了。
“他是真正的控球之神，”索汉说。
保罗的到来为索汉开启了新的生产力水平，索汉目前是马刺队的第二得分手，场均 17.3 分。
索汉从来都不是一个能自己创造投篮机会的球员，但他一直在蓬勃发展，做着他最擅长的事情——在恰当的时机切入篮下，由一名能够把球传给他轻松上篮的控球后卫协助。
在马刺队战胜明尼苏达的比赛中，索汉得到 19 分和 10 个篮板。他的七个进球中有五个来自保罗的传球，后者送出了 13 次助攻。
“他让我的工作变得轻松，”索汉说。“他在比赛中、比赛之外、投篮训练、任何地方都和我们进行了大量的沟通。真的，甚至在飞机上。这很棒。”
杰里米·索汉不仅是马刺队的进攻威胁，场均得到 17.3 分。而且这位来自贝勒大学的三年级前锋已经树立了身体对抗型球员和对手眼中钉的声誉。
有保罗作为他的引路人，索汉正在打出他人生中最好的篮球。在马刺队的六场比赛中，他每场都至少得到 10 分和 5 个篮板，这是他职业生涯中最长的连续纪录。
他做到了这些，同时每晚都防守对方最好的球员。
“在防守端付出这么多，还能成为进攻端的重要组成部分，这是一项艰巨的任务，”马刺队助理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)说，他在周六代替生病的格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)执教球队。“他绝对应该为此得到一些赞扬。”
如果对索汉的喜爱来自马刺队更衣室外，那也是不情愿的。从远处看，明尼苏达教练克里斯·芬奇(Chris Finch)说，索汉现在又回到了前锋位置，看起来他又做回了自己。
“他可能只是稍微轻松了一些，”芬奇说。“我认为，有时当球员到了那个地步，他们觉得自己必须像控球后卫一样打球时，这真的会削弱他们的自然本能。看起来他更像是他本来的样子了。”
如果这意味着每晚都让对方球队至少有一名球员想掐死他，索汉认为这是工作的一部分。
作为马刺队的首席煽动者是有代价的。他每次被吹罚技术犯规都要向联盟支付 2000 美元的罚款，这个金额每累计五次就会递增。
16 次技术犯规将导致禁赛一场，以索汉目前的速度，这将在赛季中期到来。
“我可能得开始考虑这个问题了，”索汉说。
目前，索汉玩得太开心了，以至于没有想太多关于未来。
他以自己轻松的、令人抓狂的快乐方式打球，渴望带着其他人一起享受这段旅程。一次一个技术犯规。
点击查看原文：Spurs' Jeremy Sochan rediscovers the joy of paining opponents
Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan rediscovers the joy of paining opponents
The Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan, center, tangles with Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels, during the second half of Saturday’s game at Frost Bank Center.
LOS ANGELES — In the end, Jeremy Sochan was just looking to share the experience.
Tumbling onto a cold, hard basketball court is more fun than it looks. Everyone should try it.
Floor burns on the forearms are all the rage. Everyone should have one.
This is what the pestering Spurs forward swears he was thinking midway through the third quarter Saturday, when he helpfully dragged Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels to the ground by the back of his collar while chasing a rebound.
“I was falling down,” Sochan said. “I really didn’t want to fall down on my own, so … he’s coming with me.”
If you buy that explanation, Sochan also has a bridge to sell you — one he will likely later burn to the ground.
Early in his third NBA season, the 21-year-old Sochan appears to have rediscovered the perverse joy that comes with being the player every opposing team loves to hate.
Add McDaniels to the list of anti-Sochan fans.
The Timberwolves forward responded to his encounter with Sochan by hopping up and seizing his adversary with both hands by the lapels.
“I’m surprised I didn’t get ejected,” McDaniels said. “But that’s basketball. That (stuff) happens.”
Not coincidentally, that stuff seems to happen more and more with Sochan around.
Jeremy Sochan is the Spurs’ second-leading scorer through six games, averaging 17.3 points to go with his 8.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
The dust-up with McDaniels — which resulted in technical fouls on both players and team security officials rushing the court to ensure clearer heads prevailed — was only the next in a line of nightly episodes of antagonism involving Sochan.
Sochan chalks these moments up to simply being competitive. When he says there is a method to his madness, believe him.
“You can hear it — the whole crowd, everyone’s hyped up,” Sochan said after the Spurs claimed a 113-103 victory over the Timberwolves at the Frost Bank Center. “But for me, it’s still staying level. … He was the one who reacted to it and was not there fully mentally.”
Sochan tests his hypothesis again Monday when the Spurs make their first visit to the Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers’ glistening new $2 billion arena.
“It’s part of his game,” Spurs center Victor Wembanyama said. “It can also be beneficial sometimes.”
One of the reasons Sochan has found it easier to get under opponents’ skin this season is that he is more comfortable in his. At this time last year, the Spurs were trying to force the round peg that is Sochan into the square hole of playing point guard.
It didn’t work for anyone.
The experiment was scuttled in November, but by then Sochan had grown so frustrated with his lot he found it difficult to summon the desire to frustrate opposing players.
When the Spurs signed 39-year-old point guard savant Chris Paul over the summer, no player celebrated more than Sochan.
“He’s the Point God for real,” Sochan said.
Paul’s arrival has unlocked a new level of production for Sochan, who has been the Spurs’ second-leading scorer so far at 17.3 points per game.
Never one to create his own shot, Sochan has been thriving at what he does best — making well-timed cuts to the basket, abetted by a point guard who is able to slip him the ball for easy baskets.
Sochan had 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds in the Spurs’ win over Minnesota. Five of his seven field goals came off passes from Paul, who logged 13 assists.
“He’s made it easy for me,” Sochan said. “He communicates with us a ton during the game, outside of the game, shootaround, everywhere. Literally on the plane. It’s been great.”
Jeremy Sochan has not only been an offensive threat for the Spurs, averaging 17.3 points per game. But the third-year forward out of Baylor has established a reputation as a physical player and an antagonist.
With Paul as his Sherpa, Sochan is playing some of the best basketball of his life. He has scored at least 10 points and grabbed at least five rebounds in each of the Spurs’ six games, the longest streak of his career.
He has done this while defending the other team’s best player on a nightly basis.
“That’s a tall task to be able to put that much output on the defensive end, and then still be able to be an instrumental part of the offense,” said Spurs assistant Mitch Johnson, who coached the team Saturday in place of an ill Gregg Popovich. “He should definitely get some love for that.”
If love for Sochan comes from outside the Spurs’ locker room, it does so begrudgingly. From afar, Minnesota coach Chris Finch said it looks like Sochan is back to being himself now that he is a forward again.
“Probably he’s just a little bit more unburdened,” Finch said. “I think sometimes when guys get to that point where they feel like they’ve got to play like a point guard, it can really cut down on their natural instincts. It looks like he’s a little bit more naturally himself.”
If that means making at least one player on the other team want to throat punch him every night, Sochan figures it’s part of the job.
There is a price that comes with being the Spurs’ Instigator in Chief. Each technical he receives costs $2,000 in league fines, an amount that increases incrementally with every five.
Sixteen technical fouls result in a one-game suspension, which at this rate would come by midseason for Sochan.
“I might have to start thinking about that,” Sochan said.
For now, Sochan is having too much fun to think too much about the future.
He is playing with his own unburdened brand of maddening joy, eager to bring everyone else along for the ride. One technical at a time.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News