By Charlie Thaddeus / Pounding The Rock, 2026-11-04 03:40:21
有种赛季中段的感觉了。
第二节进行到某个时刻，马刺领先一分、眼看就要拉开更多，我忽然意识到自己并没有在看比赛。我其实是在看“自己没在看比赛”这件事，这是个更糟糕的爱好，而且显然是我最擅长的。比赛本身没什么问题。比赛就是标签上写的那样：两支已经走上不同轨道的球队之间一场平淡无奇的交锋。十月篮球的新鲜感已经完全褪去，就像夏天转入秋天，“磨砺期”到了。
这一切来得如此之快，真令人吃惊。
当首节的溃败变成第二节的催眠曲时，我的思绪开始飘散。我现在本可以在世界上的任何地方。河内的一张塑料凳，一碗河粉，一点小雨。安第斯山脉的一个山口，稀薄的空气，没有人向我要观点。唉，我该多读书，多看电影。我本该成为那种护照上盖满酷炫印章的人。宇宙交给我的这条珍贵生命，正在埃斯·贝利 (Ace Bailey) 命中一记25英尺急停三分、将爵士的落后缩小到一分时，实时地悄然流逝。
随后斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 上篮不中，我几乎决定就此收工。这一幕既恼人又平淡无奇，我实在受够了。我伸手去拿遥控器，就在这时，一分钟前同样搞砸了一记空接的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 抢下篮板，将球补了进去。距离贝利那记三分仅仅二十秒。没有庆祝。脸上几乎毫无表情。
我很想告诉你，那就是我一直在等待的时刻，但那样说就太刻意了。我一直在寻找的是一个钩子。一个故事，一个缘由，一个催化剂。任何能抵御“强队球迷特有的倦怠感”的东西。而文班昨晚甚至算不上打得好，怎么都算不上。15投5中。三分5投0中。5次失误。他又进入了那种时不时会出现的状态——认定赢球的关键就是瞎扔。
马刺最终还是赢了22分，不是因为什么奇迹，而是因为这套阵容有不止一种打出高水平的方式。所幸的是，马刺的整体大于部分之和。
倒不是说那些“部分”不好。恰恰相反。迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 在第三节过半之前就拿下了他全场17分中的全部得分。斯蒂芬·卡斯尔是一头猛兽。达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 看起来终于像我们花大价钱买来的那个人了。小塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed Jr.) 继续用一种让人觉得将来会很重要的方式抢篮板（昨晚大约七分钟抢了七个）。我们派上场的每一种侧翼组合都自有一番乐趣。
我是说，看看哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)。这位仿佛与时间同寿的老将（他比我小四岁）打出了一个极其活跃的夜晚。他命中了29英尺、25英尺和24英尺的三分球，他满场飞奔，制造麻烦。第四节初段，他和布莱斯·森萨博 (Brice Sensabaugh) 缠在一起，滑倒在地，爬起来后，就在裁判慢镜头回放时死死盯着他。据说那段视频在大约一小时内就在互联网上收获了14万次播放。
关于“磨砺期”的一点在于，它不必意味着什么，这就意味着磨砺期里的一切都可以如其所是。一记补扣。一次漂亮的快攻长传。一位老将死死盯着布莱斯·森萨博。就像，我并不是生下来就渴望拉里·奥布莱恩奖杯的。我只是1996年坐在早餐桌前，在SportsCenter的重播里看到迈克尔·乔丹隔扣里克·施密茨，然后我内心的某个部分毫无战略眼光地说：“对，就要更多这样的。”要“更多这样的”就是全部的诉求，坦白说，至今依然如此。
看看我们。你和我。就像我说的，我们现在本可以在世界上的任何地方，但我们就在这里，在十一月的某个周一晚上，陪着马刺和爵士。河内的塑料凳总有一天还会在那里，但一位早熟的超巨，正经历着他赛季最糟糕的一晚，却像孩子把毛绒玩具掖好被子哄睡那样，把球重新送回了篮筐。
你不必赋予这样的时刻某种更宏大的意义，它才有意义。你在那里。它现在已成为你的一部分，而你亲身经历了它。
如果这都不算特别，我不知道什么才算。
The beautiful game.
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) 2026-11-03 20:08:25
要点总结
- 迪伦·哈珀打起篮球来几乎像是不经意间就很出色。他所做的这些事情令人惊叹、屏息，但当他云淡风轻地拆解另一支球队时，又总有种毫不费力的感觉。第二节他抢断得手，眨眼之间瓦塞尔就接他的传球完成扣篮。第三节他又一次抢断，我还没反应过来，卡斯尔就已经完成空接了。在得分之外，他还贡献了8次助攻和7个篮板。到了这个地步，我几乎已经把这当成理所当然的事了，而我们还仅仅开始触及他能力的一角。想想都可怕！（对我们的对手而言。对我们来说，这只是酷到极致、乐趣无穷。）
- 我知道这只是爵士，该保留几分怀疑，但我永远看不腻马刺推快攻、跑起来的样子。他们以26-9赢下快攻得分，而对手爵士全场只有11次失误，创下犹他赛季新低，所以其中很多是纯粹的抢下篮板就跑。他们还以52-36统治了内线，并在开局打出一波18-2。跑起来吧，伙计们，不知疲倦地跑。抢下球，永远不要停下。这样只有好处：空位三分、轻松上篮的路线、对手可能陷入犯规麻烦。提速。提速。提！速！
- 这不是培养球员该有的方式，而且说实话，我也不懂自己在说什么，但我无比渴望看到小塔里斯·里德的出场时间。我想让他成为大脚怪、哥斯拉、金刚、尼斯湖水怪、地精、食尸鬼和没有良知的丧尸。我想让篮球一看到他上场就瑟瑟发抖，因为它们即将被抢篮板抢到只剩半条命。
- 我喜欢从头赢到尾的比赛。下次你再听到我抱怨一场从头赢到尾的比赛，尽管来我家，从我冰箱里拿一瓶冰镇Waterloo气泡水，作为替我赎罪的报酬。
WWL赛后新闻发布会
那么，你现在是Waterloo派的人了，是吧？
先说清楚，我是四季皆宜的人，但眼下，是的，我的气泡水生涯正处于Waterloo阶段。
有什么特别的原因吗？
有一款黑樱桃口味让我越喝越喜欢，到现在根本戒不掉。它挠到了我大脑中某个奇怪的怀旧角落，那里渴望着我年少时喝过的一款Blue Sky汽水。你还记得Blue Sky汽水吗？
模模糊糊。是不是罐子挺酷的？
对，罐子很酷。我也说不清。我想我当时从未体验过可口可乐和百事家族谱系之外还存在汽水这个概念，所以当我去度假，看到一罐造型疯狂的汽水，一颗樱桃坐在云朵上，那一刻……我的大脑有点宕机了，我非买不可。
好喝吗？
谁知道呢？我那时才六岁。我离开了德州的酷暑，第二天在科罗拉多的一个山间小镇醒来，啜饮着一罐仿佛来自天堂的陌生汽水。也许好喝，也许不好喝，但它在我灵魂深处搅动了某种东西，我想我从此一直在寻找它。
而黑樱桃口味的Waterloo正好挠中了这个痒处？
没错。而且Publix超市还经常把它放进买一送一的活动里，这样的便宜我怎么能不占呢。
由生成式 AI 翻译，翻译内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Jazz
What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Jazz
It’s giving midseason.
Somewhere in the second quarter, with the Spurs up one and about to be up more, I realized I wasn’t watching the game. I was, instead, watching myself not watch the game, which is a worse hobby and the one I’m apparently best at. The game was fine. The game was exactly what it said on the label: a nondescript tilt between two teams already headed down different tracks. The shine of October basketball had worn off completely and, like summer turning to fall, the Grind had arrived.
Shocking how quickly that happens.
As a first quarter blowout turned into a 2nd quarter snoozer, my brain began to wander a bit. I could be anywhere in the world right now. A plastic stool in Hanoi, a bowl of pho, a little light rain. A mountain pass in the Andes, thin air, nobody asking me for a take. Man, I should be reading books. Seeing films. I should be the kind of person whose passport has all those cool stamps in it. This one precious life the universe handed me was unraveling in real time as Ace Bailey stepped into a 25-foot pull-up three to cut the Jazz’s deficit to one.
Then Stephon Castle missed a layup and I almost decided to call it a night. It was as annoying as it was unremarkable and I just didn’t need it anymore. I reached for the remote and, as I did, Victor Wembanyama, who a minute earlier had similarly flubbed an alley-oop, grabbed the rebound and tipped it back in. Twenty seconds after Bailey’s three. No celebration. Barely a facial expression.
I’d love to tell you that’s the moment I’d been looking for, but that would be too tidy. What I’d been searching for was a hook. A story, a cause, a catalyst. Anything to hold off the particular ennui of being a fan of a good team. And Wemby wasn’t even good last night, not by any stretch. Five of fifteen. Zero for five from three. Five turnovers. He was in that mode he gets in from time to time where he decides the Key to Victory is to simply chuck it.
The Spurs won by 22 anyway, not because of a miracle but because this roster has more than one way to be competent. The Spurs are, mercifully, more than the sum of their parts.
Not that the parts are bad. Quite the contrary. Dylan Harper scored all 17 of his points before the third quarter was half over. Stephon Castle is an animal. De’Aaron Fox looks like the guy we paid for. Tarris Reed continues to grab rebounds in a way that feels like it’s going to be important (seven in about seven minutes last night). Every wing combination we’ve thrown on the court is its own kind of fun.
I mean, look at Harrison Barnes. A man as old as time itself (he’s four years younger than me) had an insanely active night. He knocked down threes from 29, 25 and 24 feet, he ran around, he caused trouble. Early in the fourth he got tangled up with Brice Sensabaugh, slid across the floor, got back up, and just stared at him while the refs reviewed it in slow motion. I’m told that clip racked up 140,000 views on the world wide web within about an hour.
The thing about the Grind is that it doesn’t have to mean anything, which means that everything within the Grind gets to be exactly what it is. A tip dunk. A well executed outlet pass. An old man staring down Brice Sensabaugh. Like, I didn’t come out of the womb craving the Larry O’Brien trophy. I just was at my breakfast table in 1996 watching Michael Jordan dunk on Rik Smits during a SportsCenter rerun, and some part of me said, with zero strategic vision, “Yes. More of that.” More of that was the entire ask and, frankly, it still is.
Look at us. You and me. Like I said, we could be anywhere in the world right now, but we’re right here with the Spurs and the Jazz on a Monday night in November. The stools in Hanoi will still be there someday, but a precocious superstar, having the worst night of his season, is putting a ball back through the hoop like a child tucking in his stuffed animals for the night.
You don’t have to impress some greater importance on a moment like that to make it mean something. You were there. It’s a part of you now and you got to live it.
If that isn’t special, I don’t know what is.
The beautiful game.
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) 2026-11-03 20:08:25
Takeaways
- Dylan Harper seems almost casually good at basketball. It’s remarkable and breathtaking, these things he’s doing, but it also has that effect of seeming effortless when he’s casually dismantling another team. In the second quarter he stole the ball and in a blink Vassell was dunking off his pass. In the third, he stole it again and Stephon was finishing an alley-oop before I’d even registered it. He added 8 assists and 7 rebounds on top of all his scoring. I find myself almost taking it for granted at this point, and we’ve really only started to scratch the surface of what he’s capable of. Scary to think about! (For our opponents. For us it’s just exceedingly cool and fun.)
- I know it’s just the Jazz, grain of salt and all that, but I never get tired of seeing the Spurs get out on the break and run. They won fast-break points 26-9, against a Jazz team that turned it over just 11 times, a season low for Utah, so a lot of that was pure rebound-and-go. They also won the paint 52-36 and opened the game on an 18-2 run. Run for days my boys. Grab the ball and never stop running. Only good can come from this. Open looks from three, easy paths to the rim, potential foul trouble for the opponents. Push that pace. Push that pace. PUSH THAT PACE.
- This is not how development works and, to be clear, I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I absolutely crave Tarris Reed minutes. I want him to become a Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong, Loch Ness, Goblin, ghoul and a zombie with no conscience. I want basketballs to fear him checking into the game because they’re about to get rebounded to within an inch of their lives.
- I love a wire-to-wire win. Next time you hear me complaing about a wire to wire win feel free to come to my house and take an ice cold waterloo out of my fridge as payment for my sins.
WWL Post Game Press Conference
So, you’re a Waterloo Man, eh?
I’m a man of all seasons, to be clear, but right now, yes, I am currently in a Waterloo phase of my Sparkling Water career.
Any particular reason?
There is a particular Black Cherry flavor I’ve grown fond of and I just can’t stay away at this point. It scratches this weird nostalgic part of my brain that yearns for a Blue Sky soda I had in my youth. Do you remember Blue Sky soda?
Vaguely. That had kind of cool cans?
Yeah, the cans were cool. I don’t know. I think I had just never experienced the concept of a soda that existed outside the mainstream world of the Coca-Cola and Pepsi family trees, so when I went on vacation and saw this crazy looking can with a cherry sitting on a cloud it just… broke my brain a little bit and I had to have it.
Did it taste good?
Who could say? I was six years old. I’d left the summer heat in Texas and woken up the next day in a Colorado mountain town sipping an alien soda from heaven. Maybe it was good, maybe it wasn’t, but it stirred something deep in my soul that I think I’ve been searching for ever since.
And Black Cherry Waterloos scratch that itch for you?
They do. Publix also pretty regularly throws them in Buy One Get Ones for me and who am I to turn down a deal like that.
By Charlie Thaddeus / Pounding The Rock
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