By Jeje Gomez, Mark Barrington, Marilyn Dubinski, Jacob Douglas, Devon Birdsong | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-11-06 05:00:00
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。
克里斯·保罗和哈里森·巴恩斯并没有给进攻端带来涡轮增压的效果，但马刺得到了足够的防守，以保持比赛的胶着并取得胜利。
老将克里斯·保罗和哈里森·巴恩斯的加盟 sejauh 为马刺提供了多少帮助？
玛丽莲·杜宾斯基(Marilyn Dubinski): 到目前为止，他们一直是一个令人惊喜的存在。巴恩斯在季前赛的表现有点令人担忧，但以典型的 老将 方式，他在常规赛开启了开关，凭借他的投篮、空切和始终做出正确选择的能力，成为了首发阵容中的稳定力量。对于保罗来说，他花了更多的时间来融入。尽管助攻栏的数据不错，但失误仍然是马刺的一个问题，而且他在投篮方面的被动性拖累了进攻。我感觉在对阵雷霆的比赛前后，波波维奇告诉他，他们需要他得分更多，因为他就像打开了开关一样，开始寻找自己的投篮机会，而当他在场上的时候，马刺看起来就像一支全新的球队。
马克·巴林顿(Mark Barrington): 这一点在比赛胶着的最后时刻尤为明显，球队现在可以跑出一个战术并获得一个不错的投篮机会，而去年，他们总是会处于不利的位置，甚至 often 连出手的机会都没有。巴恩斯在需要得分的时候提供了火力，并加强了防守。最大的整体进步是球队的纪律性，年轻球员在执行战术时更加精准，这得益于 老将 的领导，他们能够指导年轻球员并让他们承担责任。
雅各布·道格拉斯(Jacob Douglas): 当保罗打得更有侵略性并积极寻找得分机会时，这对进攻端有很大的帮助。仅仅是拥有一个可以用中距离和三分线外的干拔跳投撕裂防守的人，对于马刺的挡拆战术来说就是巨大的提升。巴恩斯一直是我们期望中的那种稳固的存在。他的投篮是一个受欢迎的补充，而且我喜欢他在过去三场比赛中上篮时使用的慢步和假动作。
杰西·戈麦斯(Jesus Gomez): 这两位球员本应在进攻端比防守端提供更多帮助，而进攻端仍然在苦苦挣扎，但他们带来了去年年轻的马刺所缺乏的稳定性。球队不再像以前那样经常失去巨大的领先优势，并且在一些失利的比赛中也保持了比分胶着。巴恩斯和保罗并没有把圣安东尼奥变成一支争冠球队，但他们完成了人们对他们的期望：始终如一地努力，做出正确的选择，并以身作则。
德文·伯德桑(Devon Birdsong): 老实说，我真的没有预料到巴恩斯会大幅改善进攻，而且我仍然认为情况很可能会是这样。然而，他和索汉以及文班一起在场上的时候，帮助首发阵容在防守端变得非常强硬。由于巴恩斯的技能让他可以轻松地在两个阵容中切换，他有可能成为马刺真正的X因素。不过，从他在勇士队时期开始，他的远距离投篮就一直有些不稳定，如果他没有投进，首发阵容的进攻空间就会变得非常糟糕。我们必须看看德文·瓦塞尔的加入会产生什么影响，才能真正了解巴恩斯的真正价值，我猜想。另一方面，保罗感觉他才刚刚开始展现他的整体进攻影响力。到目前为止，我对他们的加入给出了一个扎实的“B”级评价，但我认为未来还有提升的空间。
马刺拥有联盟中最好的防守之一。你认为他们在防守端的成功是可持续的吗？
杜宾斯基: 我不知道他们能否保持在前五，但他们有条件排进前十五，甚至可能排进前十。维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)将继续凭借一己之力成为破坏者，杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)正在成为联盟顶级的锋线防守者之一，但除了这两人之外，球队阵容中仍然存在很多弱点，尤其是第二阵容（他们的进攻端也严重挣扎）。看看德文·瓦塞尔的回归是否会以任何方式影响目前的防守，将会很有趣。他也具备成为一名优秀防守者的工具，所以如果他至少能保持中立，那将会大有帮助。
巴林顿: 只要文班亚马保持健康，球队在他上场时就会非常出色，但当他下场时，球队的实力就会下降很多。索汉也是一个非常好的防守者，他的身体对抗会让对手感到难受。扎克·科林斯在防守端很努力，但他不够快也不够敏捷，而且经常会被其他球队的内线球员压制。马拉基·布拉纳姆是一个替补得分手，但他根本不是一个好的防守者。马刺的防守今年将会呈现出双重人格，首发是“海德先生”，替补是“杰基尔博士”。
道格拉斯: 我不知道他们是否会成为顶级防守球队之一，但我认为他们可以排在联盟的上半区。文班的影响力一如既往，索汉已经成为一名真正的防守悍将，而且球队的整体防守也变得更好了。我很想看看德文·瓦塞尔回归后，巴恩斯或朱利安·尚帕尼其中一人进入替补席后，防守会发生什么变化。尽管进攻端会有明显的提升，但这可能会对首发的防守造成打击。
