🎧 Spurs Insider️ 播客: 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔全力冲击年度最佳新秀

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Spurs Insider Podcast, 2025-03-05 08:36:00

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。

专栏作家Mike Finger和马刺队记者Jeff McDonald和Tom Orsborn讨论了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)成为年度最佳新秀热门人选的过程，以及德埃隆·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)是如何适应没有维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)的上场。

建议阅读：

在圣安东尼奥的家，德埃隆·福克斯驾驭着棘手的马刺过渡期

马刺队的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔全力冲击年度最佳新秀

对于马刺队来说，又是“等到明年”的赛季

比永博感谢在马刺队获得意外机会

在确诊血栓后，文班亚马与队友“超级连接”

以下是播客的文字稿：

来自南德克萨斯州顶级秘密地点的严密保护网络，这是《马刺内部人士》三月版。我是您的主持人Mike Finger，一如既往地与《Express News》马刺队记者Jeff，额，Tom Orsborn，体育编辑Nick Talbert，以及无法抑制、滔滔不绝的Jeff McDonald一同参与，他克服了障碍、逆境以及各种各样的问题，今天早上来到一个不同的未公开地点与我们汇合。Jeff，展现了你所报道的球队的精神，展现了面对各种消极因素时，那种能行就行的态度。非常感谢你今天能来。

不客气。我注意到你特意把我放在最后介绍。我很感激。

因为我有一些事情要说，我经常磕磕巴巴的。我选择相信这就像宣布首发阵容一样，你知道，他们把最好的、最受欢迎的留在最后。

没错。当维克托·文班亚马健康时，他们会把维克托·文班亚马留在最后介绍，所以。

你在播客里听起来很棒。很高兴你在这里。我知道这对你来说不是一件容易的事。就此而言，当地的“笼子”最近并不轻松。他们坚持了下来。他们让你在孟菲斯报道了一场激动人心的胜利，但随后又回到了通常的趋势，在对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的比赛中，在最后时刻让比赛溜走，此前在对阵新奥尔良鹈鹕队的比赛中也发生了两次。在三月的第一个星期，你的马刺队是什么状态，Jeff McDonald？

这是两种不同的动物，对吧？比如，输给新奥尔良的领先优势，以及在背靠背第二晚输给西部最好的球队的领先优势。我不知道。我不知道我们是否应该过多地批评他们输给俄克拉荷马城，因为我记得我当时坐在孟菲斯的媒体室里，心想，他们明天会输掉大约35分。所以他们实际上在那场比赛中坚持了这么久，我不会说令人印象深刻，但比我预期的要好。

真的很努力。对。我认为他们只是投出了高光表现，这才让他们在对阵俄克拉荷马城的比赛中坚持了一段时间。马刺队的情况如何？

我们只是……我不想说是走过场，但我们只是在逐渐结束。自从文班亚马缺席以来，真的没有什么可争取的了。他们不会参加附加赛。管理层可能不介意看到一些失利，以提高彩票抽签的几率。我们可能在关注亚特兰大，看看他们跌得有多惨，以及彩票签会是什么样子。但除此之外，我不知道你能评判多少。我的意思是，我们看到一些球员表现得非常好。我们稍后会谈论斯蒂芬·卡斯尔，以及他的反弹是什么样的。但就球队的状态而言，当球队的核心球员在今年余下的时间里都穿着便装时，很难判断一支球队应该是什么样子。

我想提一下摆烂这件事，这是这个播客几年来一直Recurring的一个主题。今年，由于马刺队拥有的两个选秀权，摆烂要困难得多。而且亚特兰大，就像亚特兰大一样，他们表现不好。他们失去了本赛季的杰伦·约翰逊，因为受伤，但他们仍然会参加东部的附加赛，因为总得有人参加。那个签位不会像你可能希望的那样好。马刺队现在所处的位置是……波特兰已经超过了他们，但再往下跌的可能性不大。所以，我认为，就像球迷们一年中的这个时候喜欢谈论摆烂以及诸如此类的事情一样。似乎很明显，马刺队将拥有两个彩票抽签的选秀权，大概在第8到第12顺位。马刺队和老鹰队的选秀权最终都会落在那个范围。如果发生一些疯狂的事情，也许一个在第7顺位，另一个在第14顺位，但我不认为，不像几年前的文班亚马摆烂年。没有这种……每天晚上，如果你输了，你就会最大限度地提高你的概率。我认为这只会像以前一样自然地发生。

我的意思是，我甚至不喜欢“摆烂”这个词。他们只是会用这支相当平庸的球队出去比赛，他们会输掉很多比赛。

对，没错。我认为这不会对彩票球的组合产生太大的影响。他们已经有了自己的组合。这些组合将保持不变。我们是在周二早上录制这个节目的，当晚有一场对阵布鲁克林篮网队的比赛，篮网队现在的彩票球组合比马刺队还多。而且这场比赛的结果可能也不会对任何一方产生太大的影响。这很好。这是一种度过本赛季最后六、七周的好方法，而不会因此而惊慌失措。一场胜利不会对你的概率产生太大的影响，一场失利也不会让你感到太难过，我认为无论哪种方式。其中有一些有趣的东西。不像几年前，我们看到的人可能没有在马刺队的长期未来。他们是那种填补空缺的人。你不知道如果他们赢了维克托·文班亚马的彩票会发生什么。现在，有了德埃隆·福克斯，有了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔，有了杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)，有了德文·瓦塞尔，你拥有的人将成为马刺队未来的一部分。而且，Tom，对此有一些乐观的理由，特别是Tom Orsborn几个月前提到的，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔是年度最佳新秀的明确热门人选。

是的。是的，对阵雷霆的32分表现的巧妙之处在于。你知道，我们看到了他比赛的两个方面，一个是 supposed to be weakness。他命中了赛季最高的四个三分球，然后他们挑战他去抢篮板，他最终抢到了八个，只差一个就追平了他的赛季最高纪录。所以，你知道，这有点像是他们预计在未来看到他的那种情况的快照，当一切都结合在一起时。正如我们之前所说，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔将会非常出色，而且那天晚上我们很好地了解到了这一点。

当谈论斯蒂芬·卡斯尔时，三分球并不是你所谈论的。而且仍然是，我认为他今年的命中率仍然低于30%。是的。但它比几个月前更有信心了。在比赛结束后谈论这个问题时，他说他不一定感觉更有信心。他一直都感到自信。但现在看来，当他投篮时，球馆里的人更有信心，因为球看起来就是要进的。而且我还要赞扬他，因为联盟中有很多球员，Jeff和Tom，你们已经报道这个联盟很长时间了。你们知道，当一个球员抢到篮板或者在半场或者更远的地方拿到球时，在最后一节结束时，最后几秒钟滴答作响，你会看到球员们比他们需要的时间更久地拿着球，以确保他们在蜂鸣器响后投出那个远投，这样他们就不会因为投失而被扣分。就像斯蒂芬·卡斯尔正在努力提高他的三分球命中率。他正在努力证明他能做到，而且他那天晚上在第一节和第二节结束时都投失了两个。但他确实做出了在蜂鸣器响前投出的真正努力。那是大约60英尺的投篮。所以，在某种程度上，这会降低他的命中率。但他想赢。

