By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-02-14 02:00:11
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。
圣安东尼奥体验了真正的实力
这算不上灾难。我的意思是，这并不漂亮，也并非是我们所期望的。在全国直播中被痛击并不是一件令人愉快的事情，但也没有那些仅仅上网查了一下比分的人看到的那么糟糕。马刺在客场对阵凯尔特人，并努力拼搏了48分钟。他们没有让自己难堪，也没有显得完全糟糕。他们只是实力不济而已。
凯尔特人去年赢得了总冠军，尽管有一些小小的争吵，但他们正朝着再次争夺总冠军的方向前进。他们拥有联盟中最优秀的球员之一，他们的阵容中充满了经验丰富的球星，经历过各种考验。他们拥有出色的教练，并且知道如何获胜。他们击溃马刺的方式并不具有革命性。事实上，一切都很简单。他们加快了比赛节奏，使我们的球员失去了位置，并且投进了很多三分球。他们不断利用马刺在身材上的不足，并彻底消耗了 文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) ，以至于他在第一节末基本上是在拖着身体在球场上跑动。他们知道圣安东尼奥对于如何利用他们的阵容在进攻端还没有一个真正的统一的愿景，所以他们只是坐下来，然后说：“如果你们想随意打球，那没关系，我们要拿下116分。”
这没关系。这可能是预料之中的。我是否会在观看每一场比赛时都想着，“这肯定就是一切步入正轨的那一场”？是的，也许吧。但我并不失望它还没有发生。这支马刺队的阵容仍然是由许多有趣的部件组成的奇怪组合。它不是为了赢球而建立的。一个为了赢球而建立的阵容至少应该有一些前场深度。一个为了赢球而建立的阵容不应该有三个不同的主要控球手，他们每次拿到球时都会以截然不同的风格做着截然不同的事情。事情将会不同，事情将会不同。他们只是现在的情况就是这样。
我被凯尔特人队的使命感所震撼。他们不是真正让人觉得赏心悦目的球队，但他们就是一台机器。他们很强硬，而且他们似乎根本没有注意到面前的对手，就将他们拆解。你可以感觉到他们的目标更高远。这场比赛对马刺来说很重要，是一次测试，一次衡量他们与NBA顶级球队之间的差距的方式。而这场比赛对凯尔特人来说，感觉只是一份工作。
马刺正在努力缩小这个差距，我们都知道这不会一蹴而就。昨晚的比赛只是提醒我们还需要做哪些工作。最终结果并没有看上去那么糟糕，但这并不意味着它很接近。
收获：
- 迪阿隆·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox) 在银黑军团的早期表现：相当不错？我的意思是，是的，他基本上和宣传的一样好。这并没有立即带来一连串的胜利，也没有像我希望的那样在整体比赛质量上有明显的提升，但这似乎完全不是福克斯的错。他只是真的很有趣。每次他拿到球时，我都会在椅子上坐直，对他的所作所为感到兴奋。我确信有一天我会习惯他那些小小的抽搐动作，感觉他像是在比赛中带着球进进出出一样，但现在它们只是让我高兴地尖叫。
- 我不打算在这里发布表情符号，因为 1）我认为这很俗气，2）我不确定如何在这个发布平台上做到这一点。但是！你知道那个只是一个眼睛是直线、嘴巴也是直线的表情符号吗？我想它被称为“面无表情的脸”？每当我看到有人抱怨 克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul) 为马刺首发时，我就会摆出那个表情。我见过马刺球迷这样做，我见过国家媒体的人这样做，我甚至见过我的直系亲属这样做。天啊，我前几天在推特上看到有人试图发起请愿书，要求把他放在板凳上。我只是……你们这些人啊。这太令人尴尬了。这和 索汉(Sochan) 去年打控球后卫时发生的事情是一样的。克里斯·保罗首发并不是为了赢得本赛季的篮球比赛。这似乎很明显。球队已经明确表示，今年赢得总冠军并不是重点。这个赛季是一个实验室，他们正在培养篮球运动员，并弄清楚这支球队未来会是什么样子。这是一间教室。这是一块试验场。这是一个培养皿。克里斯·保罗来这里不是为了赢得比赛；他是作为变革的推动者而来的。马刺队正在短期内做一些具体的事情，而且他们显然认为让克里斯在那里是其中重要的一部分。 轻敲教室黑板上写着的字 短期是长期中的重要组成部分。你可以对此感到恼火，但不要假装事实不是这样。
- 话虽如此，我完全理解为什么会有人对 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle) 没有得到更多上场时间感到恼火。真的感觉他开始明白了，不是吗？就像，无论他年初时是一个多么粗糙的球员，现在都开始成型了，而且他看起来绝对像一个野兽。当他还没有上场，而第一节只剩下2分钟时，我基本上都在流着口水地想让他上场。我只是想看到更多他。他太棒了。所以，是的，我理解。我理解感到恼火。我只是恳求大家都要有一点耐心。世界又开始关注马刺了，所以让我们尽量不要让自己难堪。
- 除了 德里克·怀特(Derrick White) 之外，每一个波士顿凯尔特人球员都是我的敌人，我希望他们输球。德里克·怀特是一个冠军，并且在他的生活中从未做错过任何事。我知道这一点，我爱他。
- 斯蒂芬参加扣篮大赛让我感到非常紧张？？我希望他获胜???
准备好参加扣篮大赛了！ pic.twitter.com/GJPdhYwk8l
— 圣安东尼奥马刺 (@ spurs) 2025年2月13日
WWL 赛后新闻发布会
- 没有多少人有勇气花费宝贵的写作空间来描述一个表情符号，而不是简单地……把表情符号放进去。
- 谢谢，你知道，我一直在苦苦思索如何处理这一部分，最终只是听从了在我写作时盘旋在我肩上的宇宙缪斯，她说，简单地说，“拼出来”。我就像，当然。拼出来。表情符号是书面文字的祸害，旨在引诱人类进入一种彻底的虚无状态。只是一群可怜的家伙被锁在山洞里，看着墙上的形状。我们必须击倒他们。我们必须获胜。
- 你认为表情符号是压迫者的工具吗？
- 我认为它们可以成为压迫者的工具，如果我们允许它们的话。当你可以将真相隐藏在一张图片背后时，为什么还要说出你的真实意思呢？我是生气吗？我是讽刺吗？我是在喜极而泣，还是只是在哭泣？那是文本中的蔬菜，还是你只是很高兴见到我？成为你想在世界中看到的那种改变。
- 这是一个相当激烈的立场。我确实觉得有必要指出，即使你上面写出了一个表情符号的描述，但实际上，你仍然在某种程度上使用了表情符号。
- 这是一种疾病。仅仅因为我有毅力指出这一点，并不意味着我没有被它感染。
点击查看原文：What We Learned from the Spurs loss to the Celtics
What We Learned from the Spurs loss to the Celtics
San Antoino gets a taste of the real deal
It wasn’t a disaster. I mean, it wasn’t pretty or anything. Getting blown out on national television isn’t something you seek out, but it wasn’t as bad as it might have looked to someone who just hopped online and checked the score this morning. The Spurs played the Celtics on the road and fought hard for 48 minutes. They didn’t embarrass themselves, and they didn’t look completely terrible. They were simply outclassed.
The Celtics won a title last year, and despite some minor squabbles, they’re on track to compete for another one this year. They have one of the best players in the game, and their roster is loaded with talented veterans who’ve been through the ringer. They’re well-coached and know how to win. The ways they picked apart this Spurs team weren’t anything revolutionary. In fact, it was all pretty simple. They pushed the pace, got our guys out of position, and hit a bunch of threes. They constantly took advantage of the Spurs’ lack of size and absolutely wore Victor out, to the point where he was basically dragging his body up and down the court by the end of the first quarter. They knew there still isn’t a real cohesive vision for how San Antonio wants to utilize their roster offensively, so they just sat back and said, “If you guys want to run around playing pickup, that’s fine, we’re going to put up 116.”
It’s fine. It’s probably expected. Do I tune in to every game thinking, “Surely this is the one where it all comes together”? Yes, maybe. But I’m not disappointed that it hasn’t happened yet. This Spurs roster is still a strange mix of a lot of interesting parts. It’s not built to win. A roster built to win would have an ounce of frontcourt depth. A roster built to win wouldn’t have three different primary ball handlers with wildly different styles doing wildly different things every time they get the ball. Things would be different. Things will be different. They just are what they are right now.
I was struck by the sense of purpose this Celtics team has. They’re not really fun to watch, but they’re just a machine. They’re rugged, and they don’t seem to even notice the other team in front of them as they dismantle them. You can sense that their sights are set on something bigger, something further down the road. This game felt important for the Spurs. A test. A way to gauge how they stacked up against one of the elite teams in the NBA. This game felt like just a job for the Celtics.
The Spurs are working to bridge that gap, and we all know it’s not going to happen overnight. Last night’s game was simply a reminder of the work that needs to be done. It wasn’t as bad as it looked in the end, but that doesn’t mean it was close.
Takeaways:
- Early returns on the De’Aaron Fox era in Silver & Black: pretty good? I mean, yeah, he’s pretty much as advertised. It hasn’t resulted in an immediate rush of wins or a noticeable uptick in overall quality of play that I was hoping for, but that doesn’t seem to be Fox’s fault at all. He’s just really fun to watch. I find myself sitting up in my chair every time he gets the ball, excited about what he might do. I’m sure someday I’ll get used to those little twitchy moves he makes, where it seems like he’s glitching in and out of the play with the ball, but right now they just make me squeal in delight.
- I’m not going to post an emoji here because 1) I think it’s tacky and 2) I’m not sure how to do it on this publishing platform. However! You know the emoji that’s just a face with straight-line eyes and a straight-line mouth? I think it’s called the “Expressionless Face”? That’s the face I make whenever I see people complaining about Chris Paul starting for the Spurs. I’ve seen Spurs fans do it, I’ve seen national media guys do it, I’ve even seen members of my immediate family do it. Shoot, I saw someone on Twitter the other day trying to start a petition to bench him. I just… you guys. It’s embarrassing. This is the same thing that happened when Sochan played point guard last year. Chris Paul isn’t starting with the express written intent of winning basketball games this season. That feels pretty obvious. The franchise has been clear that winning a championship this year isn’t the point. This season is a lab where they’re growing basketball players and figuring out what this team is going to be going forward. It’s a classroom. It’s a proving ground. It’s a petri dish. Chris Paul isn’t here to win games; he’s here as an agent of change. The Spurs are working on something specific in the short term, and they clearly think having Chris out there is an important part of it. taps words written on the chalkboard in the classroom The short term is an important part of the long term. You can be annoyed about this, but don’t pretend like it isn’t the case.
- That being said, I totally get being annoyed about Stephon Castle not playing more. It really feels like he’s starting to get it, you know? Like, whatever raw player he was at the beginning of the year is beginning to take shape, and he’s looking like an absolute animal. When he hasn’t entered the game yet and there are just 2 minutes left in the first quarter, I’m basically frothing at the mouth to get him in. I just want to see more of him. He’s awesome. So, yeah, I get it. I get being annoyed. I’m just begging us all to have a modicum of patience. The world is starting to pay attention to the Spurs again, so let’s try not to embarrass ourselves.
- EVERY SINGLE BOSTON CELTIC IS MY ENEMY AND I HOPE THEY LOSE with the notable exception of Derrick White who is a champion and has done nothing wrong, ever, in his life. I know this, and I love him.
- Steph in the dunk contest is something I’m weirdly nervous for?? I hope he wins???
Ready for the dunk contest! pic.twitter.com/GJPdhYwk8l
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) February 13, 2025
WWL Post Game Press Conference
- Not many people have the courage to spend valuable writing space describing an emoji instead of simply…putting the emoji in there.
- Thanks, you know, I agonized over how to approach that section and finally just listened to the cosmic muse that hovers over my shoulder while I’m writing, who said, simply, “spell it out.” I was like, of course. Spell it out. The emoji is a blight upon the written word, designed to lure mankind into a state of abject nothingness. Just a bunch of poor saps chained up in a cave, looking at shapes on a wall. We must strike them down. We must prevail.
- You think emojis are the tools of the oppressor?
-I think they can be, if we let them. Why say what you mean when you can obscure the truth behind a picture? Am I mad? Am I sarcastic? Am I crying tears of joy, or am I just crying? Is that a vegetable in the text, or are you just happy to see me? Be the change you want to see in the world.
- Pretty intense stance here. I do feel like pointing out that, even though you wrote out the description of an emoji up there, for all intents and purposes, you still sort of used an emoji.
- It’s a sickness. Just because I have the fortitude to point it out doesn’t mean I’m not stricken with it.
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock