Paul, look what you did to the Spurs!

Darren Terry tried his best, lost balance and flew out of bounds, but failed to block Castle's breakthrough.

Jaylen Smith, who came to help, was also feinted by Castle. The Spurs guard did not attack the basket directly. Instead, he flicked his wrist and accurately fed the ball to the mouth of Vunbanyama who was ambushing under the basket.

The moment Ban Wen caught the ball, he was quite surprised. His unguarded posture told everyone what he was thinking - "Castle can actually pass this ball?"

After this assist, the Spurs sounded the counterattack horn, and then Wenbanyama scored 18 points in the final quarter to help the Spurs reverse the Bulls' performance.

Now Castle is already a real point guard who can be reassuring at critical moments in the game.

But a year ago, people were still full of doubts about the issue of "Castle playing point guard".

"The key point in evaluating Castle is, does he have the qualities to be a point guard at a higher level?"

This has been the biggest question that scouts have had about Castle since he was in high school.

The second-year Castle finally responded to this question that had been lingering on him for a long time.

So far this season, the Spurs defender has averaged 7.7 assists per game, ranking 12th in the league.

Although Castle also topped the turnover list with 4.3 turnovers per game, objectively speaking, the adaptation period at the beginning of the season and the running-in period for newcomers have raised this number.

In the last three games, and after Fox returned, Castle's error control has obviously gone up to a higher level.

He only made a total of 8 turnovers in the three games, but he had assists in double figures in three consecutive games, creating a total of 37 pieces of pie for his teammates.

As the season progresses and Castle gets better, his assist-to-turnover ratio will only get better and better.

This is a fact supported by Castle's excellent game content. If you follow the Spurs' games, you will find that Castle's maturity in handling the ball on the court is far less outrageous than the number of turnovers. On the contrary, you will feel that this 21-year-old is lifting a weight with ease.

Although the Spurs have the monster Wenban, playing point guard next to Wenban is not as simple as throwing the ball into the sky and waiting for him to dunk it in...

Therefore, the new Spurs coach Mickey Johnson is willing to hand over the ball to him and let him give orders.

This season, Castle has become the engine of the Spurs' pick-and-roll. In this big-pot team, Castle initiated 70 pick-and-rolls, the 12th most in the league; the proportion of personal offensive methods increased from 23.7% to 34.5%.

Although the pick-and-roll gain of 0.81 points per round is not a "master level", it is definitely enough.

You must know that Josh Guidy, who is already the "Chicago Magic", has only earned 0.65 points from pick-and-rolls this season...

It is not surprising that Castle can become a mature and seasoned commander in one summer.

Because after the Spurs selected Castle last season, they made up their mind to let him play point guard, and assigned him the best teacher-the oldest point guard in the league, Chris Paul.

Paul, who has seen countless geniuses and worked with countless great players, really likes this humble young man.

He even felt that Castle had similar qualities to Curry. "In addition to talent and skills, excellent point guards also need mental toughness. Curry has this toughness, and so does Castle."

High-ranking rookies tend to think highly of themselves, but you will never see a hint of arrogance in Castle.

The reason is simple, because since childhood, Castle has grown up under a "stick education."

Old Castle, who had been teammates with Duncan, became a coach after retiring, and he chose to use extremely strict methods to discipline his children. At that time, little Castle was in the rebellious period of junior high school. Although he was very dissatisfied with his father's "arbitrary" training methods, his rebellious mood only lasted for a short period of time.

Because he soon figured it out, "My father did this to make me progress."

At that moment, Castle saw clearly his son’s potential. “From then on, I knew that he could play for any team and any coach.”

The second player in Castle's career is still a coach known for his strictness, Hurley, the head coach of the University of Connecticut men's basketball team.

But after Castle watched Hurley's training method of making players run to spit water and get sprayed if they made mistakes, what he was thinking was not "get out of here quickly."

Rather, "I have to get out of my comfort zone and play at the University of Connecticut so that I can make substantial progress."

Even, like most Chinese parents instruct their teachers, Castle's mother reassured Hurley that they would never be dissatisfied with the harsh discipline methods.

"As long as Castle makes a mistake, you can scold him if you need to, and we will never interfere."

