By Devon Birdsong | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-03-03 03:33:00
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。
劣势、决心与痢疾
“从今天起直到世界末日，
我们会被人们记住——
我们少数人，我们幸福的少数人，我们是兄弟！
因为今天与我一起流血的人
将是我的兄弟；即使他再卑微，
今天也会温和他的境遇；
而现在躺在英格兰床上的人们
会觉得自己没有来到这里是可诅咒的，
并且会看轻他们的男子气概，只要有人谈论
在圣克里斯宾节与我们并肩作战的人。”
在这个世界上，没有什么比在一片逆境中取得胜利更令人热血沸腾的了。
莎士比亚在英国于阿金库尔战役中战胜法国180多年后创作了这样一篇激动人心的演讲，这充分说明了这种胜利在人类历史的集体心灵和思想中具有持久的生命力。
精疲力竭、饥肠辘辘、身患痢疾（血性腹泻），英国军队甚至没有能力在势均力敌的情况下发动战争（更不用说这场战斗中普遍认为的1比3的劣势了），他们很大程度上是出于绝望，以及渴望在本来就占优势的法国军队有更多时间增援之前发动袭击。
这场战役最初给英国军队带来了一股热情，但很快就变成了绝望。经过两个月的围攻和行军，亨利五世国王的军队只成功占领了一个港口城市，亨利不得不派大约一半的入侵士兵驻守。
为了改变代价高昂的入侵行动的叙事，亨利国王决定穿过法国控制的诺曼底地区，向沿海要塞加莱进军，以展示封建力量。
然而，在英国人围攻哈弗勒尔市时集结起来的法国军队立即识破了亨利的虚张声势，阻止英国人从他们首选的浅滩渡过索姆河，随着自己的军队规模扩大了一倍，他们将英国人越推越远。
最终在沃耶讷找到了一个过河点，英国人开始匆忙向北行军，法国人一直尾随其后，直到最后，法国人采取行动，最后一次切断英国人寻求安全港的道路。
法国军团装备精良，休息充分，饮食充足。他们预计英国人会仓皇撤退，并会得到进一步的增援；胜利几乎是可以肯定的，俘获英国皇室成员的价值足以支付国王的赎金。就像孟菲斯灰熊队一样，他们在与圣安东尼奥马刺队的最近三场比赛中都取得了胜利，他们预计不会遇到什么抵抗。
但双方都没有想到的是，一场蜂拥而至、积极主动的防守努力。
孟菲斯队公然不尊重马刺队，决定让一些最好的球员休息，以对抗他们认为士气低落的对手。马刺队做出了精明的赌注，即不担心在 维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) 缺席的情况下他们不可能防守住的前场，而是专注于压制灰熊队名单上的其他所有球员，这对于一支在得分方面领先NBA并在进攻效率方面徘徊在前五名之外的球队来说是一项艰巨的任务。
最终以一场高得分比赛告终，这转移了人们的注意力，使人们没有注意到经常漏洞百出的圣安东尼奥外线将灰熊队的三分球命中率限制在仅仅28%，远低于他们的赛季平均水平。
如果马刺队有任何像样的真正的防守内线深度，那么比赛很可能不会以最后一投来决定胜负。但是，无所畏惧的 德阿隆·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox) ，一只手只剩下三根手指，拒绝后退，在时间仅剩几秒钟的情况下释放了最后一击。我可以想象，有些受到球迷质疑的米奇·约翰逊在那个旋转的橙色球体将自己埋在悬挂的绳网中时，如释重负地叹了口气。
六百一十年前，在大西洋的另一边，亨利五世国王加入了他在战场上的士兵，浑身沾满了泥浆，头盔上的王冠被敌人的战斧部分削掉，因为他正在保护一个倒下的兄弟。
他的主要由弓箭手组成的分队向一支行动迟缓并在水中跋涉的法国军队倾泻了持续不断的箭雨，这支法国军队恰好在完全错误的条件下选择了错误的战场，直到他们的箭筒空了，他们才带着斧头、匕首和他们用来将木桩打入地面的大型木槌加入了战斗。
他进军法国的一切都出了问题。他的士兵生病、营养不良，并且在仅仅两周半的时间里行军超过250英里。然而，胜利就在他的掌握之中。
装备更好、装甲更厚的法国军队被天气和地形所阻碍，他们中的许多人倒在齐膝深的泥泞中窒息而死，就像顶针一样，因为他们的骑兵残余部队进一步搅动了战场，陷入了混乱的撤退之中，垂死的马匹和它们的骑手一起沉入了翻滚的泥浆之中。
亨利不可能知道这些。
由于预料到灾难，他将自己挖入阵地，威胁他的士兵保持沉默，以免遭受一夜之间的突袭，并选择了尽可能狭窄的防御走廊。而且这一次，他所有的想法都奏效了。
法国人损失了6000多人，另有2000人被俘。他们损失了大约3000名骑士和至少90名伟大的领主。英国人的损失不到这个数字的十分之一。
毫无疑问，这是当时战争史上最幸运的胜利之一。英国人至今仍在庆祝它。它是百年战争的一个伟大转折点。但事先没有任何迹象表明会是这样。
毕竟，没有真正的方法可以知道在当下哪场战斗比另一场更重要。所有战斗对士兵来说都至关重要，无论公众舆论如何。从安全的距离来看，所有战斗都融合在一起，直到它们不再融合。
圣安东尼奥马刺队昨晚击败了孟菲斯灰熊队。没有人预料到他们会这样做。他们打得很努力。他们打得很聪明。他们在很大程度上超出了他们的能力和预期。
谁知道这在一个星期后、一个月后、一年后会意味着什么？从失败的边缘夺取胜利本身就是一个神话。我们有什么资格声称其重要性？
有时敌人只是陷在泥里了。有时他们会得到一些帮助。有时胜利会被人们铭记。无论哪种方式，你都不能半途而废。
关键点
- 关于马刺队是否应该在本赛季剩余的比赛中努力拼搏，还是完全接受摆烂以结束一个失败的赛季的讨论已经有很多。无论如何，我认为可以达成一致的是，杰出的新秀 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle) 应该得到尽可能多的上场时间，只要他的身体能够承受。无论马刺队的高层决定放弃，还是继续努力赢得尽可能多的比赛，都有足够的空间让卡斯尔上场，而不会牺牲团队努力或更协调的输球努力。撇开投篮命中率不谈，在过去的十场比赛中，卡斯尔在仅仅24分钟的上场时间内平均得到近16分，同时作为一名新秀后卫打出了非常出色的防守。无论赛季是否失败，都没有理由为了选秀顺位而牺牲积极的发展。马刺队根本没有真正机会获得倒数前三的战绩。
- 另一位值得称赞的球员是默默奉献的 朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie) 。无论是在首发阵容还是替补阵容中，他都一直在他能找到上场时间的任何地方发挥作用，付出了辛勤的努力，并且再次在进攻端表现出色。当尚帕尼在攻防两端都有表现时，他提高了马刺队的投篮下限，并使他们在NBA中更具切换性，而这是一种溢价。在整个联盟中，很少有球员能以如此低的折扣对他们的球队产生如此积极的影响，而且在这一点上，很明显，PATFO已经从球员池的残渣中获得了又一名可靠的角色球员，很少有球队能像马刺队那样有效地挖掘这个球员池。
- 对于米奇·约翰逊对战术的掌握程度的看法在本赛季的过程中时好时坏，但他迫使灰熊队放弃外线而转而利用内线的策略取得了巨大的回报。这是一种出于迫切需要的策略吗？毫无疑问。但这并不意味着仅仅因为一种策略看起来很明显就应该完全被忽视。在体育界，有很多教练未能利用显而易见的东西，因此，在有些人试图炫耀自己有多聪明的环境中，做正确的事情是有价值的。
- 对于 杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan) 来说，这是一个艰难的赛季，无论是伤病还是角色方面。在上场比赛中受伤后，索汉在这场比赛中恢复过来并准备好上场，没有他，马刺队就无法完成比赛。由于他们的深度受到挑战，每一位贡献者都比以往任何时候都重要，而且可以观察到，当索汉在阵容中时，马刺队会打出更强硬、更顽强的防守。有人认为索汉是这支年轻球队的态度图腾，这是不容低估的。
今晚的主题曲：
巴伦骑士乐队的《阿金库尔战役》
点击查看原文：What we learned from the Spurs win over the Grizzlies
What we learned from the Spurs win over the Grizzlies
Disadvantages, determination, and dysentery
“From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.”
There are few things in this world that stir the blood like a victory against all odds.
That Shakespeare himself composed such a rousing speech more than 180 years after England’s victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt is a remarkable statement regarding the endurance of such a triumph in the collective hearts and minds of human history.
Exhausted, starving, and sick with dysentery (bloody diarrhea), the English forces were in no state to wage war at even odds (much less the largely agreed-upon 3-1 disadvantage of the combat in question), and forced the issue largely out of desperation, and a desire to strike before the already superior French forces had more time to reinforce themselves.
It was a campaign that had started out with an air of enthusiasm for the English forces and had quickly turned to despair. After two months of sieging and marching, King Henry V’s army had managed to capture just a single port city, which Henry was then forced to garrison with roughly half of his invading soldiers.
Determined to change the narrative of a costly invasion, King Henry decided to march through the French-held region of Normandy to the coastal stronghold of Calais in a show of feudal strength.
However, French forces that had amassed while the English laid siege to the city of Harfleur immediately called Henry’s bluff, blocking the English from crossing the River Somme at their preferred fords, pushing them further and further south as their own army doubled in size.
Finally finding a river crossing at Voyennes, the English began a hasty march north, shadowed by the French all the while, until at last, the French moved to cut the English off from their pursuit of a safe harbor one last time.
The French corps were well-armored, well-rested, and well-fed. They anticipated a hasty English retreat and to be further reinforced; victory was all but assured, and the capture of English royalty worthy of a literal king’s ransom. Like the Memphis Grizzlies, victorious in their last three bouts with the San Antonio Spurs, they expected little resistance.
What neither force expected was a swarming and aggressive defensive effort.
Blatantly disrespected by a Memphis team that had decided to sit some of their best players against what they assumed were demoralized opponents, the Spurs made a calculated gamble not to worry about a front-court they couldn’t possibly defend in Victor Wembanyama’s absence and instead focused on suffocating every other player on Memphis’s roster, a tall order against a team that leads the NBA in scoring, and hovers just outside the top five in offensive rating.
That it ended as a high-scoring affair distracts from the fact that the frequently porous San Antonio perimeter held the Grizzlies to a mere 28% from three, well below their season average.
Had the Spurs any semblance of legitimate defensive post depth, it’s likely the game would not have come down to a single shot. But there was the fearless De’Aaron Fox, down to three fingers on one hand, refusing to retreat, releasing one last stab a victory with mere seconds on the clock. I can only imagine the somewhat fan-embattled Mitch Johnson let loose a sigh of relief as that spinning orange orb buried itself in a mesh of hanging strings.
Six hundred and ten years earlier, on the other side of the Atlantic, King Henry V joined his men on the battlefield, caked in mud, the crown on his helmet partially shorn from the efforts of an enemy battle axe as he defended a fallen sibling.
His contingent of mostly archers poured a continuous rain of arrows onto a slowed and wading French army that happened to have chosen the wrong battlefield in exactly the wrong conditions until their quivers ran empty and they joined the fray with hatchets, and daggers, and the large wooden mallets they had used to drive stakes into the ground.
Everything with his foray into France had gone wrong. His men were ill, malnourished, and had marched over 250 miles in just two-and-a-half weeks. And yet, victory was within his grasp.
The better-armed and armored French forces had been thwarted by the weather and the terrain, many of them fallen and suffocating in the knee-high mud, resembling pincushions, as the remains of their cavalry further churned the battlefield in a disorganized retreat and dying horses sank with their riders into the roiling muck.
There was no way that Henry could have known.
Anticipating disaster, he had dug himself into position, threatened his men into silence in fear of an overnight surprise assault, and picked as narrow a corridor of defense as possible. And for once, all of his ideas had worked.
The French had lost over 6,000 men and had another 2,000 taken as prisoners. They had lost some 3,000 knights and at least 90 great lords of the land. The English had lost less than a tenth of that number.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most fortunate victories in the history of war to that time. The English still celebrate it. It stands as one of the great turning points in the Hundred Years War. There was no sense that that might be the case beforehand.
There is, after all, no real way of knowing what battle will be more significant than another in the moment. All battles feel vital to the soldier, irrespective of public sentiment. All battles blend together from a safe distance, until they don’t.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies last night. No one expected them to. They played hard. They played smart. They played mostly beyond their abilities and expectations.
Who knows what that might mean a week from now, a month, a year? Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat is a mythos of its own. Who are we to claim significance?
Sometimes the enemy just gets stuck in the mud. Sometimes they have a little help getting there. And sometimes victories are remembered. Either way, you can’t half-ass it.
Takeaways
- Much has been made of the conversation regarding whether or not the Spurs should fight their way through the rest of the season, or fully embrace the tanking of a lost season. Regardless, I think it can be agreed that there is virtually no reason that standout rookie Stephon Castle shouldn’t be getting at many minutes as his body can realistically handle. Whether Spurs brass decides to pack it in, or continue trying to win as many games as possible, there’s plenty of room for Castle without sacrificing team effort or a more concerted losing effort. Shooting percentages aside, Castle is averaging almost 16 points on just 24 minutes of playing time over the last ten games, while playing mostly outstanding defense for a rookie guard. Lost season or not, there’s no reason to sacrifice positive development on the altar of draft position. The Spurs have no real chance of securing a bottom-three record as it is.
- Another player deserving of praise is the thanklessly effective Julian Champagnie. Whether in the starting unit or not, he’s been a boon wherever he’s found playing time, gives workmanlike effort, and is once again running hot on the offensive end. When Champagnie has it going on both ends he raises the Spurs shooting floor and renders them even more switchy in an NBA where that comes at a premium. Few players in the entire league are having as positive an effect on their teams at such a discount, and at this point it’s clear that PATFO have secured themselves yet another solid role-player from the dregs of a player pool that few teams delve as effectively as the Spurs.
- Opinions regarding Mitch Johnson’s command of the Xs and Os have waxed and waned over the course of the season, but his strategy to force the Grizzlies to abandon the perimeter in favor of exploiting the post paid off in a big way. Was it a strategy formed out of desperate necessity? No doubt. But just because a tactic seems obvious doesn’t mean it should be completely disregarded. There are a lot of coaches in sports who fail to take advantage of the obvious, so doing the right thing has value in a landscape where some try to show off how smart they are instead.
- It’s been a tough season both injury and role-wise for Jeremy Sochan, but he’s been a trooper. After getting banged up in the last contest, Sochan was back out and rearing to go in this one, and the Spurs could not have made things work without him. With their depth being challenged, every contributor matters more than ever, and it’s observable that the Spurs play tougher, grittier defense when Sochan is in the lineup. There’s an argument to be made that Sochan functions as the attitude totem for this team of youngsters, and that’s something that can’t be understated.
Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:
The Battle Of Agincourt by The Barron Knights
By Devon Birdsong, via Pounding The Rock