By John Hollinger | The Athletic, 2026-01-20 16:13:25
周四，我现场观看了圣安东尼奥马刺队摧毁疲态尽显的密尔沃基雄鹿队的比赛。虽然马刺队有多名球员表现出色（包括某个身高7英尺4英寸的家伙），但我想把焦点放在迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 的表现上，他在25分钟内贡献了13分、5次助攻且仅有1次失误，尽管他5次三分出手全部投失。
是的，投射依然是个问题；他在三分线外出手不多，命中率也只有24.7%，防守者通常会选择绕掩护下方，收缩禁区来针对他。下面这个对阵波士顿凯尔特人队的回合就是一例，安芬尼·西蒙斯 (Anfernee Simons) 有意绕过掩护下方，放任哈珀尝试三分；结果哈珀的投篮偏得离谱，几乎能让NBA标志上的那个剪影人物被打进脑震荡保护程序：
但让我们把目光聚焦于他在冲击禁区时的积极表现，尤其是他能迫使防守做出反应，并将球精准地分给外线射手的能力。在对阵密尔沃基雄鹿的第三节比赛中，哈珀在连续两个回合里通过突分，先是找到了右侧底角完全空位的哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)，随后又助攻了左侧底角处于大空位的德阿龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)。
赛后，哈珀谈到了“快慢结合”的打法——即提升节奏创造优势，但在最后做决策时放慢速度——而这次助攻巴恩斯的进攻就是一个完美的例子。他在进攻发起点瞬间过掉了加里·哈里斯 (Gary Harris)，但始终保持抬头观察，在找到巴恩斯之前审时度势。
“迪伦·哈珀能力很强，”巴恩斯说道。“我们一直在跟他交流，告诉他如何用自己的节奏掌控比赛，并为队友创造投篮机会。我只是足够幸运，正好出现在了那个底角。”
值得注意的是，尤其是在第二个片段中（由于队友投篮不中，他没能获得助攻），他在传球前突破得有多深。这一点一直是圣安东尼奥马刺队对哈珀和卫冕年度最佳新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 的重点要求。
*”*我认为今晚他和斯蒂芬（Steph）在保持运球方面做得特别好，”马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说道。“他们有时候收球过早，这让他们陷入了空中停滞的窘境。在这种情况下，如果他们无法干净利落地完成终结或传球，就很容易陷入麻烦。”
如果防守方继续绕掩护下方放任哈珀远投，这一点就显得尤为重要。如果防守者继续后退，马刺队希望哈珀能持续向内线试探。
“就是要杀入油漆区，然后晚一点再做判断，因为，我的意思是，防守方会一直后退，”哈珀说道。“所以这是我们今天讨论的重点，也是未来要坚持的方向。我看到很多沉退防守，他们试图诱导我做出（过早的）决定，所以，我越晚收球，他们就必须越晚做出防守决定。”
尽管存在远投问题，且赛季初遭遇伤病，但哈珀的新秀赛季表现依然稳健。他以替补身份场均贡献10.5分，并送出高水准的助攻和篮板，他的身材也使他成为防守端的一大利器。
作为2025年的榜眼秀，要想真正发光发热，他显然必须提高自己的得分效率；自12月1日以来45.4%的真实命中率是远远不够的，而投进足够多的球，迫使防守者不再绕掩护走下线，将会对他大有裨益。但他的出手姿势虽然偏低，却看起来并不僵硬。而且一旦进入油漆区，他就有足够丰富的武器库，这意味着他无需成为一名神射手也能对比赛产生影响。
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：Scouting Dylan Harper: Spurs rookie becoming a problem in the paint
Scouting Dylan Harper: Spurs rookie becoming a problem in the paint
I attended the San Antonio Spurs’ destruction of a flagging Milwaukee Bucks team on Thursday, and while several San Antonio players were notably good (including a certain 7-foot-4 guy), I wanted to focus some attention on the play of Dylan Harper, who had 13 points, five assists and just one turnover in his 25 minutes despite missing all five of his 3-point attempts.
Yes, the shooting remains an issue; he’s at 24.7 percent from 3 on low volume, and defenders routinely go under screens and clog the paint against him. Here’s one against the Boston Celtics where Anfernee Simons purposely goes under a screen and lives with Harper trying a 3; Harper’s shot misses badly enough to put the NBA logo silhouette in the concussion protocol:
But let’s focus on the positives of what’s happening when he touches the paint, particularly when he can make defenses react and spray the ball out to shooters. On consecutive possessions in the third quarter against Milwaukee, Harper found Harrison Barnes wide open in the right corner and then De’Aaron Fox wide open in the left corner on drive-and-kicks.
Harper talked about playing “fast and slow” after the game — pushing the pace to create advantages but slowing down at the end to make his decision — and this play to Barnes was a perfect example. He incinerates Gary Harris at the point of attack but keeps his head up and surveys the landscape before finding Barnes.
“Dylan has a great ability,” Barnes said. “We’ve been talking to him about how he can just control a game at just his pace and find his guys for shots. I was just lucky enough to be in that corner.”
One thing to note, particularly in the second clip, where he didn’t get an assist because the shot missed, is how deep he got on his penetration before he made the kickout pass. That’s been a point of emphasis in San Antonio for both Harper and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle.
*”*I thought he and Steph specifically did a really good job tonight of keeping their dribble,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “They’ve been picking up their gathers a little early at times, which I think has put them in a bad spot where they get caught in the air, and if they don’t have a clean finish or clean pass out, they can get in trouble a little bit.”
That’s especially true if defenses are going to keep going under screens and letting Harper fire away from distance. If the defenders are going to continue retreating, the Spurs want Harper to keep probing.
“Just getting to the paint and making my reads a little later because, I mean, the defense is going to keep on backing up,” Harper said. “So that’s a big thing we talked about today and just moving forward. I see a lot of drop, them trying to bait me and make (early) decisions, so I mean, the later I pick it up, the later the decision they got to make.”
Even with the long-range shooting issues and an early injury, Harper is having a solid rookie season. He’s averaging 10.5 points per game in a bench role with high rates of assists and rebounds, and his size makes him a weapon at the defensive end.
For the second pick in the 2025 draft to really shine, he obviously has to improve his scoring efficiency; 45.4 percent true shooting since Dec. 1 won’t cut it, and making enough shots to lure opponents out for the unders would help significantly. But his shot release, while low, doesn’t look broken, and he has enough tools once he gets in the paint that he doesn’t need to be a lights-out shooter to make an impact.
By John Hollinger, via The Athletic