By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-01-04 03:40:46
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。
老将的领导力以及年轻核心的进步，只是马刺表现优于预期的一些原因。
在2024-25赛季开始之前，马刺球迷们普遍持谨慎乐观的态度。没有人想要过早地期待球队相比2023-24赛季有太大的进步，而且如果更多的人在拉斯维加斯赛季前的预测中押注球队的胜场数低于35.5场而不是高于35.5场，我也不会感到惊讶，但显著的进步仍然是可期的。
几个月过去了，他们在2025年的赛程伊始，就以17胜16负的战绩（上赛季同期仅为5胜28负）超越了拉斯维加斯的预期，并在竞争激烈的西部联盟中稳居季后赛席位争夺战中。这其中的一些原因显而易见，比如避免了18连败，拥有较多的主场比赛，以及没有进行阵容实验，但这不仅仅是因为球队又经历了一年的成长和积累经验，所以让我们来看看马刺本赛季表现超出预期的一些主要原因。
引进的老将表现超出预期
没有人真正确定马刺在休赛期会做什么，但大多数人可能认为他们要么维持原状，要么对阵容边缘进行升级。因此，当他们引进两名经验丰富的老将，克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)（通过自由球员市场）和哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)（通过交易），并且这两名老将肯定会进入轮换阵容时，这多少有些令人惊讶。但即便如此，人们仍然对他们能给马刺带来多大的提升持怀疑态度。毕竟，保罗已经39岁了，上个赛季大部分时间都 languishing 在勇士队的替补席上，而国王队的球迷会让你相信，巴恩斯糟糕的防守能力抵消了他在进攻端带来的任何积极影响。
事实证明，两人的帮助都超出了所有人的预期。“保罗效应”——也就是保罗加入新球队并帮助提高球队战绩的能力——正在全面发挥作用，他在场内场外都提供了领导力，带来了稳定的存在感，他不失误，引导球员到正确的位置，并且总是做出正确的选择（好吧，几乎总是）。他还找到了何时组织进攻和何时积极寻找自己投篮机会之间的正确平衡，并且他已经成为马刺未来控球后卫，新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)的良师益友。
至于巴恩斯，他也正是马刺所需要的老将，他提供了急需的外线投篮、纪律性和场上冷静的风度。他也不是我们被告知的防守漏洞（这很可能是国王队阵容缺陷造成的，而不是巴恩斯本身的问题）。马刺在休赛期没有做出任何大动作，但他们可能悄悄地完成了一些最佳操作，而且这正在得到回报，并且没有牺牲球队的未来。
杰里米·索汉的三年级飞跃
可以肯定地说，索汉的二年级赛季并不理想。在格雷格·波波维奇最终在上赛季的这个时候启用特雷·琼斯之前，他被不公平地归咎于失败的“控球后卫实验”，这似乎动摇了他赛季剩余时间的信心。本赛季有所不同。他已经回到了他更习惯的前锋位置（尽管出于某种原因，NBA在全明星投票中仍然将他列为后卫），他看起来更加舒适和自信。
他的得分、投篮命中率和篮板都创下了职业生涯新高，虽然上赛季表明他不是一个天生的控球后卫，但他从中获得的经验提高了他的控球能力、球场意识和传球能力（这可能是最初的目标）。他也受益于维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)投更多的三分球（下文将详细介绍），这使得他们在一起更加兼容，因为现在突破路线为索汉的空切和在低位接球创造了空间，而他在低位是一个高效的得分手。当然，他仍然是联盟中最顶级的防守者之一。这更接近于我们希望在上赛季看到的索汉，现在他只需要继续努力提高三分球命中率。
维克托·文班亚马正在成为一名得分手
每个人都预料到文班在第二个赛季会有所进步，但也许没有人预料到他会取得如此大的飞跃。虽然他为自己的进攻方式增添了更多维度，这并不令人意外，因为现在各队都有了他的球探报告，但场均投9.4个三分球（这将使他以巨大优势领先球队单赛季三分球出手次数的队史纪录）可能不在任何人的预测范围内。即便如此，他的赛季三分球命中率也达到了稳定的35.5%，更重要的是，自11月9日以来，他的三分球命中率达到了39.5%。
如前所述，他的三分球投射不仅让他与索汉等球员更兼容，也让他更难防守。在前九场比赛中，在三分球开始投进之前，防守球员会在低位对文班进行包夹，在他试图运球时抢断，或者在他外线投篮时放空他。现在，他们必须在球场上的任何位置都尊重他，当他们扑防他的三分球时，他既可以自己突破，也可以在防守球员靠近时找到空位的队友。
随着样本量的不断增加，我们可以有把握地说，文班不仅仅是一个射手；他是一个得分手。这反过来又将马刺的进攻提升到了另一个层次，并为其他所有人创造了机会。再加上他们有所提升的防守，马刺不再是一支每场比赛都会经历多次得分荒并且无法保持领先优势的球队。不再担心比赛会在任何时候崩盘，这使得马刺更具竞争力，也更具观赏性，而这正是我们在本赛季目前为止所希望看到的一切，甚至更多。
点击查看原文：Why the Spurs have exceeded expectations so far this season
Why the Spurs have exceeded expectations so far this season
Veterans leadership and improvement from the young core are just a few reasons why the Spurs are better than expected.
