By August Bembel | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-12-30 23:55:46
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。
马刺的进攻仍然在改进中。
对我来说，这是奇怪的一年。我对 NBA 播客的消费增加到荒谬的程度只是发生的许多奇怪事情之一。但我甚至想说，我已经对它上瘾了——以至于我听 NBA 播客的时间可能比看 NBA 比赛的时间还多，我觉得这有点荒唐。听 NBA 播客严重挤占了我通常听音乐的时间，这真的令人担忧。
音乐，尤其是我喜欢的摇滚和金属乐，不仅是我持续时间最长的兴趣，也是我的主要兴趣。我九岁的时候，一个比我大六岁的邻居给我介绍了铁娘子乐队。我当场就被迷住了。从那时起，音乐对我来说就不仅仅是一种兴趣了。我认为音乐不像一种消遣，更像是一种燃料。就像汽车的发动机靠汽油运转一样，我靠音乐运转。早上出门时，用耳机听 đúng bài hát 会让我一整天都充满活力。
尽管我很欣赏他们，但内特·邓肯(Nate Duncan)和丹尼·勒鲁(Danny Leroux)讨论 NBA 中最糟糕的合同并没有这种效果。即使是本·泰勒(Ben Taylor)和科迪·豪德克(Cody Houdek)对25岁以下的25名最佳球员进行排名——这两个人也是我所知道的迄今为止最雄辩、最有魅力的播客二人组。（他们也可能是最聪明的。）然而，我一直在上班的路上听 NBA 的讨论，而不是听剂量合适的失真吉他。
今天，我看到一个数字，它显示了 NBA 播客对我的音乐消费造成了多大的影响。在我的空闲时间，我会为一个小型网络杂志写专辑评论，这是一个爱好项目。每年圣诞节后，都会有一个人给我们提供一个电子表格——每个撰稿人写的评论总数、平均评分等等。通常情况下，我每年写大约100篇评论。今年，只有57篇。
我看看我是否能在2025年加大马力，清除掉我的播客客户端中非必须的内容。有些播客仍然是必听的，特别是当播客专注于马刺，或者当听众问到关于他们问题的时候。今年，播客中反复出现一个问题：除了维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)之外，目前阵容中的谁将成为下一支伟大的马刺队的一员？
不同播客主持人提供的答案非常相似——坦率地说，从马刺球迷的角度来看，这有点令人沮丧。无论是分享他们想法的内特·邓肯还是本·泰勒，还是德国的头号篮球记者安德烈·沃伊特(André Voigt)，或其他任何值得信赖的声音：似乎没有人完全确定队里的任何人都能长期留队。许多人说瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)很有机会。最近，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)也进入了讨论范围。不过，我没有感觉到其他人有多受青睐。
在德语播客“Jeden Tag NBA”中，托比·布纳(Tobi Bühner)，一个非常优秀的分析师和马刺球迷，上周建议交易索汉(Jeremy Sochan)可能是个好主意——理由是马刺在11月4日索汉受伤前的进攻效率为108（联盟第28位），在他缺阵期间的进攻效率为116（联盟第10位），以及在12月2日复出到圣诞节期间的进攻效率为110（联盟第21位）。
正如布纳所说，巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)的周最佳球员奖很大程度上得益于马刺经常使用的一套战术：巴恩斯为保罗(Chris Paul)掩护，而文班在尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)的掩护下进行无球空切，尚帕尼随后切入底角，在那里他被防守。与此同时，文班移动到中距离区域，在那里他吸引了如此多的注意力，以至于巴恩斯要么在篮下空位，要么如果没有空位，就切到外线，接文班的传球投三分。如果用索汉代替尚帕尼进入首发阵容，巴恩斯就不会再有空位了。
这并不意味着索汉不会成为马刺的长期一员。这只是意味着马刺现在可能没有打出他们进攻火力最强的首发阵容。这没关系。赢得尽可能多的比赛还不是马刺的首要任务。所以他们昨晚没有赢球也没什么大不了的。不管他们离胜利有多近。
要点
- 维克托·文班亚马的快速发展 continues to amaze：他第一个赛季结束（第二个赛季开始）时还是一个中投篮次数/低命中率的远距离射手，他现在是一个高投篮次数/高命中率的“火焰喷射器”，在他最近18场比赛中，他几乎每次出手11次，命中率超过40%。与他的新秀赛季相比，他的中距离投篮效率也惊人地提高了10个百分点，达到43%。把他看作是NBA历史上第一个三级得分+最佳防守球员的大个子吧。
- 德文·瓦塞尔打了一场好球。当文班在第三节后半段休息时，他不仅自信地接管了临时第一选择的角色——他还非常出色地完成了任务，为自己创造和转化投篮机会，这使得马刺在半场落后15分的情况下取得了领先。但这不仅仅是创造投篮机会，瓦塞尔在攻防两端都打得很积极，也坚决地抢下了许多 contested rebounds。
- 自从索汉伤愈复出后，哈里森·巴恩斯的球权使用率和产量显著下降，但这位老将提醒马刺球迷，他仍然能够打出高分表现。他打了一场超高效的比赛，9投8中（三分球4投3中）得到24分，抢下5个篮板，在33分钟内没有一次失误。事实上，在他过去的5场比赛中，巴恩斯只有一次失误。
- 文班、瓦塞尔和巴恩斯的得分效率并不能掩盖马刺仍然是一支进攻乏力的球队。连续第二场比赛，他们单节得分勉强上双。巧合吗？不完全是。马刺的进攻能够保持住，是因为文班和瓦塞尔投进了很多高难度球。这些球并不总是能进，下半场就清楚地表明了这一点。即使他们进了，马刺也要为这些得分付出巨大的努力。他们缺乏轻松得分的方法。
- 替补席的得分帮助也很少：在总共58分钟的时间里，凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)、特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)、朱利安·尚帕尼、扎克·科林斯(Zach Collins)和查尔斯·巴塞(Charles Bassey)只贡献了19分，其中13分来自凯尔登。凯尔登有一些漂亮的突破上篮，但他的远投似乎暂时冬眠了。像特雷、卡斯尔和索汉一样，他本赛季的三分命中率都远低于30%。有一件事是肯定的：无论未来谁和文班亚马一起出现在阵容中，下一支伟大的马刺队都无法承受他们的前八或前九轮换中有四名非射手球员。
- 克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)不会是下一支伟大的马刺队的一员。事实上，他几周内就可能离开。如果他想加入一支争冠球队，我想马刺不会阻拦他。但我有点希望他不想这样。我认为他会留下。说实话，我希望他能留到本赛季之后。他不再是当年那个 dominant 的场上指挥官了，但如果把他拿走，马刺的水平就会下降。他每百回合的正负值是惊人的+15.2（全队最高）。愿保罗在2025年仍然是马刺的一员，愿所有马刺球迷新年快乐！
点击查看原文：What we learned from the Spurs loss to the Timberwolves
What we learned from the Spurs loss to the Timberwolves
The Spurs’ offense remains a work in progress.
It’s been a strange year for me. And my consumption of NBA podcasts increasing to ridiculous levels was only one of many strange things that happened. But I would go as far as saying that I have developed an addiction of sorts — to the point that I probably spent more time listening to NBA podcasts than watching NBA games, which I find a bit absurd. Listening to NBA podcasts has cut deeply into the time I normally spend listening to music, which is legitimately worrying.
Music, in particular my preferred types of rock and metal, has been not just my longest-standing, but also my primary interest. When I was nine, a neighbor six years my senior introduced me to Iron Maiden. I was sold on the spot. Ever since, music has been more than an interest to me. I think of music less like a pastime, and more like fuel. As an car’s engine runs on gasoline, I run on music. Listening to just the right song on my headphones when I leave the house in the morning energizes me for the entire day.
Much as I appreciate them, Nate Duncan and Danny Leroux discussing the worst contracts in the NBA doesn’t have that effect. Not even Ben Taylor and Cody Houdek ranking the 25 best players under 25 – and these two are far and away the most eloquent and charming podcasting duos I’m aware of. (They might also be the smartest.) And yet I’ve been routinely listening to NBA talk on my way to work instead of a healthy dose of distorted guitars.
Today, I was given a figure that shows how deep NBA podcasts have cut into my music consumption. In my spare time, I write album reviews for a small webzine, a hobby project. One of the guys each year after Christmas provides us with a spreadsheet – total reviews written by each contributor, average grade given, stuff like that. Normally, I write about 100 reviews per year. This year, it was 57.
I’ll see if I can step up in 2025 and clear out the non-mandatory content from my podcatcher. Some pods will remain necessary listening, in particular when the podcast focuses on the Spurs, or when listeners ask questions about them. One such question has popped up again and again and again this year in the podcasts: Who among the current roster not named Victor Wembanyama will be part of the next great Spurs team?
