By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Jacob Douglas, J.R. Wilco | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-02-18 11:15:54
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。
当他的队友们引发争议时，卡斯尔向更广泛的观众展示了自己。
你认为新秀挑战赛的获胜者应该参加全明星正赛吗？
玛丽莲·杜宾斯基(Marilyn Dubinski): 我对此没有意见，因为他们需要第四支队伍，而且除非这种锦标赛形式会一直存在（我打赌不会），否则没有理由扩大全明星的选拔范围（尤其是在某些情况下，它可能会影响到顶薪合同的价值——无论它是否应该如此，这是另一回事了）。我希望（可能也是亚当·肖华的希望）是新秀挑战赛的获胜者能在全明星正赛中表现更出色，并激励其他球队，他们会不想被他们打败，但这并没有真正奏效。
马克·巴林顿(Mark Barrington): 在这场混乱不堪的非篮球庆祝活动中，有人应该参加吗？这显然只是一种轻松的娱乐，我认为年轻球员能够竞争与真正的全明星队伍对抗的机会是很酷的。这让普通的球迷有机会看到冉冉升起的新星和一些在一两年后将会出现在另一支球队的球员。在他们与真正的全明星的比赛中，新秀队的表现相当不错，老将队不得不依靠斯蒂芬·库里(Steph Curry)的核弹级投篮表现才能击败他们。如果库里没有想起他在奥运会美国队的表现，新秀队本可以真正有机会进入决赛，如果联盟最终保留这种形式，这将是对未来将要面对他们的球队的一个很好的激励。我喜欢它，我认为它为周日的比赛增添了很多乐趣。
全明星锦标赛很棒吗？不，但这仍然比近年来观看两支毫无兴趣的球队敷衍了事的比赛有了很大的进步。全明星赛永远不会是最高水平的比赛，但至少周日的比赛中还有一点竞争精神。我认为他们可以通过减少比赛之间的空闲时间和减少填充材料来改进它，但这朝着正确的方向迈出了一步。希望他们明年能带着一些改进再次举办，并使其变得更好。
赫苏斯·戈麦斯(Jesus Gomez): 我不这么认为。我觉得这种形式毫无必要地复杂化了，并造成了一种参加周日正赛的荣誉被贬低的情况。过去和现在的全明星不认真对待比赛，迫使联盟办公室想出新的东西，这有很好的理由说明他们自己贬低了荣誉，所以没有人是无辜的。这也不是什么大不了的事，就像玛丽莲一样，我不希望它会持续下去，所以没有必要为此感到愤怒，但如果全明星周日的想法是展示NBA的顶级人才，那么就应该这样做。
J.R.威尔科(J.R. Wilco): 我想论证过去和现在的全明星不认真对待比赛，迫使联盟办公室想出新的东西，从而贬低了全明星的荣誉，但这必须等到以后再说。我希望全明星周日的现实是展示NBA的顶级人才，但这种情况已经很多年没有发生了……但世界还在旋转，一切都在变化，也许需要联盟最好的球员为了胜利而战，才能重置联盟最好的球员为全明星周末建立的文化规范。在这种情况下， 维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) 的崛起越快越好。
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔赢得了新秀挑战赛的MVP，在扣篮大赛中获得第二名，并参加了全明星正赛。他在全明星周末的表现是否使他在联盟的年轻球员中家喻户晓？
杜宾斯基: 我认为是的。在整个转播过程中，他作为新秀挑战赛中最吸引人的球员获得了普遍的赞扬，而且在某种程度上，他似乎给扣篮大赛带来了一些新的赞赏，因为人们欣赏他的原始技术和运动能力，同时质疑麦克·麦克朗(Mac McClung)对道具和噱头的使用。卡斯尔的表现甚至让一些NBA球星考虑回到扣篮大赛。总的来说，他肯定是全明星周末的赢家之一，并将他的名字打响了。
巴林顿: 我认为他是年度最佳新秀的领跑者，他在新秀挑战赛和周日在全明星锦标赛中的亮相巩固了这一点，对于那些不一定看马刺队比赛的普通NBA球迷来说。似乎他在TNT转播的很多赛前和赛后（或扣篮比赛后的）采访中都处于中心位置，所以在镜头前有很多时间肯定不会有什么坏处。
