Spurs Insider Podcast, 2025-12-24 06:20:00
专栏作家迈克·芬格与随队记者杰夫·麦克唐纳讨论维克托·文班亚马的第六人功绩、杰里米·索汉逐渐淡出的角色，以及马刺在假日周两度迎战俄克拉荷马城前的强势表现。
推荐阅读：
以下是该播客的文字实录：
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：[音乐淡入] 来自遍布南得克萨斯州的高度机密网络，这里是《马刺内幕》假日特别版。我是迈克·芬格，与我同在的是《圣安东尼奥快报》马刺随队记者杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald)。
如果说还有什么最后一刻的圣诞奇迹，那就是汤姆·奥斯本 (Tom Orsborn) 能在这期播客结束前赶到。不过杰夫，我估计他得指望空中交通管制员和圣诞周的航空旅行了，恐怕我们得硬着头皮继续，不等他了。他本该昨天就到这儿的，但为了完成艰苦的工作不得不在客场多待一晚，然后航班又被改到了早上。关于马刺有太多话题要聊。杰夫，没有汤姆我们能搞定吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：不行，我们现在就结束，明天再来吧。怎么样？
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我知道听众们很看重汤姆的专业知识和职业精神。杰夫和我可能无法弥补后者（职业精神）的缺失，但或许我们能，我们能在前者（专业知识）方面接近一下，哦不，可能也接近不了。
嗯，圣安东尼奥马刺队，这支本地的篮球队，本该在很久以前就崩盘了。根据杰夫·麦克唐纳在本播客上的专业判断，他们本不该打进杯赛决赛、半决赛或四分之一决赛的。但他们做到了。然后，你知道，在拉斯维加斯的六天，击败俄克拉荷马城雷霆后情感耗尽，又输给了纽约尼克斯。呃，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在缺席一个月后回归，当然还有那13场客场比赛，四个月里辗转12个不同城市打了13场球。然而，他们至今仍未显露疲态。你对此感到惊讶吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：我不想让这期节目变成“马刺球迷吹捧大会”，其他马刺播客会干这个，但你很难不对他们在这整个阶段的表现印象深刻。现在他们即将迎来……嗯，我想我们可以透露一下，我们录制这期节目的时间是周二早上，在冰霜银行中心与雷霆的重赛之前。但在那场比赛前，他们已经取得了六连胜。这是他们自新冠疫情爆发前以来最长的连胜纪录。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：嗯，那个……
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：好吧……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：根据排名来看。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：没错。常规赛六连胜。这是他们自新冠疫情前以来最长的连胜。而且在这六场比赛里，他们每场都有不同的得分王，这对我来说有点不可思议。我的意思是，这凸显了他们如何能够安然度过这段赛程密集的时期，这段时间他们舟车劳顿，不断有球员受伤，然后又从伤病中回归，而且……就像德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 经常说的那样，这是因为他们有一个团队。他们有一个完整的团队。他们有不同的人，可以在任何一个晚上挺身而出。我认为过去这四周左右最令人振奋的事情是，你知道，他们在没有文班的情况下取得了9胜3负的战绩。然后有些比赛，你知道，他们赢了，而且赢得相当轻松，他们不需要文班亚马得50分，你知道，他可以，他可以，你知道，得到18分，抢些篮板，在防守端影响比赛的方方面面，然后他们就没事了。就像他们不需要他一直成为世界级的得分机器才能赢下其中一些比赛。所以我认为，这恰恰说明了他们拥有的深度，他们有不同的球员，可以在赛季的不同阶段，甚至在单场比赛的不同时段带领球队前进。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：通常情况下，当球队像马刺近年来这样通过乐透区高顺位选秀进行重建时，嗯，特别是过去三年，从维克托·文班亚马到斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 再到迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)，这种方式需要一段时间才能看到回报，通常是因为，好吧，即使你拥有顶尖的天赋和年轻才俊，围绕他们构建阵容也需要时间。你几乎从未见过像马刺这样夸耀自己深度的球队。老实说，赛季开始前，即使我们知道所有这些名字，朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie)、凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson)、德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell)、卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)、哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 等等，我也没有预见到马刺的深度会成为如此巨大的优势，会带来如此压倒性的积极影响，如果这么说你能明白的话。就像，大多数晚上，马刺的阵容深度都比对手强。对于像我们听众这样关注马刺的人来说，这算不上什么深刻的分析，但这确实是……我认为，关于这支球队的建队方式，有一点值得注意，那就是，即使他们连续六年无缘季后赛，阵容深度却已经具备了，而且这不只是凑人头，而是有质量的深度。就像杰夫提到的，六个不同的夜晚有六位不同的得分王。我不确定有多少球队能做到这一点。而且，在一个无论你是谁都必须给明星球员支付大笔薪水的联盟里，在一个优秀球队里明星球员会占据薪金空间很大一部分比例的联盟里，要建立起这样的深度是很困难的。俄克拉荷马城是这方面的黄金标准，在建立阵容深度方面，俄克拉荷马城遥遥领先于其他所有球队，包括马刺。我的意思是，除了SGA (谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大)、杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams) 和切特 (霍姆格伦)，正是深度让他们去年在争夺NBA总冠军的道路上如此具有统治力。但马刺，马刺在这方面做得真的很好。
而且，能够顶住他们所经历的一切，他们排名前四的球员都缺席过，大概每次九场比赛，也就是几周的时间，还能在第二次对阵俄克拉荷马城之前达到21胜7负、75%的胜率。嗯，我，我真没想到。我们今年有很多事情都没预料到。这是我没预料到的其中一部分。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：你知道，现在还早，你可能会说现在下结论还为时过早，但看起来布莱恩·莱特 (Brian Wright) 和他的管理层团队自选中维克托·文班亚马以来的每一步操作，到目前为止都是A+级别的。我的意思是，我们可以，我知道曾有一段时间你可以对文班之前的选秀权提出质疑。卢卡·沙马尼奇 (Luka Šamanić)、约书亚·普里莫 (Josh Primo)，我的意思是，文班之前的那次，2022年的选秀看起来就像一场灾难。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我们可能稍后会谈到那个，但你继续说。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：马拉基·布兰纳姆 (Malaki Branham)，呃，和布雷克·韦斯利 (Blake Wesley) 已经不在队里了。杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 还没有获得续约，而且现在甚至不在轮换阵容中。但从得到文班的那一刻起，他们所做的一切都点石成金了。我的意思是，你从得到哈里森·巴恩斯开始，不仅是白白得到，而是得到了哈里森·巴恩斯，还有一个选秀权互换，几乎是零成本。还有，呃，德阿龙·福克斯的那笔交易，然后是选秀权。我的意思是，很明显，当你在前五顺位选秀时，这比在乐透区末尾或选秀中段要容易得多。但他们选中了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔，也选中了迪伦·哈珀。你可以说当时那些选择可能是理所当然的，但那两个选秀权……简直是巨大的成功，当你解释他们如何取得21胜7负的战绩时，这两笔选择至关重要。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我还要补充一点，马刺在选中斯蒂芬·卡斯尔那年还有另一个首轮签，当时人们对他们没有使用那个签位议论纷纷。而使用了那个签位的球队，我不确定……罗伯特·迪林厄姆 (Rob Dillingham) 的职业生涯还很长，他是个年轻人。但我不确定那是不是……马刺现在会后悔的事。他并没有让马刺觉得，“哦，我们当初应该留下那家伙。”顺便说一下，他们本来也没打算选他，他们是为森林狼选的。但这是另一个现在看来相当不错的操作。而且，嗯，既然你提到了，我想现在是个好时机。一直有人在问。有趣的是，在过去三年这个播客的历史中，我们从人们问为什么马刺如此倚重杰里米·索汉，变成了问为什么马刺不再用杰里米·索汉了。嗯，对我来说，我的答案是，去看比赛就行了。我认为看比赛能提供比杰夫或我在这里能给出的更深刻的见解。就是，他，他，我，我不想说得太出格，但，马刺并不需要他，而他在场上的表现也没有改变球队的想法。他并没有被彻底雪藏。他，他现在，我会说在深度阵容里排在第10或第11位，而很多个晚上马刺只用9人轮换。有时马刺用10人轮换，他们会派上凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk)。有时他们用10人轮换，他们会派上杰里米·索汉，他表现不算糟糕，但也没有真正地迫使球队做出改变。我认为只要你看比赛，看他打球的方式，看米奇（约翰逊，马刺助教）使用他的方式，结局已经不言而喻了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：是的，这又回到了我们之前谈到的深度问题。他们现在能用的人太多了，而他显然，显然是那个掉出轮换阵容的人。我的意思是，他，我正在想该怎么说。他，嗯，他得到的机遇也不是最好的。我不想把责任全推到任何一方，但是，你知道，他们一直没能为他找到一个合适的角色。当他们似乎找到了……我的意思是，对我来说，他就是那种替补席上的活力防守者。但他大部分时间不得不担任替补中锋，因为文班在过去两个赛季的大部分时间里都缺阵。我们都知道几年前那次命运多舛的控卫实验。他似乎从未真正长久地找到自己的定位。而且感觉球队的构建，嗯，有点没把他考虑在内，你知道吗？他，他就是不，没有一个明显的契合点。对于他如何融入球队现在的体系和他们现在的需求，没有一个明显的契合点。当然，也许未来会有伤病出现，肯定会的。他会有机会改变人们的看法，但他也是那种球员，我的意思是，在他现在这种情况下，也很难改变任何人的看法，当你每隔一晚上场一次。有些晚上你只上场四分钟。这要求太高了。这要求太高了。我不是，我的意思不是说这都是马刺亏待了他。我不是那个意思。我只是说，他们没有理由，就像你刚才说的。他们现在没有理由非要用他，而当他们用他的时候，他也没有给他们一个非用不可的理由。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：他今年作为第10或第11人挺好的，他们很高兴有他在队里，当有人受伤时——而且确实会有人受伤——杰里米·索汉会有更多的上场时间。你可以把他作为第10或第11人派上场，得到一些活力，一些防守，而且他不会拖后腿。但是，当你说他没在这支球队找到角色时，这只是，现在是2025年了，老兄。没有多少球队会把像他这样特点的球员视为建队基石或不可或缺的一员。就像，他的跳投今年有所进步，但仍然，没人，防守者不必非得尊重他的投篮。而且，你看看排在他前面的那九名球员，他们每个人都能提供一些你不会想摁在板凳上的东西。所以，我的意思是，球队通常用九人轮换。有时他们用十人，但这正是轮换的运作方式。我不认为是杰里米的错。我也不认为是马刺的错。只是在现代篮球中，很难为一个有那种特点的球员找到上场时间。这是否意味着当初选他是个巨大的错误？作为一个在那年选秀周在这个播客上说“如果我是马刺，我就选杰里米·索汉”的人，我不能回头去批评他们选了他，因为我看到了马刺所看到的。你知道，你会对一个拥有他那种天赋的球员充满幻想，呃，你觉得你可以修正他的投篮，也许他会成为一个不负前十顺位选秀名号的球员。毕竟，这支球队可是选中了科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard)，并看着他成为联盟最高效的得分手之一、最全面的进攻球员之一、最好的攻防一体球员之一。所以，你，你觉得球员们会实现飞跃。他只是还没有实现那个飞跃。你说得对，从控卫实验到中锋实验，他得到的机遇并不完美，但对于那些，这只是为了回答那些在问他到底怎么了的人，这并不是米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 给出一个答案就能解释清楚的。事情就是这样。而且，呃，这个故事就是这样。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：在我看来，他像是一个可能会从换个环境中受益的球员，嗯，无论你是否能找到方法在交易截止日前交易他并换回一些东西，我对此有些怀疑，或者你干脆让他在这个休赛期通过自由市场找到一个，你知道，他能扮演更明确、更重要角色的地方。对我来说，感觉就像，我想我们可能快到那个点了。再说一次，这对任何一方都没有恶意，但总得有人成为那个被淘汰的人，而他需要去一个能打上球的地方。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：这不是什么内部消息，只是看看马刺的薪资状况，以及，嗯，如果他们真的想引进一名老将类型的球员，谁有可能在交易截止日被交易。就像，那种交易，是马刺近年来所做交易的反向操作。交易一个年轻球员，他有一些潜力，另一支球队可以对他抱有幻想，而且他的薪水大概是700万美元。对我来说，如果马刺要做交易——而且我不认为他们会，他们通常不在交易截止日做交易——但可能会是一笔这样的交易，你试着看看，如果，如果有一个老将射手能给你提供一些马刺所缺乏的东西，那就是三分投射能力。嗯，也许，也许另一支已经退出竞争的球队会觉得他们能“修复”杰里米。而且，你知道，目前阵容中最具交易价值的筹码是杰里米和，呃，凯利·奥利尼克。我不知道这与潜在的交易伙伴如何匹配，但我能预见到这种情况。然后我也能预见到，如果他留下来，在受限制自由市场中任何事都可能发生。有人给他开出报价，而马刺不匹配。或者，如果没有人追逐他，马刺以一份廉价合同把他签回来。就像，杰里米·索汉的故事结局仍然有各种各样的可能性。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：是的。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：但就目前而言，就像，当人们问他为什么不上场时，我的回答是，那谁不该上场呢？有九个人是绝对应该上场的。而，那之后就没多少位置了。
不管怎样，呃，维克托·文班亚马已经回归，并继续替补出场。我们是在周二早上录制这期节目。我想，杰夫，嗯，根据我们听到的消息，他今晚对阵雷霆的比赛，缺席的可能性大于零，因为，呃，一些，各种原因，我们就不深入讨论了。但是，嗯，作为一个第六人，我认为，马刺对他们过去几周从他们的第六人那里得到的产出相当满意。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：他肯定让自己进入了年度最佳第六人的讨论范围。他会出现在我的，我的，呃，我的选票上。嗯，我还想说，你说他今晚对阵雷霆缺席的可能性大于0%。我认为如果可能的话，他在圣诞大战对阵雷霆时上场的可能性大于100%。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：绝对的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：只是把这点说清楚，以免人们恐慌。但是，是的，嗯，我不知道他什么时候会回到首发阵容。就像，你显然在某个时候必须这么做。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：是的。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：嗯，但这效果很好，只是为了管理他的上场时间，让他以爆发性的方式打球，而且，嗯，他可以，他可以，我正在想怎么说，当他的出场时间更短时，他可以把更多的精力投入到场上的每一分钟。而且，嗯，这对他的消耗更少。就像，当你，你知道，当你打30、35分钟时，比赛中总有些时候你会感到疲惫，但他完全不需要感到疲惫。而且，你知道，显然，他最终必须成为首发球员。你不会让文班永远打替补。嗯，但现在能有这样的产出来自替补席是很不错的。这又回到了我们之前谈到的话题。即使维克托·文班亚马不在场，即使他不在场上，他们也是一支优秀的球队。他们不是最好的状态，他们不是最好的。没有维克托·文班亚马，他们不是总冠军争夺者，也不是西部第二好的球队，但他们已经展示了即使在文班缺席或在板凳上时也能打出高水平篮球的能力。这就是为什么你可以把这种情况再拖延一段时间。嗯，你不需要感到，我不知道，有压力要，嗯，让他立刻回来，全速运转，承担全部工作量。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：他，他就是那种会向你坚称，无论何时何地，他都在尽全力打球的人。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：对。是的。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：嗯，我和他聊过一点。当时我在亚特兰大，他说，他从不认为自己是在慢慢地恢复状态。他说，如果，他的理念是，如果他不能付出100%的努力，那他就不应该上场，而且他一直都是这么做的。但你我还有听众们都看过他职业生涯中的比赛，他是个大个子，在第30分钟，甚至不到30分钟，当他打30多分钟时，总有那么些时段，可以理解地，这家伙看起来累了。这家伙看起来，他只是在场上来回跑动，你知道，他看起来有点喘。而且，嗯，每个NBA球员都会遇到这种情况，这显然是比赛的一部分。但当你只打21分钟时，我注意到的一件事是，这种情况几乎从未发生。你每晚得到的是20、21分钟巅峰状态的维克托·文班亚马。那你是否更愿意每晚拥有94.6%状态的维克托·文班亚马打35分钟？当然。但正如你所提到的，每晚21分钟也有一些好处。就像，他在攻防两端的效率简直是爆表的。而且，呃，最终他的上场时间会增加，这对马刺来说是好事。但我们现在看到的第六人维克托·文班亚马，在进攻和防守上都绝对是改变比赛的存在，看着很酷。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：而且他将会有，你知道，除非发生其他情况，他将会有足够的出场次数来角逐年度最佳防守球员，我想。我，而且我认为……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：是的，我不知道我们上周有没有谈到这个，但是，嗯，关于那个规则，就是65场比赛和每场20分钟的规则，有一个，有一个类似附加条款的东西，呃，你必须打65场比赛才能有资格获得所有这些季后赛奖项。你必须打满20分钟才能算作那65场比赛中的一场。但如果你需要，你最多可以使用两场在15到19分钟之间的比赛。文班就用了一场，我相信是在主场对阵华盛顿的比赛。是吗？是上周的一场比赛，他最终出场时间少于20分钟但多于15分钟。那场比赛会计算在内。还有他在杯赛决赛对阵尼克斯时多打的那一场，也算。所以他从，呃，通常在一个82场比赛的赛季里，要达到65场，你可以缺席17场。那么，文班现在可以缺席18场，因为总场次是83场。呃，我相信他仍然，他仍然有大约六到七场的缓冲空间，取决于，呃，周二晚上的情况，他，他，他很可能会再缺席一场，但他仍然有一些缓冲。而且，我，我知道他会非常努力地去争取。而且，除了年度最佳防守球员，一些最佳阵容，MVP看起来有点遥远，但如果他继续表现得像天外来客，并且马刺继续保持75%的胜率，那也不是没有可能。当然，他会在那里的竞争者之列。嗯，但是，是的，我，你知道，缺席了他所缺席的时间，然后以他现在的方式回归，我不会说这很令人惊讶，因为你总是期待文班能做出非凡的事情，但这确实令人印象深刻，马刺对他所展现的一切感到非常鼓舞。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：我不敢百分百肯定，但我敢打赌，在他们那470名员工中，至少有一个人，他的工作，他唯一的工作可能就是，确保米奇（约翰逊）每晚让文班打满20分钟。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：是的。就像，追踪上场时间，如果他需要再上场一两分钟，呃，确保米奇知道。我向你保证，有个人就是干这个的。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：嗯，我向你保证，文班的团队里有人会让他们意识到这一点，马刺队里也有很多人意识到这一点。而在那400，你说了多少来着，400多个？
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：呃，72个。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：472个。其中471个，呃，赛后都在那张桌子旁给他按摩，当你走过的时候。好了。你看到所有那些手都在那里忙活。那，那真是，那真是一个值得一看的场面，老兄。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：这需要很多人。真的，毫不夸张地说，需要六名工作人员。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：养育一个孩子需要一个村庄的力量。给文班做赛后理疗需要两个村庄。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：你走过那里，会看到，每条腿上各有三名，三名按摩治疗师。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我，我不是，我甚至不是在编造。那是……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：是的，你是在编造。不，你是在编造。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：不，不是。我甚至觉得我有一次还写过这个。当我走过那里时，每条腿上都有三个人，三个人在按摩。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：那是个夸张的说法。别让别人把这个当新闻报道了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：我向你保证，这不是。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：这是夸张手法。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：在马刺的理疗团队、身体……呃，该怎么称呼？那个，那个，健康保障，所有这些……训练团队里，有很多工作人员，非常出色。但没有六个人同时工作。人是很多，但我不认为有六个人同时在两条腿上工作。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：我亲眼所见。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：你，你，你意识到公信力是，呃，是我们最重要的资产之一吗？而且，呃，一旦你开始失去公信力，老兄，事情就会走下坡路。你知道，我不管谁曾在这里工作过。我们，我们，我们必须不辜负我们的，你知道，巴克·哈维 (Buck Harvey)、迈克·门罗 (Mike Monroe)、汤姆·奥斯本。他们都建立了这种公信力，而你就要，你就要用夸张手法把它扔出窗外，你知道吗。这就像扔掉了沃尔特·克朗凯特 (Walter Cronkite) 或其他什么人的遗产一样。克朗凯特什么的。好吧，你怎么说？
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：嗯？你听清了吗？
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：克朗凯特。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：好吧，你知道，再说一次，我，我正在毁掉我们，呃，我们这家优秀刊物的声誉，我，我需要注意不要这样做。我们需要不辜负我们的前辈等等。我们，我们不需要让人们，呃，把每条腿三个训练师这种事当真。这太夸张了。嗯……我不知道该怎么接下去了，除了说，呃，你想，你想谈谈接下来和雷霆的比赛吗。接下来有很多场和雷霆的比赛。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：很多场雷霆的比赛。是的，我们还有五分钟。你想谈什么？我只是觉得，这将是又一次……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：你跟我说你必须准时结束，所以你来主导这接下来的五分钟。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：哦，好吧。那就再见了。嗯，是的，他们要连续打两次雷霆，对吧？嗯，今晚，我想这可能发生在很多人听到这个播客之前或之后，然后是圣诞节。他们在一月中旬还有一场。所以，算上杯赛，最终会是……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：第五场是在二月初，我相信。很快要打五次。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：而且雷霆会打起精神的，雷霆会对接下来的这两场比赛打起精神的。呃，马刺可能在拉斯维加斯有点打了他们一个措手不及，有点让他们，让他们轻视了这支，呃，卑微的，呃，连续六年没进季后赛的马刺。我认为马刺对接下来的两场比赛会打起精神。我认为，对不起，是雷霆会对接下来的两场比赛打起精神。马刺也会的。呃，文班在圣诞节早上的那场比赛会非常兴奋。但是，嗯，看看雷霆如何应对，应该会很有趣。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：要赢他们会很难。我的意思是，我知道这不是什么深刻的分析，但你知道我对雷霆的看法。他们强得要命，很难被击败。马刺能赢他们一次已经做得很好了。如果他们能在这段赛程中再赢一次，你得向他们脱帽致敬。但我，我仍然觉得，要击败那些家伙还是很难。尽管马刺很强，嗯，要击败那支球队，以他们的打法，仍然非常困难。嗯，
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：自从输给马刺后，他们还没再输过。他们并不像我们想的那么完美。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：他们输过。嗯，有趣的是，马刺在文班加盟后每年至少能赢他们一次。每年赢一次。所以这是可能的，通常是在主场。所以我们拭目以待。嗯……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：雷霆在接下来的两场比赛中，嗯，我会说有一点优势。假设维克托·文班亚马周二不上场。当人们听到这个时，这可能被证明是完全错误的。但这显然是一个优势。然后你在圣诞节主场作战，面对俄克拉荷马城市中心肯定会非常喧闹的观众。那，那对马刺来说又是一场硬仗。嗯，我认为，呃，我认为要赢下接下来两场中的一场会很艰难。但我认为在接下来的四场中，如果马刺能赢下其中两场，我不会感到惊讶。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：是吗……超过一场？
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：是吗……是吗……
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：超过一场？
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：你知道。我，我认为马刺能赢一场。如果你能，如果你能赢两场，我会说，如果你赢了两场，你就遥遥领先了。因为那样赛季交手就是三比二了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：是的，如果你，呃……
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：赢一场已经很不错了。我认为马刺会赢一场。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：如果你把剩余比赛的胜场数盘口设在1.5场，我会买小。或者说剩下的，他们剩下的四场比赛，我会买小。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我可能也会，但赢两场是一个，是一个压倒性的，呃，积极的事情。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：哦是的。是的。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：那将会是，能拿下接下来四场中的两场，赛季五场中赢三场，那将是一个成功。所以，我们看看他们能做到什么。这周能赢一场就……你，你会说这两场中有哪场是必输的吗？这个说法目前看来对这支本地篮球队效果不错。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：我想我可能不做这行了，因为他们显然能赢。我只是……如果我说了然后他们输了，那我的连胜纪录就毁了，我不想那样。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：好吧。你必须准时结束。你给你家小麦克唐纳们的圣诞礼物买好了吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：哦，嗯，我一直以为那是圣诞老人做的事。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我明白了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：所以我，我，你知道，什么都没做。我以为，我以为一个留着胡子的快乐胖男人会替我做的。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：小麦克唐纳们今年是淘气还是乖巧？
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：哦天哪。那，那是另一个故事了。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：好吧。祝你假期愉快。
杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) ：他们只会让，他们只会让西弗吉尼亚的煤炭产业继续运营下去。我会给他们买些煤块。
迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) ：我打赌，小麦克唐纳们比老麦克唐纳认为的要乖得多。我也打赌所有听众也是。希望你们在接下来的几天里，无论你们如何庆祝或庆祝什么，都能得到西弗吉尼亚煤块以外的东西。下次再见之前，请互相照顾，保持真实。[音乐淡入]
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：With Thunder looming, Spurs flexing depth
With Thunder looming, Spurs flexing depth
Columnist Mike Finger and beat writer Jeff McDonald discuss Victor Wembanyama’s sixth-man exploits, Jeremy Sochan’s fading role, and the Spurs’ surge heading into two holiday week showdowns with Oklahoma City.
