By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-12-28 12:05:30
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12月27日星期五，在纽约举行的NBA篮球比赛上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队的凯尔登·约翰逊（右）和哈里森·巴恩斯（左）在巴恩斯扣篮后做出反应。(美联社照片/帕梅拉·史密斯)
明尼阿波利斯——纽约已过正午，马刺队的正式训练已经结束。
哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)没有选择在圣诞节后的纽约高峰期出行，而是在空无一人的巴克莱中心留下来进行额外的对抗训练。
巴恩斯和参与训练的其他球员——马拉基·布拉纳姆(Malaki Branham)、布雷克·韦斯利(Blake Wesley)、扎克·科林斯(Zach Collins)和西迪·西索科(Sidy Cissoko)之间有一个关键的区别。
巴恩斯是唯一一个会在第二天晚上对阵布鲁克林的比赛中上场的球员。
在代理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)最新收紧的轮换阵容中，韦斯利是落选的球员之一，他正努力保持积极的心态。
“我一定会做好准备，”韦斯利说。“我正在坚持下去，继续努力。”
本月早些时候，随着杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)、德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)、特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)和科林斯伤愈复出，马刺队以完全健康的阵容进行了他们的第一场比赛。当时的问题是，约翰逊将如何利用他手头的新球员来安排10人轮换阵容。
约翰逊通过将轮换阵容缩减到9人，增加了排兵布阵的难度。
NBA教练通常会在季后赛临近时采取这种精简阵容的策略。但一支胜率16胜15负的球队在12月下旬很少会这样做。
周日，马刺队将在明尼苏达结束他们的四场客场之旅，届时他们可以预见相同的阵容配置。
对约翰逊来说，改用9人轮换阵容是合理的。
“这九名球员都凭借自己的实力赢得了上场时间，”约翰逊说。
主要的变化发生在替补中锋的位置上，这个位置曾经由科林斯担任，后来由查尔斯·巴塞(Charles Bassey)担任。
现在，当文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)需要休息时——这种情况比以前少了很多——球队的一名首发前锋（巴恩斯或索汉）会顶替他的位置。
这一变化意味着文班亚马的上场时间有所增加，在过去的五场比赛中，他有四场至少上场37分钟。这期间的例外是在114-94战胜波特兰的比赛中，文班亚马在大部分第四节时间里都坐在板凳上。
在圣诞节输给纽约的焦灼比赛中，文班亚马出场了职业生涯最高的40分23秒。
作为一名外交高手，文班亚马说，他很理解教练组在分配上场时间方面遇到的难题。
“教练们有很多事情要做，因为我们现在每个人都回来了，阵容深度很不错，”文班亚马说。“所以要尝试很多新的阵容。我的工作是响应比赛计划，满足教练对我的期望。”
约翰逊的新轮换阵容使得马刺队的第二阵容显得有些矮小，因为要么是6英尺8英寸的巴恩斯，要么是6英尺8英寸的索汉来防守对方的中锋。
这有时会导致马刺队在文班亚马不在场上的时候容易在内线失分，并且容易出现篮板球问题。
为了应对这种情况，约翰逊一直在混合搭配阵容，让更高大的后卫和侧翼球员替补上场，尤其是6英尺8英寸的朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)以及6英尺5英寸的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)和凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)。
马刺队的新版第二阵容比之前的版本更加灵活，更注重攻防转换。
“有很多球员可以在防守端换防，并且多才多艺，而在进攻端他们希望打快，”约翰逊说。“并且能够利用对手不得不与我们对位的机会，或者当他们有一些较小的球员或传统的五号位球员在场时，我们将他们拉开并利用这一点。”
索汉也表示，在打中锋的问题上，他听从教练组的安排。
“那是他们的决定，”索汉说。“作为球员，我们只能控制我们能控制的东西，那就是我们的能量，我们的防守投入，积极拼抢，当你持球时要保护好球，投你该投的球，并且尊重教练的安排。”
约翰逊表示，9人轮换阵容将会持续下去，至少在短期内是这样。
“这是我们需要继续发展的东西，”约翰逊说。“我可能需要更好地帮助他们，并在那段时间里把他们放在合适的位置和环境中。我们不想仅仅因为有时可能有点不顺利就反应过度。”
改为9人轮换阵容意味着一些球员的上场时间被 relegated 到训练后的对抗赛中。
从马刺队的阵容完全健康的那一刻起，球员人数的博弈就很明显了。一些在本赛季早些时候有明确角色的球员将半永久性地坐在板凳上。
科林斯、布拉纳姆、韦斯利和巴塞都没有出现在马刺队目前客场之旅的前三场比赛中。
约翰逊赞扬了那些在新轮换阵容中被排除在外的球员的职业精神。
“每个人在这方面都做得很好，他们在等待的同时努力工作，”约翰逊说。“当他们的名字被叫到时，他们就会挺身而出。”
最近对其中一些球员来说，他们的名字是在一个没有球迷的NBA球馆里被叫到的。
“我保持着斗志，保持着积极的态度，为队友们加油，”韦斯利说。“因为当我的机会来临时，我也希望队友们为我加油。”
San Francisco Spurs’ Harrison Barnes, right, dribbles the ball against Brooklyn Nets Jalen Wilson, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Brooklyn Nets’ Shake Milton, right, dribbles the ball against San Antonio Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
San Antonio Spurs’ Chris Paul dribbles during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
San Antonio Spurs’ Devin Vassell, left, shoots the ball against Brooklyn Nets’ Keon Johnson, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
点击查看原文：In Spurs' new rotation, 10 is a crowd
In Spurs’ new rotation, 10 is a crowd
San Antonio Spurs’ Keldon Johnson, right, and Harrison Barnes, left, react after Barnes dunked the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
MINNEAPOLIS – It was past noon in New York, and the official part of Spurs practice was over the day.
Instead of braving the day-after-Christmas Big Apple rush, Harrison Barnes decided to stay late in an empty Barclays Center for extra scrimmage work.
There was one key difference between Barnes and the other players involved in the post-practice workout – Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, Zach Collins and Sidy Cissoko.
Barnes was the only one who would play the next night against Brooklyn.
Among those bumped from acting coach Mitch Johnson’s newly tightened rotation, Wesley is trying to keep his head up.
“I’m going to stay ready for sure,” Wesley said. “I’m hanging in there and continuing to work.”
When the Spurs played their first game with a fully healthy roster earlier this month, with the returns of Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Tre Jones and Collins from the injured list, the question was how Johnson would manage to fill out a 10-man rotation with the new pieces at his disposal.
Johnson has upped the degree of difficulty by whittling his rotation to nine.
It is the type of move NBA coaches generally pull as they sharpen things up for the playoffs. It is not the type of maneuver often executed by a 16-15 squad in late December.
The Spurs can expect the same configuration Sunday, when they conclude a four-game road trip at Minnesota.
For Johnson, the move to a nine-man rotation makes sense.
“Those nine guys have all earned minutes in their own right,” Johnson said.
The major change has been at the backup center position, which used to be manned by Collins, then was manned by Charles Bassey.
Now, when Victor Wembanyama needs a breather – which is less often than it used to be – one of the team’s starting forwards (Barnes or Sochan) slides over to spell him.
The change has meant an uptick in minutes for Wembanyama, who has logged at least 37 in four of the past five games. The exception during that stretch came in a 114-94 victory over Portland in which Wembanyama sat most of the fourth quarter in a blowout.
In a tight Christmas Day loss at New York, Wembanyama played a career-high 40 minutes, 23 seconds.
Ever the diplomat, Wembanyama said he feels for the coaching staff trying to allocate minutes.
“The coaches have a lot on their hands because we got some good depth now that we’ve got everybody back,” Wembanyama said. “So it’s a lot of trying new lineups. My job is to answer to the game plan, to what the coaches expect from me.”
Johnson’s new rotation leaves the Spurs smallish on the second unit, with either the 6-foot-8 Barnes or the 6-foot-8 Sochan left to guard opposing centers.
That can sometimes leave the Spurs susceptible to give up points in the paint when Wembanyama is off the floor, and open to rebounding issues.
To combat that, Johnson has been mixing and matching lineups with bigger guards and wings off the bench, particularly 6-8 Julian Champagnie and the 6-5 Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson.
The Spurs’ new-look second unit is sleeker and more transition-oriented than previous iterations.
“There are a lot of guys that can switch and be versatile on defense and then offensively want to play fast,” Johnson said. “And to be able to take advantage of whether they have to match up against us, or when they have some either smaller players or traditional fives out there to spread them out and play off that.”
Sochan said he too defers to the coaching staff when it comes to spending time at center.
“That’s their decision,” Sochan said. “Us players, we can just control what we can control and that’s our energy, our defensive input, the hustle plays, when you have the ball taking care of it, taking the shots you need to take and just respecting that.”
Johnson indicated the nine-man rotation is here to stay, at least in the short term.
“It’s something we need to continue to grow,” Johnson said. “I probably need to be better at helping them and putting them in spots and environments during that time. We don’t want to overreact just because maybe it’s been a little clunky at times.”
The move to a nine-man rotation has meant some players’ minutes are relegated to post-practice scrimmaging.
The numbers game was clear from the moment the Spurs’ roster became fully healthy. Some players who had defined roles earlier in the season would be semi-permanently attached to the bench.
None of Collins, Branham, Wesley or Bassey appeared in the first three games of the Spurs’ current road trip.
Johnson praised the professionalism of the players left on the outside looking in of his new rotation.
“Everybody’s been great in that regard, putting in work, working while they wait,” Johnson said. “When their name’s been called, they’ve rang the bell.”
Most recently for some of those players in question, the bell was rung in an NBA arena with no fans in the stands.
“I’m staying encouraged, staying positive, cheering on the guys,” Wesley said. “Because when my time comes, I want the guys cheering on me too.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News