他从第一天起就这样做了，从第一天起。我敢打赌，他在最后一节或四分之三场地的远距离投篮方面领先全队。也许如果他没有尝试任何那些投篮，也许他的命中率会超过30%。我不知道。我认为是这样的。如果我们有这种……我们可以进行数学计算并查找它。

我们不会那样做的。永远不会。但是，是的，就像……我认为，顺便说一句，这些尝试不应该算作你的命中率。就像这并不能告诉你某人的投篮有多好。当你在半场以上投篮时，这些并不是真正的三分球尝试。

所以，进球的那些，你也不算作尝试。好吧，这就是问题的关键。我没有解决这个世界上所有问题的办法。我很抱歉，Jeff，尽管我很想这样做。除了我对他的半场投篮的微不足道的胡说八道之外，Jeff，你想补充一些关于斯蒂芬·卡斯尔的事情吗？

我会回到你刚才说的话。我认为对于我们这些认为自己是社会领袖的人来说，这可能是一个好的经验法则，那就是如果你没有解决事情的办法，你不应该……你知道，你不应该随意改动事情。

我同意。不要管事情，不要管事情。斯蒂芬呢？我认为我们已经说得差不多了。就像他……我想有一件事让我感兴趣的是，我想就在一周前，我们还在这里谈论着斯蒂芬·卡斯尔在全明星赛后出了什么问题。是的。这并没有持续太久。我认为他已经明白了。他已经连续三场比赛得分超过20分。他看起来真的很好。作为一个新秀，他很好地吸引了犯规。他现在作为一个新秀得到了很多犯规判罚，甚至可能还没有他应得的那么多。但他做得很好，能够走上罚球线，我认为这将是他未来比赛的一个重要组成部分。所以有很多值得喜欢的地方。

克里斯·保罗一路都在帮助他。

是的。Tom，这是一个很好的过渡，因为他在今年几个阶段都在蓬勃发展。他在替补席上蓬勃发展，获得了高质量的上场时间。我相信在孟菲斯的背靠背比赛中，以及主场对阵俄克拉荷马城的比赛中，他在两场比赛中都超过了30分钟。我相信他在两场比赛中的上场时间都超过了克里斯·保罗。所以，再次，这是关于克里斯·保罗的播客互联网类型的骚动，就像斯蒂芬·卡斯尔是否应该取代克里斯·保罗的首发位置。我认为这真的无关紧要。他克里斯·保罗斯蒂芬·卡斯尔作为首发球员表现得非常好。他作为替补球员也表现得非常好。无论哪种方式，他都获得了上场时间。而且我认为这很好。我不想把整个部分都 посвятить 给那个同样的陈旧的争论，因为我不认为这真的重要。

在今年这个时候，这根本不重要。

是的。还有一点我想指出。我认为我之前提到过这一点，但是……当斯蒂芬·卡斯尔替补出场时，当克里斯·保罗和德埃隆·福克斯不在时，他有机会掌控比赛，即使马刺队不认为他是一个长期的首发控球后卫。我认为这很适合他，可以让他有这些时间来发起进攻并获得这些机会。我认为这是一件好事，我认为这是让他替补出场的优势之一，那就是当他上场时，保罗和福克斯不在，他正在掌控比赛，我认为这将长期得到回报。从某种意义上说，这并没有让杰里米·索汉在去年长期受益，对吧？这是一种失败的尝试，但卡斯尔的事情我认为对他来说可能会很棒。就像Jeff说的那样，他们在这里只是在走过场。在过去的六个星期里，这些比赛不会是历史上最引人注目的NBA比赛，但这是一件有趣的事情。就像德埃隆·福克斯一样，在对阵俄克拉荷马城的比赛前与米奇·约翰逊交谈。或者我想是对阵俄克拉荷马城比赛后，关于德埃隆·福克斯在这支球队中的角色将如何演变。他说他仍然是一个新人，如果维克托·文班亚马还在，这个角色也会演变。现在肯定会演变，而且只是……我认为，观看马刺队如何找出使用他的方法，最好地利用他的速度和关键时刻的基因，Jeff可以谈谈他在对阵孟菲斯的比赛中命中的那一球。我认为这也是一件有趣的事情。

是的。对阵孟菲斯的那一球。我最喜欢的部分实际上发生在之前的两次进攻中。孟菲斯在地板上。这是为数不多的几个仍然有媒体在地板上的球馆之一，在那里你可以听到和看到一些你可能无法从夹层楼层看到的东西。克里斯·保罗没有结束那场比赛。他不在比赛中。他在替补席上，但他不在替补席上。他在整场比赛的最后时刻都站起来指挥。就像克里斯·保罗和米奇·约翰逊都站起来指挥球员一样。在一次进攻中，你知道，马刺队在那场比赛中苦苦挣扎，在对阵孟菲斯的比赛中，在最后时刻。他们在过去的五分钟里没有投进一个球，他们只需要一个球就可以阻止灰熊队的最后冲锋。在离比赛结束还有大约三次进攻，两次进攻之前，德文·瓦塞尔试图投篮。他采取了一些转身后仰的投篮，结果三不沾。当比赛回到另一端时，灰熊队拥有球权。克里斯·保罗离开了替补席。他一直走到中场，站在我们面前，他朝着在对面角落的德埃隆·福克斯大喊大叫。所以，尽可能远。他大喊：“福克斯，福克斯，去拿球。”所以，你可以随意理解。我会说这是对德埃隆·福克斯的信任，但在我看来，这就像，为什么现在除了德埃隆·福克斯之外还有其他人掌控比赛？果然，在下一次进攻中，德埃隆去拿了球，然后快速投了一个三分球，我想是投失了。但是在下一次，球又回到了德埃隆手中，有趣的是，在最后一次进攻中，马刺队已经在暂停中讨论过这个问题了。德埃隆说，就像他们知道他们会包夹福克斯，因为当然你会这样做。他是唯一一个真正能在那种情况下击败你的人。所以，灰熊队过来包夹，球传给了瓦塞尔，瓦塞尔并没有疯狂地运球，而是直接回传给了德埃隆，德埃隆跑过了第二次包夹，找到了一个位置，投进了那一球。所以，所有这一切对我来说都非常迷人，就在我面前10英尺的地方发生。大声喊出孟菲斯灰熊队的名字，感谢他们让我们有机会坐得足够近，可以看到这些东西。

在那个故事的中间，当你引用克里斯·保罗并大声尖叫时，我不得不承认。我想我们的制作人Mani Bach不得不来这里并且哔掉一些东西或者把我们的评级改为MA之类的东西。我以为这就要变成一个成人播客了。我不知道他在说什么。我看到克里斯·库尔森按他的姓氏命名。联盟中的其他所有人都有某种昵称，或者你使用他们的首字母，或者名字的缩写，或者在末尾添加一个，比如 Maddie。他们只是称他为德埃隆·福克斯。

不是“狡猾的福克斯”。不是“狡猾的福克斯”。是的，“狡猾的福克斯”是他们会用的一个。不，是“福克斯”。嗯哼。这很奇怪。关于这件事的另一件很棒的事情是……你知道，在对阵孟菲斯的那场比赛的两个晚上后，他在新奥尔良的比赛中表现得很糟糕。他完成了六次失误。在最后三分钟里，他有三次失误和一个投失的三分球。只是……这些球员能够在那种情况下把这些事情抛在脑后，并在第二天或几天后出来完成任务，这很令人高兴。

而且当文班亚马不在时，这种情况对他来说会更加困难，对每个人来说都是如此。就像拥有文班亚马是一种威胁一样。在这种情况下，你可以对他进行围追堵截。在这种情况下的任何时候，他都能完成任务，这令人印象深刻。

想想他上个月。他在萨克拉门托效力了很长时间，在那里过得很愉快。他在那里度过了一个非常非常伟大的赛季，作为一名球员，也作为一支球队，你知道，他们的“光束”现象风靡一时，他们在很久以来第一次打进了季后赛，基本上他要求离开，然后去了他想去的地方。在他进入了他所选择的新家之前，他和他选这个新家的主要原因之一，现在赛季报销了。我不是说这是一种困难或者他值得同情之类的，但这肯定有点疯狂。要求来到一个地方，然后立即遇到马刺队在维克托·文班亚马的情况所经历的事情。嗯……我敢说，我相信他的头一直在旋转。我们问过他这件事，他尽量不让这件事与他有关，他对这一切都非常积极。他在这里是为了长期的发展。他去了他想去的地方，但是天哪，对于那个人来说，二月是多么疯狂的一个月啊。

是的，他们有一个……马刺队在休斯顿和孟菲斯之间的牛仔之旅中有一天回家。就像他们可以在家住一晚。德埃隆利用那一天搬进了他的房子。对。他已经在球队里呆了几个星期了，但那是搬家日。就像搬运卡车出现在他在圣安东尼奥的房子里一样。是的，这对于那家伙来说一直是一场旋风。当你看到他在牛仔之旅的一些比赛中表现不太好时，我也有点这种想法。他肯定很累。是的。就像它只是必须而且再说一次，这是篮球的疲惫。这不是真实世界的艰辛，但只是像精神上和身体上的疲惫，所以如果他的投篮之夜表现不佳或者他打了一场糟糕的比赛也就不足为奇了。只是。还有更多的事情要做。你知道，他将在周五的比赛中首次回到萨克拉门托进行交易。他正在为自己准备，你知道，也许会受到不友好的欢迎，一些嘘声，但回到迈克关于一个积极的福克斯的观点。他说，我们不在乎那些心怀怨恨的人。

我们不在乎那些心怀怨恨的人。如果他们嘘我们，他们就嘘我们，我们不在乎那些心怀怨恨的人。当他说那句话时，他正看着Tom。我发现这很奇怪。

好吧，因为我问了这个问题。我不知道。我不知道。我认为他移开了视线，然后他回头说，我们不在乎那些心怀怨恨的人。天啊。这将是……我只是试图喂养那些关于我们多么不喜欢彼此的互联网阴谋论者。

但你没有提到你坐在我后面。哦，那也是真的。他正看着你，是的，他正看着你。

我明白了。好吧，我告诉你，如果存在不和谐，如果存在消极情绪，我认为会有一个人来充当和平使者，圣安东尼奥马刺队的新和平使者，当地的笼子，这个解决问题的人是杰里米·索汉，他在周日晚上再次做到了这一点。他得到了一次技术犯规，他坚称Tom他不应该得到。但是……当一场混战爆发时，三个人被驱逐出场，杰里米提到他只是跑过去看看发生了什么。而且……在一段时间内，这有点意思。

他们像磁铁一样穿过他。太不可思议了，他们他们尝试……你知道，他和他在一起，每个人都像磁铁一样冲向他。

他最近表现好了一些。他我想他在对阵俄克拉荷马城的比赛中投了七中九，得到了17分。我们一直在思考杰里米·索汉作为一名NBA球员是什么，他是一个有用的球员。可能在他职业生涯的任何时候都不会成为全明星。我不会完全排除这种可能性。但他正在找到一个角色，而且由于文班亚马的缺席，他处境有点艰难。马刺队一直在使用九名球员，其中包括只有一名中锋，比斯马克·比永博，顺便说一句，他在出色地完成了两个10天合同后，已经签订了一份本赛季剩余时间的合同。但是，在一些大球队面前，杰里米不得不成为那些非常小的阵容中的大个子，而且马刺队在篮板球方面继续被压倒，而且这在接下来的六个星期里可能不会改变。

是的，这是米奇·约翰逊几乎在他每次赛前演讲中都会提到的。这就是在篮板球，尺寸方面，在今年余下的时间里，每晚都会成为一个问题。如果你要克服它，那将是这种团队抢篮板的心态，但是你知道，有时候你无法克服你的球队中的每个人都只有6-6的身高。是的。就像你可以想要它，你可以尽你所能，但像任何有尺寸的球队都有可能给马刺队带来麻烦。这就是为什么我对他们能够在孟菲斯赢得那场比赛感到惊讶，因为那支球队非常庞大。他们只是一支庞大的球队。就像比斯马克·比永博是马刺队的先发中锋，我想。杰伦·杰克逊只是让他相形见绌。只是让他相形见绌，然后他们带来了扎克·埃迪，他让每个人都相形见绌，所以这对他们来说是一场值得称赞的胜利。但对马刺队来说，这将是一个每晚都会出现的问题，而且很大程度上取决于杰里米。小可怜的杰里米不得不在去年以控球后卫的身份打替补。现在他有点被迫以第二队中锋的角色打替补，在某种程度上，如果他能做他自己，而不必做所有这些额外的事情，那就太好了。

他对他的态度印象深刻整个赛季都在进行。向他致敬。在那件事中，我应该提到马刺队和雷霆队当晚发生的那场小小的混战。我们没有得到……我们从记分台上得到一个很好的解释，那就是官员Tom James Edwards，James Williams，他很好地解释了所有的事情。但在NBA，我想让我们的听众了解一些幕后花絮。每晚都有一位所谓的“指定记者”，如果有必要，他可以选择在事后去官员那里寻求进一步的澄清。在那天晚上，联盟指定的“指定记者”是Tom Orsborn。对不起，Tom，我要把你的事情说出来，这是一个很棒的故事。在那场比赛中有一个问题，我们是否需要在这里就这场小混战进行报道，这真的没什么大不了的。我们是否需要更多的澄清？

“指定记者”只是说，他是去和官员交谈的人，询问一个需要更多澄清的电话的 一个关于一个电话的问题。所以这没什么大不了的，但我们有点喜欢在Tom是指定记者时打击Tom，说你需要和官员谈谈。Tom非常严肃地说，我们不需要一份“指定报告”。世界上有更重要的事情。好吧，吉恩·哈克曼发生了什么事。所以，是的，这很有见地。我有点希望Tom去问官员他们对吉恩·哈克曼发生了什么事的理论，但是……总之。

好吧，无论答案是什么，詹姆斯·威廉姆斯都会很好地表达出来。我的意思是，我可以。他会把它分解开来。是的，你知道，你必须做出……迈克，你没有任何理论吗？你必须做出……我知道这不是一个真正的犯罪播客，但是吉恩应该……吉恩·哈克曼对这个播客上的每个人都很重要。吉恩·哈克曼对这个播客上的每个人都很重要。只是在他整个职业生涯中的精彩表现，而且这是一个非常……我我认为这是一个相关的问题。是的，你知道，我昨晚正在想他。你知道，你可以选择很多伟大的电影和很多伟大的角色，很多伟大的表演，但我昨晚也在想着《矮子当道》。我喜欢他在《矮子当道》中的表演。它不是一个，你知道，立刻跳出来，但你知道，昨晚它出现在我的脑海里。所以，总之。

你应该发布那份指定报告。

是的，是的。好吧，你必须做出决定，迈克。第一，没有人向我提出要求，第二，比赛结束后我有一些我认为更重要的事情要做。但是。

要点，三重收获。是的，和福克斯谈谈他重返萨克拉门托的事等等，但我不知道。是的，所以总之，是的，我喜欢哈克曼，但是。好吧，我会这样说。就像体育报道是……我认为它训练你做各种事情的另一种方式一样。我认为如果Tom在圣达菲负责报道这件事，试图找出发生了什么事。我认为Tom会在这方面做得很好。因为他作为一名指定记者在圣安东尼奥体育界揭露各种事情的历史。我认为他会做得很好。好吧，我认为一个好的节目是……Tom和詹姆斯·威廉姆斯在路上，就像揭示不同的犯罪场景一样。就像朋友一样，价值百万美元的想法，新的广播。

是的。我不确定如何从这件事过渡，但马刺队在我们周二晚上录制完之后将会与布鲁克林篮网队比赛，周五Tom提到将会与萨克拉门托比赛，下周将在明尼苏达进行背靠背比赛。似乎他们有很多涉及主场比赛的背靠背比赛，这有点减少了主场比赛的优势，对吧？当你在背靠背的第二晚打主场比赛时，那实际上不是主场比赛。下周在明尼苏达和主场对阵达拉斯的比赛中也有一个。不需要……我想不再需要官方预测了，因为它们有点不相关，但是你们对未来一周有什么看法？

好吧，我知道你刚才问的是未来一周的事情。我们不喜欢做长期的的事情，但是我们在孟菲斯乔治·保罗的最后一次点名中玩的一款游戏是，马刺队今年能拿到30场胜利吗？哦，这是一个很好的播客话题。现在。所以他们需要……他们需要五个。我要给你一份可以赢得比赛的名单。你告诉我他们是否可以赢得其中的五场。这是本赛季剩余时间的安排。今晚他们将对阵布鲁克林，你知道，到这个发布的时候，大家肯定都知道答案了。下周他们将主场迎战夏洛特和新奥尔良。那些是……还有两场主场对阵达拉斯的比赛，达拉斯失去了所有人。是的。是的，我不想列出他们，但是由于达拉斯和欧文的事情可能。他们有一场主场对阵费城的比赛。嗯哼。然后你闪回到四月，他们在主场对阵多伦多结束比赛。我不知道你现在对菲尼克斯有什么看法。他们确实有一场在菲尼克斯的比赛，他们在没有维克托·文班亚马的情况下击败了菲尼克斯，而且菲尼克斯似乎正在走向衰落，所以也许这是一场可以赢得的比赛。你认为他们能赢得其中的五场吗？好吧，我认为他们将会再赢得五场，我认为他们可能会赢得一场你不太喜欢的那种，总是会有一场你不太喜欢的那种，谁会看到在孟菲斯的事情会发生？那不是。对了。他们实际上还有两场对阵多伦多的比赛。两场对阵多伦多的比赛即将到来，所以。他们也去波特兰。就像我认为他们会达到30场胜利一样。有趣的是，是的，他们会突然爆发并赢得比赛，比如在孟菲斯，但随后他们会连续输给新奥尔良。就像他们有能力输掉我刚才提到的任何一场比赛一样。

如果你还记得过去两年，所谓的摆烂年，实际上并不是摆烂年。在过去的两个赛季中，他们都在三月和四月打出了一些最好的篮球，对吧？他们打得非常好。赢得了一些……德沃特·格雷厄姆是英雄的那场比赛对阵……是的……他们就像去年赛季末的掘金队一样惨遭淘汰。他们总是能拿出一两场这样的比赛。我认为30场胜利将会实现。现在达到32场或33场胜利还不确定，但我会感到很舒服他们能拿到30场胜利。好吧，如果他们今年赢了30场，因为维克托将错过大约三分之一的赛季。我不想说称赞他们，但这感觉像是进步。好的。可以。是的，这算是进步。

Tom，除了真正的犯罪调查之外，你还期待着本周的什么？哦，是的，萨克拉门托。这将是我最喜欢的观看比赛的地点之一。我喜欢那个球馆。看着福克斯回去会很有趣。看着哈里森·巴恩斯回去会很有趣。所以，这将会很有趣。是的。你知道他们在萨克拉门托喜欢的是巧克力曲奇上的盐。我一点都不喜欢。他们为他们的巧克力曲奇感到非常自豪。它们很好吃。它们很好吃。它们很好吃，但是它们不值得你……我只是想把这件事说出来。我真的很想引起与萨克拉门托的争端。顺便说一句，詹姆斯·威廉姆斯看着他在NBAsrefereeassociation.net上的简历，获得了普渡大学的法律与社会学和历史学学士学位。明白了。这对我来说一点都不奇怪。他列出了他的爱好之一是电影，并列出了《肖申克的救赎》作为他最喜欢的电影。所以，我认为他非常适合与我合作撰写这篇文章。

如果你完成了那份该死的指定报告，你本可以建立起一份报告。我知道。并开始了这件事。那是一个错失的机会。如此担心你那该死的三重收获。是的。还有你那次你错过了启动这个播客的萨克拉门托之旅。没错。它可能会成为HBO的长篇纪录片。是的。Tom Orsborn和詹姆斯·威廉姆斯周游全国，调查真相。我想看到那个。我认为本周的作业应该是有人为这个播客想出一个名字。某某和某某。就像那是两个人的名字，但是像昵称之类的事情，你知道。嗯哼。就像卡格尼和莱西之类的。是的，我认为我们需要比那更好，但是……对不起，那是你本周的作业。好吧。给这个更好的名字……

与此同时，阅读Tom Orsborn、Jeff McDonald以及偶尔这个播客主持人的最佳方式是 expressnews.com。开始吧。注册Spurs Nation通讯。我们有Spur Subtext，我现在没有号码，但可能会在本节目的注释中提到。那仍然是一件事。我们仍然有所有的报道。Tom和Jeff在比赛后都会进行三重收获。感谢你阅读它。是的，尽你所能做好下周的事情。在那之前，下次再见。互相照顾好自己，保持真实。

[SAEN]

点击查看原文：Stephon Castle’s big push for Rookie of the Year

Stephon Castle’s big push for Rookie of the Year

Columnist Mike Finger and Spurs beat reporters Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss Stephon Castle’s ascension to Rookie of the Year favorite and how De’Aaron Fox is adjusting to playing without Victor Wembanyama.

Suggested reading:

At home in San Antonio, De’Aaron Fox navigates a tricky Spurs transition

Spurs’ Stephon Castle making Rookie of the Year push

For Spurs, it’s ‘wait until next year’ season again

Biyombo grateful for unexpected chances with Spurs

Wembanyama ‘super connected’ with teammates after blood clot diagnosis

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Here is the transcript of the podcast:

From a highly secure network of top secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider March edition. I’m your host Mike Finger, joined as always by Express News Spurs beat writer Jeff uh Tom Orsborn, with Sports editor Nick Talbert, and the irrepressible effusive Jeff McDonald, who overcame obstacles, adversity, all kinds of issues to make it to a different undisclosed location this morning to join us. Jeff, showing the spirit of the team you cover, showing the can do can do attitude in the face of of just all kinds of negativity. Thank you so much for being here today.

You’re welcome. I noticed you went out of your way to introduce me last. I appreciate that.

Well, because I had I had something to I stumbled there as I often do. I’m going to choose to believe it’s like it’s going to be like when you know they announce the starting lineup, you know, they save the best for last, the most popular for last.

Exactly. When Victor Wembanyama is healthy, they introduce Victor Wembanyama last, so.

Well, you sound you sound great on the podcast. so nice of you to be here. I know it was not an easy thing for you. and to on that note, the things have not been easy for the local cages lately. They’ve they’re they’re sticking with it. They they gave you a stirring rousing victory to cover in Memphis over the weekend, but then back to the usual trend of letting games slip away down the stretch against the Oklahoma City Thunder after letting that happen twice in New Orleans. Just what is the state of your Spurs here in the first week of March, Jeff McDonald.

Those are two different animals, right? Like losing a lead against New Orleans and losing the lead on the second night of a back-to-back against the best team in the West. Like I don’t know. I don’t know if we ding them too much for losing to Oklahoma City because I remember sitting around the press room in in Memphis going, they’re going to lose by like 35 tomorrow. So the fact that they were actually in that thing for so long is is I’m not going to say impressive, but it was more than I expected.

Really game effort. Right. And I think they I think they just shot the lights out and that’s what kept him in the game for a while uh against Oklahoma City. What is the state of the Spurs?

Well, they’re just we’re just uh I don’t want to say playing out the string, but we’re just kind of winding down here. Like there’s nothing really to play for since Victor’s been out. You know, they’re not going to make a play in run. Um probably the front office wouldn’t mind seeing a few losses to enhance those lottery odds. Um we’re probably watching Atlanta to see how badly they fall and what that lottery pick looks like. Um, but other than that, I don’t know that you can judge a whole lot. I mean we’re we’re seeing we’re seeing some players play really well. We want to talk about Stefan Castle later and what what he’s uh what his bounce back has looked like. But as far as the state of the team, it’s it’s it’s hard it’s hard to judge what a team is supposed to look like when the centerpiece is in street clothes for the rest of the year.

Um, I do want to mention the the the tanking thing which has been a recurring theme on this podcast going back several years. This year, it’s it’s a lot harder to tank both with both picks that the Spurs have. There’s and Atlanta’s, like Atlanta, they’re not good. They’ve they’ve lost Jaylen Johnson for the year to an injury, but they’re still going to make the playing in the east because someone has to. Um, like that that pick isn’t going to be as great as as I guess the odds for that pick isn’t going to be as great as you you might have hoped it would be. The Spurs are kind of in a in a spot right now where uh where Portland has passed them, but then making that next drop uh is probably not going to happen. So, I think as much as fans like to talk this time of year about tanking and and what have you. Like it seems pretty clear that the Spurs are going to have two of those picks uh lottery odds wise in that like 8 to 12 range. That’s where both the Spurs and Hawks picks are going to end up. Um if something crazy happens, maybe it gets to seven or on one end, 14 on the other, but I don’t think that unlike a a couple of years ago, the Victor tanking year. Um there there’s there’s not this uh uh uh nightly, oh you if you lose, you you maximize your your odds type of deal. I think that’s just kind of going to happen naturally as it has before.

I mean, I don’t even like the term, I don’t even like the term tanking. Like they’re just going to go out and play with this pretty mediocre team and they’re going to lose a ton of games.

Right, exactly. Like I I don’t think it’s going to change the the lottery ball mix too much. Um they kind of have their combinations. Those combinations is going to remain the same. Uh we’re recording this on Tuesday morning, the night of a game against the Brooklyn Nets who have right now have more lottery ball combinations than the Spurs do. And the outcome of this game is probably not going to affect much either way. Uh so and that’s fine. That’s that’s a good way to kind of spend the last six, seven weeks of the season is not freaking out one way or the other. Um a win isn’t going to hurt your odds too much, a loss isn’t going to make you feel too sad, I don’t think either way. Um there is some fun stuff in the middle of this. Unlike a couple of years ago when we were watching guys who probably didn’t have a long-term future with the Spurs. They were guys who uh were kind of space fillers. You didn’t know what was going to happen if they won the Victor Wembanyama lottery or not. Now, uh with the Aaron Fox, with Stefan Castle, with Jeremy Sohan, with uh Devin Vassell, you have guys who are going to be part of what the Spurs become in coming years. And there is Tom, some reason for optimism about that, especially with the clear cut favorite as Tom Orsborn mentioned months ago for Rookie of the Year, Stefan Castle.

Yeah. Yeah, and um the neat thing about this 32 point performance against the Thunder. You know, we saw two aspects of his game that haven’t been, you know, one one that was supposed to be a weakness. He hits a uh season high four three-pointers and then they challenged him to rebound and he ends up with eight, which is one shy of his season high. So, you know, it was kind of a uh snapshot of what what they anticipate seeing from him down the road when everything comes together. Um, you know, as we’ve said before, it’s going to be pretty darn good this Stefan Castle and we we got a good glimpse of that the other night.

It’s such a um it’s not what you talk about when you talk about Stefan Castle the the three-point shot. and it’s still, I think he’s still below 30% for the year. Yes. But it’s so much more of a confidence stroke uh than it was a couple months ago. and and talking about it after the game, he said that he doesn’t feel more confident necessarily. He’s always felt confident. But it it seems like the arena is more confident when he shoots now because it just looks like it’s going in. And I’ll give also give him some credit for so many guys in this league and and Jeff and Tom, you guys have covered this league a long time. And you know what it’s like when a guy grabs a rebound or gets the ball at half court or farther away and those last couple of seconds are are ticking off the clock at the end of a quarter and you see guys hold on to it just a little bit uh longer than they need to to make sure they throw that heave after the buzzer so they’ll they don’t get dinged for that miss. like Stefan Castle’s trying to improve his three-point percentage. He’s trying to show that he can do it and he he he missed two of them at the end of the first quarter and the end of the second quarter the other night. Uh but he made the genuine effort to get them off before the buzzer. They were like uh 60 foot shots. So, in a way like it it it dings his uh his percentage. But he’s trying to win.

He’s been doing that since day one, since day one. I bet he leads the team in in uh end of quarter like three quarter court heaves. And maybe if he doesn’t try any of those, maybe he is over 30%. I don’t know. I think so. Like we could probably do the math on it and look it up if we if we had that kind of uh.

We’re not going to do that. Ever. But uh, but yeah, like uh uh I I I think uh as an aside, I don’t think those attempts should count um as your percentage. Like that’s that that doesn’t tell you if if the percentage tells you a story, if it’s supposed to give you a gauge of how good of a shooter somebody is. Like those those aren’t really three-point attempts uh when you heave them from over half the court.

So so the ones that go in, you don’t count those as attempts either. Well, that’s that’s there therein lies the rub. Um, I don’t have solutions for everything in this world on this podcast. I’m sorry Jeff, as much as I would like to. Um, did you want to add anything Jeff on Stefan Castle aside from the the the trivial nonsense about his half court heaves that I interjected there?

Well, I well, I would just go back to what you just said. I think it’s probably a good rule of thumb for those of us that consider ourselves leaders of society that if you don’t have solutions for things, you shouldn’t uh, you know, you don’t tinker with things.

I agree. Leave things alone, leave things alone. Um, how about Steph? I think I think we’ve pretty much covered it. Like he’s he’s I guess one thing that’s interesting to me is I think was it just a week ago we were on here talking about what’s wrong with Steph Castle coming out of the All Star break and. Yeah. I that that didn’t last very long. I I think he figured it out. He’s he’s got three straight games over over 20 points. He’s looked really good. Um, doing really well drawn drawn fouls for rookie. He’s getting a lot of foul calls now for rookie, probably not even as many as he deserves. But he’s doing well getting to the foul line, which is I think is a going to be a huge part of his game going forward. Um, so a lot a lot to like there.

He’s got Chris Paul helping him out every step of the way.

Yeah. Uh good segue there Tom because uh he is he thrives as he has in several stretches this year. He’s been thriving in his bench role, getting uh quality minutes. I believe in the back-to-back at Memphis at home against Oklahoma City, he was over 30 minutes in both of those games. I believe he played more minutes than Chris Paul in both of those games. So, um again, it’s a podcasty internetty type of uh uh ruckus that’s out there about uh like is it should should Stefan Castle be starting over Chris Paul. I I don’t think it’s really that relevant. He’s Chris Paul Stefan Castle has been really good as a starter. He’s been really good off the bench. He’s getting his minutes either way. And uh I think that’s fine. I I don’t want to dedicate a whole segment to that same tired uh argument when I don’t think it really matters.

It does not matter at all at this point of the year.

Yeah. And and something I’ll point out. I I think I’ve mentioned this before, but um when Stefan Castle comes off the bench, he has an opportunity to kind of run the show when Chris Paul and Deran Fox are out and I even if the Spurs don’t see him as a long-term starting point guard. I think that suits him to have those minutes where he’s kind of initiating the offense and uh and getting those reps. I think that’s a good thing and I think that’s one of the positives of bringing him off the bench is when he does take the floor and Paul and Fox are out, he is running the show and I think that that will pay off long term. In a way like it did not pay off long term to have Jeremy Sohan do that last year, right? Like that was a a failed experiment, but the the castle thing I think could be great for him. And he’s just like Jeff said, they’re you’re sort of playing out the string here. Um, these games aren’t going to be the most compelling NBA games in history over the last six weeks, but that’s a fun thing to watch. As is uh Deran Fox and talking to Mitch Johnson before the Oklahoma City game. Um, or I guess after the Oklahoma City game, about the way that Deran Fox’s role on this team is going to evolve. He he said there’s still he’s still a new guy and it would have evolved if Victor Wembanyama was still around. It’s certainly going to evolve now and and just I think this watching the way the Spurs are are figuring out ways to use him to best use that speed and that clutch gene which Jeff can talk about and in in in the shot he hit against Memphis. I think that’s going to be a fun thing to watch too.

Yeah. the shot against Memphis. my favorite part of that actually happened two possessions before. Um, and and Memphis were on the floor. It’s one of the few uh arenas left where they still have media on the floor where you can like hear things and see things that you might not be able to see from like the mezzanine level. And uh Chris Paul is not closing that game. He’s not in he’s not in the game. He’s he’s on the bench except he’s not on the bench. He’s standing up and coaching like through the whole end of that game. Like Chris Paul and Mitch Johnson are both on their feet coaching guys. And there was a possession, you know, the Spurs are just holding on for dear life in that game going down the stretch against Memphis. They have not scored a a field goal in like five minutes and they just need one to kind of hold off this last charge from the Grizzlies. And there was a possession about three possessions, two possessions before the end where Devin Vassell tried to make that shot. And he he took some turning around uh fade away that airballed. And when it when the when the game goes back to the other end, the Grizzlies have the ball. Chris Paul is off the bench. He’s come all the way to mid court standing right in front of us and he’s yelling at Deran Fox who was on at the opposite corner. So about as far away as you can be. He’s yelling, Fox, Fox, go get the ball. So, um, you can take that how you want. I’ll say it’s confidence in Deran Fox, but it was kind of to me it was like, why is anybody but Deran Fox running the show right now? And sure enough Deran went and got the ball in the next possession and took a quick quick three I think and missed. Uh but the next time it it came down to Deran with the ball and what was interesting about the last possession was and and the Spurs had talked about this in the huddle. Deran said, like they knew they were going to double team Fox because of course you do. He’s the only guy really that can really beat you in that situation. So the Grizzly’s come to double team, gives it to Vassell and instead of Vassell going nuts with it, he gives it right back to Deran who out runs the second double team to get to a spot and make make the shot. So like all of that was just fascinating to me to watch it unfold, you know, 10 feet in front of me. And uh shout out to the Memphis Grizzlies for giving us that that chance to sit close enough to to see that stuff.

I got to make an admission in the middle of that story when you were uh quoting Chris Chris Paul and screaming starting starting the uh the thing that he screamed. I thought we were going to have our producer Mani Bach have to come in here and uh bleep some stuff or change our uh our rating to uh to MA or one of those things. I thought this was about to become a I thought this was about to become an adult podcast. I have no idea what he was saying Fox. I see. I I notice Chris Coulson by his last name. Everybody else in the league has some sort of nickname or you use their initials or or a shortened version of their name or you add a to the end like Maddie. Um they just call him Deran Fox.

Not Foxy. Not Foxy. Yeah, Foxy would be one that they would use. no it’s Fox. Uhhuh. It’s very that’s another odd thing to me. another neat thing about that. um Foxy, Foxy Fox. Um, you know that that game that game against Memphis came two nights after he was really had a bad closing stretch in New Orleans. Um he finished with six turnovers. Last three minutes he has three turnovers and a missed three. It’s just uh it’s just neat how these guys, you know, in that position can just put, you know, have that short memory, put it put it behind them and come out and and get the job done the next night or a few nights later.

And and it’s going to be harder for him in those situations as with everybody when Victor’s not there. Yeah. Like having Victor is a threat. Like you can just load up on Deran Fox in those situations. the fact that he gets it done at all in this situation um any amount of times is is pretty impressive.

And just think about his last month. Um he he’d played in Sacramento for a long time, enjoyed it there. Um had one really, really great year there as a player and as a as a team where where you know, they’re like the beam thing became a phenomenon and um they had their first playoff run in in forever and uh and he asks out basically and gets to go to the place where he wanted to go. and he’s on the road for a month because he was on on a road trip with the Kings that led directly into the Rodeo road trip with the Spurs. And before he ever gets to play his first game in his new home, the home that he chose, um one of the main reasons why he chose this new home is now out for the season. Um I I’m not saying this is a hardship or this is like he just he merits any sympathy or anything like that, but that’s got to be kind of wild. to have asked to come to a place and then immediately like that place uh endures what the Spurs did with the Victor Wembanyama situation. Um uh I’m I’m sure I I guess as a long way of saying I’m sure his head has been spinning. And we sort of asked him about that and he’s tried not to make it about him and and he’s been very positive about all this. He’s here for the long term. Uh he’s where he wanted to be, but God what a what a what a month February was for that guy.

Yeah, they had that one. the Spurs had that one uh day home in between Houston and Memphis on the Rodeo trip. like they got to come home for a night. And uh Deran used that to move into his house. Right. He he’d been on the team for weeks, but that was moving day. like the Uhaul showed up at at his house in San Antonio. And um yeah, that’s just been kind of the whirlwind it’s been for that dude. And I I kind of kind of had that thought as you watched him maybe not look so great in some of these games on the Rodeo trip. He must just be exhausted. Yeah. Like it just must and again, it’s basketball exhaustion. It’s not it’s not real world hardship, but just like mentally and physically exhausted and so it’s not surprising if he has a poor shooting night or uh um, you know, an off game. It’s just. And then more more to come. You know, he’s going back to Sacramento for the first time since the trade for Friday’s game. He’s bracing himself for you know, maybe an uneven welcome, some booze, but back back to Mike’s point about a positive Fox. He said, we don’t care about bitter people.

We don’t care about bitter people. If they boo, they boo, we don’t care about bitter people. He was looking right at Tom when he said that. I found that weird.

Well, cuz I asked the question. I don’t know. I don’t know. I think he looked away and then he and then he looked back and said, we don’t care about bitter people. Boy. This is going to I’m just trying to feed the I’m trying to feed the uh the the the internet conspiracy theorists about how much we dislike each other.

But you’re failing to mention you were sitting behind me. Oh, that’s true too. He was looking, yeah, he was looking right at you.

I see. Uh, well, I tell you what, if there is uh uh uh uh acrimony, if there is negativity going on, I think the person who will come in and be a peacemaker, the new peacemaker for the San Antonio Spurs, the local cages, the guy who settles things down is one Jeremy Sohan, who did it again on uh on on Sunday night. He got a technical which he insists Tom that he did not deserve. But uh when when when when a fracus broke out, uh three people got ejected and uh and Jeremy mentions he just ran over to see what was going on. And uh that was that was kind of interesting for a while.

They went through him like a magnet. It was incredible they they they try, you know, he goes he gets with him vicinity and everyone rushes to him like a magnet.

He’s he’s been a little better. Uh he had I think he shot seven and nine, 17 points in that Oklahoma City game. Um we we’ve sort of been figuring out what Jeremy Sohan is as an NBA player and it’s a useful guy. Uh probably not an all star um at any point in his career. I’m not going to rule that out completely. But uh he’s finding a role and he’s been put in a bit of a tough spot um with Victor out. The Spurs have been playing nine guys uh including only one center, Bismack Biyombo, who by the way was signed to a contract for the rest of the season after performing ably with his two 10-day deals. But uh Jeremy’s kind of having to be the big man out there in really small lineups against some big teams and uh the the Spurs continue to be sort of overwhelmed on the glass and that’s probably not going to change over the next six weeks.

Yeah, that’s been a that’s been a Mitch Johnson kind of uh uh part of his stump speech before almost every game you hear him talk about this. that’s just something that’s the rebounding, the size. That’s just something that’s going to be an issue every night for the rest of the year and if you they’re going to overcome it, it’s going to be this this gang rebounding mentality, but you know, sometimes you can’t overcome just everybody on your team is 6-6. Yeah. Like you can want it, you can try as hard as you want, but like teams with any kind of size are have the potential to give the Spurs problems. Which is a little why I was surprised they were able to win that game in Memphis because that team is freaking huge. They’re just a huge team. Um, like like Bismack Biyombo is the starting center for the Spurs, I guess. And Jeren Jackson just just dwarfs him. Just dwarfs him and then they bring in Zach Edy who dwarfs everyone and it was just so that was an admirable win for them. but it’s going to be a night tonight issue for the Spurs and it’s a lot of it is on Jeremy. little poor Jeremy having to play kind of you talk you talked about him playing out of position at point guard last year. now he’s kind of out of position by necessity playing like that that second team center role and at at some point it would be nice for him just to get to be what he is and not have to do all these extra things.

Well, he’s been he’s been uh I’ve been impressed with his attitude all season long. Um kudos to him. Uh in that I I I should mention that little uh uh mix up that the Spurs and Thunder had the other night. Um we did not get uh we we we got a good explanation at the at the scores table from who was the uh who was the official Tom uh James Edwards, James Williams who uh who who explained everything very well. But but in the NBA, I I want to let our listeners in on on some behind the scene stuff. They every night there’s a what’s called a pool reporter who who has the option of uh if if necessary to go to the uh officials afterwards for further clarification. And on that night, the pool the assigned pool reporter by the league was Tom Orsborn. And I’m sorry to put your business out there, Tom, but it’s it’s a great story. Uh there was a question during that game is do do we need a pool report here on this little mix up which really wasn’t that big of a deal. Do we need more clarification?

Well, the pool reporter, I just said, it’s it’s the guy who goes and talks to the officials, asks a question about a a call that needs more clarification. And uh and so that wasn’t that big of a deal, but we kind of like to bust Tom’s chops when he’s the he’s a pool reporter saying you need to go talk to the officials. And Tom very seriously says, we do not need a pool report. there’s more important things in the world. like what in the world happened to Gene Hackman. And so uh yeah, that’s that’s good perspective. I I sort of wanted Tom to ask the uh officials for their theory on what happened to Gene Hackman, but uh anyway.

Well, James Williams would have had a great uh no matter what the answer would have been, he would have delivered it uh really well. I mean, I could. He would have broken it down. Uh yeah, and uh you know, you got to make You have no theories on that Tom? You got to make I know this isn’t a true crime podcast, but but Gene should be. Gene Hackman meant a lot to should be. Gene Hackman meant a lot to everybody on this podcast. just brilliant performances throughout his career and it is a it is it is a pertinent question, I think. Yeah, you know, I I was thinking about him last night. you know, there’s been so many you can just pick so many great films and so many great roles, so many great performances, but I was thinking of Get Shorty last night too. I loved his uh performance in Get Shorty. Um it’s not one that, you know, jumps out right away, but you know, it came to mind last night. Uh so anyway.

You should have had that pool report.

Yeah, yeah. Well, uh you got to make decisions, Mike. Number one, no one no one no one uh uh requested one to me and number two, I had things to do after the game that I deemed Uh-huh. a little more important. but.

Takeaways, the triple take. Yeah, and talking to Fox about his return to Sacramento and so forth, but I don’t know. Yeah. So anyway, yeah, I’m like a Hack man, but. Well, I I’ll I’ll say this. Like the this is another way the sports reporting uh uh I I I think trains you to do all kinds of stuff. I think if if Tom was on that beat in Santa Fe, trying to find out what happened. I think uh Tom would be Tom would do a great job on that. because his history as a pool reporter as uncovering uh uh all kinds of stuff in the in San Antonio Sports. I think he I think you’d do a fine job. Well, I think a good show would be uh Tom and James Williams on the road like uh figuring out uh different crime scenarios. Like like buddy a million dollar idea new broadcast.

Yeah. Um That I’m not sure how to segue from that, but the Spurs do have the uh the Brooklyn Nets after we record this on Tuesday night uh at Sacramento as Tom mentioned on Friday, uh then a back-to-back next week at Minnesota. It seems like have they have a lot of those back-to-backs involving a home game that sort of uh lessens the uh advantage of the home game, right? When you play the home game on the second night of a back-to-back, that’s not really a home game. There’s another one of those next week at Minnesota at home against Dallas. Um, don’t need I guess official predictions anymore because they’re sort of irrelevant, but uh what just what what do you guys see about the week ahead?

Well, I I know you just asked about the week ahead. I don’t know we don’t like to do long-term things, but a game we were playing at uh George Paul’s last call in Memphis after that game uh in Memphis was, can the Spurs get to 30 wins this year? Oh, that’s that’s that’s a good podcast topic. now. So they need they need They need five more. I’m going to give you a list of uh wible games. you tell me if they can win five of them. This is what the rest of the season. Uh tonight they’re playing Brooklyn, which we’ll know the answer to that pretty pretty you know by the time this is out. They’ve got home games next week against Charlotte and New Orleans. Those are. Also two home games against Dallas who who lost everybody. Yeah Yeah, I wasn’t going to list them but but with Dallas and the Irving stuff probably. They got a home game against Philadelphia. Uh-huh. And then you flash forward uh to April and uh uh they they finish against Toronto at home. I don’t know what you think about Phoenix at this point. They do have a game at Phoenix and they have beaten Phoenix without Victor Wembanyama and Phoenix seems to be circling the drain, so maybe that’s able one. can you see them winning five of those? Well, I I think they’re going to win five more um, and I think they’re probably going to win one that you didn’t like there’s always one that you like who would who would have seen the at Memphis thing happening? Like that that’s not. Right. They actually have two games against Toronto as well. Both games against Toronto are coming up, so. And they they go to like at Portland. um, like I I think they’re going to get to to 30. It’s interesting because yeah, they do they do. It’s a offline of question. They do pop off and win games like at Memphis, but then they’ll they’ll lose two in a row to New Or. Like they’re capable of losing any game that I just mentioned.

And if you remember the last two years, the the quote unquote tank years, which weren’t really tank years. Um, in both of those seasons they played some of their best basketball in in March and April, right? Like they they were they were playing pretty well. Uh, winning some what what was the game the uh Devonte Graham the hero game against Yeah they get like screwed the nuggets at the end of the the regular season last year. Like there’s they’re always good for one or two of those. I I think the 30’s going to happen. Um Now getting to 32 or 33, not sure, but I I I would feel pretty comfortable about them getting to 30. Well, if they win 30, if they win 30 this year giving that Victor will have missed like a third of the season. I I think you got to I don’t want to say give them kudos, but that feels like that feels like progress. Fine. It’s fine. Yeah, it’s progress. Sure.

Tom, anything you’re looking forward to this week aside from uh true crime investigations? Oh Yes, Sacramento. that’ll be it’s one of my favorite venues to watch a game. I like I like the arena. Uh that’ll be fun seeing Fox go back. um Harrison Barnes go back. So, it’ll be fun. Yeah. You know what they like in Sacramento is the salt on their chocolate chip cookies. and I don’t get it at all. They’re so proud of their chocolate chip cookies. and they’re they’re fine. It’s. They’re fine chuck. they’re fine chuck. They’re fine chocolate chip cookies, but they are they they are not worth uh, you know, hanging your head on. I just want to put that out there. I really want to cause a beef with Sacramento. James Williams by the way, um looking at his bio here on NBAsrefereeassociation.net has a bachelor’s degree from Purdue in law and society and history. There you go. That is not surprising me at all. He lists uh one of his hobbies is movies, listing the Shawshank Redemption as his favorite movie. So, I think he well suited to be paired with me on this investigative piece.

You should if you would have done the dang pool report, you could have established a report. I know. and started this. That was a missed opportunity. So worried about your dang triple take. Yeah. Um and and and and your Sacramento advance that you missed out on the chance to start this podcast. That’s true. Shoot it could be a it could be an HBO long form documentary. Yeah. Tom Orsborn and James Williams traveling the country, getting to the bottom of stuff. I want to see that. I I think the homework for the week should be someone come up with a name for this podcast. Something and something. like it it’s two guys’ names but like nicknames kind of things, you know. Uhhuh. Like Cagny and Lacy or whatever. Yeah, I think we need to be better than that, but Yeah, I’m sorry. that’s your homework for the week. Okay. better better name for the.

In the in the meantime, the best way to read Tom Orsborn, Jeff McDonald and occasionally the host of this podcast is expressnews.com. Get on that. Um uh sign up for the Spurs Nation newsletter. We got the Spur Subtext, which I don’t have the number on me right now, but probably could be mentioned in the uh in the notes for this show. That’s still a thing. Uh we still have all that coverage going. Triple takes after the games from Tom and Jeff. Appreciate you reading that. Um and yeah, keep just just just just do what you can do the next week. And until then, next to see you next time. Take care of each other and keep it real.