By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-18 14:31:31
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12日，星期六，在圣安东尼奥举行的NBA篮球比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队的特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)（33号）和凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)在一个进球后做出反应。（美联社照片/达伦·阿贝特）
自从特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)开始打篮球以来，他一直是任何一支愿意接纳他的球队中最矮的球员。
在明尼苏达州的苹果谷高中是这样。在杜克大学也是这样。当他加入NBA的巨人行列时，更是如此。
尽管如此，琼斯总是敢于拥有远大的梦想。
当这位身高6英尺1英寸（约1.85米）的马刺队控球后卫观看周二前往弗罗斯特银行中心的俄克拉荷马城队的近期比赛录像时，他几乎感觉自己像个中锋。
“我只差几英寸，”琼斯说。
在11月10日输给金州勇士队的比赛中，7英尺1英寸（约2.16米）的中锋切特·霍姆格伦(Chet Holmgren)髋骨骨折后，雷霆队被迫缩小阵容。
到目前为止，结果比任何人合理预期的都要好。
在周二的NBA酋长航空杯比赛中，雷霆队的首发球员中没有一个身高超过6英尺6英寸（约1.98米）。这是此前司职前锋的杰伦·威廉姆斯(Jalen Williams)的身高，他已经取代了霍姆格伦的中锋位置，尽管他比霍姆格伦矮了7英寸。
威廉姆斯对他新工作的态度体现了10胜3负的雷霆队的坚韧精神，他们在霍姆格伦缺席的情况下只偶尔会失节奏。
“这归根结底就是竞争，”威廉姆斯说。“最重要的是，你并不总是想处在防守端的被动位置。有时候你必须主动出击。”
2024年10月30日，星期三，在俄克拉荷马城举行的NBA篮球比赛下半场，俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后卫谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大(Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)（2号）面对圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)（10号）投篮。（美联社照片/内特·比林斯）
理论上，马刺队应该拥有巨大的身高优势——尤其是如果7英尺3英寸（约2.21米）的球星维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)上场的话。不过，他现在被马刺队列为出战成疑。
这位20岁的中锋因膝盖挫伤缺席了周六输给达拉斯的比赛。文班亚马的替补是扎克·科林斯(Zach Collins)，他身高6英尺11英寸（约2.11米），也将像美洲之塔一样俯视雷霆队派出的任何对手。
到目前为止，雷霆队已经能够通过集体蜂拥而至的一群身高6英尺多一点的难缠球员来弥补他们身高上的不足。
俄克拉荷马城队主教练马克·戴格诺特(Mark Daigneault)派出的任何相对矮小的防守球员——无论是威廉姆斯、卢·多特(Lu Dort)、亚历克斯·卡鲁索(Alex Caruso)，还是甚至是全明星球员谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大——都做好了痛击对手的准备。
“这是我们和他们讨论过的事情，”琼斯说。“当你观察他们时，你会看到他们作为一个团队在有球和无球状态下是多么强硬。”
自从霍姆格伦受伤以来，雷霆队已经赢得了四场比赛中的三场，这主要归功于他们在防守端的努力。
雷霆队拥有NBA最高的防守效率，在抢断和盖帽方面都领先联盟，并且最擅长制造失误，场均能迫使对手出现近20次失误。
“这将会很艰难，因为他们都是小个阵容，所以他们会换防一切，”科林斯说。“我们知道他们会把比赛搅乱，而且非常强硬。”
马刺队将希望限制失误——这是整个赛季挥之不去的难题——同时最大限度地利用他们在篮板球上的优势。
这是达拉斯周日用来送给雷霆队这支强悍的小个阵容首场失利的策略，小牛队以53-29的篮板球优势战胜了雷霆队，并抢下了18个进攻篮板，获得了24个二次进攻得分。
“这对我们来说将是一次很好的考验，”科林斯说。“但如果我们以正确的方式打球，我们将拥有显著的优势。”
文班亚马的状态将在很大程度上决定马刺队能够在多大程度上惩罚体型较小的雷霆队。
然而，即使文班亚马能够上场，马刺队也不会掉以轻心。
拥有真正意义上的中锋的球队整个赛季都在用较小的球员来防守文班亚马，而且经常能取得一定的成功。
“这对他来说并不稀奇，”琼斯说。
在马刺队10月30日客场挑战俄克拉荷马城的比赛中，6英尺5英寸（约1.96米）的卡鲁索和6英尺4英寸（约1.93米）的多特比体型更大的霍姆格伦更频繁地防守文班亚马。
在防守球员每次文班亚马在油漆区附近接球时都蜂拥而至的情况下，这位马刺队的内线巨人在那场105-93的失利中只得到了赛季最低的6分。
他还贡献了马刺队22次失误中的4次，雷霆队迅速将这些失误转化为27分。
事实证明，小个阵容并不总是大个球员的自助餐。
“很难一对一地背打小个子，因为他们的重心很低，你无法移动他们，”科林斯说。“但同时（雷霆队）也非常擅长轮转。一旦你空切到篮下，整个球队都会向你包夹。”
如果马刺队想要击败这支令人难以置信的“缩小版”雷霆队，需要的不仅仅是身高优势。
他们也必须正确地思考比赛。
“关键在于阅读防守，阅读包夹，做出正确的选择，并在我们有机会的时候保持侵略性，”科林斯说。
与此同时，琼斯有朝一日打中锋的愿望可能仍然无法实现。
不过，如果雷霆队继续缩小阵容，谁知道呢？
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
DALLAS, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Tre Jones #33 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots against Quentin Grimes #5 and Daniel Gafford #21 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half of an NBA game at American Airlines Center on November 16, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.
DALLAS, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Tre Jones #33 of the San Antonio Spurs drives the basket against Quentin Grimes #5 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half of an NBA game at American Airlines Center on November 16, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.
点击查看原文：Thunder's lineup could present challenges for Wembanyama, Spurs
Thunder’s lineup could present challenges for Wembanyama, Spurs
San Antonio Spurs’ Tre Jones (33) and Keldon Johnson react after a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
For as long as Tre Jones has played basketball, he has been the smallest player on any team that would have him.
It was that way at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota. It was that way in college at Duke. It was definitely that way when he joined the giants in the NBA.
Still, Jones always dared to dream big.
When the 6-foot-1 Spurs point guard looks at recent film of the Oklahoma City squad headed to the Frost Bank Center on Tuesday, he almost feels like a center.
“I’m only a couple of inches away,” Jones said.
After losing 7-1 center Chet Holmgren to a fractured hip in a Nov. 10 loss against Golden State, the Thunder have been forced to downsize.
The results so far have been better than anyone could have reasonably expected.
No player who will start for OKC in Tuesday’s NBA Emirates Cup game stands taller than 6-6. That is the height of erstwhile forward Jalen Williams, who has assumed Holmgren’s spot at center despite coming in at seven inches shorter.
Williams’ approach to his new job typifies the hard-hat nature of the 10-3 Thunder, who have missed only an occasional beat in Holmgren’s absence.
“It just comes down to competing,” Williams said. “The biggest thing is you don’t always want to be on the defensive end of contact. Sometimes you have to kind of start it.”
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
On paper, the Spurs should enjoy a monstrous height advantage – especially if 7-3 star Victor Wembanyama plays. Though, he is now listed by the Spurs as doubtful.
The 20-year-old center missed Saturday’s loss at Dallas with a knee contusion. Wembanyama’s backup is Zach Collins, who at 6-11 will also loom over anyone OKC can send at him like the Tower of the Americas.
So far, the Thunder have been able to make up for their lack of size by dispatching, in one collective swarm, a squadron of 6-foot-something pains in the backside.
Any relative Lilliputian that Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault dispatches on defense – whether Williams or Lu Dort or Alex Caruso or even All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – comes ready to beat the stuffing out of opposing players.
“That’s something we’ve talked about with them,” Jones said. “When you watch them, you see how physical they are as a team both on and off the ball.”
Oklahoma City has won three of four since Holmgren’s injury, owing largely to its work on the defensive end.
The Thunder own the top defensive rating in the NBA, lead the league in both steals and blocks and are the best at forcing turnovers, generating nearly 20 per game.
“It’s going to be tough because it’s all small ball, so they’re going to switch everything,” Collins said. "We know they’re going to muck it up and be really physical.”
The Spurs will hope to limit turnovers – a lingering bugaboo throughout the season – while maximizing their edge in size on the glass.
That was the formula Dallas used to hand Oklahoma City’s mighty mite brigade its first loss Sunday, as the Mavericks outrebounded the Thunder 53-29 and seized 18 offensive boards good for 24 second-chance points.
“It’s going to be a good test for us,” Collins said. “But if we play the right way, we’re going to have a significant advantage.”
Wembanyama’s status will go a long way toward determining how well the Spurs are able to punish the smaller Thunder.
Even if Wembanyama is available, however, the Spurs are taking nothing for granted.
Teams with true-to-form centers have been using smaller players to guard Wembanyama throughout the season, often with some degree of success.
“It’s nothing out of the ordinary he hasn’t seen,” Jones said.
In the Spurs’ Oct. 30 trip to Oklahoma City, the 6-5 Caruso and 6-4 Dort guarded Wembanyama more often than the bigger Holmgren.
With help defenders swarming every time Wembanyama caught the ball near the paint, the Spurs’ big man was limited to a season-low six points in a 105-93 defeat.
He also produced four of the Spurs’ 22 turnovers that night, which the Thunder rapidly converted into 27 points.
Small ball lineups, it turns out, aren’t always an all-you-can-eat-feast for big men.
“It’s tough to post up one-on-one against little guys because their center of gravity is so low, you can’t move them,” Collins said. “But also (the Thunder) are very good at rotating. Once you get a slip to the rim, the whole team collapses on you.”
If the Spurs are to defeat the incredible shrinking Thunder, it will require more than simply a size advantage.
They will have to think the game properly, too.
“It’s about reading the defense, reading the double teams, making the right reads and being aggressive when we can,” Collins said.
In the meantime, Jones’ aspirations of one day playing center are likely to remain unrealized.
If the Thunder keep downsizing, though, who knows?
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
DALLAS, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Tre Jones #33 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots against Quentin Grimes #5 and Daniel Gafford #21 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half of an NBA game at American Airlines Center on November 16, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.
DALLAS, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Tre Jones #33 of the San Antonio Spurs drives the basket against Quentin Grimes #5 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half of an NBA game at American Airlines Center on November 16, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News