戈麦斯: 这感觉不可持续。他们在对阵快船之前是联盟前五的防守，他们可能没有足够的人员配置来保持这么高的排名。对手的三分命中率也不高，即使是那些空位三分。但我认为他们绝对可以留在联盟的上半区，甚至可能排进前十。文班亚马在内线改变了比赛的格局，他们有足够的外线防守球员来至少给最好的得分手制造麻烦。
伯德桑: 这是一个难题。一方面，马刺还没有面对过联盟中顶级的进攻球队。他们遇到的对手中进攻效率最高的是火箭，目前火箭排名第九，所以无法知道马刺将如何应对像骑士、勇士或卫冕冠军凯尔特人这样的进攻强队。另一方面，马刺仍在攻防两端进行磨合，像文班和索汉这样的年轻球员才刚刚开始探索他们在防守端的潜力。因此，即使马刺难以保持完全健康，我也能预见他们以联盟前十的防守效率结束本赛季，这应该会吓坏联盟其他球队。无论如何，在对阵快船的比赛之前，看到对手的三分球终于没有那么神准，感觉很棒。在过去的几年里，他们似乎被每个人都用远投射穿了，虽然其中一部分是防守问题，但也有一些纯粹是运气不好。感觉这是一个好兆头。
马刺的进攻是联盟中最差的之一。你认为他们能在进攻端提升多少？
杜宾斯基: 希望这些问题主要归结于首发阵容中缺少瓦塞尔的投篮和替补席上缺少特雷·琼斯的组织能力。虽然我不指望保罗能保持过去几场比赛的得分速度，但希望他们在这些比赛中找到一些东西，以防止进攻停滞。尽管波波维奇说过，但如果文班不投太多不明智的三分，那也会有所帮助。话虽如此，我更担心的是第二阵容。他们有时非常停滞。希望琼斯的回归能解决其中的一些问题，但我还建议多让某个姓氏难以发音的格鲁吉亚大个子上场，以此来激活进攻。如果防守足够好，就没有理由打停滞不前的进攻。
巴林顿: 马刺从来不重视投篮，球队中仅有的纯射手可能是布拉纳姆和瓦塞尔。瓦塞尔是一个更加全面的球员，当他回到首发阵容时，球队将会得到提升。特雷·琼斯回归后也会让第二阵容变得更好。这会让马刺的进攻变得更好吗？我对此表示怀疑，因为场上有很多球员的得分能力有限。索汉今年在进攻端的进步令人鼓舞，如果每个人都健康，球队有机会成为联盟中游的进攻球队，这将对维克托有很大的帮助，因为当对手的防守无法集中在他身上时，他就是唯一可靠的得分威胁。
道格拉斯: 如果瓦塞尔回归后进攻端仍然挣扎，我会感到担忧。现在，马刺需要更多能够在半场阵地战中创造机会的球员。拥有更多的射手也不会有什么坏处。他们目前以31.1%的三分命中率排在NBA第28位。瓦塞尔可以同时提供这两点。此外，这还会让一名首发球员进入替补席，这应该有助于解决他们替补得分不足的问题。再加上一个健康的特雷·琼斯，圣安东尼奥可能会有所作为。
戈麦斯: 这完全取决于首发球员如何利用文班亚马，以及替补席能提供多少得分。文班在一些比赛中难以找到节奏，三分球命中率也不高。如果马刺能让文班在三秒区内接球并移动起来，这应该会提高他在场上的阵容的效率。至于替补席，依靠凯尔登·约翰逊自己创造投篮机会是有风险的，因为他的表现不稳定。如果斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)随着比赛的进行而进步，那么至少应该有足够的火力让他们摆脱联盟倒数的位置。
伯德桑: 到目前为止，我认为问题有三方面：1. 瓦塞尔的缺席对空间产生了显著的连锁反应。2. 除了特雷·琼斯，替补阵容真的很难保持稳定。3. 新球员仍在融入进攻体系。所有这些问题都可能随着时间的推移而得到改善。真正的问题是，一旦克里斯·保罗弄清楚他想在这个进攻体系中如何发挥作用，教练组会决定做什么。保罗一直是一位历史级别的控球后卫，但他确实以根据自己的喜好运作而不是适应现有体系而闻名，教练经常会根据保罗的喜好来调整进攻。到目前为止，波波维奇似乎通过在保罗找到立足点之前保持体系的灵活性来避免这种冲突（他似乎很快就能做到），但我猜想，在大约25场比赛之后，我们会开始看到更多有组织的意图，这可能会告诉我们很多关于波波维奇和保罗还剩下多少能量，这可能会决定很多事情。到目前为止，我赌他们会打出类似保罗2019-2020赛季俄克拉荷马雷霆队的风格，那支球队的进攻效率排名第17，感觉差不多。
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点击查看原文：The Spurs’ strong defense is making up for their weak offense
The Spurs’ strong defense is making up for their weak offense
Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes have not turbocharged the offense, but the Spurs are getting enough stops to keep games close and get wins.
