By Jacob Douglas | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-01-26 23:38:03
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。
圣安东尼奥的缺陷在巴黎暴露无遗。
本赛季圣安东尼奥马刺队的篮球比赛就像过山车一样。有像在NBA巴黎赛首场比赛中大胜印第安纳步行者队这样的高峰，也有第二场令人费解的38分惨败。这两场巴黎赛正是马刺本赛季的缩影——一段时间内，他们是季后赛的有力竞争者；下一段时间，他们又直奔乐透区。
在所有这些起伏中，一个模式开始显现。马刺队缺乏进攻天赋。当然，在维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)不在场上的时候，他们的防守偶尔会失灵。从数据上看，他们是一支中游的防守球队，但当文班亚马在场上时，他们看起来就是一支精英球队。而在进攻端，除了文班亚马，他们充其量也只能说是时好时坏。
值得称赞的是，步行者队是更有对抗性的球队，他们采取全场紧逼，给马刺队制造了足够的麻烦，迫使他们出现了24次失误。即便如此，一支拥有足够多组织者的球队应该能够化解这种压力——而马刺队没有。你根本不可能只在第四节得到12分还能指望赢得比赛。
除了文班亚马，还有谁是可靠的、稳定的进攻创造者呢？克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)在本赛季的大部分时间里都是答案，但39岁的他已经没有爆发力去稳定地找到自己的投篮机会了。德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)最近状态回暖，但步行者队在周六的比赛中完全限制住了他。斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)也展现过闪光点，但他的投篮是一个真正的问题，这阻碍了他高效地出手大量投篮。
马刺队比去年强多了。他们在1月份就已经赢得了和上赛季一样多的比赛。他们在内部和外部都进行了稳定的提升。尽管如此，这支球队仍然存在缺陷，很可能在本赛季的大部分时间里徘徊在50%胜率左右。所以，系好安全带，享受这段旅程吧，因为这场过山车之旅还要持续几个月。
要点：
- 圣安东尼奥在周四的比赛中从未适应印第安纳的压迫式防守。全场紧逼让他们很不舒服，并造成了大量的失误。马刺在失误数上输了14个，在进攻篮板上输了1个，这意味着步行者凭借其侵略性和对抗性，比马刺多出了15次球权。印第安纳多出手了17次，并且命中率很高（三分球命中率43.6%）。这似乎是比赛的胜负关键。
- 卡斯尔最近表现相当不错，但他仍然容易出现一些艰难的进攻比赛，在比赛中他会强行出手。尽管他本赛季的三分球命中率只有25.9%，但他似乎拥有无限开火权。由于缺乏可靠的中距离投篮，卡斯尔的篮下终结是他唯一的得分武器。步行者队利用了这一点，迫使他冲击篮筐，在那里他多次遭遇迈尔斯·特纳(Myles Turner)和帕斯卡·西亚卡姆(Pascal Siakam)的防守。卡斯尔潜力巨大，但如果他想成为一个可靠的进攻武器，提升投篮必须是他的首要任务。
- 随着交易截止日的临近，马刺队最适合再找一个得分手，最好是一个持球手，最重要的是，再找一个大个子。印第安纳用杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)打中锋的阵容击溃了马刺的小个阵容。索汉在14分钟的上场时间里正负值为-30。考虑到他和文班的化学反应，他更适合在文班亚马身边打前锋。巴斯(Bassey)和科林斯(Collins)还没有证明他们是可靠的。他们需要外援来增强球队的深度。
点击查看原文：What we learned from the Spurs loss to the Pacers
What we learned from the Spurs loss to the Pacers
San Antonio’s flaws were on display in Paris.
This season of San Antonio Spurs basketball has been a roller coaster. There are high peaks like the Spurs blowout win over the Indiana Pacers in their first matchup during the NBA Paris Games. Then they follow it up with a bizarre performance in game two, losing by 38 points. These Paris games were an example of the story of the Spurs’ season – in one stretch, they are a playoff contender; the next they are headed to the lottery.
Through all those ups and downs, a pattern has started to emerge. The Spurs have an offensive talent deficiency. Sure, their defense falters without Victor Wembanyama on the floor occasionally. They are a middle-of-the-pack defensive team, statistically, but when he’s on, they can look elite. Offensively, outside of Wembanyama, they are inconsistent at best.
Credit the Pacers for being the more physical team, picking up full court, and bothering the Spurs enough to make them turn the ball over 24 times. Even so, a team with enough playmakers should be able to counter that effort – the Spurs don’t have them. You simply can’t score just 12 points in the fourth quarter and expect to win the game.
Who outside of Wembanyama is a reliable, consistent creator of offense? Chris Paul has been the answer for most of the season, but at 39 years old, he doesn’t have the burst to find his shots consistently. Devin Vassell has been warming up lately, but the Pacers were able to take him completely out of the game on Saturday. Stephon Castle has shown flashes, but his shooting is a real issue that holds him back from being effective on a high volume of shots.
The Spurs are much better than they were last year. They’ve already won as many games as last season, and it’s January. They’ve made steady improvements both internally and by picking up external players. Still, this roster has its flaws and likely projects as a team that hovers around .500 for most of the season. So buckle in and enjoy the ride, because this roller coaster ride isn’t ending for another few months.
Takeaways:
- San Antonio never adjusted to Indiana’s pressure on Thursday. The full-court press bothered them and caused a ton of turnovers. The Spurs lost the turnover margin by 14 and the offensive rebound margin by 1, meaning the Pacers got 15 extra possessions because of its aggression and physicality. Indiana got 17 more shots off and knocked them down at a high clip (43.6% from three). That seemed to be the difference in the game.
- Castle has been pretty effective lately, but he’s still prone to some tough offensive games where he’s forcing the issues. He seems to have the green light from deep despite shooting 25.9% from three this year. Without a reliable mid-range game, Castle’s rim finishing is his sole scoring weapon. The Pacers took advantage of that, forcing him to get to the rim, where he was met by Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam several times. Castle has a ton of potential, but developing his shot has to be a priority if he wants to become a reliable offensive weapon.
- As the trade deadline approaches, the Spurs would be best fit to pick up another scorer, preferably a ball-handler, and most importantly, another big man. Indiana crushed the Spurs’ small lineup with Jeremy Sochan at center. Sochan was -30 in his 14 minutes. He’s better suited at forward next to Wembanyama, given their chemistry. Bassey and Collins have not proven they can be relied upon. They need outside help to bolster their depth.
By Jacob Douglas, via Pounding The Rock