By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-12-09 16:31:27
好了，大伙儿都先深吸一口气。用鼻子吸，用嘴巴呼。
因为老实说……这都打的什么玩意儿？
马刺昨晚从新奥尔良死里逃生，我说的“死里逃生”，就像是你无意中挑起了一场争端，然后从厕所窗户里狼狈地溜之大吉那种。前一秒他们还在轻松巡航，显然是场上更强的那支队伍；下一秒，他们就一头扎进了《乐一通》里那种老式混战的尘雾中，里面拳头、鞋子、音效乱飞，偶尔还冒出一个“POW”的标志。20分的领先优势就这么……烟消云散了，仿佛它有什么急事要赶着去别的地方。
这可不怎么理想。
但值得称赞的是，马刺确实完成了唯一重要的任务——他们没有输掉这场篮球比赛。在战绩表上，“死里逃生”和一场“摧枯拉朽”的大胜并无二致。有时候，成长就体现在当周遭的一切都感觉即将崩塌时，你还能勉力支撑，不至于彻底崩溃。对于这支队伍来说，这仍然是件新鲜事，而且至关重要。这正是打造一支非凡之师过程中，最真实、最磨人的部分。
我一直在思考“前路漫漫”这个概念，以及这条路到底应该有多长。我们是否有一个应该遵循的时间表？马刺是否需要经历一万小时的深度混乱体验，才能具备真正挑战联盟顶级竞争者的所有先决条件？有什么认证课程吗？或是某种成人礼？还是说，当我们看到成果时，自然就会心领神会？
这些问题此刻显得格外响亮，因为最近，关于房间里那头“希腊大象”的讨论又甚嚣尘上。我其实不想在这里过多地深入这个话题，因为说到底，整个情况感觉就像发生在某个平行宇宙里——在那个宇宙里，马刺是那种会为了一个“或许能侥幸成功一次”的念头，就压上球队未来去换取第二个高个子球员的队伍。但他们从未那样运作过，在他们真的这么做之前，我还是会继续过我的日子。
尽管如此，这件事还是很有趣，因为它迫使联盟里的人们开始从资产、商品、棋盘上可移动的棋子等角度来谈论这支球队的阵容。作为一名球迷，这是一种奇怪的感觉。斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Steph Castle) 不再是你在油管上看着画质模糊的集锦长大的那个孩子，而是变成了你可能不得不推上牌桌的筹码。你开始问自己这样的问题：“我能接受卡斯尔穿上雄鹿队球衣，来换取字母哥披上马刺队战袍吗？”而诚实的答案大概是……我想我能接受。这只是体育而已。我能挺过去。但我并不完全确定自己是否想要那样。
因为它并不仅仅是体育，对吧？卡斯尔是我们的人。他是一名马刺球员，如果他要赢得荣誉，那他最好是穿着银黑战袍去赢。这种感觉，比我们能想象出的任何其他事情都要美妙。哪种情景听起来更酷：是看着字母哥和文班联手痛击鹈鹕，最终以30分优势取胜？还是看着迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 在关键时刻逐渐站稳脚跟，并在本不该如此焦灼的比赛中命中一记制胜球？前者听起来不错，很安逸。但是，老兄，我们昨晚看到的场面，那才叫过瘾。那感觉是拼来的，是真实的。那感觉就像是我们亲手建造起来的东西。我喜欢这种感觉。这才是我周一晚上想看到的。
我也知道我的话有点自相矛盾，因为你知道还有什么也很酷吗？德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在关键时刻冷静地命中中距离跳投。曾几何-时，他在萨克拉门托也曾是斯蒂芬·卡斯尔和迪伦·哈珀那样的年轻人，而现在我们得以享用他耕耘的果实，老实说，这果实相当甜美。对于这些果实，我当然不会有任何抱怨。
所以，我到底在说什么？我也不太清楚！
也许我想说的是，我喜欢现在这支球队，连同它的所有缺点。我想看着他们继续摸索前行。我想看到文班重新融入球队。我想见证他们成长为某种了不起的存在。
昨晚的比赛向我证实，我们离理想的目标还差得很远，但同时，我也依然愿意搭上这趟旅程。
几点观察
- 如果这话你听过了，随时可以打断我——但迪伦·哈珀的持球冲击力简直教科书一般。太疯狂了。他打球的方式，真的就像是从山上俯冲下来一样。更疯狂的是，这并不让人觉得失控。他不是那种随心所欲、到处乱转乱撞的球员，他只是在坚定地前进，朝着篮筐移动，并干净利落地完成终结。这是一项如此令人印象深刻的技巧，以至于你很难注意到他做好的所有其他事情。我就是迫不及待地想看到球再次回到他手中，看看他会如何处理。
- 我想我之前确实没看懂球队对朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 的规划，但请原谅我，我现在懂了。我完全上船了。他总能在你需要他的时候挺身而出。想象一下，一个轮换阵容里的侧翼球员，能稳定命中三分，能拼抢篮板，还能提供可靠的防守。我……我的意思是，他就是那个能指望上的球员。我以前不认为他能做到，但他做到了。现在每次他拔起跳投，如果球没进，我反而会感到惊讶。
- 福克斯、卡斯尔和哈珀全部回归阵容，这超级有趣，也超级酷。场面……看起来还行。看起来不错。但也仅仅是看起来还行。我觉得这没问题。我不知道。这可能需要一些时间来调试磨合，搞清楚如何让这些球员完美融合，让他们的技术特点能相得益彰，而不仅仅是让我们在面对不同球队时，根据谁手感热就打谁的战术。那种方式也很有趣。但我只是觉得，当我们让这支乐队真正合奏起来时，我们才会开始听到真正的音乐，你懂吗？
- 我选择不去过度解读第三节疲软的问题。部分原因是我对此也无解。同学们，当我们遇到一个我们无法解决的问题时，我们该怎么做？跟我一起说。一、二、三……我们。忽略。它。没错。大家做得很好。