How much have the veteran additions, Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, helped the Spurs so far?
Marilyn Dubinski: They have been a pleasant surprise so far. Barnes’ play was a little concerning in the preseason, but in typical veteran fashion, he flipped the switch in the regular season and has been a steady force for the starters with his shooting, cutting and ability to always make the right play. For Paul, it took a few more games to mesh. Despite filling out the assist column, turnovers remained a problem for the Spurs, and his passiveness with regards to shooting was bogging down the offense. I get the feeling that somewhere around the Thunder game, Pop told him that they needed him to score more, because he flipped a switch, has started looking for his own shot, and the Spurs have looked like a whole new team when he’s on the floor.
Mark Barrington: It’s been especially evident at the end of close games, when the team can run a play and get a decent shot, whereas last year, they would always end up out of position and often not even getting off a shot. Barnes has been useful in providing scoring when needed and tightening up the defense. The biggest overall improvement has been in team discipline, the young players are just executing the plays with more precision because of veteran leadership that guides them and provides accountability.
Jacob Douglas: When Paul is aggressive and looking to score, it helps the offense a ton. Just having someone who can take the top off the defense with his pull-up jumper both from three and mid-range is huge for the Spurs pick-and-roll game. Barnes has been the solid presence that we’ve expected. His shooting has been a welcomed addition, and I love his slow step and pump fake on layups that he’s been using in the last three games.
Jesus Gomez: Both guys were supposed to help on offense more than on defense, and the offense is still struggling, but they brought a level of general steadiness that last year’s younger version of the Spurs was lacking. The team is not losing as many big leads as it used to and has kept it close in some losses. Barnes and Paul haven’t transformed San Antonio into a contender but they have done what was expected of them: bring consistent effort, make the right plays and lead by example.
Devon Birdsong: Being totally honest, I really didn’t anticipate that Barnes would greatly improve the offense and I still think that’s likely to be the case. However, having him on the floor with Sochan and Wemby has helped make that starting unit pretty stingy defensively and because Barnes’ skill set allows him to flex to either unit pretty easily, it’s possible he’ll become a real x-factor for the Spurs. He has a history of being a little streaky from long-distance though, all the way back to his Warriors days, and if he’s not hitting his shots the spacing in the starting unit gets really ugly. We’ll have to see what effect adding Devin Vassell has to really know what Barnes’ true value is, I suspect. Paul, on the other hand, feels like he’s just scratching the surface on his overall offensive impact so far. I’m giving their additions a solid ‘B’ for now, but I think there’s room for a higher grade in the future.
The Spurs have one of the best defenses in the league. Do you think their success on that end is sustainable?
Dubinski: I don’t know if it remain top 5, but they have the pieces to be top 15, maybe even top 10. Victor Wembanyama will continue to be a wrecker by himself, and Jeremy Sochan is breaking out as one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders, but there are still plenty of weaknesses on the roster beyond those two, especially with the second unit (which is also severely struggling offensively). It will be interesting to see if Devin Vassell’s return impacts the current defense in any way. He too has the tools to be a plus-defender, so if he can just be neutral at worse, that will go a long way.
Barrington: As long as Wembanyama is healthy, the team will be elite when he’s in the game, but there’s a lot of drop off when he sits. Sochan is also a very good defender, and his physical play gets under the skin of opponents. Collins tries on defense, but he’s not quick or agile, and he’s often outmuscled by other team’s interior players. Malaki Branham is a scorer coming off the bench, and he’s not a good defender at all. The Spurs defense is going to have a split personality this year, with Hyde starting and Jekyll coming off the bench.
Douglas: I don’t know if they’ll be one of the elite defenses, but I think they can be in the top half of the league. Wembanyama is just as impactful as ever, Sochan has become a real stopper, and the team’s defensive effort overall has gotten better. I’m interested in seeing what happens to the defense when Devin Vassell comes back and one of Barnes or Julian Champagnie heads to the bench. That will likely be a defensive blow to the starting five, despite the clear offensive benefits.
