By August Bembel | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-12-08 03:45:07
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。
没有文班，马刺的防守就成了联盟中最差的之一。
周一早上，我像往常一样乘坐公共交通工具上班，在路上用手机看比赛。那天我上车后开始看马刺在萨克拉门托的比赛下半场。比赛太精彩了，我几乎忘了自己正坐在一辆拥挤的公交车上，旁边还有人。
看到瓦塞尔在关键时刻的三分命中，我忍不住挥了挥拳头。当我还没来得及阻止一声“耶！”从我的嘴唇里蹦出来时，我才想起自己在公交车上，我的行为可能有点奇怪。“旁边那个人可能觉得我是个傻子”，我心想，慢慢地瞥了他一眼。
结果却是一个美好的小瞬间。他的眼睛也 glued to his smartphone，脸上也充满了活力。因为他也在看体育比赛。
下车的时候，我感到很兴奋。我确信马刺的进度远远超前。我想知道保罗会怎么评价马刺进入季后赛的机会。他可能会说：“既然能和文班还有兄弟们一起打进季后赛，我为什么要在交易截止日期前被交易呢？”
五天后，现实给了我当头一棒，“小样本量带来的错觉”终于（或者说是突然）结束了——对马刺来说，这是一个明显不愉快的结局。不，这并非全是厄运和阴霾。但我先说服自己马刺的进度超前，然后在不到一周的时间里发现他们绝对没有超前，这感觉就像是一个巨大的打击。
马刺仍然是一支非常需要磨合的球队。一方面，他们有一些球员是不可替代的；另一方面，有些球员的弱点非常明显；而介于两者之间的球员，则还没有完全成熟。他们的进攻低于平均水平，目前在所有球队中排名第20。更令人惊讶的是，当文班亚马（Victor Wembanyama）不在场时，他们的防守端会发生什么。
输给太阳11分并不是什么悲剧。但这场比赛痛苦地展现了当只有8个三分球命中时，马刺的进攻还剩下什么——不多。而且三分球的低迷期并不少见。事实上，在接下来的与芝加哥公牛队的比赛中，马刺再次只投进了8个三分球，这是一场残酷的主场惨败。而且这并不是唯一出错的地方。公牛队在一个缺少文班的、防守崩溃的马刺队身上砍下了高达139分。
马刺队的这位当家球星在周五晚上对阵国王的比赛中没有复出。现在已经非常清楚了，没有文班，马刺的防守几乎崩溃——从联盟前十到垫底。这只是马刺需要在不久的将来进行一些阵容调整的又一个证据。
要点
NBA 篮球比赛中最具影响力，因此也是最重要的防守位置是中锋，而篮筐和/或禁区保护是最重要的防守任务。但是中锋比其他所有位置重要多少呢？目前的马刺在这方面是一个有趣的案例研究。他们拥有联盟中最好的篮筐保护者——但他们的替补篮筐保护人员可能也是最差的之一。马刺队有文班和没有文班时的防守差异，不仅仅是每场少盖四五个球。正如过去两场比赛所显示的那样，这很容易导致多丢25分。没有文班，马刺的防守和奇才一样糟糕。扎克·科林斯（Zach Collins）和马穆凯拉·迪亚巴特（Mame-Diarra Diarra) 都是纯进攻型球员。查尔斯·巴塞（Charles Bassey）在某些情况下可以成为一个有用的盖帽手，但在面对强大的进攻时，让他在五号位打很长时间的比赛，他的负担过重——而且他的身高也有点矮。马刺需要解决他们的替补大个子问题。但这还好。有些类型的球员更难获得。
一种这样的球员类型：3D侧翼。首先，这种类型的球员并不多。优秀的投篮和优秀的防守很少能兼得。通常是二者选一。而且3D侧翼的需求量如此之大，以至于他们一旦成为自由球员，就会得到丰厚的合同——想想肯塔维奥斯·考德威尔-波普（Kentavious Caldwell-Pope），他去年夏天与奥兰多魔术队签下了一份3年6600万美元的合同。他在魔术队的首发阵容中，每场比赛提供30分钟的稳固外线防守，但他每场比赛5次三分出手的命中率只有31%。这是3D吗？令人惊讶的是，马刺队不知从哪里找到了一个3D侧翼。
落选秀朱利安·尚帕尼（Julian Champagnie）算不上是一个防守悍将，但他在防守端做得很好，而且他是一个非常出色的射手。因此，他已经成为马刺队绝对不可或缺的一员。另外，他通常是第一个为马刺队得分的人。他在对阵公牛队的比赛中打出了职业生涯的最佳表现，这将很难复制，但他的得分能力一直在提高。与此同时，他每年300万美元的合同，在当前赛季之后还有两个赛季，看起来越来越像 outright theft。考虑到目前的阵容结构，尚帕尼很容易跻身马刺队最重要的五名球员之列，甚至可能是前三名。他的技能是不可或缺的。事实上，马刺需要更多像他这样的射手。
让我对斯蒂芬·卡斯尔（Stephon Marbury Jr.）最终能开发出可靠的外线投篮充满希望的是，除了索汉（Jeremy Sochan），他一点也不犹豫出手。令人鼓舞的是，他糟糕的三分命中率 (27%) 似乎并没有对他的信心产生负面影响。尽管如此，马刺允许他成为一个高出手/低命中率射手的時間是有限的。一旦赢球成为首要任务，他要么必须投进更多，要么减少出手。同时，由于空间的原因，大部分时间错开卡斯尔和索汉的上场时间可能是正确的做法。他们两人在得分方面的舒适区都在篮筐附近——卡斯尔作为突破手，索汉作为空切手。
马刺队缺乏空间在第一节末段表现得淋漓尽致。在还剩两分多钟的时候，他们领先国王队11分。随后，米奇·约翰逊（Mitch Johnson）换上了马尔基·布兰汉姆（Malaki Branham）和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔（换下克里斯·保罗（Chris Paul）和朱利安·尚帕尼），与凯尔登·约翰逊（Keldon Johnson）、杰里米·索汉和查尔斯·巴塞一起上场。这是一个缺乏投篮的阵容，进攻突然陷入停滞。不出所料，马刺队在本节只得到了一分——而国王队则毫不费力地扳平了比分。简而言之，马刺迫切需要更多的射手——特别是考虑到文班和瓦塞尔仍然存在健康问题。
最后，马刺需要加强防守，无论是在禁区还是在外线。文班和他的替补之间的差距太大了；轮换球员中在外线容易成为目标的人数太多了；凯尔登在外线经常和马拉基一样成为防守漏洞；保罗老了；特雷·琼斯（Tre Jones）太矮。但让我最后提醒大家，这些都是幸福的烦恼。因为这些问题都不是根本性的，它们相当于相对的调整。确实，现在有很多调整要做，但我们之所以能够专注于这些事情，是因为我们已经拥有了冠军球队所需的许多长期必要的要素。
点击查看原文：What We Learned From the Spurs’ Loss to the Kings
What We Learned From the Spurs’ Loss to the Kings
Without Wemby, the Spurs are one of the worst defenses in the league.
The good thing about using public transportation to get to work in the morning is you can watch sports on your smartphone while traveling. This Monday, I got on the bus to watch the second half of the the Spurs game in Sacramento. It was so exciting that I kinda forgot I was sitting in a packed bus, with someone sitting right next to me.
When I saw Vassell hit on his three point shots in crunch time, I couldn’t help but pump my fist. And when it was too late to stop a “Yeah!” from leaving my lips, I remembered I was on a bus, and that my behavior might be perceived as a bit odd. “The guy next to me probably thinks I’m an idiot”, I thought, slowly glancing in his direction.
Turns out that it was a beautiful little moment instead. His eyes were also glued to his smartphone, and his face was animated. Because he was watching sports.
I felt pumped when I left the bus. I felt certain that the Spurs were way ahead of schedule. And I wondered what CP3 would say about the Spurs’ chances of making the playoffs. Probably something like, “Why would I want to be traded at the deadline when I can make the postseason with Wemby and the boys?”
Five days later, it feels like reality has caught up and that “small sample size theatre” is finally (or suddenly) over – with a distinctly unhappy ending for the Spurs. No, it’s not all doom and gloom. But talking myself into the Spurs being ahead of schedule and then in less than a week finding out they most definitely aren’t feels like a gigantic blow.
The Spurs are still very much a work in progress. On one side, they have players who can’t even be remotely replaced; on the other, players with glaring weaknesses; and in between, not enough finished products. They’re a below-average offense, currently 20th among all teams. What’s more surprising is what happens on the defensive end whenever Wemby isn’t playing.
Losing by 11 to the Suns wasn’t a tragedy. But the game painfully showed what’s left of the Spurs’ offense when only eight threes fall – not much. And droughts from deep are not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, the Spurs made only eight threes again in their very next game, a brutal blowout home loss to the Chicago Bulls. And that wasn’t the only thing that went wrong. The Bulls dropped a whopping 139 points on a Spurs defense that fell apart without Wemby.
The Spurs’ franchise player didn’t return to action Friday night against the Kings. And it is now abundantly clear that, sans Wemby, the Spurs’ defense all but implodes – from top ten to rock bottom. Just one more piece of evidence that the Spurs will have to make some roster changes in the near future.
Takeaways
The most impactful and therefore the most important defensive position in NBA basketball is center, with rim and/or paint protection the most important defensive assignment. But how much more important are centers than all other positions? The current Spurs are an interesting case study in that respect. They have the best rim protector in the league — but their backup rim protection personnel is probably among the very worst. The per-game difference between the Spurs defense with Wemby and without isn’t just four or five fewer blocked shots. It can easily amount to an additional 25 points conceded, as the last two games showed. With Wemby out, the Spurs are about as bad as the Wizards, defensively. Zach Collins is strictly a one-way player, so is Mamu. Charles Bassey can be a situationally helpful shot blocker, but he’s overburdened playing major minutes at the five against competent offenses – and he’s also a bit short. The Spurs need to address their backup big situation. But that’s okay. There are player types more difficult to get.
One such player type: 3-and-D wings. First of all, there just aren’t all that many of them. Good shooting and good defense rarely go hand in hand. It’s often one or the other. And 3-and-D wings are in such high demand that they command hefty contracts whenever they become available – think Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who signed a 3-year/$66-million contract with the Orlando Magic last summer. He’s in the Magic’s starting five, providing solid perimeter defense for 30 minutes per game, but he’s making only 31 % of his five three-point attempts per game. Is that 3 and D? Sensationally, the Spurs managed to find themselves a 3-and-D wing out of nowhere.
The undrafted Julian Champagnie isn’t exactly a shutdown defender, but he more than holds his own on that end, and he’s a more than adequate shooter. As such, he’s become an absolute necessity to the Spurs. Plus, he’s routinely the first guy to give the Spurs a bucket. He had a career night against the Bulls, which will be tough to repeat, but he’s getting better as a scorer all the time. Meanwhile, his $3-million-per-year contract, which runs for another two seasons after the current one, is increasingly looking like outright theft. Given how the roster is currently constructed, Champagnie is easily among the five most important Spurs, maybe even top three. His skills are indispensable. In fact, the Spurs need more of what he can do as a shooter.
What makes me hopeful about Stephon Castle eventually developing a reliable outside shot is that, other than Sochan, he’s not hesitant at all to let it fly. It’s also encouraging that his poor percentage from deep (27 %) doesn’t appear to negatively affect his confidence. Still, the time in which the Spurs can allow him to be a high-volume/low-percentage shooter is limited. Once winning becomes top priority, he will either have to make more or take fewer. Meanwhile, it’s likely the right approach to mostly stagger Castle’s and Sochan’s minutes due to spacing reasons. Both their comfort zones in terms of scoring are around the rim – Castle’s as a driver, Sochan’s as a cutter.
The Spurs’ lack of spacing showed drastically late in the first quarter. They were 11 points clear of the Kings with a little more than two minutes left. Mitch Johnson then subbed in Malki Branham and Stephon Castle (for Chris Paul and Julian Champagnie) to share the floor with Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, and Charles Bassey. It was a lineup so devoid of shooting that the offense abruptly came to a grinding halt. Unsurprisingly, the Spurs only managed to score one more point in the quarter – and the Kings drew level without much effort. In short, the Spurs are desperate for more shooting – in particular because availability concerns about both Wemby and Vassell remain.
Finally, the Spurs need more defense, both in the paint and out on the perimeter. The drop-off from Wemby to his backups is way too steep; and the number of rotation players who make for easy targets out on the perimeter is too high; Keldon is often as much of a liability out there as Malaki; CP3 is old; Tre Jones is short. But let me end with the reminder that these are good problems to have. Because none of these issues are foundational, they amount to relative tweaks. Now there are quite a few tweaks to make, that’s true, but these are the kinds of things we’re only able to focus on because of how many long-term necessary ingredients of a championship team we already have in place.
By August Bembel, via Pounding The Rock