By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-13 11:45:49
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10月31日，犹他州盐湖城：在三角洲中心球馆对阵犹他爵士队的下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队的5号球员斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)庆祝得分。
人们总是告诉新秀，总有一天比赛节奏会慢下来。
他们也这样告诉了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。但他可不打算被动等待。
所以，他想出了一个自己“放慢”比赛节奏的方法。
甚至，让比赛戛然而止。
如果你看过马刺在周五晚上于冰霜银行中心迎战湖人之前的几场比赛，你很可能已经看到卡斯尔是怎么做的了。
这招真是太妙了。这位20岁后卫会一头冲向篮筐——一个6尺5寸的肌肉和长臂的模糊身影，顶着一头跳跃的辫子——而防守者则拼命地想跟上他。
“他们重心后移，”卡斯尔一边解说一边演示，“他们正要起跳。我全速冲向他们。”
“然后，我完全停下来。”
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔的精彩突破，犹他爵士换上沃克·凯斯勒来防守他，卡斯尔利用变速+欧洲步后的急停跳投得到2分。pic.twitter.com/svXZmahnHX
— NBA Clips Archive (@ bballclips51) 2024年11月10日
他一点也没有夸张。卡斯尔是最新掌握“慢步”或“减速”动作的大师，这是一种介于斯蒂芬·库里式的犹豫步和马努·吉诺比利欧洲步之间的混合体。卢卡·东契奇上赛季一路过掉防守者杀入NBA总决赛，他可能是这项技术的集大成者。
但是卡斯尔，这个夏天以第四顺位被选中来到圣安东尼奥之前从未尝试过这个动作，正在迎头赶上。
不是快速地，而是慢慢地。
当然，这正是关键所在。这就是为什么问卡斯尔是否已经是马刺队最好的“慢步”使用者并非正确的问题。
“他可能拥有整个（哔——）联盟中最好的慢步，”队友朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)说道。
除了这一招之外，卡斯尔的全面比赛还有更多值得称道的地方。他的防守非常积极。他是一个极具直觉的组织者和传球手。他三分球的投篮姿势，虽然公认还需要改进，但看起来很有可能成为未来的武器。他冷静的头脑让他几乎立刻赢得了马刺教练组在关键时刻的信任。
“我喜欢他的认真态度，”代理主教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)说道。
但在某种程度上，“慢步”体现了所有这些，这在很大程度上是因为它是如何成为他比赛的一部分的。在圣安东尼奥的第一次夏季训练中，助理教练迈克·诺耶斯——同样毕业于康涅狄格大学——建议卡斯尔将这一动作添加到他的比赛中。
接下来发生的事情表明了为什么马刺队如此兴奋地在选秀中得到他。首先，他拥有使“慢步”有效的身体素质——身高、速度和急停急起的能力。但更重要的是，他愿意接受新事物，并为此付出真正的努力。
尽管在圣安东尼奥赞扬科怀·伦纳德(Kawhi Leonard)可能仍然是大不敬的行为，但他每个休赛期都会带着新的技能回到圣安东尼奥的习惯证明了这种职业道德。这是他从首轮中段秀成长为两届NBA总决赛最有价值球员的主要原因。
虽然现在还没有人对卡斯尔的未来做出这样的假设，但他将夏季训练成果融入常规赛比赛的效率与伦纳德很相似。
在过去一周的三场比赛中，卡斯尔四次使用“慢步”让防守者看起来很傻。在对阵波特兰的快攻中，他用右脚来了个急停——让谢顿·夏普(Shaedon Sharpe)直接从他身边飞过——然后完成上篮。
在对阵犹他的比赛中——卡斯尔得到了职业生涯最高的23分——他两次对大个子沃克·凯斯勒(Walker Kessler)使用了这一招，两次都用左脚暂停。
在周一晚上战胜萨克拉门托的比赛中，他完成了可能是他迄今为止最慢的“减速”，用右脚停顿了似乎永恒的一段时间，同时让前马刺球员道格·麦克德莫特(Doug McDermott)后退到第一排，为他轻松得分 clearing the way。
“有人说这看起来像走步，”卡斯尔说道，他说的没错。这一招的妙处在于它看起来像是违例的，但实际上并非如此。他完全控制着自己的方向，以及如何到达那里。
这就是队友们一直以来对他的评价。波特兰中锋多诺万·克林根(Donovan Clingan)上赛季与卡斯尔在康涅狄格大学一起赢得了全国冠军，他讲述了一个故事：在训练的第二天或第三天，他看着这个让老队员们目瞪口呆的新生，充满了惊奇。
“他说，‘现在最好习惯一下——我不会在这里待太久的，’”克林根回忆道。“我们都说，‘是的。’”
维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)，比卡斯尔大了整整10个月，对此感同身受。在这个孩子季前赛打了三场之后，卡斯尔告诉他，比赛节奏终于开始对他慢下来了。
“我说，‘我花了50场比赛，’”文班亚马笑着说。“我们将看到他呈指数级进步。”
我们已经看到了。在11月4日对阵快船的比赛中，杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)拇指骨折后，卡斯尔成为了首发。他在休斯顿的首秀表现有些不稳定。
但在接下来的四场首发中呢？卡斯尔场均得到14.3分、5.0次助攻和2.5个篮板，投篮命中率达到47.8%，三分球命中率为33%。
“我并不真的把自己看作一个新秀，”卡斯尔说道。“我觉得那样是在贬低自己。”
换句话说，如果有人试图限制马刺对他们最新的首轮秀的期望？
他们可以继续前进。
而卡斯尔，看到了慢步的智慧，让他们径直走过。
San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, left, tangles with Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 118-105. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) is announced as a starter in a home game against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) goes up for a shot during the first half against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) guards Sacramento Kings forward Doug McDermott (7) during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
点击查看原文：Spurs rookie Stephon Castle has slow-stepped his way to a bigger role
Spurs rookie Stephon Castle has slow-stepped his way to a bigger role
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - OCTOBER 31: Stephon Castle #5 of the San Antonio Spurs celebrates a basket during the second half of a game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on October 31, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The game will slow down someday. That’s what people tell rookies.
That’s what they told Stephon Castle. He just had no intention of waiting for it to happen.
So, he figured out a way to slow the game down on his own.
To bring it to a screeching halt, even.
If you’ve watched any of the Spurs’ last few games heading into their Friday night meeting with the Lakers at Frost Bank Center, you’ve probably seen Castle do it.
It’s the darnedest thing. The 20-year-old guard will be careening headlong toward the basket – a 6-foot-5 blur of muscles and long limbs beneath a bundle of bouncing braids – and a defender will be working like mad to stay right there with him.
“They’re on their heels,” Castle says, providing the play-by-play. “They’re about to jump. I’m coming at them, full-speed.
“And I go to a complete stop.”
Stephon Castle with a nice drive here, Utah switches Walker Kessler on to him, Castle uses his change of speed + that jump-stop hesi after the euro step to get the 2 points on the board. pic.twitter.com/svXZmahnHX
— NBA Clips Archive (@ bballclips51) November 10, 2024
He’s barely exaggerating. Castle is the newest master of a move called the “slow step” or “decel,” a sort of hybrid between a Steph Curry-style hesitation dribble and a Manu Ginobili Eurostep. Luka Doncic, who let defender after defender fly past him on his way to the NBA Finals last season, might be the most accomplished practitioner.
But Castle, who’d never even tried the move before arriving in San Antonio as the No. 4 overall draft pick this summer, is catching up.
Not quickly, but slowly.
That, of course, is the point. And it’s why asking if Castle already is the Spurs’ best slow-stepper isn’t the right question.
“He might have the best slow step in the entire (bleeping) league,” teammate Julian Champagnie says.
There’s much more to love about Castle’s all-around game than one move. He defends like crazy. He’s an intuitive playmaker and passer. His 3-point stroke, which admittedly needs work, looks like it could be a future weapon. And his cool-headed demeanor earned him the crunch-time trust of the Spurs’ coaching staff almost immediately.
“I love how serious he is,” acting head coach Mitch Johnson says.
But in a way, the “slow step” exemplifies all of it, in no small part because of how it became part of his game. During one of his first summer workouts in San Antonio, assistant coach Mike Noyes – a fellow Connecticut alumnus – suggested adding it to Castle’s game.
What came next showed why the Spurs were so excited to land him in the draft. First of all, he had the physical tools – the size, the speed, the stop-start ability – to make the “slow step” effective. But more importantly, he had the willingness to embrace something new, and to put real work into it.
As sacrilegious as it still might be to praise Kawhi Leonard in these parts, his penchant for emerging from every San Antonio offseason with a new facet to his game was a testament to that kind of ethic. It was a major reason he went from a mid-first round pick to most valuable player of two NBA Finals.
And while nobody is making those kinds of assumptions about Castle’s future yet, the efficiency with which he’s integrated his summer work into his regular-season game is Leonard-like.
Four times in three games over the last week, Castle has used the “slow step” to make defenders look foolish. On a fast break against Portland, he came to a virtual stop on his right foot – letting Shaedon Sharpe blow right past him – before finishing a layup.
Against Utah – a game in which he scored a career-high 23 points – Castle did it twice against big man Walker Kessler, both times hitting his pause on his left foot.
And in a victory over Sacramento on Monday night, he pulled off what might have been his slowest “decel” yet, halting on his right foot for what seemed like an eternity while sending former Spur Doug McDermott backpedaling toward the first row to clear the way for an easy bucket.
“Some people say it looks like a travel,” Castle says, and he’s not wrong. The beauty of the move is that it seems like it has to be illegal, but isn’t. He’s just in complete control of where he’s going, and how he’s getting there.
That’s what teammates always have noticed about him. Portland center Donovan Clingan, who won a national title with Castle at UConn last season, tells a story about how on the second or third day of practice, he looked at the freshman in wonder after a play that had the veterans dropping their jaws.
“He said, ‘Better get used it now – I’m not gonna be here for long,’” Clingan recalls. “We all said, ‘Yeah.’”
Victor Wembanayama, Castle’s elder by all of 10 months, knows the feeling. Three games into the kid’s first preseason, Castle told him the game was finally starting slow down for him.
“I was like, ‘It took me 50 games,’” Wembanyama says, grinning. “We’re going to see some exponential progression from him.”
We’re seeing it already. After Jeremy Sochan broke his thumb against the Clippers on Nov. 4, Castle became a starter. His first outing in Houston was a bit uneven.
But in the four starts that followed? Castle averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds, while shooting a respectable 47.8% from the field and 33% from 3-point range.
“I don’t really look at myself like a rookie,” Castle says. “I feel like that’s doing myself a disservice.”
In other words, if there’s anybody trying to put limits on what the Spurs should expect from their newest first-round pick?
They can keep moving.
While Castle, seeing the wisdom in a slow step, lets them go right on by.
San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, left, tangles with Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 118-105. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) is announced as a starter in a home game against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) goes up for a shot during the first half against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) guards Sacramento Kings forward Doug McDermott (7) during the second half at Frost Bank Center on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs defeated the Kings, 116-96.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News