Gomez: It doesn’t feel sustainable. They were a top 5 defense before the Clippers game and they probably don’t have the personnel to be that high up. Opponents were also not hitting threes at a high rate against them, even wide-open ones. But I think they can absolutely stay in the top half of the league and maybe the top 10. Wembanyama is a game-changer in the paint and they have enough perimeter defenders to at least bother the best scorers.
Birdsong: This is a tough one. On the one hand, the Spurs haven’t faced any of the league’s premier offenses. The Rockets actually have the highest offensive rating of the teams they’ve played, and they’re currently 9th, so it’s impossible to know how the Spurs will fare against offensive buzz-saws like the Cavs, Warriors, or the carpet-bombing defending champs in the Boston Celtics. On the other hand, the Spurs are still integrating on both ends, and younger players like Wemby and Sochan are just beginning to explore their respective ceilings of defensive menace. As such, even if the Spurs have trouble staying fully healthy, I could see them ending the season with a top 10 defensive rating, which should scare the bejesus out of the rest of the league. Regardless, it was nice to see them finally having some luck with opponents shooting from three before the Clippers’ game. The past couple of years they’ve been teed off on from long-distance by seemingly everyone, and while some of that was defense, some it was also just plain old bad luck. Feels like a good omen.
The Spurs’ offense is among the worst in the league. How much do you think they can improve on that end?
Dubinski: Hopefully those issues mostly boil down to missing Vassell’s shooting among the starters and Tre Jones’ play-making off the bench. While I don’t expect Paul to keep scoring at the rate he has in the last few games, hopefully they have found something in these games that will keep the offense from bogging down. It also wouldn’t hurt if despite what Pop says, Wemby does not jack up too many ill-advised threes. That being said, I’m more concerned about the second unit. It has been very stagnant at times. Hopefully Jones’ return fixes some of those issues, but I would also suggest playing a certain Georgian big man with a hard-to-pronounce last name more as a means to jump-start that offense. If the defense remains good enough, there’s no reason to play a bogged-down offense.
Barrington: The Spurs have never put a premium on shooting, and the only pure shooters on the roster are probably Branham and Vassell. Vassell is a much more complete player, and the team will improve when he rejoins the starting lineup. Tre Jones will make the second unit better when he’s back, also. Will that make the Spurs a good offense? I doubt it, because there are too many players on the court that have a limited ability to score. Sochan’s offensive improvement this year is encouraging, and if everyone is healthy, the team has a chance to become a middle-of-the-pack offense, which will help Victor a great deal when opponents’ defenses can’t concentrate on him as the only credible scoring threat.
Douglas: I’ll be concerned with the offense if it continues struggling when Vassell returns. Right now, the Spurs need more players who create in the half-court. Having more shooters won’t hurt, either. They’re 28th in the NBA in three-point shooting at 31.1% as a team. Vassell would give them both of those. Plus, it would move a starter to the bench, which should help their bench-scoring woes. Add a healthy Tre Jones to the mix and San Antonio might have something cooking.
Gomez: It will all depend on how well the starters can use Wembanyama and how much scoring the bench can provide. Wemby has struggled to find his rhythm in some games and is not shooting threes at a high level. If the Spurs can get him going by having him catch the ball on the move inside the arc, it should help how well lineups with him in it perform. As for the bench, having to rely on Keldon Johnson to create his own shot is risky because he’s inconsistent. If Stephon Castle improves as the games go by, there could be enough firepower to get out of the bottom third in the league at the very least.
Birdsong: So far I see the issue as three-fold: 1. Vassell’s absence has had a significant ripple effect spacing-wise. 2. The bench unit really has trouble with consistency minus Tre Jones. 3. New players are still integrating into the offense. All of those issues will likely improve with time. The real question is what the coaching staff will decide to do once Chris Paul figures out how he wants to do things in this offense. Paul’s been an all-time point guard, but he does have a reputation for functioning as his own system rather than bending to the system in place, with coaches often making offensive adjustments based on Paul’s preferences. So far it looks like Pop’s avoided that conflict by leaving things pretty loose until Paul finds his footing (which he appears to be doing quickly), but I suspect we’ll start seeing a lot more organized intent after the first 25 games or so and that will probably begin to tell us a lot about what both Pop and Paul have left in the tank, and that’s likely going to determine a lot. So far, my bet is on something in the neighborhood of Paul’s 2019-2020 Oklahoma City Thunder team, and that team finished 17th in offensive rating, which feels about right.
Do you have any topics you would like to see discussed in In The Bonus, our roundtable? Post some questions in the comments and the PtR staff will answer them in a future edition.
By Jeje Gomez, Mark Barrington, Marilyn Dubinski, Jacob Douglas, Devon Birdsong, via Pounding The Rock