By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-09 13:24:18
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。
2024年11月6日星期三，在休斯顿举行的NBA篮球比赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)在休斯顿火箭队前锋狄龙·布鲁克斯(Dillon Brooks)的压力下试图传球。（美联社照片/Michael Wyke）
对策已经出来了。在俄克拉荷马城，在休斯顿，在洛杉矶，在波特兰，他们都研究过了。
他们找到了防守维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)的方法。
“你甚至不用把他当作大个子来对待，”开拓者中锋德安德烈·艾顿(Deandre Ayton)说，“你把他当作后卫来对待。”
这已经变成了NBA的常规操作，即使它带有一个星号。没有人真的相信有一种万无一失的方法可以阻止篮球史上最有天赋的7尺3寸球员，就像没有人相信他不会适应那些让他慢下来的战术一样。
但随着马刺队希望在本赛季更进一步，他们的进攻进步很大程度上取决于这一点：
如果对手继续把他们最高的球员当作小个子来对待，那么文班或其他马刺球员需要确保对手为此付出代价。
针对上赛季最佳新秀的策略很明确。雷霆队用6尺5寸的牛皮糖亚历克斯·卡鲁索(Alex Caruso)作为防守文班的主要球员。火箭队则用6尺6寸的狄龙·布鲁克斯(Dillon Brooks)作为文班终结者。开拓者派出了6尺7寸的杰拉米·格兰特(Jerami Grant)来对付他。在对阵快船的比赛中，文班多次发现自己被6尺5寸的詹姆斯·哈登(James Harden)防守。
所有这些球员在对位中都矮了8到10英寸。乍一看，这似乎是一个疯狂的策略。
但球队这样做主要有三个原因。首先，当然是因为文班打球像后卫。他控球娴熟，喜欢在 периметре 游走，而且对于许多对方中锋来说，他的速度太快了。
第二个原因是文班还不是一个顶级的背身低位得分手。他在篮下很难找到空间（稍后会详细介绍），而且他在篮筐附近没有一个稳定的得分手段。
但第三个原因可能是最说明问题的。对手认为他们可以让一个小个子球员防守文班，同时让一个中锋留在油漆区保护篮筐，因为马刺队根本没有足够的外线投射能力让他们为此付出代价。
数据也证明了这一点。在联盟中最重要的现代数据——三分球命中率上排名第30位中的第28位一年之后，马刺队的命中率从34.7%下降到了33.1%。（由于全联盟的命中率都有所下降，在周六对阵犹他的比赛之前，马刺队的命中率在NBA排名第23位。）
德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell)的加入应该会在这方面提供很大的提升。他因休赛期足部手术错过了本赛季的前九场比赛，如果他能复制或提高他在2023-24赛季的数据——场均19.5分，三分球命中率37.5%——单凭这一点就能改善马刺队的空间。
但这不一定会改变防守文班的策略。球队仍然会尝试用侧翼球员来防守他，而这些侧翼球员仍然会试图把他挤出他的位置。
在周四马刺队在冰霜银行中心以118-105战胜对手的比赛中，格兰特在第三节的一个滑稽的回合中明显就是这么做的。
当马刺队准备在他们的底线发球时，格兰特把他的身体压在文班的下面，同时在左侧低位争抢位置，把文班撞倒在地。在第二次发生这种情况后，格兰特被吹罚了一次非比赛动作犯规，给了文班一次技术犯规罚球。当马刺队再次排队发球时，这几乎第三次发生了。
后来，格兰特说他只是想让文班“不舒服”。
“他摔倒了两次，”格兰特说。“我没有那么用力推他。”
当被告知格兰特的评价时，文班点点头。他说，两位球员都只是试图“利用我们所能利用的一切”。
“防守者的职责是看看他们在不被吹罚犯规的情况下能做到什么程度，”文班说。“我的工作是确保裁判看到有人越界。”
这是一个聪明的做法，如果防守者开始重新考虑对他过度身体接触，这可能会在以后有所回报。
但你知道还有什么能让那些防守者开始重新考虑吗？几个时机恰当的左肩跳勾投篮。或者偶尔来一个蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)式的撤步。
当然，马刺队并不期望文班模仿邓肯的比赛风格。他们不希望他这样做。但偶尔模仿一下可能会对他有所帮助。
文班队友的更多投篮也可能有所帮助。
“任何事情都有应对之策，”中锋扎克·柯林斯(Zach Collins)说道。
不久之后，马刺队会找到一个有效的对策。他们会调整，他们会给防守方一些新的考虑。而文班，在寻找优势的过程中，会像其他球星在防守方认为他们已经搞清楚他们的时候所做的那样。
他会改写对策。
点击查看原文：As league adjusts to Victor Wembanyama, Spurs look for a counter
As league adjusts to Victor Wembanyama, Spurs look for a counter
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) looks to pass the ball under pressure from Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
The book is out. In Oklahoma City, in Houston, in Los Angeles and in Portland, they’ve done their reading.
And it’s told them something about defending Victor Wembanyama.
“You don’t even treat him like a big,” Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton said. “You treat him like a guard.”
This already has turned into conventional NBA wisdom, even if it comes with an asterisk. Nobody truly believes there’s one foolproof way to stop the most skilled 7-foot-3 player in basketball history, just as nobody believes he won’t adjust to the tactics that slow him down.
But as the Spurs look to take another step in a season they hope will include lots of them, much of their offensive progress hinges on this:
If opponents are going to keep treating their tallest player like a little guy, either Wembanyama or the rest of the Spurs need to make sure they pay for it.
The strategy against last season’s rookie of the year is clear. The Thunder used 6-foot-5 nuisance Alex Caruso as their primary defender against Wembanyama. The Rockets employed 6-6 Dillon Brooks as their Wemby stopper. The Blazers sent 6-7 Jerami Grant against him. And there were multiple possessions against the Clippers when Wembanyama found himself guarded by 6-5 James Harden.
All of those guys give up anywhere from eight to 10 inches in those matchups. At first glance, that might seem like a crazy strategy.
But there are three main reasons why teams do this. The first, of course, is that Wembanyama does play like a guard. He handles the ball well, and he likes to roam the perimeter, and he’s too quick for many opposing centers.
The second reason is that Wembanyama is not yet an elite back-to-the-basket post scorer. He has trouble carving out space on the block (more on that later), and he doesn’t have a go-to move near the basket.
But the third reason might be the most telling one. Opponents think they can put a smaller player on Wembanyama while keeping a center near the paint to protect the basket, because the Spurs simply don’t have enough perimeter shooting to make them pay for this.
The numbers bear this out. A year after ranking 28th out of 30 NBA teams in the all-important modern stat of 3-point percentage, the Spurs’ accuracy has fallen from .347 to .331. (Because percentages have dropped league-wide, the Spurs’ lower number ranked 23rd in the NBA heading into Saturday’s game against Utah.)
Adding Devin Vassell to the lineup should provide a big boost in that regard. He missed the first nine games of this season while recovering from offseason foot surgery, and if he can replicate or improve upon his 2023-’24 numbers — 19.5 points per game with 37.5% 3-point shooting — that alone should benefit the Spurs’ spacing.
It won’t necessarily change the book on defending Wembanyama, though. Teams still are going to try to check him with wing defenders, and those wing defenders still are going to try to bully him off his spots.
That was Grant’s obvious aim on Thursday, during a comical third-quarter sequence in San Antonio’s 118-105 victory at Frost Bank Center.
With the Spurs set to inbound at their end of the floor, Grant pressed his body underneath Wembanyama’s while jockeying for position on the left block, knocking Wembanyama to the floor. After this happened a second time, Grant was whistled for an away-from-play foul, giving Wembanyama a technical free throw. Once the Spurs lined up to inbound again, it almost happened a third time.
Later, Grant said he was just trying to make Wembanyama “uncomfortable.”
“He fell twice,” Grant said. “I wasn’t pushing him that hard.”
Told of Grant’s assessment, Wembanyama nodded. He said both players were just trying “to take advantage of what we can.”
“It is the role of the defender to see how far they can go without getting a foul called,” Wembanyama said. “And it’s also my job to make sure the ref sees when somebody goes over the limit.”
That’s a smart approach, and it might pay off down the road if defenders start to think twice about getting overly physical with him.
But you know what else might make those defenders start second-guessing themselves? A couple of well-timed jump hooks over Wembanyama’s left shoulder. Or maybe an occasional Tim Duncan drop-step.
The Spurs don’t expect Wembanyama to model his game after Duncan, of course. They don’t want him to. But pieces of it here and there could help.
So, too, could a few more shots from Wembanyama’s teammates.
“There’s always a counter for everything,” center Zach Collins said.
Before long, the Spurs will find one that works. They will adjust, and they will give defenses something new to consider. And Wembanyama, looking for advantages, will do what other stars have done when defenses thought they had them figured out.
He will change the book.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News