Therefore, the 19-year-old Castle learned to play in the correct way earlier than most of his peers, and also experienced the taste of winning a championship as a freshman.

Playing point guard, a job that requires familiarity with the tactical manual and understanding of the game situation, seems to be a perfect fit for Castle, right?

But whether he plays point guard or not does not affect Castle's value. His outstanding performance without the ball in college has trained Castle into a very advanced team snake oil.

Castle's foundation is indeed very good. His height of 1.98 meters allows him to cover most ball carriers, and his 98 kilograms of weight and thick muscles make him not afraid of any confrontation.

Horse steps are tight, follow the opponent, and react very quickly. This is the reason why Castle averages 2 steals per game.

In this regard, he is a bit like the two-time championship veteran Holiday. There are almost no backcourt players who can suppress them in the matchup.

Castle has a solid record against star defensive players this season. MVP-level Doncic made 1 of 10 shots from the field in front of him, and Booker only made 1 of 6 shots.

It is no exaggeration to say that for armored positions like them, even if they swing to the 3-4 position to support people...

When Popovich saw him for the first time, his evaluation of him was, "Mature, well-behaved, high golf IQ, he can defend from the 1st to the 3rd position, he is an excellent player."

With Castle on the court, the Spurs concede 13.1 fewer points per 100 possessions.

Just appreciate this defensive strength.

Many people overlook the offensive end and the magic that Castle's strong body can create.

So far this season, there are almost no players who can defeat Castle one-on-one on the defensive end. When Castle starts to rush forward, blocking him usually results in a foul and a 2+1.

In 10 games, Castle has created 2+1s for his opponents 7 times. The probability of a foul every time he breaks through is as high as 12.4% - what is the concept of this number?

The super-evolved Maxi and Cunningham, the double MVP Alexander, and the veteran foul-making king Harden, these statistics are not as good as Castle...

Castle's ball-handling attack has reached a very threatening level. His field goal percentage on every drive to the basket was 56.3%, ranking 10th among all guards (including shooting guards).

And the further toward the basket, the higher Castle's efficiency becomes. His shooting rate of finishing within the reasonable collision area is as high as 70.2%.

Among point guards, second only to Alexander.

"The Spurs seem to have selected a once-in-a-century talented player with both offense and defense." This is the evaluation made by a special reporter for the University of Connecticut sports column after following and studying Castle for a long time.

Although it is a bit exaggerated, it is very appropriate today.

One month into the season, the Spurs have already reached second place in the Western Conference. Although people's attention is focused on Wenban Yama, who has returned from seclusion in Shaolin Temple, the helpers around Wenban are also indispensable for the Spurs to have such a record.

The growth of Wenban has allowed the Spurs to regain the confidence of the former giants, and Castle's growth has also continued to help San Antonio basketball raise its ceiling.

The Spurs have always had a tradition of cultivating combo guards - Parker, Manu, and Mills. Today, Fox, Harper, and Castle...

Last season, the Spurs started high but failed to make the playoffs. When the final game was over, Paul walked up to Castle and left him a "summer homework."

"Go watch a playoff game live! Feel the atmosphere of the playoffs!"

"I remember in my second year of my career, after watching the playoffs, I thought, I don't want to watch this on TV anymore, I also want to make the playoffs."

Obviously, the magic of the playoffs also deeply attracted Castle. Because everything he does now is to win.

Castle followed closely behind the point guard god for 6 months. After that, he completely moved from a rookie to a professional player.

Whether it is a game day or a training day, he will always arrive early, never stay up late, maintain a regular schedule, develop the habit of staying in the video room to analyze the game, and also develop the ability to adjust himself according to the opponent's arrangement during the game...

When a person has a clear goal, he will become determined.

Now, you can feel this immovable calmness from Castle's facial expressions and body movements when playing.

Those who have thunder in their chests and faces as flat as a lake can worship the general.

Perhaps, Castle is the most suitable "general" to be beside Wenban and charge into battle.

Welcome everyone to check out our WeChat public account "Houchang Village Sports Team". There are more NBA and CBA related archeology, comments and character content >>

(Text/brad)