戈麦斯: 我认为是的。今年的新秀班底很差，所以没有太多的炒作。像阿门·汤普森(Amen Thompson)、德雷克·莱夫利二世(Dereck Lively II)以及当然还有文班亚马这样的其他年轻球员理应获得了很多关注，他们是未来的球星，而卡斯尔已经展示了很多亮点，但仍然是马刺队的一名替补球员，数据平平，所以很难对他被忽视感到太难过。全明星周末提供了一个让他成名的机会，并加入到大多数NBA球迷都知道的令人兴奋的年轻球员行列中，他充分利用了这个机会。
威尔科: 我不知道我是否会说他已经家喻户晓，但我认为他已经将自己定位在年度最佳新秀的其他候选人之上，如果他赢得它，那么他就会默认地家喻户晓。所以，我会说即使他没有，他也朝着这个方向迈出了一大步，这对我来说已经足够了。
克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)和维克托·文班亚马因试图玩弄技巧挑战赛的规则而被取消资格。是不公正还是应得的惩罚？
杜宾斯基: 从我听到的所有情况来看，这听起来像是不公正。德雷蒙德·格林(Draymond Green)声称他听到他们问官员，他们只是将球扔向篮筐（而不是真正投篮）的方式是否合法，他们被告知是可以的。换句话说，他们在官员真正看到它并改变主意之前获得了绿灯。不要因为球员利用规则中的漏洞而惩罚他们，因为规则中没有说明如何投篮，也没有奖励投篮命中；相反，应该在未来堵住这个漏洞。
巴林顿: 我认为这是联盟的沟通失误，至少从我所知道的发生的事情来看是这样。马刺队在执行他们的策略之前询问了他们的策略，并被告知是可以的。我认为当人群爆发出嘘声时，NBA意识到他们不能允许这种规则漏洞存在，特别是当马刺队是第一个上场时，因为这将意味着所有其他球队都必须采用相同的策略，这将使人群非常不高兴。
我不介意文班亚马和保罗被取消资格，但在我看来，他们满足了法律的字面意思，因为合法投篮的想法是一个解释问题。如果球员被犯规，任何这些投篮都可以被视为尝试。我认为文班亚马和保罗错误地估计了人群的反应，但这不是他们的工作。联盟很容易制定规则来堵住漏洞，但他们主要担心球队花太长时间投篮，无法按时播出广告，所以他们制定了规则，让投篮命中不是比赛的一部分。联盟需要更好地制定公平比赛的规则，这不是球员的工作。
归根结底，这场“争议”的重要性就像……嗯，我想不出有什么比这更无关紧要的事情了。它使整个事情比没有发生时更具娱乐性和趣味性，所以我祝贺克里斯·保罗和维克托。
戈麦斯: 应得的。你为什么要试图在一个应该很有趣的愚蠢比赛中获得优势？规则可能不明确，这对我来说并不重要。如果你的第一反应是试图找到一个漏洞，这对我来说更多地说明了一种渴望被认为是房间里最聪明的人的愿望，而不是你的竞争天性。这不是什么大不了的事，如果官员早些时候批准了它，然后又反悔了，他们应该让他们重新跑一次，而不是取消他们的资格。但我不能说我为文班亚马和保罗感到难过。
威尔科: 应得的。如果你要玩弄这个系统，那就去做吧。但不要嘲弄一个几乎已经在嘲弄自己的比赛。如果你认为你找到了一个漏洞，那就利用它，但要以一种不可能被取消资格的方式去做。在尽可能快地投篮的同时，至少瞄准篮筐需要花费多少时间？如果当你投篮后不看球，我猜你可以在第一个球击中篮板或篮筐之前，同时将三个球都抛在空中。这已经足够快了。我认为这个想法很有趣，但执行得很差，这就是他们被取消资格的原因。但最重要的是，每个人都赢了，因为历史上最糟糕和最愚蠢的周末活动获得了大量的媒体报道。我希望文班亚马明年能再次参加。
点击查看原文：Stephon Castle was All-Star Weekend’s big winner
Stephon Castle was All-Star Weekend’s big winner
While his teammates caused a controversy, Castle introduced himself to a larger audience.
Do you think the Rising Stars winner belongs on All-Star Sunday?
Marilyn Dubinski: I didn’t have a problem with it since they needed a fourth team, and unless this tournament format is here to stay (I bet it’s not), there isn’t any reason to widen the All-Star selection pool (especially since, in some cases, it can have implications on how much a max contract is worth — whether it should or not is a story for another day). My hope (and probably Adam Silver’s) was that the Rising Stars winners would play stronger in the All-Star game and motivate the other teams, who would hate to be embarrassed by them, but it didn’t really work out that way.
Mark Barrington: Does anyone belong on this shambolic display of non-basketball festivities? It’s clearly just light entertainment, and I think it’s cool that the young guys were able to compete for a shot to take on a team of real All-Stars. It gave the casual fans a chance to see up-and-coming stars and a few guys who will be on the other team in a year or two. In their game against actual All-Stars, the Rising Stars acquitted themselves pretty well and the OGs had to depend on a nuclear shooting display from Steph Curry to put them away. If Steph didn’t have a flashback to his performance with Team USA in the Olympics, the Rising Stars could have had a real shot at making the finals, which is a good motivator to the teams that are going to face them in the future if the league ends up keeping this format. I liked it and I think it added a lot to the games on Sunday.
Was the All-Star tournament great? No, but it was still a big improvement over the recent years where it was a really boring slog to watch two disinterested teams go through the motions. All-Star games are never going to be peak-level competitions, but at least there was a bit of competitive spirit in the games on Sunday. I think they can improve it by decreasing the dead time between games and having less filler material, but this was a step in the right direction. Hopefully they can bring it back next year with some streamlining and make it even better.
Jesus Gomez: I don’t think so. I feel like the format was needlessly complicated and created a situation where playing on Sunday felt devalued. There’s a very good case to make for past and present All-Stars devaluing the honor themselves by not taking the game seriously and forcing the league office to come up with something new, so no one’s blameless here. It’s also not a huge deal and, just like Marilyn, I don’t expect it to last, so there’s no need to get riled up about it, but if the idea of All-Star Sunday is to showcase the NBA’s top talent, then that’s what should happen.
J.R. Wilco: I’d like to make the case that past and present All-Stars have devalued the honor of being named All-Stars by not taking the games seriously and forcing the league office to come up with something new, but that will have to wait for another time. I wish that the reality of All-Star Sunday could be to showcase the NBA’s top talent, but it’s been years and years since that’s been the case … but the world keeps spinning, everything changes, and maybe it’ll take the league’s best player playing to win in order to reset the culture the league’s best have established as a norm for the ASB. In which case, Victor’s ascendance can’t come fast enough.
Stephon Castle won MVP of the Rising Stars game, came second in the Dunk Contest and was a part of the All-Star Game. Has his performance in the All-Star Weekend made him a household name among the league’s young players?
Dubinski: I think it did. He got universal praise as the most intriguing player in Rising Stars throughout the broadcast, and in a way he seemed to bring some new appreciation to the Dunk Contest in the sense that people appreciated his raw skill and athletic ability while bringing into question Mac McClung’s use of props and gimmicks. Castle’s performance even had some NBA stars considering coming back to the dunk contest. Overall, he was certainly one of the winners of All-Star weekend and put his name on the map.
