By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-01-17 01:55:06
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。
与潜在对手的较量带来了一些教训
我们来谈谈学习经验。对于年轻的球队来说，这是一个经常被提起的词——“这场失利是一次学习的经验”，或者“这次客场之旅是一次学习的经验”，等等。这些都变成了陈词滥调和含糊其辞的概括，只是为了让我们感觉好一点。这就像美沙酮：它在短期内减轻了痛苦，这样我们才能坚持下去。
我和其他人一样，也喜欢用这种说法。在一场艰难的失利之后，我登录到这里，只是斜着眼睛看它。我会注意到一些好的方面，承认还有工作要做，然后继续前进。就这么简单。我不想再深究了，因为那不是我的工作。在电视上观看一场失利已经是我能承受的最大情绪劳动了，所以让我……什么？坐在这里再经历一遍？不了，谢谢。我通常宁愿把事情归结为“必须继续努力”，然后继续我的生活。
但是，我们只能这样做一段时间，对吧？我的意思是，我们在这里。我们夜复一夜地观看这些比赛，除了为了比分对我们有利时快速获得多巴胺的刺激而活着或死去之外，一定还有其他的目的。如果我们作为球迷，真的认真对待这样一场失利，并沉浸其中——不生气，不为了感受而反应过度，不凭空捏造问题，那会怎么样？没有那些杂音。我们只是直视这场失利，弄清楚这支球队是什么样的。我们要弄清楚我们从马刺输给灰熊的比赛中学到了什么。
我们学到了什么？
- 从理想的角度来看，灰熊队并非我们想要成为的球队。然而，从竞争的角度来看，他们确实比我们高出一个级别，从这个意义上说，他们是一支值得我们关注的球队。这不再是 2011 年了。迈克·康利(Mike Conley)和扎克·兰多夫(Zack Randolph)不会再回来了，但是，这支球队似乎确实有一些“铁血灰熊”的基因。他们很有竞争力，也很顽强，他们整晚都会和你拼搏。对他们取得一点领先优势并不重要。你必须彻底击败他们。马刺昨晚没有击败灰熊，坦率地说，目前还不清楚他们是否有这种能力。
- 德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)在赛后提到，两队都在互相“叫嚣”，你真的可以在比赛中感受到这一点。这场比赛的强度比普通的常规赛要高一些。这很好！我很高兴马刺有能力在场上变得有点好斗。额，我想，不好的方面是，他们在支持所有这些叫嚣方面也搞砸了。特别是文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)，在最后阶段似乎很慌乱。很明显，这不是他的天赋问题，但你可以看出他有点沉浸在那一刻了。就像，我不知道，就像他很聪明，他能看出这是一个需要他挺身而出的时刻，然后他有点做得过头了。他运球穿过三个人，投出不明智的球，试图防守所有五个人。这很艰难。我相信他一直都感受到成为那个人的压力，有时他为此付出的努力会导致整个事情有点短路。
- 当然，在一场对文班来说感觉像是“糟糕”的比赛中，他也几乎随意地拿到了三双，并且有一些你可以放心地归档到“令人难以置信”抽屉里的表现。他的存在对比赛的影响之大令人难以置信。从他踏上球场的那一刻起，一切似乎都围绕着他转。我相信我们都会在接下来的几年里习惯这一点，但每晚都看到这种情况发生仍然有点不可思议。
- 在最后阶段，马刺有两次没有抢到罚球失误后的篮板球，导致灰熊队重新获得球权并投进一个三分球，相当于四分的差距。这不是马刺输掉这场比赛的原因，但它感觉上暗示了他们为什么输掉了比赛。这些球员有时会忽略细节。我丝毫不会怀疑他们的努力或渴望之类的，但我一次又一次地感觉到，他们失去了对那些在边缘产生巨大差异的小事情的关注。卢克·肯纳德(Luke Kennard)存在于这个地球上只有一个原因：投空位三分。如果我和你都知道这一点，那么，这肯定是在这场比赛的准备工作中出现过的事情。如果是这样的话，那么……他怎么可能一次又一次地从比赛中漂移开来，然后正好到达他的位置，周围没有人？比昨晚多五次没有把手放在卢克·肯纳德的脸上，再一次，可能不是他们输掉这场比赛的原因，但是拿走他的 15 分肯定会在最终比分的 14 分差距上造成影响，对吧？
