By Lee Dresie | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-11-07 10:30:00
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。
作为一名生活在洛杉矶的马刺球迷，同时也是道奇队的球迷，最近这几周的日子简直不要太爽。马刺队打出了历史级的出色开局，甚至超出了所有人的预期和预测。与此同时，道奇队赢得了世界大赛的冠军——并在棒球史上最精彩的抢七大战中为整个系列赛画上了圆满的句号。尽管道奇队拥有巨额的薪资总额，这让他们在外人看来有些难以支持，但球员们个人以及他们的主教练戴夫·罗伯茨 (Dave Roberts) 似乎都是些很不错的人。正如我之前在这里写过的，这向来是作为马刺球迷的一大乐趣——马刺这支球队里总是充满了品格优秀的人。在此前的一篇文章里，当我在西洛杉矶一个高尔夫练习场偶然遇到鲁迪·汤姆贾诺维奇 (Rudy Tomjanovich) 后，我曾这样写道：
“尤其是在体育界发生种种事件的背景下，我很高兴听到鲁迪·T对我们都支持的这支球队的评价。他用了‘品格优秀的人’这个词。在这个感恩节，在所有值得感恩的事情中，能够为一支由一群品格优秀的人组成的马刺队加油，也在此列。不是每个人都能这么说，但我们可以。”
在《华尔街日报》上读到关于道奇队明星球员大谷翔平 (Shohei Ohtani) 的文章时，我便想起了那篇旧文。在描述为何道奇队尽管薪资高昂却依然讨人喜欢时，《华尔街日报》的体育记者杰森·盖伊 (Jason Gay)（谁能想到《华尔街日报》还有体育记者？）这样说道：
“这部分原因在于大谷，他是一位活生生的传奇，打球时充满了喜悦和热情，与那种冷漠、疏离的超级巨星截然相反。大谷对比赛和队友的热情——尤其是昨晚庆祝时他兴奋地给山本由伸一个大大的熊抱——和他非凡的‘二刀流’天赋一样，都极大地提升了这项运动的魅力。”
伟大的乔·波斯南斯基 (Joe Posnaski) 在他周三的博客中也表达了基本相同的观点：
“但是，我必须说，我其实挺喜欢那种有一支高高在上、让人恨得牙痒痒的球队。而这支道奇队正是这样一支完美的、适合被憎恨的球队，因为从个人角度看，他们实在是太讨人喜欢了。我的意思是，大谷？弗雷迪？由伸？天哪，还有穆奇？他们简直是一群小可爱！”
道奇队的合伙人之一是“魔术师”约翰逊 (Magic Johnson)，他无论走到哪里总是笑容满面。在抢七大战后，当魔术师走在多伦多蓝鸟队的主场时，他的脸上就洋溢着那灿烂的微笑。
但这些关于道奇队，特别是关于大谷的评论，让我想起了马刺队自己的明星，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。就像大谷（以及穆奇和其他道奇队员）一样，维克托在比赛中也展现出大谷式的“喜悦和热情”，并且也像大谷一样，“与那种冷漠、疏离的超级巨星截然相反”。尽管他们成长的地方相隔6000英里（需飞越亚洲），但翔平和维克托的个性——以及对成功的渴望——却惊人地相似。我的一位球友史蒂夫在昨晚的比赛中问我，如果可以选择，我更愿意执教哪一位球员，当然他也知道执教任何一位都会是种享受。（我的答案是：维克托）。
所有这些都是周三晚上马刺对阵湖人比赛的引子。我上一次现场看马刺对湖人的比赛是上赛季的三月份。那是一场“补赛”，因为一月份 devastating 的阿尔塔迪纳和帕利塞德山火而被推迟。我周日上午的球局至今还没能回到帕利高中的体育馆，不过我们希望一月份可以。在一月份的首场比赛中马刺大胜湖人之后，三月份的第二场比赛就没那么顺利了。也许维克托和马刺新援德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 的缺席是失利的原因之一，正如我当时悲伤地描述的那样。
去年春天那场比赛时，当时还是湖人新援的卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 正在逐渐进入状态。不过，2025年3月的卢卡和他今年夏天减掉20磅后的状态完全没法比。正如预期的那样，减重为卢卡和湖人队带来了巨大的收益。进入周三的比赛前，卢卡场均能贡献41.3分、11.5个篮板和8.3次助攻。这一切都让一位好朋友在赛前问我，卢卡是否是这个世界上篮球“打得”最好的球员。不一定是指比赛中最强的球员（那个在丹佛的家伙才是），而是在构成比赛的各项技术环节上做得最好的球员。
湖人队表现出色还因为他们的“三当家”奥斯汀·里夫斯 (Austin Reaves) 场均能拿到31.1分/5.1篮板/9.3助攻，这数据相当不错了。不幸的是，里夫斯没有在对阵马刺的比赛中出场，所以两队都人手短缺。勒布朗·詹姆斯 (Lebron James) 也继续缺阵，赛季至今他的场均数据依旧是0/0/0。
所有这些因素，让The Athletic旗下的Pulse栏目将周三的马刺对湖人选为当晚的焦点之战：
NBA：马刺客场挑战湖人
美国东部时间晚10点，ESPN直播
由文班领衔的圣安东尼奥马刺（5胜1负）将西行挑战一支令人印象深刻的湖人队，后者在勒布朗·詹姆斯赛季至今完全缺席、卢卡·东契奇缺席一半比赛的情况下，仍取得了6胜2负的战绩。目前来看，除了俄克拉荷马城雷霆，他们就是西部联盟的顶级强队。一场好球。
还有谁不喜欢看到马刺被称为“西部联盟的顶级强队”之一呢？好日子又回来了。让我们看看马刺能否继续留在精英行列。
我很幸运地从另一位球友“大前锋TD”那里获赠了球票。谢谢你，TD！不幸的是，周三的比赛看起来并不像是一场西部顶级强队之间的对决，对两队来说都是如此。早在第二节，我就转身对史蒂夫说，这场比赛打得“支离破碎”。用“毫无章法”来形容也同样贴切。不是我过分依赖The Athletic的观点，但扎克·哈珀 (Zach Harper) 写道：
“湖人队（7胜2负）在比赛末段充满戏剧性的情况下以118-116获胜。但这场比赛的观赛体验简直糟糕透顶。裁判的吹罚太烂了。整晚他们都在为斯玛特的假摔买单。他们一次又一次地被各种造犯规的表演所欺骗。吹罚尺度太紧了，在一场常规时间的比赛里，马刺队（5胜2负）罚了40次球，湖人队罚了44次——总共吹了66次犯规！裁判们，让这两支球队好好打球吧，放手让比赛自然地进行。”
虽然我同意扎克关于比赛缺乏“流畅性”的看法，但从我的座位上看，除了过多的犯规（以及冗长的录像回放）之外，还有三件事导致了比赛“流畅性”的缺失。
首先，看看两队的替补席，我看到勒布朗、里夫斯、福克斯、迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 和卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 都穿着便装。尽管杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 迎来了他期待已久的马刺首秀，并且表现不错，但要把一个缺阵数周的球员融入比赛节奏总是很难的——尤其是像索汉这样技术特点独特的球员。后卫福克斯和哈珀的缺阵，尤其迫使马刺不得不给像林迪·沃特斯三世 (Lindy Waters III) 和乔丹·麦克劳克林 (Jordan McLaughlin) 这样的双向合同或边缘球员重要的上场时间。科内特的缺阵，加上维克托的犯规麻烦，迫使马刺要么派上凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk)，要么使用一些奇怪的阵容，让凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 去打“中锋”。
其次，失误。教练们绝对痛恨失误——而这场比赛中有很多值得痛恨的失误。虽然湖人只有12次失误，但其中大多数似乎都直接导致了马刺的快攻得分——大部分都是极其糟糕的传球。同样，马刺也有很多不可原谅的传球，还有维克托两次强行冲撞马库斯·斯玛特 (Marcus Smart) 造成的进攻犯规。如果我是维克托的教练，当他被一个比他小得多的球员防守时，我会让他持球在高位进行内线轴心脚转身，不运球，直接面框，然后轻松投出那记10英尺的跳投。（想象一下伟大的邓肯在侧翼打板的画面。）斯玛特或类似体型的球员能做什么来干扰那样的投篮呢？而且，如果对方派上更多防守球员来包夹他，维克托将是面朝篮筐的。他可以看到整个球场，并将球传给正确的人。很简单，对吧？
第三，我不知道周三的比赛在电视上看起来如何，但在现场，马刺队的进攻显得异常停滞。（当然，湖人队的进攻基本上就是卢卡运球绕圈，借助几个掩护，然后再接着运球。）马刺的站位是维克托和另一名球员（通常是德文·瓦塞尔 (Devon Vassel)）分居两边肘区，瓦塞尔会向另一侧侧翼移动，球要么传给侧翼的瓦塞尔，要么传给在肘区“落位要球”的维克托——然后所有人就都站着不动了。这与我们都曾深爱的那支打出“美丽篮球”的马刺所倡导的球员和球的转移，相去甚远。我们如何才能回到那种状态？作为开始，让我们让球员们动起来，球也动起来。波波的规则是在0.5秒内处理掉球。让我们就这么做！很简单，对吧？
所有这些犯规还带来了另一个问题——马刺在第四节失去了三名关键球员，他们都犯满离场了——维克托、索汉和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)。失去维克托尤其令人痛心。奇怪的是，尽管许多球迷来现场就是为了看维克托·文班亚马打球，但当他犯满离场时，他们却疯狂地欢呼。就连坐在我前面五排的穆奇·贝茨 (Mookie Betts)，也被大屏幕拍到做出了进攻犯规的手势。这就好比你去看一场世界大赛，却看到对方球队连续四次故意保送大谷翔平。查一下笔记……蓝鸟队在第三场比赛中确实就是这么做的。棒球之神的回应是在第18局，午夜来临之前，给了弗雷迪·弗里曼 (Freddie Freeman) 一个下坠的滑球，让他打出了一记再见本垒打。这最终也促成了比赛中场时一个特别的环节。对于我这个马刺球迷来说，比赛的最终比分并不如意，但中场的这个环节成了当晚的亮点，也是我这个道奇球迷意想不到的惊喜：
点击查看原文：Being a Dodger and Spurs fan at a Laker game after the World Series
Being a Dodger and Spurs fan at a Laker game after the World Series
As a Spurs fan living in Los Angeles, and a Dodger fan too, the last few weeks have been great. The Spurs have had an historically great start, even better than expected or predicted. During the same time, the Dodgers won the World Series — capped by the best Game Seven in the history of the game. And even though the Dodgers have a huge payroll which makes them a bit harder for outsiders to root for, the individual players themselves, and their manager Dave Roberts, seem like good guys. As I have written here previously, that has always been a great part of being a Spurs fan — the Spurs organization has always been filled with good people. In a prior post, I wrote this after randomly running into Rudy Tomjanovich at a West LA driving range:
“Especially in light of everything going on in the sports world, I loved to hear Rudy T’s comments about the team we all root for. He used the words “good people”. Among all the things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, the list includes the ability to cheer on a Spurs team that is a group of good people. Not everyone can say that, but we can.”
I thought of that article while reading about the Dodgers’ star Shohei Ohtani in the Wall Street Journal, of all places. In describing why the Dodgers are likable despite their massive payroll, WSJ sportswriter Jason Gay (who even knew the WSJ had a sportswriter?) said this:
“Part of this is Ohtani, a legend in real time, who plays with joy and enthusiasm and is the exact opposite of the cold, detached superstar. Ohtani’s excitement for the game and his teammates – especially Yamamoto, whom he giddily bear-hugged in the celebration last night – does as much to lift the sport as his remarkable two-way talent.”
The great Joe Posnaski said essentially the same thing in his blog from Wednesday:
“But, I have to say, I kind of like it when there’s a team on top to loathe. And this Dodgers team is such a perfect team to loathe because, individually, they’re so darned likable. I mean, Shohei? Freddie? Yoshi? Mookie, for crying out loud? They’re delights!”
One of the Dodgers’ co-owners is Magic Johnson, who has always gone everywhere wearing a big smile. Magic had that smile glowing as he walked around the Toronto Blue Jays ballpark after Game Seven.
But the comments about the Dodgers, and Ohtani in particular, brought to mind the Spurs’ own star, Victor Wembanyama. Like Ohtani (and Mookie and the other Dodgers), Victor plays the game with Ohtani-like “joy and enthusiasm”, and like Ohtani, “is the exact opposite of the cold, detached superstar”. Even though they grew up 6,000 miles apart (flying across Asia), Shohei and Victor have similar personalities – and drive to succeed. My basketball buddy Steve asked me at last night’s game which player I would rather coach, knowing that coaching either would be a joy. (Victor).
All of this is a lead-in to the Spurs – Lakers game Wednesday night. The last time I attended a Spurs – Lakers game was March last season. That was the “make-up game” that had been postponed after the January 6 wildfires that devastated Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. My Sunday morning game is still not back in the Pali High gym, though we hope to be in January. After the Spurs blew out the Lakers in the first game in January, that second game in March did not go nearly as well. Perhaps not having Victor and new Spur De’Aaron Fox contributed to the loss, as I mournfully described at the time.
New-at-the-time Laker Luca Doncic was rounding into shape during the game last spring. Though Luca in March 2025 was nothing compared to the shape Luca got into this summer when he lost 20 pounds. As predicted, losing that weight turned into a big gain for Luca and the Lakers. Going into Wednesday’s game, Luca was averaging 41.3 points, 11.5 boards and 8.3 assists. All of which led a good friend to ask me before the game whether Luca is the best in the world at playing basketball. Not necessarily the best player in the game (that guy in Denver is), but the best at doing the stuff that makes up the game.
