By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-11-13 16:02:04
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。
圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (5号) 在2025年11月12日星期三于圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA比赛下半场，于后卫斯蒂芬·库里 (30号) 头上投篮。卡斯尔在拿下年度最佳新秀后，他的二年级赛季也迎来了强势开局。周三马刺队的失利中，卡斯尔与斯蒂芬·库里之间上演的这种激动人心的对决，只会助力这位年轻“斯蒂芬”的成长。
一次口误。仅此而已，但发生的时机却让整个球馆都注意到了。
要知道，在周三晚上的那个特殊时刻，这位卫冕NBA年度最佳新秀正把本世纪最强控卫打得精疲力竭。初生牛犊使出了些新招数，而那位老将看起来似乎状态不佳。就在此时，弗罗斯特银行中心的现场播报员宣布斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 将要走上罚球线。
他把卡斯尔的名字念成了“斯蒂芬（STEPH-en）”。
就像斯蒂芬·库里 (Stephen Curry) 的那个“斯蒂芬”。
而如果说接下来一个多小时的比赛证明了什么的话，那就是：卡斯尔或许即将成为联盟下一个伟大的“斯蒂芬”，但他仍有太多东西要向老前辈学习。
周五，他将迎来又一个学习的机会。对于马刺而言，无论是着眼于数月还是数年后，这都是值得感恩的一周。与库里率领的勇士队进行背靠背的比赛，能够让球员们对沉着和执行力的理解变得鲜活起来，这是助教米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 用战术白板永远无法达到的效果，而圣安东尼奥的年轻球星们也都是求知若渴的学生。
当21岁的卡斯尔在周三以120-125输掉比赛后被问及他享受与37岁的库里你来我往对决的哪一点时，卡斯尔说：“在防守他的时候，你的心态会受到真正的考验。”
这不仅仅关乎精神的敏锐度，更关乎精神的耐力。
当勇士队进入状态时，就像他们在周三比赛后半段所做的那样，他们对对手耐力的考验无人能及。尽管卡斯尔在上半场看起来统治力十足——在进攻端一次又一次地冲击着这位更年长、更矮小的后卫，同时在防守端对他进行疯狂撕咬——但这不过是一场经典库里式爆发的前奏。
首先，勇士队让卡斯尔陷入了犯规麻烦。随后他们便猛扑上来，库里在第三节狂砍46分中的22分，金州勇士队一举将马刺一度高达16分的领先优势化为乌有。
而关键在于：这并非因为卡斯尔打得不好。恰恰相反，他拿下了职业生涯的首次三双，并延续了近期近乎卓越的全能影响力。
不同之处在于，一支经验更丰富的球队中，一位经验更丰富的后卫将比赛提升到了另一个层次，而卡斯尔所在的马刺队还无法与之匹敌。
“这并不是说他们完全甩开了我们，”卡斯尔说，“但他们开始按照自己想要的方式打球，而我们没能阻止这一点。”
这在NBA司空见惯，许多比赛的胜负皆决于此。马刺队在理论上明白这一点。但要想实现他们在本赛季及未来所期望的飞跃，他们就必须亲身经历这一切。
像周三这样的失利会有所帮助。它能在周五晚的某个关键阶段提供借鉴，届时勇士队肯定会再次尝试掌控比赛节奏。它也能在未来的某个时刻派上用场，届时卡斯尔或许能领悟如何像库里对他所做的那样，在面对其他后卫时也能突然爆发，掌控比赛。
他的进步速度已经远超预期。他的三分投射还算不上武器，或许也永远无法接近篮球史上最伟大射手的水平，但卡斯尔比赛中的其他方面都正朝着精英级别迈进。
至于那些毫无根据的担忧，即认为与像德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 这样的控卫并肩作战可能会阻碍他的发展？需要说明的是，三场比赛的样本量或许不足以下任何定论，但只需看看自福克斯上周末回归阵容以来发生了什么：
卡斯尔的场均得分（从18.8分增至19.3分）和篮板（从6.0个增至6.3个）均有稳步提升，而他的助攻失误比（在福克斯缺阵时为6.6比5.0；与福克斯搭档后为11.3比1.7）则迎来了爆发式增长。如此幅度的提升可能难以持续，但与福克斯共享后场能让卡斯尔受益匪浅，这一点是合乎逻辑的。
他不必再勉强传球。他在福克斯和维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 这两大“防守磁铁”之间获得了更多自由操作的空间。而且，场上有了另一位速度超群的后卫，他和马刺队可以抓住更多机会来提升比赛节奏，这正合卡斯尔的技术特点。
他现在还不是一个家喻户晓的名字。但最终，现场播报员的口误应该会越来越少，比如上周在洛杉矶的Crypto.com球馆，他就曾被错叫成“史蒂文（STEVE-on）”。
周三在圣安东尼奥，那个“斯蒂芬（STEPH-en）”的称呼听起来像是一种赞美。
总有一天，“斯蒂芬（Steph-ON）”这个读音，或许也会成为一种赞誉。
Stephen Curry (30) puts up a shot defended by Julian Champagnie (30) and Stephon Castle (5) in the second half as the Golden State Warriors played the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center in San Francisco, on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. The Spurs won 114-111 on a last second 3-point basket by Harrison Barnes (40) and
San Antonio Spurs Stephon Castle #5 of the San Antonio Spurs tries to drive on Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry (30. Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs on Sunday,March 30,2025 at the Frost Bank Center.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) stares down San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) as he brings the ball up court during the first half of their NBA game at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 in San Antonio. The Spurs beat the Warriors 104-94.
点击查看原文：How facing Stephen Curry is helping Spurs’ Castle become his own Steph
How facing Stephen Curry is helping Spurs’ Castle become his own Steph
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) shoots over guard Stephen Curry (30) during the second half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Castle is following up his Rookie of the Year campaign with a strong start to his second season. Thrilling duels against Stephen Curry like Castle had in the Spurs’ loss Wednesday will only aid the younger Steph’s development.
A slip of the tongue. That’s all it was, but the timing of it made a whole arena take notice.
See, at this particular moment on Wednesday night, the reigning NBA rookie of the year was in the process of wearing out the point guard of the century. The young pup had some new tricks, and the old dog looked like he was still under the weather, and then the public-address man at Frost Bank Center announced Stephon Castle was going to the free-throw line.
By calling him “STEPH-en.”
As in Stephen Curry.
And if the next hour or so proved anything? It was that Castle might be on the verge of becoming the league’s next great Steph, but he still has plenty to learn from the old one.
He’ll get another learning opportunity Friday, and these are the kinds of weeks for which the Spurs will be grateful in a few years, if not a few months. Back-to-back games against Curry’s Warriors can make lessons involving poise and execution come to life in a way Mitch Johnson never could do using a whiteboard, and it helps that San Antonio’s young stars are eager pupils.
When asked after a 125-120 loss Wednesday what he enjoys about getting to go back-and-forth with the 37-year-old Curry, the 21-year-old Castle said “you really test your mental (game) when guarding him.”
It’s not just about mental acuity. It’s also about mental endurance.
When they’re on their game, as they were in the latter stages Wednesday, the Warriors test endurance better than anybody. As dominant as Castle looked in the first half — charging past the older, smaller guard over and over again at the offensive end, while hounding the heck out of him at the other — it was the precursor to a vintage Curry outburst.
First, the Warriors put Castle in foul trouble. Then they pounced, with Curry pouring in 22 of his 46 points in the third quarter, while Golden State turned what had been a 16-point Spurs lead into ancient history.
And here’s the important part: this didn’t happen because Castle played poorly. On the contrary, he finished with his first career triple-double, and continued his recent trend of borderline-brilliant all-around impact.
The difference was a more experienced guard on a more experienced team found another level, and Castle’s Spurs just couldn’t quite match it.
“It’s not like they got away from us,” Castle said. “But they started to play how they wanted to play, and we couldn’t allow that.”
This happens in the NBA all the time. It’s how many games are won and lost. The Spurs understand that, conceptually. But to make the leaps they hope to make, this season and beyond, they need to experience it.
A loss like Wednesday’s can help. It can help Friday night, when in some key stretch, the Warriors are sure to make another bid to impose their will. And it can help somewhere else down the line, when Castle might figure out how to flip the switch on some other guard the way Curry flipped it on him.
He’s already way ahead of schedule. The 3-point stroke isn’t a weapon yet, and it probably will never come close to matching that of the best shooter in basketball history, but every other facet of Castle’s game is on track to becoming elite.
As for the unfounded concerns that his progress might somehow be stunted playing alongside a point guard like De’Aaron Fox? With the caveat that three games probably don’t provide a large enough sample to make any grand pronouncements, just look at what’s happened since Fox joined the lineup last weekend:
Castle’s scoring (18.8 points per game to 19.3) and rebounding (6.0 to 6.3) averages have showed moderate gains, while his assist-to-turnover ratio (6.6-to-5.0 without Fox; 11.3-to-1.7 with Fox) has exploded. Improvement of that magnitude might be unsustainable, but it makes sense that sharing a backcourt with Fox can benefit Castle in a major way.
He doesn’t have to force passes anymore. He has more freedom to operate between two defense magnets in Fox and Victor Wembanyama. And with another super-quick guard on the floor, he and the Spurs can seize more chances to push the tempo, which suits Castle’s skill set.
He’s not quite a household name yet. But eventually, there should be fewer slips of the tongue for PA announcers, like when Castle was referred to as “STEVE-on” at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles last week.
In San Antonio on Wednesday, “STEPH-en” sounded like a compliment.
Someday, “Steph-ON” might just sound that way, too.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News