By Lee Dresie | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-06-15 18:00:00
在2022-23赛季开始前，我写过一篇文章，探讨了马刺从失利中学习的重要性。文章的标题是《在一个马刺赢球不会太多的赛季里，去寻找微小的胜利》。在文章的结尾，我写道：
在我们的生活中，以及在看着这支马刺队在本赛季艰难前行的过程中，让我们都试着去拥抱那些微小的胜利，即使它们并不总能转化为积分榜上的胜场。
当然，那个输球不断的赛季最终在选秀抽签仪式上迎来了一场巨大的胜利——马刺抽中了NBA选秀的状元签。随后，他们聪明地选择了一位高个子法国球员，而不是斯库特·亨德森 (Scoot Henderson)。时光飞逝，在2025-26赛季开始前，我撰写了一篇文章分析西部联盟的竞争格局，并在结尾写道：
虽然2025-26赛季的马刺现实地看无法指望挑战去年的前五名，但他们可以将目光投向接下来的三支球队，以及附加赛的败者独行侠和国王。
让我们把目标定在西部第6。然后或许在季后赛首轮对阵快船。这听起来靠谱吗？
在2025年9月，这听起来确实挺靠谱，而且不仅仅是我一个人这么想。拉斯维加斯给马刺开出的胜场预测（Over/Under）是43.5胜，勉强超过五成胜率。而2025-26赛季的实际积分榜显示，43或44胜只能让马刺排在西部第7。这意味着，如果这支理论上拿到43胜的马刺赢下了附加赛，他们将在首轮对阵西部第2。
再看看赛季实际结束后的积分榜，我们那支43胜的马刺队将在季后赛首轮对阵……圣安东尼奥马刺队——他们实际打出了62胜20负的战绩，而不是拉斯维加斯预测的43.5胜。在这场理论上的首轮对决中，我绝对会预测马刺胜出。毕竟，如果系列赛打满，他们将在全部7场比赛中都拥有主场优势。
当然，这支马刺队是那支斩获62胜的超级强权，而不是那支勉强过半胜率、甚至需要通过附加赛才能挤进“真正”季后赛的球队。而这支超级强权在通往总决赛的道路上，历经了首轮对阵开拓者时维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的脑震荡伤退、次轮对阵森林狼时维克托的被驱逐出场，以及在面对卫冕冠军时一度2-3落后——包括在俄克拉荷马城（OKC）进行的一场“赢球或回家”的抢七大战。
那么，为什么我现在感觉如此糟糕呢？答案很简单——马刺本可以、也本应该赢得总冠军。但他们没有，这让人痛心。一旦他们打进总决赛，所有季前那些过于悲观的预测、所有季后赛的艰难险阻，以及所有专家口中“他们太年轻”的论调，全都被抛到了九霄云外。马刺站在了总决赛的舞台上，每场比赛都曾领先达到两位数，这轮总决赛本可以轻松演变成一场5场解决战斗的马刺加冕礼，而不是如今我们看到的结局。
对我而言，最痛苦的时刻是在第四场比赛之后。当第五场比赛以及总决赛尘埃落定时，我才意识到自己已经在周三晚上失眠时耗尽了所有的焦虑。在第四场那场如同慢动作般展开的噩梦之后，我实在无法在这么短的时间内再次积聚起同等程度的焦虑。周六晚上总决赛过早地画上句号后，我睡得还算安稳。周日上午，我起床去打周日晨光篮球赛，将自己沉浸在球场上——传球、投篮、努力防守，只是和我的球友们待在一起。那是我的避港湾，我的圣殿。重新站在篮球场上的感觉真好。
周日上午打完球开车回家的路上，我母亲从俄勒冈州打来电话。我们每个周日上午都会通电话。她说她读到了很多批评米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 的言论。我告诉了她两件事。
第一，我告诉她，周三之后我什么都没读——甚至连《砸石之声》（Pounding the Rock）都没看。我亲眼看了第四场比赛，不需要（也不想）去阅读任何关于周三晚上到底出了什么差错才导致那个结果的报道。
第二，我告诉她，当那些“键盘侠”专家对教练的决定指手画脚时，我觉得既好笑又气愤。我曾待过更衣室、参加过教练会议、经历过数百次训练、参与过紧张的中场战术调整，也曾在比赛期间坐在替补席上。我不明白，那些没有任何这类经历的人，怎么会认为自己比那些与这支马刺队朝夕相处、并以此为全职工作的人更懂球。
甚至连一些前球员，其中不乏名人堂成员，也患有这种“我更懂”的通病。在第五场比赛的中场休息时，其中一位名人堂成员表示，马刺在下半场不应该让达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 上场。这到底是什么意思？难道要让斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 在下半场各自打满24分钟吗？当然不可能。顺便提一句，查克 (Chuck) 显然认为应该在下半场打满24分钟的这两位后卫之一，在同一场比赛的上半场一球未进，并且在比赛的前47分钟里没有投中任何一个球。查克，你还是老老实实当你的评论员吧，当教练可没那么简单。
最后一个想法：马刺最痛苦的失利，甚至比在麦迪逊广场花园输掉的第四场还要糟糕的，是2013年雷·阿伦 (Ray Allen) 投中绝平三分的那场比赛。如果不是马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 和科怀·莱昂纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 在最后一分钟罚丢了罚球，如果不是热火队打铁后球权出现了一些诡异的弹跳，如果不是阿伦在底角后退中投中的那个三分，马刺在2013年就已经夺冠了。为了下个赛季的重整旗鼓，球队做了什么？他们带回了原班人马。
如果不是因为罚丢了一些罚球和上篮、尼克斯队投进了无数个不讲理的三分、维克托传给卡斯尔的那个“脑后传球”、OG·阿奴诺比 (OG Anunoby) 对福克斯的封盖、唐斯 (KAT) 在第四场最后时刻用指尖蹭到了哈珀传给处于大空位的卡斯尔的传球，以及其他多到无法在此一一列举的诡异事件，今年的这支球队在2026年本该夺冠。为了下个赛季的重整旗鼓，球队应该怎么做？
让我们原班人马再战一年。
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：The end of a remarkable and unexpected season
The end of a remarkable and unexpected season
Before the 2022-23 season, I wrote a piece about the importance of the Spurs learning from losses. The title was “Watching for small victories in a season that won’t feature many Spurs wins”. I ended the piece with this:
In our lives, and watching this Spurs team struggle through this season, let’s all try to embrace the small victories, even if they don’t all translate into wins in the standings.
Of course, that season of abundant losses ended with a huge victory at the draft lottery when the Spurs got the top pick in the NBA draft. They then cleverly chose a tall French player instead of Scoot Henderson. Fast forwarding to before the start of the 2025-26 season, I ended a piece about the strength of the Western Conference with this:
While the 2025-26 Spurs cannot realistically expect to challenge the top five from last year, they can set their sights on the next three, along with Play-In losers Mavs and Kings.
Let’s aim for that 6-spot. And maybe face the Clippers in Round One. Does that sound about right?
That might have sounded right in September 2025, and it was not just me. The Vegas over/under for the Spurs was 43.5 wins, barely over a .500 record. The actual 2025-26 standings reveal that 43 or 44 wins would have gotten the Spurs the 7th spot in the West. That means if the theoretical 43-win Spurs won their Play-In game, they would have matched up with the 2nd seed in the West.
Looking again at the standings as the season actually played out, our 43-win Spurs team would have played the first round of the playoffs against … the San Antonio Spurs, who went 62-20, not the 43.5 wins predicted by Las Vegas. In that theoretical first round match-up, I would definitely have picked the Spurs to win. After all, they would have home-court advantage for all 7 games, if it went that long.
Of course, this Spurs team was the 62-win team juggernaut, not the barely over .500 team that would have had to win a Play-In game to even make it into the “real” playoffs. And the juggernaut team had to survive a Victor Wembanyama concussion against the Blazers in the first round, a Victor ejection against the Timberwolves in the second round, and a 3-2 deficit against the defending champs — including a “win or go home” Game Seven in OKC — to even reach the NBA Finals.
So why do I feel so terrible now? The answer is easy — the Spurs could have and should have won it all. They didn’t, and it hurts. Once they made the Finals, all the way too pessimistic preseason predictions, all the playoff hardship, all the “they are too young” pundits went out the window. The Spurs were in the NBA Finals, led every game by double digits, and the Finals could have easily been a 5-game Spurs coronation instead of what actually happened.
For me, the most pain was after Game Four. When Game Five and the Finals ended, I realized I had spent all my angst not sleeping Wednesday night. I simply could not summon up the same amount of angst so soon after the Game Four slowly unfolding nightmare. I slept OK after the Finals ended way too soon Saturday night, got up Sunday for my Sunday morning hoops, and lost myself on the court —passing, shooting, trying to defend, just hanging with my hoops buddies. My safe spot, my sanctuary. It felt good to be on the basketball court.
On the drive home after the Sunday morning game, my mother called from Oregon. We try to talk every Sunday morning. She said she read a bunch of stuff criticizing Mitch Johnson. I told her two things.
First, I told her I had not read anything — not even Pounding the Rock — after Wednesday. I had watched Game Four and didn’t need to (and didn’t want to) read about all the things that went wrong on Wednesday night that led to that result.
Second, I told her that I find it amusing/infuriating when arm-chair pundits criticize coaching decisions. I have been in locker rooms, coaches’ meetings, hundreds of practices, intense halftime strategy sessions, and on the bench during games. I don’t understand how people who have not had any of those experiences believe they know better than the people who have — with this Spurs team — and who do this as their full-time jobs.
Even ex-players, some who are Hall-of-Famers, have this disease of “knowing better”. At halftime of Game Five, one of those Hall-of-Famers said that the Spurs should not play De’Aaron Fox in the second half. What does that even mean? Were Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper supposed to each play 24 minutes in the second half? Of course not. In related news, one of the two guards Chuck apparently thought should play all 24 minutes in the second half had zero baskets in the first half of that very game and did not make a single basket in the first 47 minutes. Stick to being a commentator, Chuck. Coaching is hard.
One final thought: The Spurs’ most painful loss, even worse than Game Four in Madison Square Garden, was the Ray Allen game in 2013. Absent missed free throws by Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard in the last minute, some funky bounces on Heat bricks, and Allen’s back-pedaling three from the corner, the Spurs would have been champions in 2013. What did the team do to re-tool for the next season? They brought back the entire team.
This year’s team would have been champions in 2026 absent some missed free throws and lay-ups, numerous crazy threes from the Knicks, Victor’s “back-pass” to Castle, OG Anunoby’s block on Fox, KAT’s fingertip on Harper’s pass to a wide open Castle at the end of Game Four, and too many other weird things to list here. What should the team do to re-tool for next season?
Let’s run it back.
By Lee Dresie, via Pounding The Rock