Barrington: I think he’s the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, and the Rising Stars and his appearance on Sunday in the All-Star tournament cemented that for casual NBA fans who don’t necessarily watch the Spurs play. It seems like he was front and center in a lot of the pregame and postgame (or post-event in the dunk competition) interviews on the TNT broadcast, so having a lot of face time in front of the cameras can’t hurt.
Gomez: I think so. This rookie class is bad, so there has not been a lot of hype about it. Other young guys like Amen Thompson, Dereck Lively II and obviously Wemby have deservedly gotten a lot of attention as future stars while Castle has shown plenty of flashes but is still a bench player putting unimpressive numbers on a mediocre Spurs team, so it’s hard to be too upset at him being somewhat overlooked as a talent. All-Star Weekend provided an opportunity to make a name for himself and join the group of exciting young players most NBA fans know about, and he made the most of it.
Wilco: I don’t know that I’d say that he’s made his name a household one, but I think he’s positioned himself head-and-shoulders above the rest of the candidates for ROY, and if he wins it, then he becomes a household name then by default. So, I’ll say that even if he didn’t, the took a massive step toward it, which is good enough for me.
Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama were DQ’d from the Skills Challenge for trying to game the system. Injustice or deserved punishment?
Dubinski: From everything I’ve heard, it sounds like an injustice. Draymond Green claims he heard them asking officials if their approach of just tossing the balls toward the basket (as opposed to actually shooting) was legal, and they were told it was. In other words, they had the green light before officials actually saw it and changed their minds. Don’t punish players for exploiting a loophole in which the rules say nothing about how to shoot the ball and there’s no reward for making the shots; instead, close the loophole going forward.
Barrington: I think it was a communication failure from the league, at least from what I know about what happened. The Spurs asked about their strategy before they executed it, and were told it was OK. I think when the crowd erupted in boos, the NBA realized that they couldn’t allow the rule exploit to stand, especially when the Spurs were the first to go, because it would have meant that all of the other teams would have had to adopt the same strategy, which would have made the crowd pretty unhappy.
I don’t mind that Wembanyama and Paul got disqualified, but in my mind, they satisfied the letter of the law, because the idea of a legitimate shot is a matter of interpretation. Any of those shots could have counted as an attempt if the player were fouled. I think that Wemby and Paul miscalculated how the crowd would react, but that wasn’t their job. It would have been easy for the league to write the rules to close the exploit, but mostly they were concerned about teams taking too long to hit a shot and not being able to air commercials on time, so they wrote the rules so that hitting shots wasn’t part of the competition. The league needs to do a better job of making the rules for a fair competition, and that’s not the players’ job to fix.
In the final analysis, this ‘controversy’ is about as significant as … well I can’t think of anything more insignificant than this. It made the whole thing a lot more entertaining and interesting than if it hadn’t happened, so I congratulate Chris Paul and Victor.
Gomez: Deserved. Why would you try to gain an advantage in a silly competition that is supposed to be fun? It doesn’t matter to me that the rules might have not been clear. If your first instinct is to try to find a loophole, that to me says less about your competitive nature and more about a desire to be perceived as the smartest guy in the room. It’s not a big deal, and if officials cleared it earlier and then went back on their word, they should have let them run the course again instead of disqualifying them. But I can’t say I feel bad for Wemby and Paul.
Wilco: Deserved. If you’re going to game the system, go ahead. But don’t make a mockery of a competition that’s practically already mocking itself. If you think you’ve found a loophole, exploit it, but do so in a way that’s impossible to disqualify. How much more time would it really have taken to at least aim for the basket on those shots while shooting them as rapidly as possible? If you’re not watching the ball after you shoot it, my guess is you could have all three in the air at the same time before the first hits the backboard or rim. That would have been plenty quick enough to win. I think the idea was fun, but the execution was off and that’s why they were DQ’d. But the bottom line is that everyone wins because what’s historically been the worst and goofiest event of the weekend got a TON of press. I hope Wemby can go for it again next year.
By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, Jacob Douglas, J.R. Wilco, via Pounding The Rock