By Devon Birdsong | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-11-10 04:23:38
由生成式 AI 翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
啊，一天之隔，竟是天壤之别。
短短24小时，就足以让任何人转变视角，得出迥异的结论，然后抛出又一个全新的观点。假如未来有其他物种发现了人类文明的遗迹和记录，我想这将会是他们最欣赏我们的一点。无论好坏，我们对于自身存在状态的看法，远比实际状态本身更为重要。
正如只有生活在相对贫困中的人才能向他人保证自己虽身处逆境却依然幸福，也只有生活在相对富裕中的人才能向他人倾诉自己的极度痛苦——同样地，也只有体育迷才能向他人信誓旦旦地保证他们对自己主队的看法有多么确定。
每一场比赛都是一次对“确定性”的考验，也是又一个动摇信念的机会。（我猜，当外星种族偶然发现我们的遗骸时，他们最终会对我们的体育赛事和真人秀节目更感兴趣，而不是我们的经典电影）
在上周输给菲尼克斯太阳队的那场令人泄气的比赛后，相当一部分马刺球迷都确信，这个赛季已经开始走上那条命中注定的下坡路。而且，根据过去几个赛季的模式来看，有这种想法也并不难理解。马刺在赛季第一周后取得胜多负少的战绩并非罕见，但这种火热开局往往到了赛季中期就被证明只是昙花一现。
而且公平地说，马刺队再次遭受伤病潮的侵袭，到了这个地步，这感觉就像是对过去几十年辉煌统治的一种偿还。
当新秀奇才迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 也进入伤病名单后，球队的进攻回合充其量只能说是不稳定。米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 教练似乎在想尽一切办法激发进攻的化学反应，甚至短暂地让杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 和维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 都去尝试打组织后卫。
维克托（文班亚马）本人也开始流露出微妙的沮丧迹象，他陷入了一个两难的境地：一边是一群难以在有利位置上把球传给他的持球手，另一边则是专门为挫败他而设计的防守体系。
然后：德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 回来了。
终于，那个伤缺名单上一个更重要的名字消失了，好戏就此上演。
在赛季开始前（尤其是在选中哈珀之后），关于圣安东尼奥兵强马壮的后卫轮换阵容曾有过大量的讨论。交易设想被抛出，续约合同被戏剧性地审视，关于磨合阵痛和学习曲线的预言比比皆是。
事实证明，这种尴尬仅仅持续了一节。在第一节看起来还有些急于表现之后，福克斯在第二节彻底爆发，单节砍下15分，其中一度连得10分。
奇怪的是，其他的一切似乎也随之水到渠成。与福克斯这样一位货真价实的后场得分威胁并肩作战，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 突然发现自己犀利而精准的传球有了大量的施展空间。尽管福克斯在防守端似乎还慢了半拍，但当轮到他们推进进攻时，这两位球员都给新奥尔良的后卫们制造了巨大的麻烦。
确实，一旦福克斯进入状态，圣安东尼奥的整体进攻似乎就全面爆发了，全队当晚有八人得分上双（并且投篮命中率高达53%）。
当球队的进攻真正开始流畅运转后，就连文班也开始注意到自己受到的防守待遇有了一些变化。这或许是一个积极的信号，预示着随着福克斯和全队其他人更充分地适应阵容中另一位充满活力的得分手所带来的威胁，情况会越来越好。
他们当然也让鹈鹕队为第四节继续包夹文班亚马的决定付出了代价。马刺利用了空间上的漏洞，福克斯在比赛末段命中了非常关键的6分，彻底为鹈鹕队关上了逆转的大门。
需要明确的是，这场比赛并非完美。马刺在第三节依然遭遇了他们习惯性的低迷。当文班下场时，替补阵容完全无法限制德里克·奎因 (Derik Queen)。锋线球员们在将凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 的得分限制在仅24分的第二天，却让特雷·墨菲 (Trey Murphy) 狂砍41分。替补席上仍然缺乏一名真正的持球手。
但是，至少在接下来的24小时里，这些都不是问题。马刺队自上一次闯入西部决赛以来，首次取得了7胜2负的开局！他们击败了火箭队（本赛季曾被普遍预测表现会优于马刺），并且在一支刚刚休息了两天的鹈鹕队中有球员砍下40分的情况下，赢得了一场背靠背第二场（SEGABABA）的胜利！
马刺正在崛起，而我们正行走在他们掀起的波澜壮阔的花园之中！(万岁)
赛后观察
- 圣安东尼奥的锋线轮换现在有一个明显的弱点。虽然他们能应对那些有身高但缺乏脚步和移动速度的锋线（如杜兰特和英格拉姆），以及有脚步和移动速度但缺乏身高的锋线（如特伦斯·曼恩 (Terrance Mann) 或 P.J.·华盛顿 (P.J. Washington)），但他们（目前）就是没有一个球员能同时应对兼具这两项特点的对手。到目前为止，特雷·墨菲、安德鲁·威金斯 (Andrew Wiggins)、RJ·巴雷特 (R.J. Barrett) 和卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 都在对阵他们时打得如鱼得水——巴恩斯的速度开始下滑，尚帕尼和瓦塞尔显然缺乏足够的体重和力量，而凯尔登虽然拼劲可嘉，但他从来就不具备顶级的横移速度。我坚信，圣安东尼奥必须在这个位置上进行补强，才能在季后赛中获得真正的机会。
- 话虽如此，在几乎所有其他情况下，当需要执行3D战术时，这套锋线轮换一直兢兢业业，且效率极高。除了在菲尼克斯的那场糟糕表现外，巴恩斯、尚帕尼、瓦塞尔和约翰逊的组合几乎每晚都能在关键时刻挺身而出。毫无疑问，如果没有这群球员持续命中的远程炮弹，这支球队根本不可能嗅到7胜2负的战绩。我至今仍然不敢相信，凯尔登的三分命中率接近40%，并且在持球方面也展现出进步的迹象。快掐我一下。
- 还应该指出的是，在经历了赛季初莫名其妙的灾难性表现后，马刺队终于又能稳定地罚中球了！在过去四场比赛中，他们的罚球命中率达到了83%，而在最近两场比赛中更是略高于90%。我不知道米奇·约翰逊是不是在休息日把他们锁在体育馆里加练了，但无论采取了什么措施，它都奏效了，请继续保持！
- 另外，林迪·沃特斯 (Lindy Waters) 的表现怎么样？这家伙的人生信条就是嚼口香糖和投三分，而最近他的口香糖刚好嚼完了。他还没有得到大量的上场时间，但每当圣安东尼奥的某位射手受伤或手感冰冷时，他总能给我对球队远程投射能力的信心带来奇迹般的提升。只是走上场，命中一记重炮，然后立刻回到板凳席，这并不容易，但从这个意义上说，他是一名完美的执行者，值得敬礼。
- 最后一点，有杰里米·索汉在场时，这支球队完全是另一头猛兽。他并非顶防大个子的理想人选，但只要知道他在场上，马刺的打法就充满了更多的激情与韧性。这场比赛他悄无声息地（且高效地）拿下了10分，但他确实是那种不需要得分就能影响比赛的队友。在他缺阵的几乎每一场比赛里，圣安东尼奥都显得有些软弱。我希望他们能在休赛期和他敲定一份新合同。
离场音乐 – 今夜主题曲：
《一天之别 (What a Difference a Day Makes)》 由鲍比·达林 (Bobby Darin) 演唱
点击查看原文：What we learned from the Spurs win over the Pelicans
What we learned from the Spurs win over the Pelicans
Ah, what a difference a day makes.
Just 24 little hours is all anyone needs to shift their perspective, reach a different conclusion, and fire off another take. In the event that another species discovers the remains and records of human civilization, I think that’ll be one of their favorite things about us. For better or worse, our opinions about the nature of our existence matter more than the actual state itself.
Just as only a human being living in relative poverty can assure someone of their happiness in spite of their circumstances, and only a human being living in a state of relative wealth can assure someone of their abject misery — only a sports fan can assure someone of the certainties they have regarding their favorite team.
Every game represents another exercise in certainty; another opportunity to waver. (I suspect that an alien race stumbling across our remains will ultimately be more fascinated by our sporting events and reality TV shows than by our cinematic classics)
After last week’s deflating loss to the Phoenix Suns, a not-insignificant congregation of Spurs fans was certain that the season had taken the downward turn that it was destined to take. And, based on the patterns of the last several seasons, it’s not hard to understand why. It has not been unusual for the Spurs to exit the first week of the season with a winning record, only for the hot start to be rendered a full-on mirage by mid-season.
And to be fair, the Spurs have once again been struck by a wave of injuries that at this point has begun to feel like retribution for the previous decades of dominance.
Offensive possessions were inconsistent at best once the rookie wonder that is Dylan Harper made his way to the injury report as well, and Mitch Johnson appeared to be trying to find anything to spur offensive cohesion with brief stints from both Jeremy Sochan and Victor Wembanyama spent at the point.