Coming into the 2024-25 season, there was a sense of cautious optimism among Spurs fans. No one wanted to jump the gun and expect too much improvement from the 2023-24 season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if more people bet the under than over on Las Vegas’ projected win total of 35.5 for the team prior to the season, but notable improvement was still expected.
Fast forward a few months, and they are kicking off the 2025 portion of the season having exceeded even Vegas’ expectations so far with a 17-16 record (after being just 5-28 at this same point last season) and sitting in the thick of the playoff race despite being in the gauntlet that is the Western Conference. Some of that can be attributed to the obvious, like avoiding 18-game losing streaks, having a home-heavy schedule, and no experimentation, but there’s more to it than the team simply being a year older and wiser, so let’s a take a look at a few of the main reasons why the Spurs are exceeding expectations so far.
Incoming veterans have exceeded expectations
No one was really sure what the Spurs would do in the offseason, but most probably assumed they would either run it back or make upgrades to the fringes of the roster. As a result, it was somewhat surprising when they brought in two accomplished veterans who would definitely be in the rotation: Chris Paul (via free agency) and Harrison Barnes (via trade). But even then, there were some doubts as to how much they would actually lift the Spurs up. Afterall, Paul is 39 years old and mostly wallowed on the Warriors’ bench last season, and Kings fans would have you believe Barnes’ inability to play defense more than offset any positives he brought on offense.
As it turns out, both have helped more than anyone expected. The CP3 Effect — a.k.a. Paul’s ability to come in and help raise his new team’s record — is in full swing as he provides leadership both on and off the court while bringing a steadying presence who doesn’t turn the ball over, directs players to the right spot, and always makes the right play (well, almost). He has also found the right balance between when to facilitate and when to aggressively look for his own shot, and he has been a good mentor to the Spurs’ presumed point guard-of-the-future in rookie Stephon Castle.
As for Barnes, he has also been exactly the veteran presence the Spurs needed, providing much needed outside shooting, discipline, and a calming demeanor on the floor. He also hasn’t been the defensive sieve we were told he was (that was likely more a result of the Kings’ roster flaws than anything). The Spurs didn’t make any big, splashy moves in the offseason, but they may have quietly made some of the best ones, and it’s paying off without costing them anything in the future.
Jeremy Sochan’s third-year leap
It’s safe to say that Sochan did not have an ideal sophomore season. He was unfairly blamed for the failed “point guard experiment” before Gregg Popovich finally went to Tre Jones around this time last season, and it seemed to shake his confidence the rest of the way. This season has been different. He has returned to his natural position at forward (although for some reason, the NBA still has him listed as a guard in All-Star voting), and he looks much more comfortable and confident.
He’s averaging career-highs in points, field goal percentage and rebounds, and while last season showed he isn’t a natural point guard, the experience he gained from it has improved his handle, court awareness and passing (which was likely the goal all along). He has also benefited from Victor Wembanyama shooting more threes (more on that below), making them more compatible together since the driving lanes are now open for Sochan to cut and receive the ball down low, where he is an efficient scorer. And of course, he remains one of the league’s premiere defenders. This has been much closer to the Sochan we hoped to see last season, now he just needs to keep working on that three-point shot.
Victor Wembanyama is becoming a scorer
Everyone expected Wemby to improve in his second season, but perhaps no one expected this type of leap. While it’s zero surprise that he has added more dimension to his offensive game now that teams had a scouting report on him, shooting 9.4 threes per game (on pace to lead the franchise in a single season by a country mile) probably wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card. Even so, he’s hitting them at a solid 35.5 percent rate for the season, but more importantly 39.5 percent since November 9.
As previously mentioned, not only does his three-point shooting make him more compatible with players such as Sochan, but it also makes him harder to guard in general. In their first nine games, before the threes started falling, defenses were doubling Wemby down low, stripping the ball when he tried to dribble, or just laying back when he shot from outside. Now, they have to respect him all over the court, and when they do close out on his threes, he can either drive it himself or find the open man as defenders close in.
With the ever-growing sample size, we’re approaching a point where it’s safe to say that Wemby isn’t just a shooter; he’s a scorer. That in turn takes the Spurs’ offense to another level and opens things up for everyone else. Combined with their improved defense, the Spurs are no longer a team that suffers multiple scoring droughts per game and is incapable of holding onto leads. There’s no longer a fear that every game will collapse at any given minute, making the Spurs much more competitive and enjoyable to watch, and that’s everything and more that we could have asked for by this point of the season.
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock