By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-11-09 01:57:30
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。
一支努力寻找节奏的球队的漂亮反弹
赢下这场比赛总比输掉好。我的意思是，这不用说，我想，但我还是要说。作为一个组织，圣安东尼奥马刺队显然处于“顺其自然”的模式，但球场上的球员们没有其他动机。他们想赢。他们需要赢。他们尤其需要战胜西部联盟中为数不多的几支似乎对这个赛季没有“宏伟”计划的球队之一。
如果说赛季初的这几场比赛磕磕绊绊，那是一种轻描淡写的说法。这支球队断断续续地打得还不错，但在很大程度上令人失望。他们显然还不是一支完整的球队，他们也表现出了这一点。我们知道，我们也理解。因此，虽然我们中的一些人（我）正在降低我们不切实际的期望，但马刺队正在努力实现更现实的目标：从一场艰难的失利中反弹，击败天赋较低的球队，以及在第四节结束比赛。从这方面来说，周四晚上的比赛是一场不折不扣的成功。
这是一场“吃你的蔬菜”式的比赛。除非你把2023年选秀大会的状元秀斯科特·亨德森(Scoot Henderson)与文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)的对决也算在内，否则这场比赛没有任何重磅对决。全国媒体的目光都集中在其他地方，而比赛的赌注也低得不能再低了。没有人真的会在乎马刺队是赢还是输这场比赛。这场比赛的结果注定会消失在NBA生活中被遗忘的数字和统计数据的以太中。
你兴奋吗？你准备好继续读更多关于这场我巧妙地炒作起来的比赛的内容吗？听着，作为球迷，这些比赛也不是我们真正起床的理由，但它们仍然在讲述这个赛季的故事中扮演着重要的角色。马刺队本可以放弃这场比赛。在洛杉矶和休斯顿的两连败令人沮丧，伤病已经开始困扰这支甚至没有以完整阵容开始赛季的球队。他们的护身符球员，维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)，正在努力让自己进入比赛状态，并应对各种我们这些凡人难以理解的奇怪期望和压力。球队中唯一不变的是格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)，但他并不在那里充当稳定的力量，取而代之的是一位39岁的家伙，他在赛前接受采访时承认，他“忙于努力不被淹没”。我想说的是，这有很多借口！放弃吧，上床睡觉，周六再试一次。
然而，他们并没有这样做。这是一场强调性的胜利吗？一份意向声明？对联盟其他球队的警告？不。但它以自己的方式很重要。在这场比赛中，球队利用了阵容中的每一寸力量来串联一场胜利。整个阵容都做出了坚实的贡献，每个人都尽了自己的责任。他们努力拼搏，奋力拼搏，最终赢得了一场没有人会轻易送给他们的胜利。这令人印象深刻。我一直等着他们筋疲力尽，但他们却一直坚持到终场哨响。
我不认为这场比赛拯救了这个赛季，我也不认为这是马刺队将用来重新焕发生机的基准。我不认为这场比赛需要赋予它更多的意义，仅仅是为了赋予它意义。这是一个基石，需要在他们继续前进到其他任何事情之前处理好。如果他们不团结起来赢得这样一场比赛，那么他们以后就必须这样做。马刺队组织一直坚持不在重新夺回联盟榜首的过程中跳过任何步骤。由此推断，如果你不能跳过任何步骤，那么每一步都必须是重要的。
没有人会为2024年11月7日的马刺对开拓者之战写任何歌谣。事实上，我们可能都会在他们周六对阵爵士队的比赛开始前忘记这场比赛。这都很好，但如果你能的话，试着花点时间欣赏它。
你可能赢或输你打的每一场比赛，一般来说，你宁愿赢这场比赛也不愿输掉它。
要点：
- 这就是那种你会很高兴凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)在身边的那种比赛。这个人随时准备接受任何挑战，他的能量感觉很有感染力。比如说，当凯尔登在你旁边，他每一次呼吸都付出110%的努力时，你怎么能偷懒呢？现在，我希望他每次拿到球时，不要把自己的身体撞到篮筐周围的三个防守队员身上？是的，当然，那很好。这在大多数时候肯定会让我抓狂。但在这样一场比赛中，你只是在寻找哪怕一丝火花的迹象？地狱啊，KJ，把那个大块头扔出去！
- 我可能对凯尔登有些不公平；他昨晚的整体表现真的很好。他投进了一些三分球，抢下大量的篮板球，而且重要的是，没有失误！他今年的无球移动似乎也有了很大的提高！（是他的持球移动让我抓狂，但我们可以下次再分析。）为你骄傲，凯尔登！
- 我觉得扎克·科林斯(Zach Collins)是那种名字前面总是带着“饱受批评”称号的球员之一。我知道这一点，因为我就是那些总是“饱受批评”他的人之一。也就是说，今晚我想给他一些赞扬。他表现出色，基本上看起来就像我们希望替补中锋所展现的那样。我认为他可能看起来总是有点糟糕，因为他的上场时间与维克多的上场时间错开，每当维克多不在场上时，一切看起来都有些平淡无奇。比如说，你的意思是说你身高超过7英尺，却不能像凯文·杜兰特(Kevin Durant)一样在场上跑来跑去？
- 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)是个好球员。我知道我们仍在探索他究竟会成为怎样的一名优秀球员，我知道这仍然并不总是完美的，但我对他作为一名选秀球员感到非常高兴。他很有观赏性，他打得很努力，而且他似乎每次踏上球场都更加自信。没有失误！我迫不及待地想看到他继续成长，我尤其期待看到他随着德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)逐渐回到阵容中而开始获得上场时间。他们两个在球场上的搭档已经是我最喜欢的组合之一了，即使我还没有看到过。
新秀的大夜晚@ 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔
14 分 | 6 助攻 pic.twitter.com/MR5HWTgeTq— 圣安东尼奥马刺 (@ spurs) 2024年11月8日
WWL赛后新闻发布会
- 可能不是最有趣的比赛报道类型。
- 嘿，我的意思是，我今年到目前为止只写过失利的比赛，所以无论如何我都愿意写一场胜利的比赛。
- 是啊，我担心如果你不得不写太多关于失利的比赛，我们就会开始在这里看到一些无关小说的章节，而不是任何实质性的篮球分析。
- 还有时间。我经常发现，脱离自己的情绪状态是避免真正处理任何困扰你的体育失利的好方法。
- 但你认为这是人们来这个网站想读到的东西吗？
- 我不知道，伙计，如果人们想来这里读到关于马刺队失利的文章，那么我一开始就很难理解他们。
点击查看原文：What We Learned from the Spurs Win over the Trail Blazers
What We Learned from the Spurs Win over the Trail Blazers
A nice bounce back for a team trying to find it’s groove
You’d rather win this one than lose it. I mean, that goes without saying, I suppose, but I’m going to say it anyway. As an organization, the San Antonio Spurs are clearly in a “let the chips fall where they may” mode, but the guys on the floor have no ulterior motive. They want to win. They need to win. They especially need to do so against one of the few teams in the Western Conference that doesn’t appear to have “big” plans for the season.
To say that this early run of games has been rocky would be putting it mildly. The team has looked okay in fits and starts but has largely underwhelmed. They are clearly not a finished product, and they are showing as much. We know that, and we understand it. So while some of us (me) are in the process of reeling in our expectations from outlandish heights, the Spurs are working on hitting more realistic goals: bouncing back from a tough loss, beating teams with less talent, and closing out a game in the fourth quarter. In that respect, Thursday night was an unqualified success.
It was an “eat your vegetables” game. There weren’t any blockbuster matchups on tap unless you count fellow top-of-the-2023-draft alum Scoot Henderson squaring up with Wembanyama. The eyes of the national media were focused elsewhere, and the stakes were about as low as they get. No one would really care if the Spurs won or lost this contest. The result is destined to float away into the ether of unremembered numbers and stats that make up the reality of NBA life.
Are you excited? Are you pumped to keep reading more about this game that I’ve so cleverly hyped up? Look, these games aren’t what we really get out of bed for as fans either, but they still serve an important role in telling the story of this season. The Spurs could’ve written it off. The two-step of road losses in LA and Houston were humbling, and the injuries are already starting to pile up for a team that didn’t even start the season at full strength. Their talisman player, Victor Wembanyama, is working his way into basketball shape and dealing with all kinds of weird expectations and pressures that are difficult for us mere mortals to comprehend. The one constant in the organization, Gregg Popovich, isn’t there as a steady hand and has been replaced by a 39-year-old guy who admitted in an interview before the game that he has his “hands full trying to stay above water.” What I’m trying to say is that’s plenty of excuses! Pack it in, go to bed, and try again on Saturday.
They didn’t do that, though. Was it an emphatic victory? A statement of intent? A warning shot to the rest of the league? No. But it was important in its own way. It was a game that saw the team use every inch of its roster to string together a win. There were solid contributions up and down the lineup, with everyone pulling their weight. They hustled, they scrapped, and they pushed their way through to a victory that no one was going to just hand them. It was impressive. I kept waiting for the gas to run out, and yet they just kept rumbling along until that final whistle.
I don’t think this game saved the season, and I don’t think it’s some benchmark the Spurs will use to catapult back to life. I don’t think this game needs to have any more meaning ascribed to it just for the sake of doing it. It was a building block that needed to be taken care of before they could move on to anything else. If they didn’t pull themselves together to win a game like this, then they would’ve had to later. The Spurs organization has been adamant about not skipping steps in the process of retaking their perch at the top of the league. The logic follows that if you can’t skip any steps, then each step must be important.
No one is going to write any ballads about Spurs vs. Blazers, November 7th, 2024. In fact, we’re all probably going to forget about it by the time they tip off against the Jazz on Saturday. That’s all well and good, but try to take a moment and appreciate it if you can.
You can win or lose every single game you play, and generally speaking, you’d rather win this one than lose it.
Takeaways:
- This is the type of game where you’re happy to have Keldon Johnson around. That man is up for anything, and his energy feels pretty infectious. Like, how are you supposed to take plays off with Keldon out there next to you, giving 110% on every single breath he takes? Now, do I wish he would maybe not crash his body into three defenders around the rim every single time he gets his mitts on the ball? Yeah, sure, that would be nice. It definitely drives me nuts most of the time. But in a game like this, where you’re just looking around for even the whisper of a spark? Hell yeah, KJ, throw that big body around!
- I’m probably doing Keldon a disservice; he actually had a really nice overall game last night. He hit a couple of threes, grabbed a ton of boards, and, importantly, had no turnovers! His movement without the ball this year also seems to be really improved! (It’s his movement with the ball that drives me bananas, but we can break that down another time.) Proud of you, Keldon!
- I feel like Zach Collins is one of those guys who always has the “much maligned” moniker attached to the front of his name. I would know because I’m one of those people who is always “much maligning” him. That said, I’d like to give him some flowers tonight. He put in a great shift and was largely able to look like exactly what we’re looking for out of a backup center. I think he maybe always looks a little worse because his minutes are sort of staggered against Victor’s, and whenever Victor isn’t on the court, everything just seems a little blah. Like, what do you mean you’re over 7 feet tall and can’t run around out there emulating Kevin Durant?
- Steph Castle is a good one. I know we’re still unlocking exactly what kind of good player he’s going to be, and I know it still isn’t perfect all the time, but I’m so happy with him as a draft pick. He’s fun to watch, he plays hard, and he genuinely seems to look more confident every single time he steps out onto the court. No turnovers! I can’t wait to watch him continue to grow, and I’m especially pumped to watch him start to get minutes with Devin Vassell as he works his way back into the lineup. Those two on the court together is already one of my favorite pairings, and I haven’t even seen it yet.
A big night for the rook @ StephonCastle
14 PTS | 6 AST pic.twitter.com/MR5HWTgeTq— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) November 8, 2024
WWL Post Game Press Conference
- Probably not the most fun type of game to write about.
- Hey, I mean, I’ve only drawn losses so far this year so I’ll take writing about a win any day.
- Yea, I was worried if you had to write about too many more losses we were going to start just getting chapters of unrelated novels on here instead of any kind of substantive basketball analysis.
- There’s still time for that. I’ve often found that disassociating about my own emotional state is a great way avoid actually dealing with any kind of Sports loss that troubles you.
- Do you think that’s what people want to read about when they come to this site though?
- I dunno man, if people are wanting to come here and read about the Spurs losing then I have a hard time relating to them in the first place.
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock