By Eric.Fritts | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-01-02 12:25:08
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。
*文班亚马是新 NBA 的进化，同时也是旧时代的产物 *
维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)在其短暂的 NBA 生涯中，仅用 99 场比赛就投进了 221 个三分球。而 NBA 历史三分球命中数的领跑者斯蒂芬·库里(Stephen Curry)，则用了 111 场比赛才达到这一成就。对于现代 NBA 球迷来说，这一壮举虽然令人惊讶，但并不完全令人震惊。
这体现了现代 NBA 的现状及其围绕 ABA 最伟大的遗产——远距离投篮——的演变。尽管三分球自 1976 年 NBA 与 ABA 合并以来就一直存在，但它的充分利用却是一场可以追溯到大约 10 年前的革命，当时斯蒂芬·库里和金州勇士队利用三分球完成了当时难以想象的壮举：依靠跳投赢得总冠军。
随之而来，甚至在此之前，就已经出现了大量基于空间和投篮的改变比赛规则的机制。（想要全面了解这些机制，强烈推荐迈克·普拉达的著作《Spaced Out》。）所有这些现在都已司空见惯，它们的影响可以在文班的比赛中观察到。
天时地利人和
想象一下，如果文班是在不同的时代成长起来的，他的比赛会是什么样子，这是一个耐人寻味的思想实验。如果他在 20 世纪 80 年代、90 年代甚至 2000 年代成长起来，他还会想要在低位之外投篮吗？他会空接和进行反向挡拆吗？很可能，他的外线投篮尝试不会超过中距离，他会展现出多样化技能的闪光点。虽然这些闪光点会受到尊崇，但他仍然主要扮演传统中锋的角色，因为这就是一个 7 英尺 4 英寸的中锋应有的样子。
幸运的是，他所处的世界并非如此。联盟的三分球出手次数比以往任何时候都多，而文班亚马也是其中的一员。他平均每 36 分钟出手 10.3 次三分，并列联盟第八，命中率约为联盟平均水平的 35.5%。在排名前 20 的球员中，他是仅有的两名身高超过 7 英尺的球员之一，另一位是排名第 17 的杰·霍夫(Jay Huff)。在这个外线投篮的绿灯从未如此明亮的时代，文班亚马已经将三分球作为他比赛的核心支柱。这既是现代比赛的体现，也是比赛如何持续发展的预兆。
运动能力和技术的完美结合
杰出的球员大多可以归入两类：改变比赛规则的球员和完善比赛规则的球员。这方面的最佳例子是沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)和蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)。奥尼尔非凡的体型和运动能力是一种模式转变。联盟修改了规则以允许联防，并安装了可 breakaway 的篮筐。这项运动从未见过如此具有统治力的力量。另一方面，邓肯则是在运动的细微之处发挥作用，而不是依靠压倒性的身体优势。他拥有篮球史上最扎实的基本功之一，并用它以不同的方式取得统治地位。他最擅长的是在既定规则内做到极致，而不是重新绘制一幅全新的图景。
那么，文班亚马位于这个范围的哪个位置呢？
正中间。
毫无疑问，文班亚马是一股身体上的力量，这是联盟以前从未见过的。他可以投过所有人，并且他充分利用这一事实高频率地在外线出手。其他中锋根本跟不上一个毫不犹豫地从 logo 处或在转换进攻中投三分的人。但赋予他优势的不仅仅是他的身高和敏捷性。他利用空间、传球和控球来获得空位投篮机会。很明显，他是一个勤学好问的学生，而且极具竞争力。他正在将这些基本功与他的身体天赋和谐地结合起来，同时不断提高他的篮球智商，使它们完美融合。
这个时代的产物和下一个时代的引领者
这个时代是为像文班亚马这样的球员量身定做的。许多人指出，包括前马刺队高管柯克·戈德斯贝里(Kirk Goldsberry)在最近一期比尔·西蒙斯播客中提到的，如果说 2010 年代是小球时代，那么 2020 年代就是技术时代。各种体型和大小的球员都扩展了他们的技能包——为了在这个联盟中竞争，他们必须这样做。文班亚马是这种进化的巅峰标本。他正在将他的技能（包括但不限于三分投射）与他前所未有的身体条件相结合，从而将这些技能提升到一个新的水平。
这对联盟未来的影响可能是变革性的。他不是第一个拥有技术的内线球员，但他很可能是最好、最有影响力的一个。那些将会成长为七尺长人的孩子们将受到鼓舞，去发展他们比赛的更多方面，去打破任何类型的限制。教练们必须更有创造性地思考如何在攻防两端为他制定战术。而这仅仅是个开始。文班亚马远未达到最终形态。
考虑到所有因素，难怪他能在如此短的时间内投进 200 多个三分球。他受益于前辈们奠定的基础，同时也拒绝被人们对他这种身材球员的期望所限制。这个时代对他来说是完美的，让他能够引领属于他自己的时代。就这项运动的现状和未来而言，对他来说没有比现在更好的时间和地点——我们都很幸运能够坐在前排观看这场演出。
点击查看原文：How Victor Wembanyama is chartering a new era of basketball
How Victor Wembanyama is chartering a new era of basketball
Wembanyama is the evolution of the new NBA while also a product of the old
Victor Wembanyama has made 221 three-pointers in his young NBA career taking just 99 games to do it. For Stephen Curry, the NBA’s all-time leader for three-pointers made, it took 111 games. For the modern NBA fan, that feat while still surprising, isn’t exactly dumbfounding.
