By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-11-22 14:30:34
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19日星期二，在圣安东尼奥霜冻银行中心的NBA比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)（5号）和前锋凯尔登·约翰逊（0号）防守俄克拉荷马城雷霆队后卫谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大（2号）突破上篮。圣安东尼奥以110-104击败俄克拉荷马城。
和往常一样，克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)胸有成竹。
和往常一样，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)是第一个听到他计划的人。
周四深夜，保罗站在霜冻银行中心马刺队的更衣室里说：“我会发个表情符号，一个老头和一个婴儿。”
卡斯尔笑着点点头。自从他开始认真倾听这位老将的每一句话以来，还不到两个月，他已经明白，即使是老掉牙的笑话也蕴含着智慧。
他们本不该如此合拍。就在这天晚上，他们得知自己是NBA历史上首发后卫年龄差距第二大的组合。39岁的保罗深谙篮球运动的永恒魅力，他说卡斯尔看起来并不那么年轻。
而20岁的卡斯尔，心思缜密得不像他的年龄，他巧妙地回避了关于保罗看起来有多老的问题。
卡斯尔笑着说：“我可不会回答这个问题。”
如果这位新秀不想对他的后场导师表现出任何不敬，这是可以理解的。在卡斯尔NBA生涯的前16场比赛中，保罗一次又一次地证明了他将卡斯尔的利益放在心上，从卡斯尔首秀时提醒他塞好球衣，到周四晚上关键时刻保罗大声喊卡斯尔去设置掩护。
在后一种情况下，在马刺126-118战胜犹他的比赛的最后几分钟，卡斯尔看不到保罗所看到的，但他还是照做了。紧接着，卡斯尔就朝着篮筐跑去，保罗的完美传球落入他的手中，在他和轻松扣篮之间有一条畅通无阻的路线。
卡斯尔几乎掩饰不住他的惊叹：“他就这样掌控着比赛。”但到目前为止，马刺最喜欢他们的“老头和婴儿”后场组合的地方是，他们能够轻松地一起掌控比赛。
他们是圣安东尼奥休赛期最重要的两笔引援，这是有意为之的。马刺在选秀大会上用第四顺位选中了卡斯尔，希望他成为他们未来的控球后卫，他们还签下了历史上最有成就的控球后卫之一来指导他。他们给他们安排了相邻的更衣室，他们认为他们会逐渐适应彼此。
然后德文·瓦塞尔需要几周的时间来从休赛期的足部手术中恢复，杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)又摔断了拇指。这为马刺的首发阵容腾出了位置，这意味着卡斯尔将不再是保罗的替补，而是大部分时间都和他一起打球。
这成了一个意外的惊喜。身高6英尺6英寸的卡斯尔和身高6英尺的保罗打球方式不同，但他们都擅长掌控比赛节奏。他们可以随心所欲地放慢或加快比赛节奏，通常在一个回合中就能做到。在外行看来，他们是一对绝佳的组合。
事实是：数据也证实了这一点。当保罗和卡斯尔同时在场时，马刺每100回合平均净胜对手11.7分。
这是一个巨大的数字。事实上，在圣安东尼奥至少使用了100分钟的27种不同的双人组合中，只有一种组合的净效率值高于保罗-卡斯尔的+11.7。令人惊讶的是，卡斯尔和朱利安·尚帕尼的净效率值达到了+15.6。（不出所料，保罗和维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)以+9.4的净效率值排名前三。）
总而言之，“老头和婴儿”的组合已经是马刺最大的优势之一。正如TNT的“Inside the NBA”本周指出的那样，保罗和卡斯尔的年龄差距（19年179天）并没有德阿隆·福克斯和文斯·卡特（20年328天）那么大，后者在2018年为萨克拉门托一起首发了三场比赛。
但福克斯-卡特的阵容很少见。正如本周对阵俄克拉荷马城和犹他的比赛所证明的那样，保罗-卡斯尔的二人组可以为你赢得比赛，这就是为什么即使瓦塞尔和索汉最终回归让卡斯尔回到替补席，马刺也应该继续利用这个组合。
无论发生什么，保罗都不会停止对卡斯尔的唠叨，无论是对他上篮时保护身体的 yelling，还是批评他的 Bourré 纸牌游戏策略，或是协调一次推广 Jordan Brand 的活动。
卡斯尔说：“他说的每句话都很有价值。”
这就是为什么即使老家伙在谈论表情符号？
小家伙也总是在认真倾听。
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) drives past San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle, top, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Zach Collins (23) and guard Stephon Castle, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Utah Jazz forward Drew Eubanks, right, drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) reacts after a call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Utah Jazz forward John Collins, top, reaches in against San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul, left, drives against Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
点击查看原文：Between Chris Paul, Stephon Castle, Spurs find treasure in age gap
Between Chris Paul, Stephon Castle, Spurs find treasure in age gap
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) and forward Keldon Johnson (0) defend as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives into the lane during the second half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 in San Antonio. San Antonio beat Oklahoma City 110-104.
As usual, Chris Paul had a plan.
As usual, Stephon Castle was the first to hear about it.
“I’ll post the emojis,” Paul said, standing at his Spurs locker in Frost Bank Center late Thursday evening. “Old man and a baby.”
The baby chuckled, nodding. It’s been less than two months since Castle started hanging on the old man’s every word, and he’s learned that even the dad jokes contain some wisdom.
They shouldn’t get along so well. On this night, they learned theirs is the second-largest age gap between starting guards in NBA history. Paul, who at 39 appreciates the eternal timelessness of hoops, said Castle really doesn’t seem so young.
Castle, who at 20 is savvy beyond his years, Euro-stepped right past a question about how old Paul seems.
“I ain’t gonna answer that one,” Castle said, grinning.
If the rookie didn’t want to risk showing his backcourt mentor anything other than respect, it was understandable. Time and time again during his first 16 games in the NBA, Paul has proven to have Castle’s best interests in mind, from the reminder in the kid’s debut to tuck in his jersey, to the key sequence Thursday night when Paul barked at Castle to come set a screen.
In the latter instance, during the closing minutes of the Spurs’ 126-118 victory over Utah, the baby couldn’t see what the old man could, but he did as he was told. And before he knew it, Castle was rolling toward the basket, a perfect pass from Paul in his hands, with a wide-open lane between him and an easy dunk.
“He just manipulates games like that,” Castle said, barely disguising his wonder. But what the Spurs love most about their “old man and a baby” backcourt so far is the ease with which they’ve managed to manipulate games together.
They were San Antonio’s two biggest acquisitions of the offseason, and this was by design. The Spurs selected Castle with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft to become their point guard of the future, and they signed one of the most accomplished point guards of all time to mentor him. They assigned them adjacent lockers, and they figured they’d take to each other over time.
Then Devin Vassell needed a few extra weeks to recover from offseason foot surgery, and Jeremy Sochan broke his thumb. That opened up spots in the Spurs’ starting lineup, and it meant that instead of serving as Paul’s backup, Castle would play most of his minutes alongside him.
This turned into a revelation. The 6-foot-6 Castle and the 6-foot Paul go about it in different ways, but they both have a knack for dictating pace. They slow the game down and speed it up at their whims, often during a single possession. To the untrained eye, it looks like a great match.
And here’s the thing: The statistics see what the eyes do. With Paul and Castle on the floor together, the Spurs have outscored opponents by an average of 11.7 points per 100 possessions.
That is a huge number. In fact, of the 27 different two-player combinations San Antonio has used for at least 100 minutes, only one has a better net rating than the Paul-Castle plus-11.7. Castle and Julian Champagnie, surprisingly, are at plus-15.6. (Paul and Victor Wembanyama, unsurprisingly, round out the top three combos at plus-9.4.)
The overall point is that the “old man and a baby” tandem already is one of the Spurs’ biggest strengths. As noted by TNT’s “Inside the NBA” this week, the Paul-Castle age gap (19 years, 179 days) is not quite as wide as the one between De’Aaron Fox and Vince Carter (20 years, 328 days), who started three games together for Sacramento in 2018.
But those Fox-Carter lineups were rarities. As proven against Oklahoma City and Utah this week, the Paul-Castle duo can win games for you, which is why the Spurs should continue to utilize it even if the eventual returns of Vassell and Sochan send Castle back to the bench.
No matter what happens, Paul is never going to stop chattering to Castle, whether it’s yelling at him to protect his body on a layup attempt, or critiquing his Bourré card-playing strategy, or coordinating an appearance to promote the Jordan Brand.
“Everything he says is valuable,” Castle said.
And that’s why even when the old man is talking about emojis?
The baby’s always listening.
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) drives past San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle, top, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Zach Collins (23) and guard Stephon Castle, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Utah Jazz forward Drew Eubanks, right, drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) reacts after a call during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Utah Jazz forward John Collins, top, reaches in against San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul, left, drives against Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News