- 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)是真材实料。我们本赛季已经几次做出这样的声明，但当他再次向我们确认他的实力时，我们觉得有必要每隔一段时间就重新声明一次。他感觉就像一个非常了解这场比赛的潮流并理解正在发生的事情的人。比赛很艰难，也很激烈，他以他所有的韧性和强度来应对。每次有机会，他都会攻击篮筐，迫使灰熊队来对付他，这改变了我们进攻的整体动态，尤其是在文班以他相对较高的标准来看有点失常的情况下。斯蒂芬的下一步显然是更稳定地看到这种表现，而且没有理由认为我们不会看到。坦率地说，我主要希望教练组能让他更多地像这样掌握主动权。
- 我们什么时候开始讨论卡斯尔作为首发阵容中的长期主力？我们现在就开始讨论吗？我们是不是已经在讨论了？感觉我们已经到了那个时候了。即使杰里米回来了，看起来也像……好吧。我的意思是，在德文的投篮更稳定之前，他是不是需要从替补阵容开始打起？我们是不是不应该担心这个问题，因为我们可能需要开始为克里斯·保罗之后的生活做打算了？像昨晚这样的比赛开始引发这类问题。马刺今年正在为一些事情而努力，但毫无疑问，这个赛季和下个赛季一样重要。
- 我知道这不算数，但是贾·莫兰特(Ja Morant)在最后阶段对文班的扣篮很伤人。看着它很痛苦，我只是讨厌它的每一秒。不幸的是，作为马刺球迷，我们可能需要开始让自己对此免疫，因为它还会继续发生。很多次。人们会在文班亚马头上扣篮。他们想这样做。他们需要这样做。他们将能够做到这一点。至关重要的是，他们经常会失败。文班是一个绝对的野兽，已经是一个具有划时代意义的防守球员，所以他会盖掉大部分球。问题是他不会盖掉所有球。有些人会溜过去。环境会允许这里或那里出现一个“海报”，每次发生这种情况——唉——从美学的角度来说，它看起来都会非常酷。我讨厌这样。如果这是我们让文班穿上马刺球衣必须付出的代价，那么，你知道，就这样吧。但要知道，每次发生这种情况，我都会感到愤怒。
看一件很酷的事情，这样我们就不会都因为输球而闷闷不乐了
加油！ pic.twitter.com/LhzudTLgmm
— 圣安东尼奥马刺 (@ spurs) 2025年1月16日
WWL赛后新闻发布会
*- * 是什么让你这次改变了格式？
- 只是觉得球队需要改变一下。有点像波波维奇会叫暂停，然后一次性换下所有首发球员，你知道吗？有时，小的调整不足以真正改变势头，从而完成任何事情。
- 你希望通过这种转变实现什么？
- 我不喜欢我写的上一篇WWL。我的意思是，我喜欢，但也许它并没有像我感觉的那样引起共鸣？我不知道。我轻率地评论了奇普·恩格兰德(Chip Engelland)，我以为这很有趣，但后来它引发了整个事件，人们在评论中争论奇普·恩格兰德的方式……感觉不像我的本意。我主要想强调的是，他曾经感觉像是一个球员发展的安全毯，现在当我们说“一旦卡斯尔的跳投得到改进”之类的话时，我实际上不知道我们是否会？
- 感觉你好像想继续争论这个问题？
- 天哪，不，拜托。对不起。我不想继续争论任何事情。我从来不想重新争论。把那些争论都扔进垃圾桶吧。
- 那么，新格式，新的你？这会持续下去吗？
- 也许吧？也许这让我们可以尝试一些新的东西？也许我们可以每隔几场比赛就推出不同版本的WWL？也许“我们学到了什么”将成为我们一路走来的朋友？谁知道呢！
- 好吧，我们都期待着看到你会做什么
- 谢谢。我会尽量不去过度解读我基本上是以新闻发布会的形式与我脑海中的一个声音进行每日肯定的事实。
- 是的，我不会太仔细地解读这一点。这可能不会有什么好处。
点击查看原文：What We Learned from the Spurs loss to the Grizzlies
What We Learned from the Spurs loss to the Grizzlies
A matchup with a potential rival yields a few lessons
Let’s talk learning experiences. It’s a phrase that gets tossed around a lot with young teams—“This loss is a learning experience,” or “This road trip is a learning experience,” and so on. These become platitudes and vague generalities meant to make us all feel a little better. It’s methadone: it blunts the pain in the short term so we can survive long enough to keep at it.
I’m as guilty of this as anyone. I log on here after a tough loss and just sort of squint at it. I’ll notice some good things, I’ll acknowledge there’s work to be done, and I’ll move on. Simple as that. I don’t want to dig into it any further because it’s not really my job to. Watching a loss on TV is about as much emotional labor as I can handle, so asking me to… what? Sit here and live through it again? No, thank you. I’d usually rather just chalk things up to “Gotta keep grinding” and move on with my life.
We can only do that for so long, though, right? I mean, we’re here. We’re watching these games night after night, and there has to be a purpose to it beyond living and dying for that quick dopamine hit when the score goes our way. What if we took it upon ourselves as fans to really sit with a loss like this and stew in it—not getting mad, not overreacting just to feel something, not inventing problems that aren’t there. None of that noise. We’re just going to look this loss dead in the eye and figure out what this team is. We’re going to figure out what we learned from the Spurs’ loss to the Grizzlies.
What Did We Learn?
- From an aspirational standpoint, the Grizzlies aren’t exactly the team we want to be. However, they are hanging out on a level right above us from a competitive standpoint and, in that sense, they are a team that deserves our attention. This is no longer 2011. Mike Conley and Zack Randolph aren’t walking through that door, BUT, this team does seem to have a little bit of that “Grit ‘n’ Grind” DNA in there. They are competitive and they are tough and they are just going to battle with you all night. Building up a little lead on them isn’t something that matters. You have to bury them. The Spurs did not bury this Grizzlies team last night and, frankly, it’s a little unclear if they have that kind of capability at the moment.
- Devin Vassell mentioned after the game that both teams we’re “chirping” at each other and you could really feel that during that game. There was an intensity to this contest that felt a little heightened compared to normal regular season games. That’s good! I’m glad the Spurs have the ability to get a little feisty out there. The, uh, bad part, I guess is that they also kind of laid an egg when it came to backing up all that chirping. Victor, in particular, seemed flustered down the stretch. It’s obviously not a talent thing with him, but you can tell he get’s caught up in the moment a little bit. It’s like, I don’t know, it’s like he’s so smart that he can tell this is a moment he needs to rise to and then he sort of over does it. He’s dribbling through three guys, he’s launching ill-advised shots, he’s trying to guard all 5 guys on defense. It’s tough. I’m sure he feels the pressure to be The Man all the time and sometimes the effort he puts into that enterprise causes the whole thing to short circuit a little.
- Of course, in what felt like a “bad” game for Vic also resulted in him almost casually getting to a triple double and having handful of plays that you could safely file away in the “Mind Boggling” drawer. It’s insane how much his gravitational presence affects the game. From the second he steps on the court, everything seems to revolve around where he is. I’m sure that’s something we’ll all get used to over the years but it’s still kind of freaky to see it happening every night.