It speaks to the status of the modern NBA and its evolution around the ABA’s greatest lasting gift: the long-range shot. While the three-pointer has been available since the 1976 merger, its utilization is a revolution that can be traced back to about 10 years ago when it was capitalized by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors doing what was inconceivable at the time: win a championship based on jump-shooting.
What followed, and even preceded, were a multitude of game-changing mechanics based on spacing and shooting. (For a full breakdown of these, the book Spaced Out by Mike Prada cannot be recommended enough.) All of these are now commonplace and their impact can be observed in the play of Victor Wembanyama.
The right place at the right time
It’s a curious thought experiment to imagine what Wembanyama’s game would have looked like had he grown up in a different era. Would he have even wanted to shoot beyond the lower box had he come up in the 1980’s, ‘90’s, or even 2000’s? Would he be tossing lobs and running inverted pick-and-rolls? Most likely, perimeter shot attempts wouldn’t have gone much farther back than the mid-range and he would have shown flashes of a diverse skillset. And while those flashes would have been revered, he would have largely still operated as a traditional big, because that’s what a 7’4” center was supposed to be.
Fortunately, that’s not the universe he finds himself in. The league is bombing away from three more than ever before, and Wembanyama is part of that. Per 36 minutes, he is averaging 10.3 attempts, tied for 8th league-wide, and making them at about a league average of 35.5 percent. He’s one of two seven-footers in the top 20, along with Jay Huff at 17th. In this era, where the green light to shoot from outside has never been brighter, Wembanyama has made it a pillar of his game. It’s simultaneously a manifestation of the modern game but also a premonition of how the game continues to evolve.
The perfect marriage of athleticism and skills
Extraordinary players can mostly fit on the spectrum between two categories, those that change the game and those that perfect it. The best examples of this are Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan. O’Neal’s freak size and athleticism were a paradigm shift. Rules were altered to allow zone defense, breakaway rims were installed. The game had never seen a force so dominant. Duncan, on the other hand, operated within the subtleties of the sport rather than relying on an overwhelming physical presence. He had one of the strongest sets of basketball fundamentals the game has ever seen and used it to be dominant in a different way. He was the best at coloring inside the lines instead of drawing a whole new picture.
So where does Wembanyama sit on that spectrum?
In the exact middle.
Wembanyama is unquestionably a physical force, something the league hasn’t seen before. He can shoot over everyone and he takes full advantage of that fact to launch outside shots at a high rate. Other centers simply can’t keep up with someone who has shown no hesitation pulling up from the logo or running into a transition three. But it’s not just his height and agility that gives him an edge. He makes use of space, passing, and handling to get open looks. It’s clear he is a student of the game and unbelievably competitive. He is cultivating those fundamentals in harmony with his physical gifts, all the while persistently sharpening his basketball IQ to hold them in perfect chemistry.
A product of this era and the usher of the next one
This era was tailor-made for a player like Victor Wembanyama. Many have noted, including former Spurs executive Kirk Goldsberry on a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast, that if the 2010’s were about small ball, then the 2020’s are about skill ball. Players of all shapes and sizes have expanded their bags — they have to in order to compete in this league. Wembanyama is the peak specimen of this evolution. He’s taking his skills (which include but are not limited to three-point shooting) to the next level by combining them with his unprecedented physical tools.
The effect this will have on the future of the league could be transformational. He isn’t the first skilled big, but he could very well be the best and most impactful. Kids that will grow up to be seven-footers will be inspired to grow more aspects of their game, to defy any categorization. Coaches will have to be more creative with how to scheme for him on both sides of the ball. This is just the beginning, too. Wembanyama isn’t even close to a finished product.
All things considered, it’s no wonder he has made 200+ threes in such a short time. He benefitted from the foundation laid by those who came before him while also refusing to be limited by what a player his size has been expected to do. This era was the perfect one for him to usher in his own. In what the game has become and what it will be, there is no better time and place for him to exist — and we’re all fortunate to have front row seats for the show.
By Eric.Fritts, via Pounding The Rock