The Lakers were also doing well because their ‘third wheel”, Austin Reaves was averaging 31.1/5.1/9.3, which is pretty good. Unfortunately, Reaves did not play against the Spurs, so both teams were short-handed. Lebron James also continued to sit out, keeping his season averages at 0/0/0.
All of which led to this from the Pulse (on the Athletic) picking Wednesday’s Spurs vs. Lakers as the game of the night:
NBA: Spurs at Lakers
10 p.m. ET on ESPN
Wemby-powered San Antonio (5-1) heads West to meet an impressive Lakers team that’s 6-2 despite missing LeBron James for the entire year thus far and Luka Dončić for half of those games. For now, outside of Oklahoma City, this is the class of the Western Conference. Good game.
Who else loves the Spurs referred to as part of the “class of the Western Conference”? Good times are here again. Let’s see if the Spurs can remain among the elite.
I was lucky enough to be gifted tickets from another basketball buddy, Stretch 4 TD. Thanks TD! Unfortunately, Wednesday’s game did not look like a battle of the elites of the Western Conference, for either team. As early as the second quarter, I turned to Steve and described the game as “choppy”. “Disjointed” would have also fit. Not to over-rely on The Athletic, but Zach Harper wrote:
“The Lakers (7-2) won 118-116 with tons of drama at the end. But this game sucked as a viewing experience. The officiating was awful. The refs fell for the flopping of Smart all night. They fell for foul-baiting play after foul-baiting play. It was way too tightly called, as the Spurs (5-2) shot 40 free throws and the Lakers shot 44 in a regulation game — 66 fouls were called! Officials, let both of these teams play basketball and let go of the game flow.”
While I agree with Zach about the game lacking “flow”, from my seat I saw three things that contributed to the lack of “flow” on top of the excess number of fouls (and lengthy video reviews).
First, looking at the team benches, I saw LeBron, Reaves, Fox, Dylan Harper and Luke Kornet in street clothes. And even though Jeremy Sochan made his long-awaited debut for the Spurs, and did well, it is hard to incorporate anyone into the flow of the game who has been out for weeks – especially someone like Sochan with his odd skill set. The absence of guards Fox and Harper, in particular, forced the Spurs to give meaningful minutes to two-way or marginal guys like Lindy Waters III and Jordan McLaughlin. The absence of Kornet, and Victor’s foul trouble, forced the Spurs to either play Kelly Olynyk or use strange line-ups with Keldon Johnson as “center”.
Second, turnovers. Coaches absolutely hate turnovers – and there were many to hate in this game. While the Lakers had only 12, most seemed to lead directly to breakaway baskets for the Spurs – most were simply dreadful passes. Similarly, the Spurs had many inexcusable passes, or Victor’s two offensive fouls plowing though Marcus Smart. If I were coaching Victor, when he is covered by a much smaller player, I would have him inside pivot with the ball high, without using up the dribble, face the basket, and simply shoot the 10-footer. (Picture the Great Duncan banking the ball from the wing.) What could Smart or similarly sized player do to contest that shot? And if the other team runs additional defenders at him, Victor will be facing the hoop. He can see the entire floor and deliver the ball to the right person. Simple, right?
Third, I don’t know how Wednesday’s game looked on television, but in person the Spurs’ offense was remarkably stagnant. (Of course, the Lakers’ offense largely involved Luca dribbling around, coming off several ball screens, and then dribbling some more.) The Spurs would set up with Victor and another player (often Devon Vassel) on the two elbows, Vassel would flare to the opposite wing, the ball would either go to Vassel on the wing or Victor “posting up” on the elbow – and then everyone would stand around. This is a far cry from the player and ball movement of the Beautiful Game Spurs we all loved. How do we return to that? As a start, let’s move the players around, and the ball too. Pop’s rule was do something with the ball within .5 second. Let’s do that! Simple, right?
One other problem with all the fouls – the Spurs lost three key guys who fouled out in the fourth quarter – Victor, Sochan and Castle. The loss of Victor was especially painful. Oddly, even though many of the fans were at the game to see Victor Wembanyama play basketball, they cheered wildly when he fouled out. Even Mookie Betts, sitting five rows in front of me, was shown on the Jumbotron giving the signal for offensive foul. That would be like going to a World Series game and seeing the other team intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani FOUR straight times. Checking notes… the Blue Jays did exactly that in Game Three. The Baseball Gods reacted by giving Freddie Freeman a hanging slider in the 18th inning for a walk-off home run just before midnight. Which eventually led to something special at halftime of the game. With the final score going the wrong way for this Spurs fan, this was the highlight of the evening and an unexpected surprise for this Dodgers fan:
By Lee Dresie, via Pounding The Rock