Suggested reading:
Spurs determined to protect Victor Wembanyama during 'long, grueling’ season
How Victor Wembanyama makes the simple look absurd
How Dylan Harper is getting a head start on his playoff education
Here is the transcript of the podcast:
Mike Finger: [music fades in] From a highly secure network of top secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider Holiday Edition. I am Mike Finger, joined by San Antonio Express News Spurs beat writer Jeff McDonald.
If there’s a last-minute Christmas miracle, it will be that Tom Orsborn makes it before the end of this podcast, but he’s depending, Jeff, I think on air traffic controllers and the, and air travel the week of of Christmas, and I think we might have to soldier on without him. He was supposed to be here yesterday, had to stay an extra night on the road putting in the hard work, and then got his flight moved to the morning. So much to talk about with the Spurs. Can we do it without Tom, Jeff?
Jeff McDonald: No, let’s sign off now and come back tomorrow. How about that?
Mike Finger: I know the listeners value Tom’s expertise, his professionalism. Jeff and I probably will not be able to make up for what’s lacking in the latter, but maybe we can, we can approach it in, in the, probably not the former either.
Um, the, the San Antonio Spurs, the local cagers were supposed to, uh, were supposed to fall apart a long time ago. They were, they weren’t supposed to make the cup finals or semi-finals or quarterfinals according to the expertise of Jeff McDonald on this podcast. They made it that far. And then all, you know, six days in Vegas, um, emotionally spent after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder, falling to the New York Knicks. Uh, you know, the, the, Victor Wembanyama coming back from his month-long absence, surely 13 different road games, 13 games in 12 different cities over the course of four months. And, uh, they still haven’t hit the wall yet. Are you surprised by that?
Jeff McDonald: I don’t want this to be the, uh, the Homer Spurs podcast, like there’s other Spurs podcasts for that, but it’s hard not to be impressed with what they’ve done through this entire stretch. And now they enter, um, I guess we can, we can reveal that we are recording this on, um, Tuesday morning before the rematch with the Thunder, um, at the Frost Bank Center. But heading into that game, they’ve won six in a row. It’s their longest winning streak since before COVID.
Mike Finger: Well, that…
Jeff McDonald: Well…
Mike Finger: according to the standings.
Jeff McDonald: Correct. Six regular season games in a row. It’s their longest winning streak, uh, since before COVID. And in each of those games, they had a different leading scorer, which is kind of amazing to me. I mean, to me that underscores how they’ve been able to, to weather this period of the schedule where they’ve been, it’s been travel heavy and they’ve, they’ve been guys injured and then coming back from injury and, and, um, it’s, it’s, as De’Aaron Fox says a lot of times, it’s because they have a team. They have a whole team. They have, they have guys that can, uh, different guys that can step up on, uh, any night. And I think the thing that’s been the most heartening about this last four weeks or whatever, you know, they go nine and three without Victor. Uh, and then they have games where, you know, they win and win pretty handily and they don’t need Victor to score 50, you know, he can, he can, you know, get 18, grab some rebounds, um, affect everything defensively and and they’re fine. Like they don’t need him to be, um, the scoring stud of the world all the time to win some of these games. And so I think, um, that points just to the depth that they have, the different players they have that can carry you through different portions of the season and even different portions of, uh, individual games.
Mike Finger: Often times when teams rebuild through the top of the lottery as the Spurs have in recent years, um, just the last three years in particular from Victor Wembanyama to Stefan Castle to Dylan Harper, the reason that takes a while to produce dividends generally is because, okay, even though you have talent and young talent at the top, it takes a while to build out around that. And you almost never see teams like that brag about their depth the way the Spurs have. And I’ll be honest, coming into the season, even though we knew all the names, Julian Champagnie, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Luke Kornet, Harrison Barnes on down the line, I did not see how big of an advantage, how, how overwhelmingly positive the Spurs depth would be, if that makes any sense. Like the Spurs are, are most nights, um, they’re, they, they have more depth than the other team. And this is not trenchant analysis for people who’ve followed the Spurs like, like our listeners do, but it’s, it’s something, um, I think that should be noted about the way this team was built, that, that, uh, even though it missed the playoffs for six years in a row, the depth is there, and it’s not just bodies, it’s quality depth. Like Jeff mentioned, six different leading scores in six different nights. I’m not sure how many teams can say that. And, um, in a league where you do have to pay the stars a bunch of money, uh, no matter who you are, where, where the star players do get a large percentage of the salary cap on good teams, it’s hard to build that out. And Oklahoma City is the gold standard, and Oklahoma City is far ahead of everybody else, Spurs included, in terms of building up that depth. I mean, that the depth is what in addition to SGA and and, uh, Jalen Williams and Chet, that’s, that was what made them so dominant on their end of the NBA title last year. But the Spurs are, the Spurs have done really well there.
And, uh, to be able to weather what they’ve weathered, all their top four guys have, have missed what, nine games at a time, a couple weeks at a time, and to be where they are heading into this second Oklahoma City game, 21 and 7, a 750 win percentage. Um, I, I did not see that coming. We didn’t see a lot coming this year. That’s, that’s part of it that I did not see coming.
Jeff McDonald: You know, it, it’s, you know, it’s still early, I guess you’d say like the jury is still out maybe, but it looks like Brian Wright and his front office team have just made every move since the Victor Wembanyama draft has been an A+ so far. I mean we can, I know there was a time you could really quibble with some of the draft picks pre-Victor. Luka Šamanić, Josh Primo, I mean that 2020, that 2022 draft right before Victor is looking like a disaster.
Mike Finger: We might get into that a little bit, but go ahead.
Jeff McDonald: Malaki Branham, uh, and, and Blake Wesley are not here anymore. Jeremy Sochan has not been extended and is not even in the rotation right now. But from the moment they got Victor, everything they’ve done has turned to gold. I mean, you start with getting Harrison Barnes for not just nothing, but getting Harrison Barnes and, you know, an pick swap for nothing. Getting, uh, you know, the the De’Aaron Fox trade and then the draft picks. I mean, obviously, when you’re drafting in the top five, that’s a lot easier than when you’re drafting in the late lottery or the middle of the, uh, of the draft. But they nailed Stefan Castle and they nailed Dylan Harper. Uh, and you can say maybe those were no brainers at the time, but those, those two picks have been, um, just huge, um, when you explain how they’ve gone 21 and 7 to this point.
Mike Finger: I would throw in that the Spurs had another first round pick the year they drafted Stefan Castle and, uh, people were up in arms about not using that pick. And the team that used that pick, I’m not sure is making, Rob Dillingham has a long career ahead of him. He’s a young guy. But I’m not sure that that’s, um, something that the Spurs regret right now. He’s not making the Spurs say, oh, we should have held on to that guy. And by the way, they weren’t going to take him. They, they took him for the Timberwolves. But that’s another move that right now looks pretty decent. And, um, you know, I, I guess now is as good since you brought it up, there have been people out there asking. It’s, it’s funny that through the history of this podcast over the last three years, we’ve gone from people asking why the Spurs are, um, relying so heavily on Jeremy Sochan to why the Spurs aren’t playing Jeremy Sochan anymore. Um, and to me, my answer to this would be, just watch the games. I, I think that watching the games provides more insight than, um, Jeff or I could offer here. It, it just, he, he’s, I, I, I don’t want to go out too far out there with a hot take, but the, the Spurs don’t need him and he’s not changing their minds about that on his, during his stints on the floor. And he hasn’t been completely buried. He’s, he’s right now, I would say number 10 or number 11 on the depth chart, and a lot of nights the Spurs play nine guys. And sometimes when the play, Spurs play 10 guys, they play Kelly Olynyk. And sometimes when they play 10 guys, they play Jeremy Sochan, and he hasn’t been terrible, but he’s also not really forcing the issue. And I think just if you watch the games, you watch the way he plays, you watch the way Mitch is using him, the writing is sort of on the wall.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, we, it goes back to the depth that we talked about earlier. They have too many guys to play now and he’s clearly, clearly the one that’s, that’s out of the, um, out of the rotation. And I mean, he, I’m trying to think how to say this. He’s, um, he’s also not been dealt the greatest hand. Like I don’t want to put it all on one side or the other, but you know, he, they haven’t really been able to find a, uh, the right role for him. And when it looks like they found the, I mean to me, it’s just you’re, he’s that bench energy defender guy. Um, but he’s had to be backup center for a lot of this because Victor’s been out, um, for a lot of the last two seasons. Um, we all know about the ill-fated point guard experiment from a couple of years ago. He’s just never really seemed to find his niche for very long. And it just seems like the team has been constructed, um, kind of without him in mind, you know? He, it, he just doesn’t, there isn’t an apparent fit. There isn’t an apparent fit for how he would fit into what they’re doing now and what they, what they need now. Now maybe there’s injuries that pop up along the way. There surely will be. And he’ll get a chance to change people’s minds, but he’s also a player that, I mean, it’s also hard to change, you know, in the situation he’s in right now, it’s hard to change anybody’s mind when, uh, you’re playing every other night. Some nights you’re in there for four minutes. Like that’s just a hard, that’s a hard ask. It’s a hard ask. And I don’t, I’m not, I mean, I don’t want to act like it’s all the Spurs doing him wrong. That’s not what I’m I’m getting at. I just, he, they don’t have a reason to play, it was exactly what you said. They don’t have a reason to, to force to play him right now, and he’s not giving them a reason when they do.
Mike Finger: He’s fine this year as, they’re happy he’s around as a 10th or 11th guy, and when people get hurt, and people do get hurt, there will be more Jeremy Sochan minutes. And he, you can throw him out there as your 10th or 11th guy and get some energy, get some defense, and he doesn’t kill you. Um, but when you say he hasn’t found a role on this team, there, there’s just, it’s 2025, man. There, there aren’t a lot of teams where you can consider a player like that with that profile to be a, a foundational or, or integral piece. Like, his, his jump shot has improved this year, but it’s still, nobody, the defenders don’t have to respect it necessarily. Um, and there’s just, you look at the nine players ahead of them and they all offer something that you’re not going to put on the bench. And so, I mean, teams play nine guys. Sometimes they play 10, but that’s just the way rotations work. And I, I don’t think it’s, it’s Jeremy’s fault. I don’t think it’s the Spurs’ fault. It’s just that it’s hard to find minutes for a player with that profile in the modern game. And does that mean that when they drafted him, that was a huge mistake? I as a guy who the week of that draft on this podcast said, if I’m the Spurs, I take Jeremy Sochan, I can’t go back and rip them for taking him because I saw what they, what the Spurs saw. You know, you dream on, um, a guy with the, the tools that he had and, uh, uh, you, you think you can fix the shot and maybe he becomes a, a guy who lives up to a top 10 pick billing. Um, this is the, the, the franchise after all that drafted Kawhi Leonard and watched him become one of the most efficient scores, best all-around offensive players, best two-way players in the, in the league. Um, so you, you, you think that people are going to take leaps. He just hasn’t taken that leap yet. And you’re right, that from the point guard experiment to the center experiment, he’s been dealt a less than perfect hand, but for those, this is just for those who are, who are asking about what’s the deal with him, it’s not like there’s some answer that Mitch Johnson can give that explains the whole situation. It just sort of is what it is. And, uh, that’s, that’s that story.
Jeff McDonald: He’s looking to me like a guy that would probably benefit from a change of scenery, um, whether that’s if you can find a way to deal him at the deadline and get something for him, which I sort of doubt, or if you just let him go find a, a situation this offseason through free agency where, you know, he can have a more defined and expanded role. To me, it looks like it’s like, I think we might be approaching that point. And again, no hard feelings on any body’s spot, but someone’s going to be the odd man out and he needs to go somewhere where he can play.
Mike Finger: This isn’t sourced intel, but it’s, it’s just looking at the salary situation with the, with the Spurs and, um, who’s, who’s a possibility to be dealt at the deadline if they do want to go out and add a veteran type. Like the, the, the type of deal, it’s the opposite type of deal that the Spurs have made in recent years. It’s trading a younger guy, um, with some upside who another team can dream on a bit, and he’s making what, $7 million. Like, um, to me, if the Spurs make a deal, and I don’t think they will, they typically don’t make deals at the deadline, but it could be a deal where you try to find if, if there’s a, if there’s a veteran shooter that could give you a little of what the Spurs lack, which is that three-point shooting. Um, maybe, maybe, uh, another team out of the race can think that they can fix Jeremy. And, uh, you know, the, the, the most tradeable deals on the roster right now are, are Jeremy and what, Kelly Olynyk. Um, I don’t know how that matches with potential partners, but I could see that, and then I could see, um, anything happening in restricted free agency if he sticks around. Somebody, somebody offering him a deal and the Spurs not matching. Uh, Spurs getting him back for, um, a, a, a bargain deal if no one comes after him. Like there’s, there’s still all kinds of ways that Jeremy Sochan’s story can end.
Jeff McDonald: Right.
Mike Finger: But in terms of the present, like, when, when people ask why isn’t he playing, my answer is, well who, who shouldn’t be playing? And all, there are nine guys who definitely should be playing. And, uh, that, that doesn’t leave a lot after that.
Anyway, uh, Victor Wembanyama has returned and continues to come off the bench. We’re recording this on Tuesday morning. I think, Jeff, um, from what we’ve heard, there’s a, there’s a greater than zero possibility that he does not play in that game tonight against the Thunder for, uh, a couple of, for various reasons, which we won’t get into. But, um, as a, as a sixth man, I think that the, the, the Spurs are pretty happy with the production they’re getting from their, their sixth man over the last couple weeks.
Jeff McDonald: He’s putting himself in that Sixth Man of the Year conversation for sure. He’s going to be on my, on my, uh, on my ballot. Um, I’d also say you say there’s a, uh, greater than 0% chance he doesn’t play tonight against the Thunder. I think if it were possible, there is a greater than 100% chance he plays Christmas Day against the Thunder.
Mike Finger: Absolutely.
Jeff McDonald: Just to put that out there to make sure not to freak it, so people don’t freak out. But, yeah, um, I don’t know when he moves back in the starting lineup. Like, you clearly have to at some point.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: Um, but it’s working well, just kind of managing his minutes and letting him go in bursts and, um, he can, he can, I’m trying to think how to say, he can put more energy into his, uh, his stints out there when they’re shorter. And, um, there’s less wear and tear on him. Like he does when you’re, you know, when you’re playing 30, 35 minutes, there’s just some areas of the game where you’re going to drag, but he doesn’t have to drag at all. And, you know, clearly, that he’s going to have to be the starter at some point. You’re not going to bring Victor off the bench, um, in perpetuity. Um, but right now it’s nice to have that kind of production coming in off the bench. And it goes back to what we talked about earlier. They’ve, they’ve, they’re a good team even when Victor Wembanyama is not there, even when he’s not on the floor. They’re not their best, they’re not their best. They’re not a title contender. They’re not the second best team in the West without Victor Wembanyama, but they’ve shown the ability to play good basketball even when Victor’s unavailable or on the bench. And that’s why you can kind of string this out a little, a little while. Um, you don’t have to feel, I don’t know, pressured to, um, get him back and up and running and at a full workload right away.
Mike Finger: He, he is the type of person who will insist to you that he is playing as hard as he can all the time, no matter what.
Jeff McDonald: Right. Yep.
Mike Finger: Um, and I was talking to him a little bit. I was, I was in Atlanta and he said that there was, there’s no situation where he considers he’s easing his way back into this. It’s like, he said if, if his philosophy is that if he’s not able to give 100%, that he’s not going to be out there, and that’s what he always does. But you and I and the listeners have watched games throughout his career where he’s just a big guy, and in the 30th minute, or not even the 30th, when he’s playing 30 plus minutes, there’s stretches out there where understandably the dude looks tired. The dude looks like he’s, he just getting up and down the floor, you know, he looks a little bit winded. And, um, every NBA player deals with that and that’s obviously part of the game. But when you’re playing 21 minutes, one thing I’ve been noticing is that he, that almost never is the case. You are getting, you are getting peak Victor Wembanyama for 20, 21 minutes a night. And would you rather have 94.6% Victor Wembanyama for 35 minutes a night? Sure. But there’s some upside, as you mentioned, to 21 minutes a night. Like the efficiency is just off the charts at both ends of the floor. And, uh, eventually those minutes are going to go up and that’ll be good for the Spurs. But what we’re seeing right now with sixth man Victor Wembanyama is just absolutely game changing on offense and on defense, and it’s, it’s cool to watch.
Jeff McDonald: And he’s going to have, you know, barring something else, he’s going to have enough games played to be Defensive Player of the Year, I think. I, and I think…
Mike Finger: Yeah, I don’t know if we got into that last week, but, um, there are, there is, is a, a sort of an asterisk in that rule about the, the 65 games and 20 minutes per game or, uh, you have to play 65 games, uh, to qualify for all these postseason awards. You have to play 20 minutes for it to count as one of those 65 games. But if you need them, you can use a maximum of two games in the 15 to 19 minute range. And Victor used one of those, I believe at home against Washington. Is that right? It was one game last week where he finished with less than 20 but more than 15. That game will count. And the extra game that he played against the Knicks in the cup final, that counts. So he went from, uh, typically in an 82 game season to get to 65, you can miss 17 games. Well, Victor can now miss 18 because they, it’s, it’s out of a total of 83. Uh, I believe that he is still, he still has a buffer of around six or seven and depending on, uh, Tuesday night, which he, he, he probably will, will miss another one, but he still has a, a bit of a buffer. And there’s, I, I know he’s going to try really hard to get it. And, uh, in addition to Defensive Player of the Year, some All-NBA, MVP looks like a reach, but that’s not out of the question if he continues to just be otherworldly and the Spurs continue to win 75% of their games. Of course, he’s going to be in the running there. Um, but yeah, that I, you know, to, to miss the time that he missed and to come back the way he’s, he’s come back, I won’t say that’s surprising because you always expect the otherworldly from, from Victor, but it has been impressive and the Spurs are really encouraged by what they’ve seen.
Jeff McDonald: I don’t know this for sure, but I bet one of those 470 staff members they have, I bet at least one of them, their job, their only job might be, make sure Mitch gets Vic to 20 minutes every night.
Mike Finger: Yeah. Like track the minutes and if he needs to go back in for one or two more, uh, make sure Mitch knows that. I promise you there’s someone who that’s, that’s their job.
Mike Finger: Well, I promise you someone with Victor, Victor’s team is making them aware of that and plenty of people on the Spurs team are aware of that. And of those 400, what did you say, 400 and how many?
Jeff McDonald: Uh, 72.
Mike Finger: 472. 471 are, uh, are massaging him after the game on that table when you walk by. All right. You see all those hands in there working on. That’s, that’s one of the, that’s, that’s a scene to behold, man.
Jeff McDonald: It takes a lot. It really, it literally takes six staff members.
Mike Finger: It takes a village to raise a child. It takes two villages to, to give Victor his physical therapy after games.
Jeff McDonald: You walk by there and there’s, there’s three, uh, three massage therapists a piece on each leg.
Mike Finger: I’m, I’m not, I’m not even making that up. That’s…
Mike Finger: Yes, you’re making that up. No, you’re making that up.
Jeff McDonald: No, it’s not. I even think I even wrote that one time. When I walked by there, there were three guys on each, three people on each leg.
Mike Finger: That is, that is an exaggeration. Don’t let, don’t aggregate that.
Jeff McDonald: It is not. I promise you.
Mike Finger: It’s hyperbole.
Jeff McDonald: There are a lot of people that work on the, the Spurs, uh, physical therapy staff, physical, uh, uh, what would you call it? The, the, the wellness, all that stuff. Um, training staff, excellent. But there’s not six people working. There’s a lot, but I don’t think there’s six people working on two legs at the same time.
Jeff McDonald: I saw it with my own eyes.
Mike Finger: The, you’re, for, do you realize that credibility is, uh, is, is one of our greatest commodities and, uh, once, once you start losing the credibility, man, things go downhill. You know, I don’t care who, I don’t care who worked here over the years. We, we, we got to live up to our, you know, the, uh, Buck Harvey, Mike Monroe, uh, Tom Orsborn. They all built this up, this credibility, and you’re just going to, you’re going to just throw it out the window with hyperbole, you know. It’s like throwing out the legacy of Walter Cronkite or something. Cronkite or something. Well, who’d you got says?
Jeff McDonald: Mm? Did you get that?
Mike Finger: Cronkite.
Jeff McDonald: Well, you know, again, I’m, I’m ruining the legacy of our, uh, of our, uh, fine publication and we, I, I need to take care not to do that. We need to live up to our forefathers and whatnot. And we, and we don’t need to be, uh, be letting people aggregate stuff about three trainers per leg. That’s over the top. Um… I don’t know how to move on from that other than to say that, uh, you want, you, you want to get into what’s what’s ahead with these Thunder games. Like, there’s a lot of Thunder games coming up.
Jeff McDonald: A lot of Thunder games. Yeah, we got five minutes. What do you want to talk about? I just, how this is going to be another…
Mike Finger: You told me you had a hard out, so you, you run these next five minutes.
Jeff McDonald: Oh, okay. Well, then bye then. Um, yeah, they play the Thunder twice in a row, right? Um, tonight, which I think might occur after or before a lot of people are listening to this podcast, and then Christmas day. And they got another one coming around the bend in January, the middle of January. So it’s, it’s, with the Cup, it’s going to end up being…
Mike Finger: The fifth one is early February, I believe. Five times really quickly.
Jeff McDonald: And the Thunder will be up, the Thunder will be up for, uh, for both of these next two. Uh, the Spurs might have caught them a little bit, uh, napping, a little bit taken, taken the, the, the lowly, uh, six years without the playoffs Spurs for granted in, in Vegas. I think the Spurs are going to be up for the next two. I think the, I’m sorry, the Thunder will be up for the next two. The Spurs will be too. Uh, Victor’s really going to be up for that game on, on Christmas morning. But, um, it should be interesting to see how the Thunder handle this.
Jeff McDonald: It’s going to be hard to win them. I mean, I know that’s trenchant analysis, but you know how I feel about the Thunder. They’re freaking good and they’re hard to beat. And the Spurs did well to beat them once. And if they can beat them again somewhere in this stretch, you’d tip your hat to them. But I, I’m still, it’s still, it’s still hard to beat those guys. As good as the Spurs are, um, it’s still just really hard to beat that team the way they play. Um,
Mike Finger: They haven’t lost again since losing to the Spurs. They’re not as perfect as we thought.
Jeff McDonald: They have. Um, what’s also funny is the Spurs they get them at least once every year that they’ve had Victor. They beat them once a year. So it’s possible, usually at home. So we’ll see how it goes. Um…
Mike Finger: The Thunder have, um, in these next two, I would say a bit of a, an advantage. Let’s say Victor Wembanyama does not play on Tuesday. This could prove to be completely false by the time people listen to this. But that’s a, that’s an edge, obviously. And then you’re home on Christmas in front of a, a, what’s sure to be a, a pretty raucous crowd in downtown Oklahoma City on Christmas. That, that’s, that’s another tough one to go up against the Spurs. Um, I think that, uh, I think that it’ll be tough to get one of the next two. But I think over the next four, it I would not be shocked if the Spurs get a couple of them.
Jeff McDonald: Is that… More than one?
Mike Finger: Is that… Is that…
Jeff McDonald: More than one?
Mike Finger: You know. I, I think the Spurs get one. And if you get, if you get two, I’ll, I will just say, if you get two, you’re way ahead of the game. Because that’s three to two for the season.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, if you’re, uh…
Mike Finger: Getting one of them is pretty good. I think the Spurs will get one of them.
Jeff McDonald: If you’re setting it at 1.5 for the rest of the game, I’m taking the under. Or the rest of the, the rest of the games that they play, of the four that they have left, I’m taking the under.
Mike Finger: I probably would too, but two is a, two is a, an overwhelmingly, uh, positive thing.
Jeff McDonald: Oh yeah. Yeah.
Mike Finger: That would, that would be a success to get two of the next four and three out of the five in the, in the season. So, we’ll see what they can do. Getting one this week would be, uh, you’re, are you going to call either one of those unwinnable? That seems to have worked well for the local cagers so far.
Jeff McDonald: I think I might be out of that business because they clearly are. I just… If I say it and then they lose, uh, then it ruins my streak and I don’t want to do that.
Mike Finger: Okay. You have a hard out. Do you have your Christmas shopping done for your, uh, for your young McDonald’s yet?
Jeff McDonald: Oh, well, I was, I was under the impression that Santa Claus does that.
Mike Finger: I see.
Jeff McDonald: So I’ve, I, I didn’t, you know, I did nothing. I thought, I thought, uh, a jolly fat man with a beard was going to do it for me.
Mike Finger: Were the young McDonald’s naughty or nice this year?
Jeff McDonald: Oh lord. That’s, that’s a story for another day.
Mike Finger: Okay. Well, enjoy your holiday.
Jeff McDonald: They’re just going to keep, they’re going to keep the West Virginia coal industry in business. I’ll buy them some coal.
Mike Finger: I bet the, the young McDonald’s were far nicer than the old McDonald gives, gives them credit for. And I bet all the listeners were too. May you all get something other than West Virginia coal over the next few days, regardless of how you celebrate or what you celebrate. Until we see you next time, take care of each other and keep it real. [music fades in]