By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-10-22 06:45:30
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。
马刺队在季前赛中表现强劲，五战全胜。除了战绩之外，一些关键球员的表现也呈现出令人鼓舞的时刻，他们似乎对自己所扮演的角色和承担的责任都感到游刃有余。
其中一些亮点，例如与维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的杰出表现相关的部分，已经被广泛讨论。而另一些则不那么显眼，但同样可能带来积极的影响。因此，让我们来看看本次季前赛中那些更值得关注却又被低估的进展。
德文·瓦塞尔，胜任第二得分手的角色
德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 在季前赛的数据并不特别亮眼。尽管他的场均上场时间全队最高，并在控卫缺阵时获得了早期的持球机会，但他交出的场均12分、4个篮板和3次助攻的数据单只能算扎实，却不够惊艳。他的外线投篮手感不佳，在防守端的破坏力也未能达到最大化其影响力的程度。但他所展现出的，是在被要求扮演的第二得分手角色中那种从容自如。
瓦塞尔打了一些挡拆，效果好坏参半，但他也能够在不运球的情况下，通过借掩护跑动、空切或定点接球后直接开火。在这些情境下，他极具威胁。更令人鼓舞的是，当瓦塞尔处于弱侧，接到突分传球后攻击移动中的防守者时，他要么能一路杀入篮下，要么能从容地跳投出手。
这正是为瓦塞尔量身打造的角色。当然，他肯定也会作为主要发起点来组织一些战术，因为他有这个能力。然而，他最出色的状态是在作为第二选择时，在那些为他设计的无需运球就能获得出手机会的战术中，以及作为一个伺机而动的无球得分手去寻找空位。今年，他将有机会尽情施展。
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔，果断出手
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 只打了两场比赛，但出手了八记三分球。其中只有一球是在进攻时间所剩无几时迫于无奈的出手。其余的几次出手都来自于流畅的进攻节奏中。对手像上赛季一样，选择放空卡斯尔。而这位年轻的后卫也和上赛季一样，毫不犹豫地用三分出手来尝试让对手付出代价。他八次出手命中三球，这很好，但更棒的是，他对于出手这件事本身毫无顾忌。
毫无疑问，对手将继续视卡斯尔为外线的无威胁点。当他与另一名持球手同时在场并进行无球跑动时，他会被对手作为比赛计划的一部分而被放空。令人担忧的是，一名上赛季三分命中率仅为28.5%，且新赛季几乎可以肯定仍将是低于平均水准的外线射手，可能会因为害怕暴露弱点或缺乏自信而停止出手。这种情况绝不能发生，因为它会彻底破坏进攻的节奏，而卡斯尔明白这一点。
这位卫冕年度最佳新秀在他出战的两场比赛中，在多个方面都表现出色。他了解自己的优势，也清楚自己的弱点，但在不断适应角色转变、持续进步的过程中，他拒绝被失败所吓倒。
卢克·科内特，持球手的最佳搭档
卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 所做的任何事都算不上出人意料。他是一名30岁的、辗转多队的球员，通过不断的摸索和尝试，他找到了自己的优势并能扬长避短。马刺签下的是一名已经证明过自己实力的球员。即使是与文班亚马的搭档，这个在纸面上看似难以执行的组合，也实现了无缝衔接，这主要得益于科内特在凯尔特人生涯中曾与其他得分型大个子并肩作战的经历。他就是一名扎实的球员。
看到他仅凭做好各种细节就能让持球手的比赛变得如此轻松，仍然是一件令人欣喜的事。科内特不仅在掩护时能扎实地挂住防守人为队友创造空间，有时他也会在掩护时提前顺下（slips them），在掩护后成为一个传球目标。他也是一名出色的进攻篮板手，当防守方的注意力都集中在突破者身上时，他总能出现在篮下完成补篮，将队友的投篮不中转化为科比助攻。
毫无疑问，科内特将会带来积极的影响。但他从一支尽可能多地出手三分的球队，来到了一支更倾向于冲击内线的球队。看起来他已经适应了这种转变，并且他对圣安东尼奥的重要性甚至可能超过他在波士顿时期。
点击查看原文：The Spurs finally have the right players in the right roles
The Spurs finally have the right players in the right roles
The Spurs had a strong preseason, winning all five of their games. Beyond the results, there were some really encouraging moments from key players who seemed comfortable with their roles and responsibilities.
Some, such as those tied to Victor Wembanyama’s outstanding performance, have been widely discussed. Others were less obvious but are nonetheless likely to have a positive impact. So let’s take a look at more underrated developments from this preseason.
Devin Vassell, in the right role as a secondary scorer
Vassell didn’t have particularly good numbers during preseason. Despite playing the most minutes per game out of everyone and getting on-ball reps early on, when the point guards were out, he posted a stat line of 12 points, four rebounds and three assists per game that is solid but unspectacular. His outside shot didn’t fall and he wasn’t as disruptive on defense as he needed to be to maximize his impact. What he did show was comfort in settling into the secondary scoring role he’s going to be asked to fill.
Vassell ran some pick-and-rolls to mix results, but he also got to fire without putting the ball on the floor coming off screens, cutting, or spotting up. He was dangerous in those situations. Even more encouraging were the times Vassell was on the weak side, received the ball out of a kick-out and attacked a moving defender, either getting all the way to the rim or looking comfortable launching a jumper.
It’s the role Vassell was designed to fill. He’ll surely run some plays as the main initiator, since he can do that. Still, he’s at his best as a secondary option, on plays designed to get him a shot without having to dribble, and as an opportunistic movement scorer who finds open space. He’ll get to do that this year.
Stephon Castle, letting it fly
Stephon Castle played just two games but launched eight threes. Only one of those came late in the shot clock, when he had no choice but to fire. The other looks came in the flow of the offense. Opponents, just like they did last season, helped off Castle. And just like he did last season, the young guard didn’t hesitate to launch threes to attempt to make them pay. The fact that he made three of his eight is good, but it’s even better than he simply has no problem taking them.
Opponents will undoubtedly continue to treat Castle as a non-threat from outside. He will get left open as part of the opponent’s game plan when he plays off the ball next to another ball handler. The concern was that a player who shot 28.5 percent from beyond the arc last season and will almost surely be a below-average outside shooter this upcoming season would stop firing out of fear of getting exposed or due to a lack of confidence. That cannot happen because it would destroy the rhythm of the offense, and Castle understands that.
The reigning Rookie of the Year was impressive in several areas in the two games he played. He knows his strengths. He also knows his weaknesses but refuses to be scared of failure as he continues to develop in a shifting role.
Luke Kornet, a ball handler’s best friend
Nothing Luke Kornet has done can be considered surprising. He’s a 30-year-old journeyman who, through trial and error, discovered his strengths and plays to them. The Spurs signed a proven commodity. Even the pairing with Wembanyama, which could have been considered tricky to execute on paper, was a seamless fit mainly because Kornet had played with other scoring big men in his Celtics tenure. He’s just a solid player.
It’s still great to see how much easier he can make ball handlers’ lives just by doing the little things. Kornet not only makes contact on screens to provide separation, but also sometimes slips them to become a passing target after them. He’s also a fantastic offensive rebounder who can turn misses at the rim into Kobe assists, as he is always there to get a putback when the defense focuses on the driver.
There was no question that Kornet was going to have a positive impact, but he went from a team that took as many threes as it could to one that would prefer to get to the paint. It looks like he has already adapted and could be even more important to San Antonio than he was to Boston.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock