Spurs Insider Podcast, 2026-02-18 06:47:00
专栏作家迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) 与马刺随队记者杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) 以及汤姆·奥斯本 (Tom Orsborn) 讨论了维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在全明星赛上的表现，以及这种努力是如何贯穿他在马刺队的每一刻。他们还深入解析了杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 被马刺裁掉的原因。
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曾在 1979 年率领马刺闯入 NBA 决赛边缘的道格·莫 (Doug Moe) 逝世，享年 87 岁
以下是播客的文字记录：
[音乐响起]
Mike Finger: 这里是来自南德克萨斯州绝密地点安全网络的全明星赛后版《马刺内部人士》。我是迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger)，和我坐在一起的依然是《圣安东尼奥新闻快报》的马刺随队记者汤姆·奥斯本 (Tom Orsborn) 和杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald)。在赛季进行到三分之二——也就是传统的半程节点时，我们有很多话题要聊。全明星周末已经结束，牛仔节之旅剩下的赛程就在眼前。我们即将在奥斯汀进行比赛，还有一个备受期待的交易/离队事件需要讨论。但是汤姆，我想先问问你，你从这周末在加州英格尔伍德和霍桑迷人的 Intuit Dome 发生的骚乱、喧嚣与浮华中恢复过来了吗？
Tom Orsborn: 恢复了，我手头还有热咖啡，这让一切都变得更好了。
Mike Finger: 很高兴你在播客开始前加热了咖啡。我们不需要深入了解播客背后的花絮，我们想听听全明星周末幕后的故事。
Tom Orsborn: 嗯，很棒，我很享受。虽然这句话被重复了很多次，但确实是文班奠定了基调，今年的一切都有点不同。这是一场非常有竞争力的锦标赛。我很享受看到文班感到沮丧并稍微责备他的队友。卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 在扣篮大赛中的表现——那真的很艰难。我不知道他们是否播出了视频；我想我给《新闻快报》发了一些视频，但他在那之后非常沮丧。他真的把那场失利记在心里了。
Mike Finger: 那些被迫观看又一场毫无意义的扣篮大赛的观众们也很沮丧。不过你继续说。
Tom Orsborn: 毫无意义？天哪，你真是个虚无主义者。
Mike Finger: 你喜欢吗？有人喜欢吗？还有任何理由继续举办扣篮大赛吗？我请教你，我恳求你：这到底是办给谁看的？
Tom Orsborn: 我只是在说卡特·布莱恩特，他当时有多沮丧。我会坚持谈论他，这是一个关于马刺的播客，我为他感到难过。但无论如何，是的，文班的表现非常酷。他打得很拼，我喜欢达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 赛后的评价。他告诉队友们：“嘿，这只是我们每天在练习中看到的缩减版。”所以，是的，很有趣，我很享受。
Mike Finger: 那挺好。杰夫，你在家看得很开心吗？或者你是在家看的吗？
Jeff McDonald: 我看了一部分，还行。
Mike Finger: 我很想听听你的想法。
Jeff McDonald: 额，我其实没看多少。我看了周日的全明星锦标赛，但周六的活动没怎么看。
Mike Finger: 这正是我关于卡特·布莱恩特那个话题想表达的。他可能会感到失落，汤姆也出色地报道了他有多沮丧，但好的一面是没人会在意了。所以即使对布莱恩特来说这是一个低谷，人们在忘记扣篮大赛冠军名字的那一刻，也会忘记这件事，而那是在比赛刚结束时。所以，年轻的卡特，汤姆为你感到难过，我相信很多马刺球迷也一样，但如果这是你 NBA 生涯中发生的最糟糕的事情，那你可能拥有一个相当不错的职业生涯。
Mike Finger: 汤姆说得对，我认为是全明星锦标赛的 MVP 安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 在第一节比赛（管它叫什么吧）结束后，称赞了维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)，因为他打得很拼，带动了其他所有人。这就是我们近几年一直在全明星赛上谈论文班亚马的地方：如果他拼尽全力，其他人也会跟上吗？我不确定这种模式是否会永远持续下去；再说一次，NBA 总是走一步看一步。但这还不算太糟。
Mike Finger: 但从文班的大局来看，汤姆，这在我这个在家观看的人看来，是文班亚马在大舞台上不辱使命的又一个例证。他的球队没赢，但在他打的那两场迷你赛中，他的球队似乎都在顺从他。他的球队在追随他的领导。他在赛后的新闻发布会上甚至像格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 那样对队友进行了斥责，因为他们没有盯防外线的空位三分球手。但这是他的国际联队，他再次顶住了那些天花乱坠的宣传，汤姆。
Tom Orsborn: 不止一次，是两次没有盯防三分射手，那定下了基调。但是是的，福克斯说你可以从他脸上的表情看出来。他们知道他是认真的，是的，他们一直在给他传球。事实就是这样；他全力以赴，队友们也想把球传给他。但你说得对，他总能在大场面挺身而出；我们已经见识过无数次了。他对待比赛非常认真，他不在乎别人怎么看他，不在乎这酷不酷。他只会做该做的事，这令人敬佩。
Mike Finger: 比赛失控的方式让我想起了 2024 年的圣安东尼奥马刺，文班在做一些疯狂的操作，但他就是得不到支援。他的帮手不够。卡尔-安东尼·唐斯——在文班亚马在赛后新闻发布会上那样斥责他之后，我不确定唐斯是否还有机会成为马刺球员。文班没有点名，但那种方式非常波波维奇。
Mike Finger: 我是说，他在世界联队最好的两个队友基本上像是没上场一样。卢卡和约基奇第一场各打了多久，五分钟？这就是我说的：他没有帮手。但另一件有趣的事是看科怀。那真是别具一格。
Tom Orsborn: 那次冲刺确实很精彩。是的。
Mike Finger: 没错。科怀再次带领米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 冲进了决赛，但最终没能夺冠。达龙·福克斯最后也没能成功。他们输给了 Stars 队还是 Stripes 队？汤姆，谁赢了？
Tom Orsborn: Stars 队赢了。这支球队比那些老家伙组成的 Stripes 队要稍微年轻一点。
Mike Finger: Stripes 队简直是被诅咒了。他们是全明星历史上最倒霉的球队之一；虽然总能打得很接近，但从未夺冠。
Tom Orsborn: 但福克斯有他的高光时刻，他在第一场比赛投中了制胜三分。
Mike Finger: 那球也很酷。在底角等着。我没记错的话，传球是多诺万·米切尔给的？
Tom Orsborn: 你说得对。
Mike Finger: 天哪，你是在记笔记吗？勒布朗还有个间接助攻 (hockey assist)。有趣的是，比赛打到了最后一投。我记得杜兰特在场上，勒布朗也在，米切尔也在，杜兰特当时真的很想投那一球，但在遭到双人甚至三人包夹时，他明智地把球传了出去。联盟中一些顶尖球员毫不犹豫地把球甩给了底角的福克斯，他投中了。
Tom Orsborn: 达龙·福克斯，他可能更想去度假，但他还是选择了全身心投入。
Mike Finger: 确实如此。这让我们回到了自我们上一期播客以来进行的马刺比赛，两场都在美国西海岸。在旧金山对阵金州勇士的最后一场比赛中，马刺从巨大的劣势中奋起直追，我记得杰夫·麦克唐纳在比赛进行到一半时称那个分差是无法逾越的。
Jeff McDonald: 我从没用过那个词。
Mike Finger: 嗯，我的词汇量通常比你大一点。
Jeff McDonald: 你是在往我嘴里塞话。
Mike Finger: 我是在总结。你听过《读者文摘》吗？我是在总结你传达的信息，即马刺当时面临着不可逾越的领先优势。
Jeff McDonald: 哦，所以这就像你在谷歌上搜索，然后在顶部得到一个 AI 总结？比——不，这——好吧，我的意思是，这也不准确。这是真正的智慧，而不是人工智能。
Mike Finger: 无论如何，马刺在对阵金州勇士时迅速（tout de suite）抹平了分差，实现了逆转，赛后更衣室里喜气洋洋。福克斯正期待着回到休斯敦度过周末——实际上是回到圣安东尼奥，和他的妻子孩子在一起。他当时正准备登上前往德克萨斯州的飞机。当时有一大群马刺球员、职员、教练、助手和训练师正准备登上去洛杉矶的飞机，结果呢，就在福克斯回到德克萨斯快到家的时候，他接到了电话。他得到了征召。
Tom Orsborn: 他当时正开车进入休斯敦的家。
Mike Finger: 然后他又被送回了南加州，他带着孩子一起去了，我在 Intuit Dome 的场边看到了他和孩子们。对他来说，能获得这个荣誉是个美好的时刻——不仅仅是参加比赛，而是获得那份荣誉。他曾入选过一次全明星；在斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和米奇·约翰逊都游说马刺值得拥有不止一个席位后，他为马刺带来了第二个全明星席位，他们如愿以偿。所以这很好。
Mike Finger: 说实话，如果我大老远从旧金山飞回家，离家只有 20 英里，然后有人打电话给我说：“嘿，好消息！你得取消假期，立刻（tout de suite）飞回加州，”就像你说的，我可能不会那么高兴。我可能会想办法推掉。
Jeff McDonald: 那是因为你是个愤世嫉俗的人。达龙·福克斯热爱生活，他喜欢和人在一起，喜欢和同龄人在一起。我确信他很喜欢。他很兴奋。
Mike Finger: 我要是遇到字母哥受伤这种事，我肯定会气炸。
Jeff McDonald: 这就是福克斯和我杰夫·麦克唐纳之间的区别。我觉得我的反应才是正常的，但没关系。我很高兴达龙显然过得很愉快。
Mike Finger: 你应该意识到你不该想成为一个吝啬鬼。在那之前的那场比赛也值得注意，就是前一天晚上。那是从洛杉矶到金州背靠背的赛程，《新闻快报》几乎都没法在那之前赶到下半场。但马刺队的一名成员不需要赶路了，因为经过几周、几个月、甚至长达一年的猜测，杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 终于获得了裁员。他不再是马刺球员，没有随队从洛杉矶前往旧金山，现在他是一名纽约尼克斯球员。汤姆，为此感到有点难过吗？我们都很享受和杰里米聊天打交道。
Tom Orsborn: 是的，我很遗憾。他从一开始就很不容易，你知道，控卫实验。就是一直练不出外线投篮。但我认为他会找到自己的位置。他是那种能激怒对手的球员，而尼克斯需要一点强硬，所以也许对他来说会有用。
Mike Finger: 杰夫，你觉得呢？
Jeff McDonald: 我觉得如果要讨论为什么杰里米·索汉不再是圣安东尼奥马刺队的一员，我们在过去几期播客中已经暗示过，也许还进行过一点深入探讨。关键在于球队目前的建设方式已经让他掉队了。当你拥有一群还没练出射程的球员时，你不得不派他们上场。你交易来了福克斯，他不是 40% 命中率的三分射手——他得很多分，但不是神射手。你的阵容里已经有了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)，情况类似。然后你还有今年的榜眼秀——我认为必须选迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)，他也一样。伟大的得分手，光明的未来，但目前还不是能拉开空间的射手。
Jeff McDonald: 当你有这么多必须上场但又不能拉开空间的球员时——就是我刚才提到的那三个——你很难再派上第四个，伙计。这就是杰里米面临的困境。如果在另一个平行宇宙，他们交易来的是史蒂芬·库里而不是达龙·福克斯，好吧，也许索汉会打得更好。或者他们拥有里德·谢泼德而不是卡斯尔，那么也许索汉的情况也会好一些。或者是多尔顿·克内克特而不是哈珀。但当你拥有一群代表未来的核心球员，而他们目前都不是拉开空间的射手时，真的容不下第四个了。
Jeff McDonald: 所以我认为杰里米就是这样被边缘化的。然后我们多次提到马刺在去年选秀中选中的第二个球员，卡特·布莱恩特，他也是一个防守 A+ 级别且能在进攻端提供更多帮助的球员。他会顶替杰里米的位置，基本上就是这样。所以杰里米变成了冗员，他不在轮换阵容中，正处于合同年，他需要找到一个能在赛后给他机会去赢得下一份合同的地方。既然你没法交易他，你最终还是做了件好事，让他去纽约寻找他所期待的更好前景。我们会看看结果如何。
Mike Finger: 这是一个极好的《读者文摘》式的总结。你抓住了所有要点。我只想补充一点，这不完全是那么简单的归纳。我认为第一、二、三、四点都是他没能成为一名射手，没能成为拉开空间的威胁，这是他无法获得更多上场时间的主因。但当他们选中他时，马刺内部有人指着德雷蒙德·格林作为模板——这种能做各种事情并带来胜利的连接点。德雷蒙德的投篮比杰里米好，但他也不是库里。我想如果杰里米能在其他方面达到更高水平——做其他格林式的事情——我认为他会有更好的机会。
Mike Finger: 但他是一名可靠的防守者，有时像杰夫说的那样是 A+ 级。但我认为他并没有哪项技能，无论是传球、篮板、还是终结，能让你相信他可以克服自己的巨大弱点。所以我认为投篮是一个重要因素，是最主要的因素，但你看他的比赛，你只会想除了防守之外，他的优势还在哪。如果你能从一个像卡特·布莱恩特那样能做更多事情的球员身上得到防守，我认为结局已经注定了。
Jeff McDonald: 我认为在某些阵容配置下，他的优势可能会超过他的劣势，但马刺的阵容建设并不是那样的。现在的格局是，他的优势与球队现有的人手重叠，而他的弱点又极其显眼。所以就是不合适。化学反应不在那里。也许他更适合尼克斯。
Jeff McDonald: 疯狂的是，马刺在过去几年里有两个乐透秀没能在球队拿到第二份合同。索汉是一个，另一个可能要加个星号，就是约什·普里莫。我不确定他没拿到第二份合同是否完全是因为篮球原因。但是的，在马刺大举重建、想要放手一搏的时候，这两个乐透签都落空了。在文班来之前，他们在乐透签上做了很多豪赌，所以有时难免会失败，而这就是两次失败。
Mike Finger: 普里莫是凭空冒出来的；很多人在选秀之夜都说选他太早了。没人想到他会在那个顺位被选中。在此为了公开透明，也为了承认我们的错误，或者说我在这个播客上的错误——在选中索汉的选秀前几天，本播客的主持人曾支持马刺用那个签位选他。所以这就是马刺听本播客主持人的后果。嘿杰夫，我要考考你：你知道这周末谁在 HEB 药房遇到了杰里米·索汉吗？
Jeff McDonald: 我不被允许透露。
Mike Finger: 我给你许可。
Jeff McDonald: 你亲爱又慈祥的母亲？
Mike Finger: 这太过分了！你怎么敢玷污我圣母般母亲的名声？但没错，就是她。我妈在 HEB 药房遇到了索汉，就在他被裁掉几天后。她当时在买东西。显然，他们当时都在买染发剂，对吧？这位留着紫红色头发的高个绅士正在等东西，我亲爱的母亲说，她很喜欢他在圣安东尼奥的日子，会想念他的，并祝他一切顺利。他说他——我妈说他是一个可爱、贴心、有礼貌的年轻人，对他处理关注度的方式印象深刻。我想其中一位药剂师在杰里米取药时还要求合影，杰里米大方地同意了，我觉得那很窝心。
Mike Finger: 我知道圣安东尼奥那些在外面与杰里米互动过、喜欢看他打球的人会想念他的。球迷们喜欢他，原因显而易见。不是所有人——维克托·文班亚马由于显而易见的原因，不会去 HEB 闲逛。邓肯偶尔会被看到，但他总是回避这类事情。我知道杰里米挺享受这些；他不介意关注。当你是一名 NBA 球员时，这是一种很酷的性格特质，也许他在纽约也会过得很开心。
Mike Finger: 所以我很高兴你和我一起去找他聊了聊，那成了我们在 Crypto.com 球馆与他的最后一次谈话。这是个很好的话题。我们当时不知道他第二天就会离开，但在交易截止日期之后，我们想看看他的情绪，看看他的心态，了解一下他没被交易后的想法。结果那成了一场告别。他说他对那次盛大的欢呼印象深刻且心存感激——那是他在圣安东尼奥得到的最后一次欢呼，我想是在对阵独行侠的那天晚上，他被允许在对阵独行侠的垃圾时间里最后上场三分钟，并得到了 Frost Bank 中心观众的热烈掌声。他说那全是爱，那是他的家人，他非常感激。
Mike Finger: 我们是在湖人那场比赛前和他聊天的。我想那场比赛的走向——马刺一度领先 40 分，场馆里几乎每个人都上场了，除了索汉——我想在那晚结束时，你我都知道结局已定，他大概待不久了。赛后我走过去问他：“嘿伙计，怎么了？”他说——这时警报就响了——他说：“无可奉告。”那是在赛后。我想那时正是所有交易手续正在签字画押的时候。
Jeff McDonald: 对于那些听不出话外之音的听众和观众，真相就是马刺显然在那场比赛期间，甚至之前，就在与杰里米·索汉的团队商讨买断事宜，所以你不能让他上场。你不能让他上场，万一他受伤了，他就没法签约其他地方了。所以他们让他休战，因为他们知道他会成为自由球员。到那时，你知道他已经和尼克斯谈妥了；这就是此类事情的运作方式。但是的，你不能让他带伤上阵，万一受伤了尼克斯就不要他了，那他基本上就失业了。
Mike Finger: 你提这个很好，因为杰夫，你常逛社交媒体，会读所有的留言和评论。我想你跟我提过，有人在那猜测：“哦，杰里米离开是因为他在对阵湖人的比赛中没上场。”不，他没打湖人是因为有些事情正在运作，或者说马刺正在运作。所以很高兴我们澄清了这一点。
Mike Finger: 牛仔节客场之旅接下来的比赛很重要，现在每年还包括奥斯汀的两场比赛。奥斯汀的比赛氛围会很好，因为圣安东尼奥的马刺球迷不用再担心奥斯汀那些贪婪的、雅皮士技术大佬会偷走球队了。现在这只是两场让人感觉良好的赛程。马刺会永远留在圣安东尼奥——或者说随着新的市中心球馆的建成，会留在那里很久。奥斯汀可以偶尔接待他们几场。
Mike Finger: 今年的对手并不算特别大牌。去年是凯文·杜兰特回到德克萨斯大学旧地的回归秀。今年，他的老东家菲尼克斯太阳队在没有杜兰特的情况下回来了——这支太阳队今年对阵马刺表现不错，但不是争冠球队。然后是垫底的萨克拉门托国王队将在奥斯汀的 Moody 中心与马刺进行两场比赛中的第二场。对于这些比赛以及 NBA 赛程的后半部分，我们怎么看？马刺——我相信他们现在离第一名的距离和离第三名的距离突然间一样近了——正尝试奔向六年多来的首次季后赛之旅。
Jeff McDonald: 如果我没记错的话，我认为菲尼克斯太阳在对阵马刺的那场比赛中将缺少一名非常重要的球员。因为我相信，除非有什么禁令被取消，否则狄龙·布鲁克斯 (Dylan Brooks) 的技术犯规已经太多了，他那场会被停赛。
Mike Finger: 那可太关键了，因为布鲁克斯是那支球队中所谓的“文班终结者”。所以他的缺阵会给马刺很大的助力。我应该在节目开始前多做点研究；我相信你是对的，但我不知道那是——那是全明星赛前的定论。我还没去核实；全明星周末我没怎么关注太阳队，但我打算录完节目后去查一下。
Mike Finger: 如果他不在，那确实是个大新闻。对马刺来说是好事。萨克拉门托那边——国王队总是一团糟，而且还在继续混乱。然后你们还有一次大型的东海岸之旅，汤姆·奥斯本，去底特律和多伦多，然后在这段旅程剩下的时间里会在纽约和费城待很久。也许有更多的机会大干一场？你必须趁着阳光灿烂在奥斯汀大干一场。底特律和多伦多可能是个问题，然后我想是对阵布鲁克林篮网的背靠背。但从大局来看，汤姆，关于马刺接下来的表现，以及他们在这次旅行剩余赛程和整个赛季还能成就什么，你有什么感觉？
Tom Orsborn: 嗯，可以确定的是，是的，布鲁克斯将被执行禁赛。
Mike Finger: 很高兴知道这点。感谢更新。
Tom Orsborn: 我觉得下半程会变得更艰难。他们必须开始巩固现状，这对米奇和他的团队来说是一个挑战：真正专注于他们需要做的事情，以便一旦打破六年的季后赛荒，就能做好准备。这就是未来的挑战。所以，是的，从现在开始一切都与季后赛有关：轮换会是什么样子，巩固一切，卡特·布莱恩特会打多久。
Mike Finger: 你认为卡特·布莱恩特在第一场季后赛能打多久？假设是四月中旬的第一场比赛。他是打 10 分钟的球员？还是只打 2 分钟？我认为这是本赛季余下时间里一个非常现实的问题，即看看你能在多大程度上依赖他。因为杰夫，如你所知，我想你很久以前报道过季后赛，汤姆，回到圣安东尼奥还有季后赛系列赛的时候。
Jeff McDonald: 我不记得了。
Mike Finger: 通常季后赛的轮换会缩减；你不会让那么多人上场。但对于你们两位来说，卡特如何融入？你认为他能争取到一些合法的、有意义的季后赛时间吗？
Tom Orsborn: 他最近表现确实很棒，毫无疑问。但季后赛毕竟是季后赛。那是完全不同的局面。
Jeff McDonald: 还有一点：我们从未和米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 一起打过季后赛。如果是 2017 或 2018 年的波波维奇，我大概能预见到会发生什么——轮换肯定会缩减，比起几乎没打过 NCAA 锦标赛的 20 岁新秀，你肯定更信任像哈里森·巴恩斯这样打过季后赛的 33 岁老将。那是波波维奇的做法。我知道这些年来球迷有时对此感到恼火。
Mike Finger: 经典的乔治·希尔那句台词是什么？“这些季后赛不适合乔治。”德胡安·布莱尔新秀年也是一样。我是说，那家伙大半个赛季都在首发，然后到了这个时间点，该说“我们要确定季后赛轮换了”，布莱尔就不再首发了，几乎没怎么打，他在职业生涯第一个季后赛里当然没什么存在感。那是波波维奇的做法，无论好坏，我能理解原因。你想信任那些经历过大场面的人。在季后赛这种每场比赛的每一秒、每一次球权都至关重要的时刻，教练很难信任一个可能会无意中浪费掉球权的人。所以他们总是倾向于用老将。至于米奇是否会在进入季后赛后也走这条路，还有待观察。我没法回答这个问题，因为我不知道米奇如何对待季后赛。
Mike Finger: 这还有另一个不同点，虽然很显而易见，但马刺现在并没有很多经验丰富的球员。所以即使是那些你不选卡特·布莱恩特而去依赖的人——我对这些人没意见——但凯尔登·约翰逊、德文·瓦塞尔，这些所谓的“老将”，他们也还没打过一分钟季后赛呢。
Jeff McDonald: 但比起布莱恩特，他们还是会更信任这些人。
Mike Finger: 但对很多人来说这都是全新的。我想看待这个问题的方式是，卡特·布莱恩特需要充分利用剩下的机会来证明自己。因为我认为可以公平地说，米奇和教练组大概会根据他接下来的表现来评价他。如果他们能稍微信任他一点，也许他会得到一些季后赛时间。但我认为他现在大概排在轮换顺位的第 10 位，很多球队在季后赛只用 8 到 9 个人，所以这不奇怪。我们会拭目以待。
Tom Orsborn: 他排第 10，但最近表现很好，并且在有限的时间里证明了自己能产生影响力。所以这会很有趣。
Mike Finger: 而且总会有伤病。我敢断言马刺在季后赛的某个时刻会需要卡特·布莱恩特——甚至不用加“如果”，我认为他们肯定会需要他。他能建立起一些信心就太好了。希望那个扣篮大赛的事没太影响他。但我认为他能挺过去。一周后就没人记得了。汤姆，你有异议吗？
Tom Orsborn: 再次声明，这是一个马刺播客。我认为马刺球迷会记住这些事的。你是在代表更广泛的受众说话。
Mike Finger: 额，他听起来就像个讨厌一切的老头。我们讨厌扣篮大赛，讨厌颁奖，那你喜欢什么？他母亲在遇到索汉后肯定在想：“为什么我儿子不能多像杰里米一点？我哪一步走错了？”
Tom Orsborn: 你喜欢什么？这就是我——这就是我的问题。你喜欢什么？
Mike Finger: 作为一个老头子，现在的扣篮大赛简直荒谬。但没孩子喜欢它。我知道我们没有年轻观众。
Tom Orsborn: 那你想把它换成全明星麦肯训练赛吗？你想干嘛？三人传切上篮？别逗了。
Mike Finger: 我是说没有孩子喜欢那个扣篮大赛。没有 X 世代，没有千禧一代，没有 Y 世代——有 Y 世代吗？没有 Z 世代，没有——阿尔法、布拉沃、查理、回声世代是什么？没有哪一代人喜欢 2020 年代版的扣篮大赛。不喜欢扣篮大赛并不代表我老了，这说明我还是个活生生的人。如果有人喜欢扣篮大赛，并且在一周后布莱恩特对阵猛龙上场时还在想那件事——我把马刺球迷也算在内——马刺球迷会说：“哦，他扣篮大赛没扣进去，我怀疑他能不能防住桑德罗·马穆凯拉什维利。”得了吧伙计，没人在乎。扣篮大赛太离谱了。
Tom Orsborn: 这家伙的全明星周六晚活动内容应该包括防守滑步比赛。
Mike Finger: 另外，全明星周六晚活动在“蓝盘特价餐”和“早鸟特价餐”之前就结束了。那是周六下午。
Tom Orsborn: 那是因为奥运会吗？因为 NBC 要播奥运会？好吧。那不会一直这样的。你可以到晚上黄金时段再看你的防守滑步。必看电视节目。
Mike Finger: 还有那个哈珀什么的——汤姆甚至还没分析呢。那内容可真带劲，伙计。带劲。
Tom Orsborn: 那部分最精彩的还是事后父亲和儿子们之间的互动。看着挺有趣的。很娱乐。
Mike Finger: 我告诉你整个周末我看的那一丁点内容里我最喜欢的：我最喜欢的是迪伦绝杀了他的大哥哥。那在“新秀赛”里挺好玩的。汤姆，老朗（Ron Sr.）是不是开了个勒布朗的玩笑，你发给我们那个？
Tom Orsborn: 是的，迪伦的反应简直绝了。那是个伟大的时刻。
Mike Finger: 如果我没记错的话，纠正我一下，他大概是说：“我不像勒布朗，我不会告诉我的孩子如何管理他们的职业生涯。”迪伦挑了挑眉毛，然后用手捂住脸，低下了头。可怜的布朗尼，那孩子得过心脏病还进了 NBA。放过他吧。
Mike Finger: 他不是在嘲笑布朗尼，他是在嘲笑勒布朗。
Jeff McDonald: 是的，我知道。
Mike Finger: 我只是得为你解释清楚。汤姆，当时有多少空座？从电视上看很难判断，尤其是周六——有人在那儿吗？
Tom Orsborn: 上座率不高。
Mike Finger: 因为所有的票都送给了大公司的权贵们。那儿有很多权贵。但我认为在周六下午，票源更多，大家就是没去。这也是市场原因；你知道，在洛杉矶有很多活动。
Mike Finger: 好吧，本周奥斯汀会有很多活动，下周东海岸也会有很多活动。期待下周在播客中和你们一起探讨。希望能再次见到大家。在那之前，互相照顾，保持真实。
[音乐响起]
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：Wemby makes an All-Star effort
Wemby makes an All-Star effort
Columnist Mike Finger and Spurs beat reporters Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss Victor Wembanyama’s effort at the All-Star game and how that effort shows all the time with the Spurs. They also break down why Jeremy Sochan was released by the Spurs.
Suggested reading:
Doug Moe, who coached Spurs to brink of NBA finals in 1979, dies at 87
5 storylines as the Spurs gear up for a stretch run after All-Star break
Spurs All-Star contingent ready for rest after busy weekend
The essence of Victor Wembanyama’s magic? ‘It’s very believable’
Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama unveils portion of summer plans
Here is the transcript of the podcast:
[music plays]
Mike Finger: From a highly secured network of top-secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider post-All-Star edition. I am Mike Finger, joined as always by San Antonio Express-News Spurs beat writers Tom Orsborn and Jeff McDonald. We have lots to get to at the two-thirds mark of the season—the traditional halfway mark of the season. All-Star weekend is behind us, the rest of the rodeo trip is in front of us. We have Austin games coming, and we have a long-anticipated transaction/departure to discuss. But Tom, I’m just going to check in on you first. Have you recovered from the mayhem, the glitz, the glamour, and all the goings-on at the Intuit Dome and in lovely Inglewood and Hawthorne, California, this weekend?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, and I’ve got some hot coffee, which makes everything better.
Mike Finger: Glad that you were able to warm up your coffee before the start of this podcast. We don’t need to get into the behind-the-scenes goings-on of the podcast; we want the behind-the-scenes goings-on at All-Star weekend.
Tom Orsborn: Well, it was good. I enjoyed it. It’s become a much-repeated phrase, but yes, Wemby did set the tone, and everything was a little bit different this year. It was a pretty competitive tournament. I enjoyed watching Wemby get upset and chastise his teammates a little bit. Carter Bryant in the dunk contest—that was tough. I don’t know if they showed video of it; I think I sent some video into the Express-News, but he was pretty shaken afterward. He really took that loss home.
Mike Finger: As were the viewers who were forced to watch another really, really pointless Slam Dunk contest. But go ahead.
Tom Orsborn: Pointless? Man, a nihilist here.
Mike Finger: Did you like it? Did anyone like it? Is there any reason to continue having a Slam Dunk contest? I ask you, I beseech you: who is this for?
Tom Orsborn: I’m just talking about Carter Bryant, how he was shaken. I’m going to stick with talking about Carter Bryant. This is a Spurs podcast. I felt for him. But anyway, yeah, Wemby, that was pretty cool. He went hard, and I like the quote from De’Aaron Fox afterward. He told his teammates, “Hey, this is kind of a toned-down version of what we see in practice every day.” So, yeah, it was fun. I enjoyed it.
Mike Finger: That’s good. Jeff, did you enjoy watching it from home, or did you watch it from home?
Jeff McDonald: I watched some of it, yeah. It was fine.
Mike Finger: I’m eager to hear your thoughts.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, I didn’t watch a whole lot of it, no. I watched the All-Star tournament Sunday, but no, I didn’t watch a lot of the Saturday activities.
Mike Finger: And therein lies what I’m getting at on the Carter Bryant thing. He might be down, and Tom did his excellent reporting of how Carter Bryant’s down, but the upside is no one cares anymore. So even if that’s a low moment for Carter Bryant, people are going to forget about it the moment they forgot about the name of the person who won the Slam Dunk contest, which was immediately after it was over. So young Carter, Tom feels for you, I’m sure a lot of Spurs fans feel for you, but if this is the worst thing that happens to you in your NBA career, you probably had a pretty good NBA career.
Mike Finger: Tom’s right, I think it was Anthony Edwards, the MVP of the All-Star tournament, who after the first quarter game, whatever you want to call it, gave credit to Victor Wembanyama because he played hard, and everybody else played hard. That’s what we’ve been talking about for a couple of years in terms of Victor Wembanyama at the All-Star game: if he plays hard, will everybody else play hard? I’m not sure this format is going to last forever; again, the NBA kind of makes it up as they go along. But that wasn’t terrible.
Mike Finger: But in the bigger Wemby picture, Tom, this was yet, to me watching from home, another example of Victor Wembanyama living up to the moment on a big stage. His team didn’t win, but in what did he play—two of those mini-games—it seemed like his team was deferring to him. His team was following his lead. His team got a tongue-lashing, in a way, in the postgame press conference where he was upset in a Gregg Popovich-esque manner about not closing out on a three-point shooter. But this was his international team, and he again kind of matched the hype, Tom.
Tom Orsborn: Not closing out on a three-point shooter not once, but twice. That set the tone. But yeah, they said you could tell, De’Aaron said you could tell that look on his face that he gets. They knew he meant business and, yeah, they fed him. That was the whole thing; he was going all out, and they wanted to get him the ball. But yeah, I mean, you’re right. He rises to the occasion; we’ve seen it time and time and time again. He takes this seriously, and he doesn’t care what other people think about him, whether that’s not cool or what. He’s going to do what he’s going to do, and that’s admirable.
Mike Finger: The way the games got away reminded me of the 2024 San Antonio Spurs in a way, where Victor was doing crazy stuff and he just couldn’t get help. He didn’t have enough help. Karl-Anthony Towns—I’m not sure Karl-Anthony Towns is ever going to be a Spur after the way that Victor Wembanyama just dressed him down in the postgame news conference. Not by name, but in a Gregg Popovich-esque way.
Mike Finger: I mean, his two best teammates on the world team basically might as well have not played. Luka and Jokic played what, five minutes apiece in the first game? That’s what I’m saying: he didn’t have any help. But another thing that was fun was watching Kawhi. That was something else.
Tom Orsborn: That was an amazing run right there. Yeah.
Mike Finger: Yep. Once again, Kawhi lifting Mitch Johnson to the championship game but couldn’t pull it off. De’Aaron Fox couldn’t pull it off in the end. They lost to the Stars or the Stripes, who won, Tom?
Tom Orsborn: Stars. The Stars won. Slightly younger team than the old heads, the Stripes.
Mike Finger: The Stripes are just snake-bitten. The Stripes are one of the more snake-bitten franchises in All-Star history; just never won the whole thing, though they’ve gotten so close.
Tom Orsborn: But De’Aaron had his moment, hitting a game-winning three in the first game.
Mike Finger: That was a cool one, too. Waiting there in the corner. I think the pass came from Donovan Mitchell, if I’m not mistaken?
Tom Orsborn: You are correct.
Mike Finger: Geez, were you taking notes? And LeBron had a hockey assist. What was interesting about that is that it came down to the last shot. I think Durant’s on the floor, LeBron’s on the floor, Donovan Mitchell’s on the floor, and I think Durant really wanted a shot there and wisely passed out of it when he was double or triple-teamed. Some of the best players in the league had no hesitation about swinging it to De’Aaron Fox in the corner, and he made it.
Tom Orsborn: De’Aaron Fox, who probably would have rather been on vacation but came to embrace it.
Mike Finger: That’s true. That gets us to the San Antonio Spurs games that have occurred since our last podcast, and they were both on the Western Coast of the United States. The last game in San Francisco against the Golden State Warriors, when the Spurs rallied from a huge deficit that I believe Jeff McDonald referred to as insurmountable about halfway through that game.
Jeff McDonald: I never used that word.
Mike Finger: Well, I’m using better vocabulary than you generally use.
Jeff McDonald: You’re putting words in my mouth is what you’re doing.
Mike Finger: I’m summarizing. Have you ever heard of the Reader’s Digest? I’m summarizing your message that there was just an insurmountable lead that the Spurs had.
Jeff McDonald: Oh, so it’s sort of like when you Google something and you get an AI summary at the top? Much better than—no, this is—well, I mean, it’s also inaccurate. This is genuine intelligence as opposed to artificial intelligence.
Mike Finger: Anyway, the Spurs wiped away that deficit tout de suite, very quickly, against the Golden State Warriors, came back, and it was a jolly locker room after the game. De’Aaron Fox was looking forward to spending a weekend at home in Houston—or in San Antonio, actually, with his wife and children. He was boarding the bus that was bound for the Texas plane. There was a host of Spurs players, personnel, coaches, assistants, trainers heading to the Los Angeles plane and, lo and behold, once De’Aaron Fox gets to Texas, he’s close to his house, and he finds out he gets the call. He gets the call.
Tom Orsborn: He was pulling into his home in Houston.
Mike Finger: And he’s being sent back to Southern California, where he takes his kids, who I saw courtside at the Intuit Dome with him. That was a nice moment for him to be able to get that honor—not just playing in the game, but to get that honor. He was a one-time All-Star; he gives the Spurs a second All-Star after politicking from Stephon Castle and Mitch Johnson all saying the Spurs deserve more than one, and they got more than one. So that was good.
Mike Finger: I got to be honest, if I had flown all the way home from San Francisco and was 20 miles from my house, then somebody called me and said, “Hey, good news! You get to cancel your vacation and come back all the way to California tout de suite,” as you said, I might not be so happy about it. I might try to get out of it.
Jeff McDonald: That’s because you’re a miserable person. De’Aaron Fox loves life, he loves being around people, he loves being around his peers. I’m sure he loved it. He was excited.
Mike Finger: I would have been so mad at Giannis for being hurt.
Jeff McDonald: That’s the difference between De’Aaron Fox and Jeff McDonald. I think I have the normal reaction, but that’s okay. I’m glad De’Aaron apparently had a good time.
Mike Finger: You should realize you shouldn’t want to be a miser. The game before that was notable, the night before. It was a back-to-back from Los Angeles to Golden State that the San Antonio Express-News was barely able to navigate and get to the second half of. One member of the Spurs did not have to navigate because after weeks, months, maybe basically a year of speculation, Jeremy Sochan was finally granted his release. No longer a Spur, did not make the trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and now is a New York Knick. Tom, a little sad about that? We all enjoyed talking and dealing with Jeremy.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, I’m sad about it. He was a tough go for him from the start, you know, the point guard experiment. Just never could develop that outside shot. But he’s going to find a niche, I think. He’s the instigator of instigators, and the Knicks need a little toughness, so maybe it’ll work out for him.
Mike Finger: Jeff, what’d you think?
Jeff McDonald: I think if you want to talk about why Jeremy Sochan is no longer a San Antonio Spur, we’ve kind of alluded to it and maybe gone in depth on it a little bit over the last few podcasts. It’s just the way the team began to be built passed him by. When you basically have a lot of guys that are not quite shooters yet, you have a lot of guys you have to play that are not shooters. You trade for De’Aaron Fox, who’s not a 40% three-point shooter—he does a lot of scoring, but he’s not a 40% three-point shooter. You already have Stephon Castle on the roster, same thing. And then you have the number two pick in this draft—you have to take Dylan Harper, I think, and he’s also the same thing. Great scorer, bright future, but not yet a floor-spreading shooter.
Jeff McDonald: When you have that many guys—those three guys I just mentioned—that have to play, that are not floor-spreading shooters, it’s hard to play a fourth one, man. That’s where we were with Jeremy. If there was a different universe where they trade for, hypothetically, Steph Curry and not De’Aaron Fox, well, maybe Jeremy Sochan works out better. Or they have Reed Sheppard and not Stephon Castle, then maybe Jeremy Sochan works a little better. Or Dalton Knecht and not Dylan Harper. But when you have that influx of guys that are your future that aren’t quite the floor-spreading shooters yet, there’s not really room for a fourth.
Jeff McDonald: And so I think that’s where Jeremy kind of fell through the cracks. And then we mentioned a lot of times the second pick the Spurs made in last year’s draft, Carter Bryant, is also a guy that’s going to be an A-plus defender plus give you more offensively. He’s going to take Jeremy’s spot is basically what is going to happen. So Jeremy becomes expendable, he’s not in the rotation, he’s in a contract year, he needs to find someone who will probably possibly give him an opportunity to earn another contract after the season. So since you couldn’t trade him, you end up doing him a solid and letting him go find what hopefully for him are greener pastures in New York. We’ll see how that works out.
Mike Finger: And that’s an excellent Reader’s Digest version of the issues. You hit all the main points. I would only add that it’s not so reductive. I think points one, two, three, four were that he couldn’t become a shooter, couldn’t become a floor-spacing threat, and that was the main reason why he didn’t play more. But when they drafted him, we had people with the Spurs point to Draymond Green as an example—this connective piece who could do all kinds of things and lead to winning. Draymond is a better shooter than Jeremy is, but he’s no Steph Curry either. I think if Jeremy did other things at a higher level—other Draymond Green-type things—I think he would have had a better shot.
Mike Finger: But he was a solid defender, sometimes A-plus, like Jeff mentioned. But I don’t think he had a skill, whether it was passing, rebounding, doing all the other things, finishing, that led you to believe that he could overcome his big weakness. So I think the shooting was a big factor in it, was the main factor in it, but you look at his game and you just wondered what the strengths were aside from being able to defend. If you can get defense from a player who does more things, like Carter Bryant can, I think the writing was on the wall.
Jeff McDonald: I think there are roster configurations where his strengths maybe outweigh his weaknesses, but that’s not the way the Spurs roster has been built. It’s really been built where his strengths are kind of redundant to other people that they have now, and his weaknesses are just glaring. So it just doesn’t fit. The fit wasn’t there. And so maybe he fits better with the Knicks.
Jeff McDonald: It is crazy that the Spurs now in the past few years have had two lottery picks not make it to their second contract with the team. Sochan is one, the other one maybe has an asterisk by it in Josh Primo. I’m not sure that that was completely basketball-related that he didn’t make it to his second contract. But yeah, that’s two whiffs at a time where the Spurs were taking big swings. Pre-Victor, they were taking big swings with those lottery picks, and so sometimes you’re going to whiff on them, and those were two whiffs.
Mike Finger: Primo came out of nowhere; Primo was the one that a lot of people said was a reach on draft night. No one had him pegged there. To just full disclosure here and owning our mistakes, or owning my mistakes, on this podcast, the week—I think a matter of days before the Sochan draft—the host of this podcast endorsed Jeremy Sochan with that pick. And so that’s what the Spurs get for listening to the host of this podcast. Hey Jeff, I’m going to set you up for this one: do you know who ran into Jeremy Sochan at the HEB pharmacy this weekend?
Jeff McDonald: I’m not allowed to say.
Mike Finger: I’ve given you permission.
Jeff McDonald: Your dear sweet mother?
Mike Finger: That is offensive! How dare you tarnish the name of my saint of a mother? But yes, it was her. My mom ran into Jeremy Sochan at the pharmacy, HEB, days after he was waived. She was picking up some stuff. Apparently, they were both shopping for hair dye, right? This tall gentleman with fuchsia-colored hair was waiting for something, and my dear sweet mother said that she enjoyed having him in San Antonio, she would miss him, she wished him well. He said he was—my mom said he was a lovely, sweet, polite young man and couldn’t have been more impressed with the way that he handled all the attention. I think one of the pharmacists asked for a selfie as he picked up his prescription with Jeremy, and Jeremy graciously agreed, and I thought that was nice.
Mike Finger: I know that the people in San Antonio who interacted with Jeremy out and about and enjoyed watching him play are going to miss him. The fans loved him, and you can see why. Not all—Victor Wembanyama, for obvious reasons, is not going to HEB hanging out. Tim was seen out and about every now and then, but shied away from stuff like that. I know Jeremy sort of enjoyed it; Jeremy didn’t mind the attention. That’s a cool personality trait to have when you’re an NBA player, and maybe he’ll enjoy being in New York as well.
Mike Finger: So I was glad you and I ambled up to him and had what turned out to be a last conversation with him at the Crypto.com Arena. That’s a good thing to bring up. We didn’t know he was going to be gone the next day, but it was after the trade deadline, we kind of wanted to check his mood, check his head, where he’s at, what he’s thinking about not being traded. It ended up being kind of a farewell. He said he was really impressed and appreciative of the big ovation—the last ovation he got in San Antonio, I think it was the night of the Dallas game when he was allowed to play the last three minutes of a blowout against the Mavericks and got that warm round of applause from the Frost Bank Center crowd. He said that was all love, that was his family, he really appreciated it.
Mike Finger: We were talking to him before that Lakers game. I think the way that game played out where the Spurs were winning at one point by 40, and I think literally everyone in the building got to play except for Jeremy Sochan—I think by the end of that night, you and I both realized the writing was on the wall and he was probably not going to be there much longer. I walked up to him afterward and sort of asked, “What’s going on, man?” And he said—this is when the alarm bells went off—he said, “No comment.” And that was after the game. I think that’s right as the T’s were being crossed and the I’s were being dotted on all the transactions.
Jeff McDonald: For those listeners and viewers who can’t read between the lines, what ended up happening was clearly the Spurs were working on that buyout with Jeremy Sochan’s people during that game, up to that game, and you can’t play him. You can’t play him in that game and he gets hurt, and now he can’t sign anywhere. So they held him out because they knew he was going to be a free agent. By that point, you know he’s got something lined up with the Knicks already; that’s how those things work. But yeah, you can’t play him and get him hurt, then the Knicks don’t want him anymore, and now he’s homeless, basically.
Mike Finger: So that’s good you brought that up because, Jeff, you are on the social medias and you’re reading all the chatter and the mentions and stuff like that. But I think you had mentioned to me that someone out there had speculated, “Oh, the reason Jeremy left is because he didn’t play against the Lakers.” No, the reason he didn’t play against the Lakers is because he had something working, or the Spurs had something working. So that’s good we clarified that there.
Mike Finger: Big games coming up the rest of the rodeo road trip, which now on an annual basis includes the two Austin games. They can be good-vibes Austin games because there’s no longer any danger of Spurs fans in San Antonio worried that those greedy, yuppie tech-bros up in Austin are going to steal the franchise. Now it’s just a two-game feel-good stretch. The Spurs are going to be in San Antonio forever—or for a long time with the new downtown arena. Austin can just have them for a couple of games.
Mike Finger: Not exactly glamour opponents this year. Last year was the arrival of Kevin Durant back in his old University of Texas stomping grounds. This year, his old team, the Phoenix Suns, are back without Kevin Durant—a Phoenix Suns team that’s done pretty well against the Spurs this year, but not a championship contender. And then the last-place Sacramento Kings are in the Moody Center in Austin for the second of two games against the Spurs. What do we think about those games and the latter portion of the NBA schedule as a whole, as the Spurs—who I believe are as close to first place as they are to third now all of a sudden—attempt to venture towards their first playoff run in more than six years?
Jeff McDonald: If I am not mistaken, I think the Phoenix Suns are going to be missing a very important piece of their roster for that game against the Spurs. Because I believe, unless something has been rescinded, Dylan Brooks has got too many technicals, and he’s suspended for that game.
Mike Finger: That’s a huge one, because Dylan Brooks is the quote-unquote “Wemby stopper” on that team. So that’s a big absence that will give the Spurs a boost. I should have done more research before the show; I believe you’re correct on that, but I don’t know if that’s—that was the truth going into the All-Star break. I have not circled back on that; I’ve been kind of not paying attention to the Phoenix Suns for the All-Star break, but I was going to look that up after we get off the air.
Mike Finger: Well, that’ll be a big one if he’s not there. That’s big news for the Spurs. And the Sacramento one—Sacramento’s always a mess and continues to be a mess. And then you have the big East Coast swing, Tom Orsborn, in Detroit and Toronto, and then a long stretch in New York and Philly for the rest of this road trip. More chances to make hay, perhaps? You got to make hay in Austin while the sun shines. Detroit and Toronto could be an issue, then I think there’s a back-to-back against the Brooklyn Nets. But what’s the feeling on the Spurs moving forward big-picture wise, Tom, in terms of what they can accomplish over the rest of this trip and through the rest of the season?
Tom Orsborn: Well, just for certain, yeah, Brooks will serve his suspension.
Mike Finger: Good to know. Good update.
Tom Orsborn: It’s going to get tougher, I think, the second half. Well, they’ve got to start solidifying things, and that’s going to be the challenge for Mitch and his staff: just really zoning in on what they need to do to prepare once they do snap the six-year drought, to prepare for the playoffs and to get this team ready for it. That’s the challenge going forward. So, yeah, it’s all about the playoffs from here: what’s it going to look like rotation-wise, solidifying just everything, how much Carter Bryant’s going to play.
Mike Finger: How much do you think Carter Bryant will play in the first playoff game? Let’s say game one, in the middle of April. Is he a 10-minute guy? Is he a two-minute guy? That’s a legitimate question, I think, for the rest of the season to see how much you can rely on him. Because Jeff, as you know, I think you covered playoff series way back in the day, Tom, back when there were playoff series in San Antonio.
Jeff McDonald: I don’t remember.
Mike Finger: Typically the playoff rotations shrink a bit; you don’t play as many guys. But for both of you, how does Carter fit in? Do you think he’s going to carve out some legitimate, meaningful playoff minutes?
Tom Orsborn: He’s been pretty good of late, there’s no question about it. But still, playoffs are playoffs. Different animal.
Jeff McDonald: Here’s the other thing: we’ve never done a playoff with Mitch Johnson. If it was Gregg Popovich in 2017 or 2018, I could probably predict what’s going to happen—that of course the rotation is going to shrink, and of course you’re going to trust your 33-year-old veterans who have been in playoff series before, like Harrison Barnes, over your 20-year-old rookie who’s barely played in the NCAA tournament. That would be the Gregg Popovich approach. I know fans over the years sometimes got annoyed by that.
Mike Finger: What was the classic George Hill line? “These playoffs are not for George.” They did the same thing with DeJuan Blair his rookie year. I mean, that guy was starting most of the year, and then right about this time of the year when it’s time to say, “Okay, we’re going to put together our playoff rotation,” DeJuan Blair ain’t starting anymore, and he’s barely playing, and of course he’s not much of a factor in that first playoff series of his career. That would be the Pop approach, for better or worse, and I can understand why. You want to trust guys that have been there. In a playoff series where every second of every game, every possession of every game, is of the utmost importance, it’s hard for a coach to trust someone who might inadvertently waste them. So they always want to go with their vets there. And whether Mitch Johnson will go that way once we get to the playoffs remains to be seen. I can’t answer the question because I don’t know how Mitch approaches playoffs.
Mike Finger: Here’s the other difference there, and it’s pretty obvious, but the Spurs don’t have a lot of guys who’ve been there before. So even the guys who you’re relying on if you don’t go to Carter Bryant—this is nothing against these guys—but Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, old savvy vets who’ve been around forever, they have not played a playoff minute yet.
Jeff McDonald: They’re still going to trust those guys more than Carter Bryant.
Mike Finger: But it’s new to a lot of people. I guess the way to look at this is Carter Bryant needs to be making the most of what he has an opportunity to prove the rest of the way. Because I think it’s fair to say that he’s probably going to be judged by Mitch Johnson and the staff on how he handles these minutes moving forward. If they can trust him a little bit, then maybe he will see some playoff time. But I think he’s probably number 10 now on the pecking order in the rotation, and it wouldn’t be surprising—a lot of teams play eight, nine guys in the playoffs. So we’ll see.
Tom Orsborn: He’s number 10, he’s been pretty good of late, and he’s shown in the few minutes that he does get, he can make an impact. So it’ll be interesting.
Mike Finger: And there are always injuries. I will venture to say that the Spurs will need some Carter Bryant in the playoffs at some point—not even an “if,” I think they’ll need some Carter Bryant in the playoffs. It would be nice for him to build up some confidence. Hopefully, that Slam Dunk thing didn’t shake him too much. But I think he can move on from that. No one will remember that in a week. Do you quibble with that, Tom?
Tom Orsborn: Again, it’s a Spurs podcast. I think Spurs fans will remember these things. You’re speaking for the broader, broader audience.
Mike Finger: Well, it’s just—he feels like an old man that hates everything. We hate the Slam Dunk contest, we hate awards, what do you like? His mother was thinking after that encounter with Jeremy, “Why can’t my son be more like Jeremy? Where did I go wrong?”
Tom Orsborn: What do you like? That’s all I—that was my question. What do you like?
Mike Finger: As an old man, the new Slam Dunk contest is just ridiculous. But no kids like it. We don’t have any young listeners, I know.
Tom Orsborn: You’d like to replace it with the All-Star Mikan drill? What do you want to do? Three-man weave? Come on.
Mike Finger: I’m saying there are no kids who like the Slam Dunk. There are no Gen X, there are no Millennials, there are no Gen Y—is there a Gen Y? There’s no Gen Z, there’s no—what’s Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Echo? There’s no generation that enjoys the 2020s version of the Slam Dunk contest. Not liking the Slam Dunk contest does not make me an old man, it makes me a freaking human. If there’s somebody out there who enjoys the Slam Dunk contest and is going to be thinking about that in a week when Carter Bryant is taking the floor against the Raptors—I’m including Spurs fans here—Spurs fans are like, “Oh, he couldn’t finish the Slam Dunk contest, I wonder how he’s going to handle Sandro Mamukelashvili.” Like, come on man, no one freaking cares. The dunk contest is ridiculous.
Tom Orsborn: This man’s All-Star Saturday night includes a defensive slide competition.
Mike Finger: Also, All-Star Saturday night is over before the blue-plate special, the early bird special. It was Saturday afternoon.
Tom Orsborn: Was that because of the Olympics though? Because NBC had the Olympics? Okay. So it won’t always be that way. You can see your defensive slides at night then, in prime time. Must-see TV.
Mike Finger: And the whatever the Harper thing was—Tom didn’t even analyze that yet. That was riveting stuff, man. Riveting.
Tom Orsborn: The best part of that again was afterward, the interaction between father and his sons. That was pretty fun to watch. That was entertaining.
Mike Finger: I’ll tell you my favorite of the little bit I watched of the entire weekend: my favorite part was Dylan making a game-winner over his big brother. That was fun in the Rising Stars game. And didn’t Ron Sr. make a LeBron crack, Tom, that you sent us?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, and Dylan’s reaction was priceless. That was a great moment.
Mike Finger: Correct me if I got it wrong, but he said something like, “Unlike LeBron, I’m not going to tell my kids how to manage their careers.” Dylan raised his eyebrows, then put his hands over his face, lowered his head. Poor Bronny, that kid had a heart attack and made the NBA. Let’s leave him alone.
Mike Finger: He’s not making fun of Bronny, he’s making fun of LeBron.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, I know.
Mike Finger: I just have to spell this out for you. How many empty seats were there, Tom? It was hard to tell from the TV, especially Saturday—was anybody there?
Tom Orsborn: It wasn’t well attended.
Mike Finger: Because all those tickets are given away to corporate muckety-mucks. A lot of muckety-mucks there. But I think on Saturday afternoon, there are more available, and people just did not show up. It’s the market, too; you know, a lot going on out there in LA.
Mike Finger: Well, there’ll be a lot going on in Austin this week, on the East Coast next week. Looking forward to going over it all with you guys next week on the podcast. We hope to see you again. Until then, take care of each other and keep it real.
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