By Devon Birdsong | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-02-12 23:00:01
“你就不能让我圆了这个梦吗？”
当时我们距离加利福尼亚州边界只有15分钟车程，俄勒冈州的树木变得越来越高大。我们飞抵麦德福德后，已经驱车前往克雷森特城两个小时了。这段始于凌晨5点的旅程已经进行了7个小时，期待感在此时达到了顶峰。
泰勒 (Taylor) 和我从小就梦想着能亲眼看看红杉，随着道路在眼前延伸，我们正迅速接近它们。不过，这对泰勒来说还不够快，她几乎坐不住了，指着地平线上的每一棵大树，对“海狸州”（俄勒冈州别称）那毫无疑问的美丽南部荒野发出阵阵惊叹。
接着她看到了那一棵，它远远高出林冠，足有200多英尺高，像个庞然大物般的道格拉斯冷杉，在其他松树中傲然屹立。
“就是它！就是它！我的第一棵红杉！”
当她意味深长地看着我时，眼中闪烁着梦想成真的激动泪光，背景音乐中诺亚·卡汉 (Noah Kahan) 的管弦乐民谣旋律逐渐升腾。
“它难道不神奇吗？”
我沉默不语，目光缓慢地在女友和那棵树之间来回移动。
“额，我很确定那不是红杉。”
“什么？你在逗我吗？”
“不，只是树皮看起来不对，树枝也是。我觉得那只是一棵特别高的松树。”
“噢我的天，你就不能让我圆了这个梦吗？”
事实证明，不，我不能。于是，一场极具“建设性”的谈话开始了，这种谈话通常始于一个看似无伤大雅的问题，终于双方达成的默契沉默。
为泰勒辩解一下，她因为打包行李、制定计划和协调工作而睡眠不足，而且我们大半天都挤在狭小的空间里。她也不喜欢飞行，在遇到气流颠簸时，我可能还调皮地调侃了她几句。所以她质疑我是否在逗她，也并非完全无理取闹。
如果你没有长时间待在森林附近的经历，这确实是个容易犯的错误。她大半辈子都生活在圣安东尼奥的边缘地带。而我，童年大部分的夏天都是在德克萨斯州东部松林区的怀抱中度过的。
我虽然从未见过美洲杉，但我了解松树。我绝不允许我的“第一棵红杉”是一棵松树。
这和我对本赛季围绕马刺的一些期待和热情的感觉是一样的。虽然我很不想给你们泼冷水，但我很确定这还不是一支争冠球队。
我知道这一点，因为和你们一样，我以前见过冠军球队。我知道一套争冠阵容长什么样，知道他们是怎么打球的，也见过他们展现出的气场。
尽管（或者更确切地说，是因为）昨晚赢了球，但我可以告诉你，他们还没达到那个境界。
面对伤兵满营、步履蹒跚的金州勇士 (Golden State Warriors)，他们在第一节表现迟缓，让一支胜率在50%左右、且缺少了吉米·巴特勒 (Jimmy Butler)、克里斯塔普斯·波尔津吉斯 (Kristaps Porzingis) 以及依然致命的斯蒂芬·库里 (Steph Curry) 得分火力的球队拿到了38分。
但勇士拥有执行力。他们依然保留着冠军球队的专注度、组织性以及光环。他们有一位经验丰富的历史级教练，知道如何压榨出每一个显现出来的优势。他们有夺冠经验的老兵，知道如何激励队友并挫败对手。
这些东西是你必须去赢得的，而且只能通过共同经历战火的洗礼来获得。自由市场能提供的帮助有限（尤其是在目前的劳资协议环境下），而选秀积累的是天赋，而非经验。
毫无疑问，这支马刺队极具天赋。凭借全联盟第三好的战绩，他们傲视大多数同侪，就像他们那位天赋异禀的领袖一样。但他们仍有一些粗心大意必须削减。那些在季后赛中无法承受的失误。似乎每节都在波动的专注力。大前锋位置上的短板，以及必须解决的功能性大个子深度问题。
在昨晚横扫了同样脆弱的洛杉矶湖人 (Los Angeles Lakers) 之后，马刺没有任何理由在进入对阵勇士的第三节时还处于落后。诚然，这是背靠背的第二场，但马刺是如此年轻，而勇士和湖人又是如此年迈。
然而，毫无疑问，当他们专注投入时，这种比赛极具观赏性。
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 比以往任何时候都更高产高效，并且越来越有能力应对来自德雷蒙德·格林 (Draymond Green) 之流的粗野打法。德阿伦·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 在下半场将进攻组织得近乎完美，让上半场的失误变成了遥远的回忆。
