By Vincent Goodwill, 2026-06-03 08:43:40
圣安东尼奥——杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 已经见识过NBA几乎所有的防守策略，但总决赛对这位纽约尼克斯队的控卫来说，或许是迄今为止最大的挑战。
圣安东尼奥马刺队拥有年轻且活力满满的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)，以及在后方为其撑腰、实力宛如天外来客的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。在西部决赛中，卡斯尔限制住了俄克拉荷马雷霆队蝉联常规赛MVP的谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)，同时他的季后赛防守功劳簿上还赫然写着安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards)、明尼苏达森林狼队的朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 以及波特兰开拓者队的德尼·阿夫迪亚 (Deni Avdija) 的名字。
在两队系列赛于周三开打之前，卡斯尔显然已经赢得了布伦森极大的尊重和高度重视。
“他非常出色。我认为他的防守强度和韧性非同寻常，”布伦森周二在圣安东尼奥霜银中心（Frost Bank Center）的媒体日上表示，“他打球时总是憋着一股劲，充满斗志。自从我在康涅狄格大学 (UConn) 关注他以来，他一直都是这样。从他职业生涯前几年的表现来看，他将会成为一名伟大的球员和顶尖的防守者。”
在今年季后赛中，布伦森并不需要经常化身“超级英雄”，但现在或许到了需要他挺身而出的时刻。因为比起尼克斯队在晋级总决赛道路上横扫的费城76人和克利夫兰骑士队，马刺队显然要难对付得多。
在已进行的14场季后赛中，布伦森场均依然能贡献27分和6.6次助攻。但在有限的样本中，卡斯尔在防守布伦森时取得了不错的成效。根据Genius IQ的数据统计，在两人直接对位时，卡斯尔将布伦森的命中率限制在仅有11投3中（27.3%）。
“我认为对我有效的防守方式是尝试与他进行身体对抗，”卡斯尔说道，“他显然比我矮，但他是一名身体对抗能力极强的后卫，非常擅长寻找自己的出手点。他善于运用假动作，并且拥有出色的脚步。”
“我需要尽可能保持防守纪律性，挤压他的施展空间，同时不给他想要的突破角度。到了这个阶段，他几乎见识过所有的防守策略，也被用各种方式防守过。”
克利夫兰骑士队的迪恩·韦德 (Dean Wade) 在常规赛对阵布伦森时也曾有过类似的防守数据，但到了关键的季后赛，这些数据便失去了意义。卡斯尔在本赛季差一点就入选了NBA最佳防守阵容，他是所有未能挤进10人双防阵容名单的球员中得票数最多的一位。
马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 对卡斯尔的防守能力赞不绝口，但他并没有将这位二年级后卫与联盟历史上那些最伟大的防守大师相提并论，原因很简单：“我可不想被舆论口诛笔伐。”
“但就能量输出而言，当你想到他在攻防两端所做的一切时，这会让你联想到一些极少数的伟大名字。你可能不想直接说出那些名字，因为你并不想拿他去和某位具体的人做比较，”约翰逊表示。
“这与维克托的情况类似，在进攻端和防守端，他基本上都处于我们每一次战术配合的核心位置，而且他手上掌握着球权。”
而且，马刺的防守武器库里不仅仅只有卡斯尔。当然，还有文班亚马在禁区巡逻，或者放空乔什·哈特 (Josh Hart) 来进行协防延误。此外，迪恩·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)、德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 以及其他许多球员也可以在特定时间段换防布伦森。如果说尼克斯队在东部决赛中将詹姆斯·哈登 (James Harden) 视为了“点名”针对的目标，那么在这轮系列赛中，尼克斯将很难找到这样可以轻易利用的防守软肋。
“是的，他们的身体对抗非常激烈。从他们的打法来看，显然他们能够在外线施加极大的压迫感，”布伦森说道，“当然，有文班在弱侧协防会制造巨大的混乱。他们是一支多维度的球队，在攻防两端都有很多击败你的手段。”
除此之外，在分区决赛和总决赛之间的间歇期，在等待马刺队和雷霆队打满七场生死战的同时，布伦森还必须时刻关注并调整好自己球队的状态。
在东部决赛前等待骑士队的这一周多时间里，尼克斯队经历了一段漫长的休整期。这导致纽约人在首场比赛中一度落后多达20分以上，随后凭借一波狂暴的反扑将比赛拖入加时，最终尼克斯重新掌控局势并击溃了骑士队。
布伦森可不敢指望如果球队在总决赛首战中再次表现慢热，还会出现类似的逆转剧情。
“当我们在训练馆时，我们非常专注，”布伦森说，“我们训练得很刻苦，因为我们知道在还不确定对手是谁的情况下，必须对两支球队都做好准备。我们不想让自己陷入被动。”
“对我们来说，利用好那几天时间至关重要，因为我们都看到了上一次在经历休息日后，我们在第一场比赛中的开局有多糟糕。我觉得那几天的备战非常关键，对我们而言确实意义重大。”
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：Jalen Brunson wary of Stephon Castle's defensive prowess
Jalen Brunson wary of Stephon Castle’s defensive prowess
SAN ANTONIO – Jalen Brunson has seen just about every defensive coverage the NBA has to offer, but the Finals present perhaps the biggest challenge of all for the New York Knicks guard.