Victor himself was beginning to show subtle signs of frustration, stuck in a hard place between a group of ball-handlers who were having difficulty getting the ball to him in advantageous spots, and defensive schemes designed specifically to thwart him.
And then: De’Aaron Fox.
At long last, one of those more important names disappeared from the list of players being held out, and it was on.
Prior to the season (particularly after drafting Harper), there had been a lot of conversation about San Antonio’s stacked guard rotation. Trade scenarios were thrown out. Extensions were dramatically scrutinized. Prognostications of awkwardness and learning curves abounded.
As it turned out, that awkwardness lasted all of one quarter. After what looked like a little bit of pressing from Fox in the first, he exploded for 15 points in 2nd quarter, scoring 10 straight during one stretch.
Oddly, everything else sort of fell into place. Operating in tandem with a bona fide back-court scoring threat in Fox, Stephon Castle suddenly found plenty of openings for his sharp and accurate passes. And though Fox still seemed a step slow on the other end, both players made it hard on the New Orleans guards when it was their turn to advance the ball offensively.
Indeed, San Antonio’s offense on the whole seemed to erupt once Fox got going, with eight Spurs finishing in double figures for the night (on 53% shooting, no less).
Even Wemby started to see his coverage shift a little once the offense really started to hum, hopefully a sign of things to come as Fox and the rest of the team more fully acclimate to the threat of another dynamic scorer in the lineup.
They certainly made the Pelicans pay for their decision to continue doubling Wembanyama in the fourth, as they exploited the gaps in spacing, and Fox found himself a very clutch six points to slam the door on the Pelicans near the end of the game.
It wasn’t perfect, to be clear. The Spurs still suffered some of their traditional lull in the 3rd quarter. The bench simply could not handle Derik Queen when Wemby was off the court. The forwards let Trey Murphy go off for 41 points a night after holding Kevin Durant to just twenty-four. The bench is still lacking a true ball-handler.
But, for at least 24 hours, none of that is a concern. The Spurs are 7-2 for the first time since their last trip to the Western Conference Finals! They defeated the Rockets (who were roundly predicted to outperform them this season) and won a SEGABABA in spite of a forty-point individual performance from a Pelicans team coming off two games of rest!
The Spurs are on the rise, and we walk in the garden of their turbulence! (Huzzah)
Takeaways
- The forward rotation for San Antonio now has a glaring weakness. While they can otherwise handle forwards with size who lack moves/foot-speed (like Durant and Ingram), and forwards with moves/foot-speed who lack size (like Terrance Mann or P.J. Washington), they just don’t (yet) have a player who can handle someone with both. To date, Trey Murphy, Andrew Wiggins, R.J. Barrett, and Luka Doncic have all feasted on them — Barnes is beginning to lose his speed, Champagnie and Vassell simply lack the bulk/strength, and bless Keldon’s heart, but he never had the lateral speed to begin with. I truly believe that San Antonio will have to make a move to improve here to have a real chance in the postseason.
- That being said, when it comes to running three-and-D in almost every other situation, that rotation has put in work and been highly effective. Outside of the dud in Phoenix, some combination of Barnes, Champagnie, Vassell, and Johnson has gone off at just the right time every night. There’s no doubt that this team would not be sniffing 7-2 without the long-distance bombs that this group has been dropping on the regular. I still cannot believe that Keldon is shooting close to 40% from three *and* showing signs of improvement as a ball-handler. Pinch me.
- It should also be noted that after an inexplicably disastrous start to the season, the Spurs are finally making their free throws with regularity again! Over the last four games, they’ve been shooting 83% from the line, and just a tick over 90% over the last two. I don’t know if Mitch Johnson locked them in the gym during their off days, but whatever is being done is working, so keep it up!
- Also, how about that Lindy Waters? All that dude does is chew bubble gum and drop threes, and lately he’s been all out of bubble gum. He hasn’t gotten a ton of playing time yet, but he sure has done wonders for my confidence about long-distance shot-making in the event that one of San Antonio’s shooters goes down/goes ice cold. It’s not easy to just walk out there, drop a bomb, and then go right back to the bench, but he’s been a perfect soldier in that sense and deserves a salute.
- And lastly, this team is just a different animal with Jeremy Sochan available. He’s not ideal for backing up big men, but the Spurs play with a lot more fire and grit just knowing he’s out on the court. He dropped a quiet (and efficient) 10 points in this one, but he really just is one of those teammates who can affect play without scoring a point. San Antonio looked soft in just about every game without him. I hope they’re able to hammer something out this off-season.
Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:
What a Difference a Day Makes performed by Bobby Darin
By Devon Birdsong, via Pounding The Rock