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 紧紧缠绕着对方的后卫，就像一只饥饿的蟒蛇被放进了塞满老鼠的谷仓；而凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 则像潘普洛纳的公牛一样横冲直撞，势不可挡，将那些极其愚蠢和极其勇敢的防守者通通撞开。
在经历了多年NBA底层挣扎后，认为今年就是属于他们的一年，这是一种可以理解的热情错误，因此也是一种希望的表达，这并不是什么大罪。这是我们每个人在某个时刻都曾犯过的错误。
然而……
在大约20分钟的相对沉默后，公路拐进了一片绿意远胜过枯黄的林区，接着我们看到了它。它横跨可能超过300英尺的高度，让之前那棵引发争论的松树相形见绌；树基如此之宽，以至于遮挡了周围其他树干的视线。毫无疑问，这是一棵真正的红杉。
那一刻，我们凝视着彼此，谁也没说话。
“哇哦。”
“看！那儿还有一棵！”
“噢天呐，看那一棵！”
“它们接连不断！”
“我的天啊。”
这样持续了大约十分钟后，泰勒靠过中控台枕在我的肩膀上，我们静静地仰望这些参天大树，带着敬畏之心，看着199号公路在通往101号公路——最终通往太平洋海岸公路——的途中，蜿蜒穿过这片古老森林的浩瀚深处。
“所以，刚才那棵真的不是红杉。”
“不是，但我真的很希望它是。为了让你开心。”
“嗯，我知道。”
要点总结
- 观察马刺管理层在休赛期如何处理哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 将会非常有趣。一方面，他可靠且不闹事，防守和投篮依然足以胜任首发或替补的需要，而且在社区活动中表现活跃。另一方面，感觉他的状态终于开始出现一些下滑，尤其是在防守更快、更年轻的球员以及无球跑动出位的能力上。防守方有时会开始针对与他同场的朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie)，因为巴恩斯不再像以前那样具有空切威胁，对手敢于放空他，看他能否惩罚防守。虽然巴恩斯似乎已经摆脱了低迷（过去10场三分命中率为43%），但在防守者距离4-6英尺的空位三分球上，他的命中率仅为35%。我不确定他在公开市场上的身价会是多少，但马刺的薪资状况很快就会变得复杂，寄希望于他表现低迷来获得更低的合同并不能帮助马刺。反之，如果他再次手感滚烫，急于争冠的球队可能会考虑他。我希望马刺能以合理的价格续约他，因为他们绝对需要保留投射能力，但我猜这完全取决于他愿意在一支处于争冠边缘、同样不闹事的球队中接受什么样的角色。希望卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 能继续进步！
- 虽然我并不总是理解米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 轮换阵容的意图（一套莫名其妙的“无控卫”阵容依然让我费解），但他再次做出了拯救比赛的调整，意识到卡斯尔在进攻端状态不佳，转而让福克斯和哈珀共同出战了很长时间。当卡斯尔状态在线时，他是你所能期待的最好的组织者，但当他状态全无时……天呐，那画面确实不好看。这位年轻教练意识到库里的缺阵意味着他可以针对卡斯尔的情况灵活调遣，这在对位中非常高明，而一旦他想通了这一点，史蒂夫·科尔 (Steve Kerr) 确实没能给出回应。毫无疑问，约翰逊依然在摸索中，但像这样的决策可能就是赢得或输掉一个系列赛的关键，我越来越有信心他具备完成这种调度的能力。
- 根据胜利贡献值（Win Shares）显示，凯尔登·约翰逊本赛季为马刺带来了5场胜利，但在我看来，实际数值接近两倍，因为他在圣安东尼奥的焦灼比赛中始终表现稳健。马刺拥有19场关键时刻的胜利，而替补阵容的净效率值排名联盟第5，凯尔登作为这支“板凳匪徒”毫无疑问的领袖，功不可没。至少可以这么说，如果没有替补席在主力找回状态前咬住比分，马刺甚至无法获得那么多进入关键时刻的机会。凯尔登依然在几乎所有的投篮指标上保持着职业生涯最高纪录，他的得分效率排名全队第3，投篮效率全队第2。赶紧给这家伙颁一个年度最佳第六人奖吧！
片尾曲——今晚的主题曲：
《Old Pine》，由 Ben Howard 演唱
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 Warriors
What we learned from the Spurs win over the Warriors
“Can you just let me have this?”
We were fifteen minutes from the California border, and the trees in Oregon were getting taller and taller. Having flown into Medford, we were now two hours into the drive to Cresent City and seven hours into a journey that had started at 5am, and the anticipation had reached its peak.
Both Taylor and I had dreamed of seeing the Redwoods since we were children, and now we were approaching them rapidly as the road receded before us. Not rapidly enough for Taylor, though, who could barely sit still, pointing out every large tree on the horizon, oohing and aahing at the unquestionably beautiful southern wilds of The Beaver State.
And then she saw it, stretching well above the canopy, some 200 or so feet of a monster Douglas Fir, towering over the other pines.
“That’s it! That’s it! My first Redwood!”
Her eyes welled with the emotion of a fulfilled dream as she looked over at me meaningfully, the orchestral folk of Noah Kahan swelling in the background.
“Isn’t is amazing?”
Wordlessly I looked slowly from my girlfriend to the tree, and back again.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s not a Redwood.”
“What? Are you messing with me?”
“No, it’s just that the bark looks wrong, and so do the branches. I think it’s just a really tall pine tree.”
“Oh my God, can you just let me have this?”
As it turned out, no, I could not. And thus began one of those incredibly productive conversations that usually start with a seemingly innocuous question, and end in a mutually agreed-upon silence.
In Taylor’s defense, she was sleep-deprived from all the packing and planning and coordination, and we had been packed together in very close quarters for most of the day. She also does not love flying, and I may have playfully ribbed her a bit while we were experiencing turbulence. She was not completely out of pocket to have questioned whether I was messing with her or not.
It’s also an easy mistake to make when you’ve not spent a lot of time in the proximity of forests. She has spent most of her life on the fringes of San Antonio. I, on the other hand, spent most of my childhood summers in the confines of the Piney Woods of East Texas.
I had never seen a Sequoia, but I knew my pine trees. And I was not about to let my first Redwood be a pine tree.
It’s the same way I feel about some of the expectations and enthusiasm surrounding the Spurs this season. I hate to break it to some of y’all, but I’m pretty sure this is not a championship team.
I know this, because, like you, I’ve seen them before. I know what a championship roster looks like. I know what they play like. I’ve seen how they carry themselves.
And in spite of (or rather, because of) last night’s win, I can tell you that they’re just not quite there yet.
Facing the snake-bitten and limping Warriors, they came out sluggish in the first quarter and gave up 38 points to a roughly .500 team without the scoring prowess of Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, and the still-lethal Steph Curry.
But the Warriors execute. They still retain some of the focus, organization, and aura of a champion. They have a seasoned all-time coach who knows how to press each and every advantage that comes to light. They have championship vets who know how to push their teammates and frustrate their opponents.
These are things you have to earn, and you can only earn them by going through the fire together. Free agency can only aid you so much (especially in the current CBA era), and drafting accumulates talent, not experience.
And these Spurs are talented, to be sure. With the 3rd best record in the league, they tower over most of their peers, not unlike their prodigiously gifted leader. But there’s still some sloppiness they must curtail. Turnovers they can ill afford in the postseason. Concentration that fluctuates with seemingly every quarter. Vulnerabilities at positions like Power Forward, and functional big man depth that must be addressed.
There’s little reason that the Spurs should have entered the 3rd quarter down to the Warriors after the destruction they visited on the similarly vulnerable Los Angeles Lakers the night before. Yes, it was the second night of a back-to-back, but the Spurs are so very young, and the Warriors and Lakers are so very old.
And yet, there’s no question that they’re beautiful to watch when they’re locked in.
Victor Wembanyama is more efficient than ever and is becoming more and more capable of taking on thuggish play from the Draymond Greens of the world. De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper orchestrated the offense to near-perfection in the 2nd half, relegating the errors of the 1st half to distant memories.
Stephon Castle squeezed the opposing guards like an ill-fed python let loose in a barn full of rats, and Keldon Johnson ran wild and unimpeded like a bull in Pamplona, tossing the frames of the very foolish and the very brave aside in equal measure.
Thinking that this will be their year is an understandable error of enthusiasm after long years in the NBA cellar, and therefore an expression of hope, which is no great sin. It’s an error each and every one of us has been guilty of at one time or another.
And yet…
After 20 minutes or so of relative silence, the highway diverged into a wood more lushly green than yellow, and we saw it. Spanning what must have been 300+ feet, it dwarfed the previous pine of contention; the base so wide, that it blocked the view of the other tree trunks around it. There could be no question that it was a real Redwood.
For a moment, we stared at each other, neither one saying a word.
“Wow.”
“Look! There’s another one!”
“Oh yeah, look at that one!”
“They just keep coming!”
“Oh my God.”
After ten or so minutes of this, Taylor leaned over the center console onto my shoulder, and we watched the colossal trees pass by in silent awe, as the 199 carved and curved its way though the vastness of the ancient forest on the way to the 101, and eventually, the Pacific Coast Highway.
“So, it really wasn’t a Redwood after all.”
“No, but I really wanted it to be one. For you.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Takeaways
- It’s going to be interesting seeing what MATFO decide to do with Harrison Barnes in the off-season. On the one hand, he’s reliably no drama, still defends and shoots well enough to play with both the starters and bench as needed, and is active in the community. On the other hand, it’s feels like some slippage is finally starting to occur, especially when it comes to his ability to handle to faster, younger players, and getting open off ball. Defenses are beginning to key on Julian Champagnie on the occasion that they share the court, because Barnes is just no longer the cutting threat that he once was, and daring Barnes to punish them for leaving him open. And while Barnes seems to have broken out of his slump (43% from 3 over the last 10 games), he’s shooting just 35% on open threes where the defender is 4-6 feet away. I’m not sure what Barnes will be worth on the open market, but financials are going to start getting tricky for the Spurs soon, and rooting for him to slump for a lower contract isn’t going to help the Spurs. If, on the other hand, he gets molten-lava hot again, a hopeful contender will be likely to give him a look. I’m hoping the Spurs will be able to sign him for something reasonable, as they definitely need to retain shooting, but I’m guessing it will all depend on what role he’s willing to accept for an equally no-drama franchise that find itself on the cusp of contention. Here’s hoping Carter Bryant continues his ascent!
- While I don’t always understand what Mitch Johnson is trying to accomplish with his rotations (an inexplicably point-guard-less lineup continues to baffle me), he again made a game-saving adjustment in recognizing that Castle was off offensively, and playing Fox and Harper together for an extended stretch. When Castle is on, he’s just about as good a facilitator as you could hope for, but when he’s off…whew boy, it is not pretty. Recognizing that Curry’s absence meant he could pick his spots with Castle was incredibly savvy of the younger coach in the match-up, and once he figured it out Steve Kerr really didn’t have an answer. There’s no question that Johnson’s still figuring things out, but a move like that could be the difference in winning and losing a series, and I’m feeling more and more confident that he’s capable of pulling that sort of thing off.
- According to Win Shares, Keldon Johnson has been worth five wins for the Spurs this season, but by my count, it’s closer to double that, as he has consistently come in clutch in tight games for San Antonio. The Spurs have 19 clutch-time wins, and the bench is 5th in the league in net rating, and Keldon has been a big, big part of that as the unquestioned leader of the bench mob. At the very least, there’s an argument to be made that the Spurs wouldn’t have even made it clutch time so often without the bench keeping them in the game until the starters figured it out. Still carrying career highs in almost every shooting category, Keldon is 3rd on the team in scoring efficiency and 2nd in shooting efficiency. Someone get this guy a 6th man of the year award, stat!
Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:
Old Pine by Ben Howard
By Devon Birdsong, via Pounding The Rock