The San Antonio Spurs have the duo of young and energetic Stephon Castle, and otherworldly Victor Wembanyama backing him up. Castle stymied back-to-back Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, and also has Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers on his postseason jacket.
It appears Castle has Brunson’s utmost respect and attention before the teams’ series begins Wednesday.
“He’s great. I think his intensity and tenacity is special,” Brunson said during media day at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center on Tuesday. “He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s had that since I’ve seen him at UConn. The way he’s played over these first couple years of his career, he’s going to be a great player, great defender.”
Brunson hasn’t had to put on his cape often this postseason, but the moment might call for it as the Spurs figure to be far more competitive than the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, the two teams the Knicks swept on the way to the NBA Finals.
Brunson is still averaging 27 points and 6.6 assists in 14 playoff games. Castle has had success against Brunson in a limited sample size. Per genius IQ, Castle held Brunson to 3-of-11 shooting (27.3%) when matched up.
“I think what’s worked for me is trying to be physical with him,” Castle said. "He’s obviously shorter than me, but he’s a very physical guard, he gets to his spots well. Uses deception well, has great footwork.
“Trying to be as disciplined as I can, crowd his space, but not give him the angles that he’s looking for. At this point he’s seen pretty much every coverage, been guarded all kinds of ways.”
Cleveland’s Dean Wade had similar regular-season numbers against Brunson, but it amounted to nothing when it counted. Castle just missed making the NBA All-Defensive team this season, the player who received the most votes without getting one of the 10 spots.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson gushed over Castle’s defensive prowess but stopped short of putting the second-year guard with some of the league’s greatest names simply because, “I don’t want to get crucified.”
“But in terms of output of energy, when you think about what he’s doing defensively and offensively, it takes you to some really rare territory of names that you may not want to say in terms of because you’re not comparing him to that person or this person,” Johnson said.
“It’s similar to Victor in terms of he’s basically in the middle of every single play for us offensively, defensively, but he’s on the basketball.”
And it’s not only Castle. Of course, there’s Wembanyama patrolling the lane, or playing off Josh Hart to hedge defensively. There’s also Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and so many others who can switch onto Brunson for stretches. If the Knicks targeted James Harden in the conference finals, there’s no such easy matchup for the Knicks to exploit in this series.
“Yeah, they’re very physical. The way they play, obviously, they’re able to pressure on the perimeter,” Brunson said. “Obviously, having Wemby down there on the weak side creates havoc. They’re multidimensional. A lot of ways they can beat you on both sides of the ball.”
In addition to that, Brunson has had to keep his pulse on his team in the break between the conference finals and Finals while waiting on the Spurs and Thunder to go a full seven games.
In waiting over a week for the Cavaliers before the East finals, the Knicks had an extended break. It resulted in the New York falling behind by 20-plus points in Game 1 before a furious rally sent the game to overtime, followed by the Knicks regaining control and devastating the Cavaliers.
Brunson isn’t banking on similar circumstances if his team comes out sluggish.
“When we were in the gym, we were focused,” Brunson said. "We were practicing pretty hard, understanding that not knowing who we were playing yet, we had to prepare for both teams. We didn’t want to be behind the eight ball.
“It was really important for us to have those days because we saw how we came out in Game 1 last time when we had the rest days. I feel it’s really important those days we had, it was important for us, for sure.”
By Vincent Goodwill, via ESPN