- There were two specific instances of the Spurs not boxing out on missed free throws down the stretch that lead to the Grizzles getting the ball back and draining a 3 for what amounted to a 4 point swing. It’s not the reason the Spurs lost this game, but it feel indicative of why they lost the game. The attention to detail just get’s lost sometimes with these guys. I don’t for a second doubt their effort or desire or anything like that, but time and again I feel like they lose focus on the little things that make a huge difference on the margin. Luke Kennard exists on this earth for one reason and one reason only: Make open threes. If you and I know this then, surely, it must’ve been something that came up in the prep for this game. If that’s the case then like…how is he just drifting away from the action over and over and over again and getting exactly to his spot with no one around him? Not getting a hand in Luke Kennard’s face 5 more times than they did last night, again, probably wasn’t the reason they lost this game, but taking away his 15 points sure would make a dent in that final score’s 14 point margin, yea?
- Stephon Castle is the real deal. We’ve made this declaration a few times this season, but it feels important to re-declare every once in a while when he does us the curtesy of re-affirming his real deal status. He felt like a guy who was extremely tapped into the current of this game and understood what was happening. It was tough and it was intense and he responded by playing with every once of toughness and intensity he had. Every time he had the opportunity, he was attacking the rim and forcing the Grizzlies to deal with him and it changed the whole dynamic of our offense, especially with Victor sort of sputtering by his relatively lofty standards. The next step with Steph is, obviously, just to see this kind of performance more consistently and there’s no reason to think we won’t. Frankly, I mostly am hoping that the coaching staff empowers him to take the reigns like this more often.
- At what point do we start talking about Castle as a long term staple in the starting lineup? Are we doing that now? Have we already been doing it? It feels like we’re there. Even with Jeremy coming back it seems like…well. I mean, does Devin need to start coming in with the second unit until we can get his shot going more consistently? Should we not worry about it because we probably need to start planning for life after Chris Paul anyway? Games like the one last night start to beg these types of questions. The Spurs are in the hunt for things this year but, make no mistake, this season is as much about next season as anything.
- I know it didn’t count, but the Ja Morant dunk on Victor down the stretch hurt. It hurt to look at and I just hate every second of it. It’s something that, unfortunately, we probably need to start inoculating ourselves against as Spurs fans because it’s going to keep happening. A lot. Dudes are going to dunk on Wembanyama. They want to do it. They need to do it. They are going to be able to do it. Crucially, they will often fail. Vic is an absolute beast and already a generational defensive player, so he is going to block most things. The problem is that he’s not going to block everything. Guys are going to slip through. Circumstances will allow for a “poster” here and there and every time it happens—sigh— it’s just going to look so freakin cool, aesthetically speaking. I hate that for us. If it’s the tax we have to pay for getting Victor in a Spurs jersey then, you know, so be it. But just know that I’m going to seethe every time it happens.
One Cool Thing to Watch So We’re Not All Bummed Out About the Loss
LET’S GOOOOOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/LhzudTLgmm
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) January 16, 2025
WWL Post Game Press Conference
- What made you go with the format change for this one?
- Just felt like the team needed a switch up. Sort of like how Pop would call a timeout and sub out all the starters at once, you know? Sometimes little tweaks aren’t enough of a momentum shift to really get anything accomplished.
- What were you hoping to accomplish with this kind of shift?
- I didn’t like the last thing WWL I wrote. I mean, I did, but maybe it didn’t really land the way I felt it should? I dunno. I made a flippant comment about Chip Engelland that I thought was funny but then it ignited this whole deal where people were arguing in the comments about Chip Engelland in a way that…didn’t feel like what I intended. I mostly wanted to emphasize that he used to feel like a player development safety blanket and now when we say stuff like “Once Castle gets a jump shot ironed out” I don’t actually know that we will?
- Feels like this is something you want to keep litigating?
- God, no, please. I’m sorry. I do not want to keep litigating anything. I never want to re-litigate. Toss those litigations in the trash.
- So, new format, new you? Is this going to stick around?
- Maybe? Maybe it frees us up to try some new stuff? Maybe we can have different versions of WWL going every few games? Maybe What We Learned is going to be the friends we made along the way? Who knows!
- Well we’re all looking forward to seeing what you do
- Thanks. I’m going to try not to read too much into the fact that I’m basically doing a daily affirmation with a voice in my head in the form of a press conference.
- Yea, I wouldn’t read into that too closely. Probably nothing good comes from that.
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock