By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-03-04 16:24:17
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。
圣安东尼奥马刺后卫达龙·福克斯(4)在2025年3月2日星期日于圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA篮球比赛下半场中，突破俄克拉荷马城雷霆中锋以赛亚·哈尔滕斯坦的防守。(美联社图片/达伦·阿巴特)
达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)找到了归宿。
只是别问他路怎么走。
圣安东尼奥是他和家人想要居住的城市。马刺是他想要帮助带领的球队，很可能要持续到下一个十年。霜冻银行中心是他现在拥有停车位的球馆。
但在漫长的一夜结束后，当他回到车里，坐到驾驶座上时，他还没有准备好完全依赖自己的本地知识。
“我到处都需要GPS，” 福克斯说。
当然，这可以理解。作为马刺的明星控球后卫，福克斯上任一个月后，直到周日对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆的比赛，他才打了第一场主场比赛。
在不熟悉的公路和街道上行驶并不容易。
开启一个新时代也不容易。
与如今许多身价高昂、速度飞快的球员不同，福克斯并没有自带电脑。代理马刺主教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)无法输入“争夺总冠军”作为目的地，然后让系统指引方向。
马刺，就像福克斯一样，对他来到圣安东尼奥感到欣喜若狂。马刺，就像福克斯一样，相信从长远来看，这种契合会是完美的。马刺，就像福克斯一样，认为他有能力带领他们到达他们想去的地方。
但在这段旅程中，会有更多的尝试和错误。特别是在短期内。
“认为不会有大量的演变，” 约翰逊说，“这对我们来说将是愚蠢的。”
现在尤其如此，因为福克斯和马刺在常规赛的最后两个月将没有维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)，他因右肩血栓而缺席比赛。
马刺长期以来渴望得到这位27岁、在休斯顿长大的福克斯的一个原因是，他们认为他将是他们21岁的中锋的理想组织者。福克斯选择圣安东尼奥作为他从萨克拉门托交易的首选目的地的一个原因是，他也有同样的感觉。
但即使文班亚马身体健康，也会有成长的烦恼。赛季中期交易来的球员几乎总是需要时间来适应身边的球队，而他们的新球队几乎也总是需要时间来适应新来者。
在最终一起出战的五场比赛中，福克斯和文班亚马的组合展现了巨大的潜力，同时也表明需要大量的微调。
正如约翰逊本周指出的那样，即使马刺阵容完整，福克斯的角色也会不断演变。现在呢？他是他们最好的球员，他正在学习球队体系，同时明白当文班亚马回归时，该体系的部署方式将大不相同。
他和马刺试图淡化这一点。他们说，每支球队都会遇到伤病。他们说，目标仍然是赢球。他们说，篮球仍然是篮球，福克斯不认为他的任务发生了改变。
“如果你能投进空位投篮，” 福克斯说，“你实际上可以被插入联盟中的任何球队。”
但在接下来的六周里，福克斯得到的投篮机会与文班亚马在场时得到的投篮机会可能会略有不同。斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)，德文·瓦塞尔，以及阵容中的其他所有人也是如此。
例如，上周六在孟菲斯，当福克斯投中制胜一球时，如果文班亚马是一个选择，防守方的反应难道不会完全不同吗？周二晚上，当福克斯准备在圣安东尼奥对阵篮网的比赛中打他的第二场主场比赛时，马刺预计能打出多少套五人阵容能在下个赛季继续使用？
可能不多。即使马刺应该从福克斯学习如何与卡斯尔、瓦塞尔和索汉一起创造机会中受益，但当这位大个子回归时，有必要进行一次重置——马刺希望在明年秋天早些时候。
与此同时呢？在绕行路线中，他们正试图尽可能多地熟悉团队建设的公路和街道。
“连续性是一个没有得到足够讨论的重要词汇，” 约翰逊说。“而我们正处于早期阶段……但在前进的道路上，我们看到了一些令人兴奋的潜力。”
走在GPS永远不会建议的路线之上。
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) plays in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, front right, drives against San Antonio Spurs’ De’Aaron Fox, front left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 2, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) drives against San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) handles the ball ahead of Memphis Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard (10) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
De’Aaron Fox, de los Spurs de San Antonio, dispara frente a Jaylen Wells, de los Grizzlies de Memphis, en el duelo del sábado 1 de marzo de 2025 (AP Foto/Brandon Dill)
点击查看原文：De'Aaron Fox navigates a tricky San Antonio Spurs transition
De’Aaron Fox navigates a tricky San Antonio Spurs transition
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) goes to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, March 2, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
De’Aaron Fox has found a home.
Just don’t ask him for directions.
San Antonio is the city where he and his family want to be. The Spurs are the franchise he wants to help lead, quite possibly into the next decade. Frost Bank Center is the arena under which he now has a parking spot.
But at the end of a long night, when he returns to his car and settles into his driver’s seat, he’s not yet ready to rely solely on his local knowledge.
“I need GPS everywhere,” Fox said.
This, of course, is understandable. A month into his tenure as the Spurs’ star point guard, Fox hadn’t played a single home game until Sunday against Oklahoma City.
Navigating an unfamiliar set of highways and surface streets isn’t easy.
And neither is navigating a new era.
Unlike many high-priced, speedy acquisitions these days, Fox didn’t come with an on-board computer. Acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson doesn’t have the option of typing in “championship contention” as a destination and letting the system guide the way.
The Spurs, like Fox, are ecstatic he’s in San Antonio. The Spurs, like Fox, believe the fit will be perfect in the long run. The Spurs, like Fox, think he’s capable of taking them where they want to be.
On this trip, though, there’s going to be a little more trial and error. Especially in the short term.
“To think that there wouldn’t be a ton of evolution,” Johnson said, “would be silly on our part.”
This is especially true now that Fox and the Spurs are spending the final two months of the regular season without Victor Wembanyama, who’s sidelined with a blood clot in his right shoulder.
One reason why the Spurs long coveted the 27-year-old Houston-raised Fox was that they thought he’d be an ideal play-making complement to their 21-year-old center. One reason why Fox picked San Antonio as his preferred destination in a trade from Sacramento was that he felt the same way.
But even if Wembanyama were healthy, there would be growing pains. Midseason trade arrivals almost always need time to settle in with the team around them, and their new teams almost always need time to adjust to the newcomers.
In what turned out to be five games together, the pairing of Fox and Wembanyama showed oodles of potential, as well as the need for plenty of fine-tuning.
As Johnson noted this week, Fox’s role would have been evolving even if the Spurs were at full-strength. Now? He’s their best player, and he’s learning the system, while understanding that the way that system is deployed will look a lot different when Wembanyama returns.
He and the Spurs have tried to downplay this. Every team deals with injuries, they say. The objective still is to win, they say. Basketball is still basketball, they say, and Fox doesn’t think his assignment has changed.
“If you’re able to make open shots,” Fox said, “you can literally be plugged in on any team in the league.”
But the shots that Fox gets over the next six weeks figure to be a little different than the ones he’d get with Wembanyama on the floor. The same is true of the shots taken by Stephon Castle, and by Devin Vassell, and by everyone else in the lineup.
Last Saturday in Memphis, for instance, when Fox swished the game-winning jumper, wouldn’t the defense have reacted completely differently if Wembanyama was an option? Tuesday night, when Fox was set to play his second home game in San Antonio against the Nets, how many five-man lineups could the Spurs have expected to play that will carry over next season?
Probably not many. And even though the Spurs should benefit from Fox learning how to create alongside Castle and Vassell and Sochan, there will be a necessary reset — early next fall, the Spurs hope — when the big fellow returns.
In the meantime? Around the detours, they’re trying to familiarize themselves with as many team-building highways and surface streets as they can.
“Continuity is a big word that doesn’t get discussed enough,” Johnson said. “And that’s something that we are early in the stages of … but there’s some exciting potential to see on the way.”
On a route GPS never would have suggested.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News