The answers provided by different podcasters were very similar – and, frankly, a bit disheartening from a Spurs fan perspective. Whether it was Nate Duncan or Ben Taylor who shared their thoughts, or André Voigt, Germany’s number one basketball journalist, or any other trusted voice: None seemed perfectly sure that anyone on the team is locked in for the long haul. Many said Vassell had a good chance. And Stephon Castle has recently entered the frame. I didn’t sense much love for anyone else, though.
In the German-language “Jeden Tag NBA” Podcast, Tobi Bühner, who is a very good analyst and a Spurs fan, suggested last week that trading Sochan might be a good idea – on the basis the Spurs had a 108 offensive rating (28th in the league) until 4 November, when Sochan got injured, a 116 offensive rating (10th in the league) when he was sidelined, and a 110 offensive rating (21st in the league) between his return on 2 December and Christmas.
Barnes’ Player of the Week award was, as Bühner argued, helped greatly by a set the Spurs frequently used: Barnes sets a screen for CP3, while Wemby curls off-ball around a screen by Champagnie, who then cuts into the corner, where he is guarded. Wemby, meanwhile, moves into mid-range territory, where he draws so much attention that Barnes is either open below the basket, or, if not, cuts out to the perimeter for an open three on a Wemby dime. Replace Champagnie with Sochan in the starting lineup, and Barnes is no longer open.
That doesn’t mean Sochan won’t be part of the Spurs long-term. It only means the Spurs right now are probably not playing their offensively most potent starting lineup. And that’s okay. Winning as many games as possible isn’t the Spurs top priority yet. And so it doesn’t matter all that much they didn’t win last night. No matter how close they were to pulling it out.
Takeaways
- The rapid development of Victor Wembanyama continues to amaze: He finished his first season (and started his second) as a mid-volume/low-percentage shooter from deep, he’s now a high-volume/high-percentage flame thrower, having converted more than 40% of his almost eleven attempts per game over his most recent 18 games. Compared to his rookie season, he also upped his efficiency from mid-range by a whooping ten percentage points to 43%. Consider him the first three-level scoring DPOY big man in the history of the game.
- Devin Vassell had a good game. Not only did he confidently take over the role of the situational number one option when Wemby sat during the second half of the third quarter — he delivered big time, creating and converting shots for himself, which led to the Spurs taking the lead after being 15 down at halftime. But it wasn’t just shot creation, Vassell played aggressively on both ends, also determinedly grabbing a number of contested rebounds.
- Harrison Barnes’ usage and production had dipped significantly since Sochan’s return from injury, but the veteran reminded Spurs fans he’s still able to put up big scoring performances. He had a super-efficient game, scoring 24 on 8/9 from the field (3/4 from deep), grabbing five boards and never turning it over in 33 minutes. In fact, over his last 5 games, Barnes has logged exactly one turnover.
- The scoring efficiency from Wemby, Vassell, and Barnes couldn’t hide that the Spurs remain an offensively challenged team. For the second game in a row, they had a quarter in which they barely made it into double digits. Coincidence? Not entirely. The Spurs offense managed to stay in the game because of Wemby and Vassell taking and making an awful lot of awfully difficult shots. These won’t always go in, as the second half made all too clear. And even when they do, the Spurs have to work hard for those buckets. They lack a recipe for easy buckets.
- There was also little scoring help from the bench: In a combined 58 minutes, Keldon Johnson, Tre Jones, Julian Champagnie, Zach Collins, Charles Bassey only managed to contribute a total 19 points, with 13 coming from Keldon. KJ had some nice power drives to the basket, but his long-distance shot seems to hibernating for the moment. Like Tre, Castle, and Sochan, he’s shooting well below 30% from deep this season. One thing is for certain: Whomever will be on the roster next to Wembanyama in the future, the next great Spurs team won’t be able to afford four non-shooters in their top eight or nine rotation.
- One player who won’t be part of the next great Spurs team is Chris Paul. In fact, he could be gone within weeks. If he wants to join a contender, I can’t see the Spurs standing in his way. But I’m somewhat hopeful that’s not what he wants. I think he’ll stay. To be perfectly honest, I hope he’ll stay past the current season. He’s no longer the dominating floor general of earlier days, but take him away, and the Spurs’ floor drops. His on/off plus-minus per 100 possessions is a teriffic +15.2 (team-best). May CP3 stay a Spur in 2025, and may all you Pounders have a happy new year!
By August Bembel, via Pounding The Rock