WWL 赛后新闻发布会
– 我不确定你是不是一个好老师。
– 什么？为什么？谁说的？
– 当我们遇到无法解决的问题时该怎么办？忽略它？这建议太糟糕了！
– 从什么时候开始的？忽略事情很棒啊。你知道吗？有63%的情况，当你忽略某件事时，它会自己消失或自行解决。
– 就算我姑且相信你这个数据，那如果它没有自行消失呢？还有37%的情况你仍然会面临一个问题，对吧？
– 当然，但话说回来，你一开始就有那个问题，所以这又有什么新鲜的呢？而且，你现在排除了“忽略”不是解决方案这个选项。你排除掉了一个变量。这是科学。
– 所以在你的课堂上，忽略事情是科学方法的一个关键部分？
– 老兄，这绝对是至关重要的。
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。
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
Alright, let’s all take a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
Because honestly… what even was that?
The Spurs escaped New Orleans last night, and I mean escaped in the “shimmying out the bathroom window away from a fight you accidentally started” sense. One second they are cruising, clearly the better team, and the next they’ve stumbled into one of those old Looney Tunes dust-cloud brawls with fists, shoes, sound effects, and the occasional “POW” sign poking out. A 20 point lead just… evaporated, like it had somewhere better to be.
It was not ideal.
But to their credit, the Spurs did accomplish the one task that matters. They didn’t lose the basketball game. Escaping looks the same in the standings as a blowout, and sometimes growth looks like simply not combusting when everything around you feels like it is collapsing. That’s still a new thing for this squad and it’s important. This is the real nitty-gritty part of assembling something special.
I keep thinking about this idea of “the road” and how long it’s supposed to be. Is there a timeline we’re meant to be following? Do the Spurs need to log 10,000 hours of deeply chaotic experiences before they acquire all the prerequisites for actually challenging the contenders in this league? Is there a certification course? A rite of passage? Will we just know it when we see it?
Those questions feel loud right now because of the renewed discourse around a certain large Greek elephant in the room. I don’t really want to wade too far into it here because, at the end of the day, that entire situation feels like it’s happening in some parallel universe where the Spurs are the type of franchise that mortgages its future on the concept of acquiring a second tall man in the hopes of getting lucky one time. They’ve never operated that way, and until they do, I am going to continue to go on about my business.
It’s interesting nonetheless because it forces people around the league to talk about this roster in terms of assets. Commodities. Pieces to be moved around a board. That’s a strange feeling as a fan. Steph Castle stops being the kid you once watched in grainy YouTube compilations and becomes a chip you might have to push forward. You start asking yourself questions like “can I live with the idea of Castle in a Bucks jersey if it means Giannis in a Spurs one,” and the honest answer is something like… I guess I could. It’s just sports. I would survive. But I am not totally sure I would want to.
Because it is not just sports, right? Castle is our guy. He is a Spur, and if he wins he damn well better be doing it in silver and black. That would feel better than almost anything else we could possibly dream up. What sounds cooler: watching Giannis and Wemby tag-team the Pelicans on their way to a win by 30, or watching Dylan Harper figure out his sea legs in crunch time and hit a game winner in a contest that shouldn’t have been this close to begin with? The tag team sounds nice. It sounds comfy. But, man, what we watched last night was satisfying. It felt earned. It felt real. It felt like something we built with our own hands. I like that. That is what I want out of a Monday night.
I also know I am talking a little out of both sides of my mouth, because you know what else was cool? De’Aaron Fox calmly knocking down mid-range jumpers in the clutch. Once upon a time, he was Steph Castle and Dylan Harper up in Sacramento, and now we get to enjoy the fruits of that labor and, honestly, those fruits are pretty great. I’m certainly not complaining about the fruits.
So what am I saying? I don’t know exactly!
Maybe I’m saying that I like this team right now, warts and all. I want to see them keep figuring it out. I want to see Wemby slide back into the mix. I want to see them grow into something.
Last night the Spurs confirmed for me that we’re nowhere near where we want to be yet, but also that the ride is still one I want to be on.
Takeaways
- Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Dylan Harper gets downhill like you read about. It’s insane. He genuinely plays the game of basketball like he’s sprinting down a mountain. What’s even more insane is that it doesn’t really feel like it’s out of control. He’s not spinning around and bouncing off things all willy-nilly, he’s just on the march. Moving toward the basket. Finishing cleanly. It’s such an impressive bit of skill that it’s hard to even notice all the other things he’s doing well. I just can’t wait for the ball to get back in his hands so we can see what he does with it.
- I guess I just didn’t see the vision for Julian Champagnie, but please, forgive me, I get it now. I’m on board. He’s simply there when you need him. Imagine that. A rotation wing consistently hitting from three, grabbing boards, and playing reliable defense. I just…I mean, he’s that guy. I didn’t think he would be, but he is. Every time he pulls up to shoot, I’m almost shocked it doesn’t go in.
- It was super fun and cool to have Fox, Castle, and Harper all back in the lineup. It…looked okay. It looked good. It just also looked okay. Which is fine, I think. I don’t know. It’s probably going to take some time turning knobs and figuring out exactly how to mesh these guys so that the skill sets bring out the best in each other instead of just feeling like we have multiple looks to throw at teams depending on who’s hot. That’s fun too. I just think when we get this band playing together is when we’re really going to start hearing some music, you know?
- Choosing not to read too much into third quarters being a problem. Part of that is because I don’t have a good answer for it. Class, what do we do when there’s a problem we can’t figure out? Say it with me. One, two, three…WE. IGNORE. IT. That’s right. Very good, everyone.
WWL Post Game Press Conference
– Not sure that you make a very good teacher.
– What? Why? Says who?
– What do we do when we have a problem we can’t solve? We ignore it? That’s terrible advice!
– Since when? Ignoring stuff is great. Did you know that 63 percent of the time when you ignore something it will just go away or resolve itself on its own?
– Taking that stat at face value, what happens when it doesn’t go away on its own? Thiry-seven percent of the time you’re still going to have a problem, right?
– Sure, but then again, you had that problem to begin with, so what else is new? Plus, now you’ve ruled out that ignoring it is not the solution. You’ve ruled out a variable. It’s science.
– So ignoring things is a key part of the scientific method in your class room?
– My brother, it’s absolutely crucial.
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock