The Spurs twin stars transform and shine together: 8 wins and 3 losses at the start, the top dark horse in the Western Conference rises and things go wrong

"Dunk! Wenban!" Castle shouted while dribbling the ball forward. This is a scene from the second quarter of the Spurs' season-opening away win over the Mavericks. Almost at the same time that Castle shouted these words, Vunbanyama used his right arm to push away the chasing Dwight Powell, rushed to the basket, and completed the final acceleration. A few steps past the center circle mark, Castle threw a lob, and Vunbanyama caught the ball in the air for a backhand two-handed dunk. Vunbanyama and Castle excitedly bumped shoulders in celebration. The Spurs players on the bench made a noise and wildly celebrated this amazing dunk. The poster and the subsequent celebration quickly went viral on the Internet, showing the two Rookie of the Year winners of the past two years engaging in a tacit collaboration and displaying amazing talent.

"I've seen this picture many times," Castle said. "We talked about it. The most important thing is to perform at the level you should in the key game. That was the turning point. We had started to fight back, and that high goal Catching the ball is very important. We were all excited."

However, what excites the pair most now is the Spurs' strong start - currently 8 wins and 3 losses, this is their best start since the 2016-17 season, and they see hope of returning to the playoffs. In February this year, news broke that Bunyama would miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, and their future was once full of confusion. After all, venous thrombosis has caused players to retire early. Fortunately, medical treatment has become more advanced now. After several months of treatment, Wenbanyama has overcome the disease and returned to the competition. "Nobody has trained like me this summer," the French prodigy declared in late September. What he didn't reveal was that during that summer of traveling around the world, he worked one-on-one with Castle to hammer out the details and try to turn the new pairing - the 21-year-old point guard and the 21-year-old big man - into one of the most feared in basketball. They call it "Area 51."

In the traditional sense, "Area 51" refers to an area located in Lincoln County, southern Nevada, USA. This is a US military base. Later, there were many rumors and it was regarded as a mysterious alien base.

Castle and Vunbanyama played only 45 games together last season, playing a total of 779 minutes. Castle provided 36 assists to Vunbanyama during that time, and Vunbanyama completed 11 dunks.

In the game against the Golden State Warriors on November 13, Castle and Wenbanyama both scored triple-doubles, but the Spurs eventually lost the game. They became the fifth pair in NBA history to both score a 20-point triple-double in a single game - and the first to lose a triple-double in a game.

"They didn't play a lot of minutes last season and couldn't build a rapport," Spurs head coach Mickey Johnson said. "When they played together last season, Castle was still early in his rookie season and he was still trying to adapt. I feel like we're just now seeing the potential of both of them. During the draft. , Wenbanyama is on the other side of the world, and I believe he may have made a phone call or video call to the rookies at four in the morning. This example is enough to illustrate his level of dedication and investment, and the importance he attaches to his teammates and the team."

As expected, the "Area 51" combination has performed best on the defensive end so far.

This season, when the "Zone 51" combination is on the court at the same time, the Spurs' defensive efficiency value is as high as 101.1, and in 264 minutes of playing time, they outscored their opponents by 14.6 points per 100 possessions. According to ESPN data, they ranked eighth among the 74 pairs that played more than 200 minutes.

"We all take pride in being both offensive and defensive," Castle told ESPN. "Defense is the hallmark of our team, and I think we are the core of the defense. So, the number of times we defend the pick-and-roll together, the number of times we cooperate with each other to read the opponent's defensive players, I How many rebounds do we need to help him, and all these defensive details make our defense more important to the team."

With the league's eighth offensive efficiency and sixth defensive efficiency, other teams have to look at the Spurs with admiration.

Vinbanyama had a colorful summer, traveling all over the world, while Castle spent most of the offseason in Los Angeles, training with NBA trainer Orin Simplis (known as the "Guard Mentor").

Despite this, the two still found time to spend time together. At the Victory Capital Training Center, the Spurs' state-of-the-art training facility, Castle and Vunbanyama took every opportunity to watch game tapes and then conduct simulation drills. As the offseason entered the summer, the duo learned that Fox would miss the early part of the season due to a hamstring injury, making their on-court synergy even more important to the team's ability to quickly get into shape.

"From then to now, we still often watch game tapes together," Castle said, "pick-and-rolls, defensive tactics, etc., because a lot of times it's just me and him on the court. So, being able to understand his thoughts and let him understand mine is a big help for us."

While most of their summer training was conducted in San Antonio, Vunbanyama also traveled to Los Angeles to train in July to deepen his understanding with Castle. During that trip, Bunyama discussed the mental aspects of the game with Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett and held open workouts with teammates at Loyola Marymount University. Former NBA player Patrick Beverley also participated in these exercises.

"He was in great shape in those practices and he looked very healthy," Beverley said during a podcast appearance in August. "He looked so talented, so awesome.. He turned and passed, half of his body was out of bounds, and one arm was still stuck in the basket, just like this. That was the craziest move in the world. "

"He was able to come here and let us establish a tacit understanding before summer training camp started, before everything officially started, which was definitely helpful," Castle said. "A lot of training, watching film together, these are very helpful, but often overlooked. We've been working on this all summer and now it's starting to take shape. "

Wenbanyama and Castle also focused on cultivating a tacit understanding with other teammates. During the summer league, Wenbanyama arrived at the scene. The 21-year-old player and teammates Fox, Castle, Sohan, Harrison Ba Ens, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagne and Vassell sat on the sideline together.

"It was a great atmosphere," Barnes said. "The team developed a lot of chemistry off the court over the summer, hanging out and stuff like that. This tacit understanding is also reflected on the court. I feel like the energy of the team is different. That's the biggest change I've noticed, in the way players communicate, in the timeouts, in the pace of the game on the court, whether it's positive or negative. "

When Vumbanyama heard the nickname "Area 51" for the first time last season, he agreed without hesitation. Castle also agreed. "I like the nickname," he said.

However, it takes effort and time to truly deserve the nickname. During the two-game losing streak in early November, Vumbanyama struggled under the tight double-teaming of his opponents. The two games combined for only 28 points, shooting only 32.1%, and 11 turnovers. During the same period, Castle shot 44.8% and committed 9 turnovers. However, it is obvious that this combination has made great progress in the first 11 games of this season. The number of pick-and-rolls per 100 rounds is more than 8 times (16.9 times) than last season, and the efficiency is higher (0.98 points per pick-and-roll in the first 9 games, compared with 0.84 points last season).

There is a topic quietly circulating in the locker room: Castle likes to shock opponents with powerful dunks. Castle said at the beginning of the season that if the opponent continues to let the defender. Defending at the basket, he will try to dunk every time.

Vinbanyama also knows this, and perhaps that's why he couldn't help but chuckle when he described the athleticism and skills of "Zone 51" Castle. "It's still hard for defenders to guard him," said Vunbanyama. "You can't ignore him at all, because if you give him so much space, he will take off and dunk." His organizational skills have always been outstanding. His talent is the kind you can't acquire through training. He just has this talent. "

On the defensive end, the "Zone 51" combination continues to effectively limit the opponent's pick-and-roll offense. In the first 11 games, the opponent used a total of 69 pick-and-roll tactics with Castle guarding the ball handler and Wenbanyama covering. The opponent could only score 0.79 points per pick-and-roll attack, which made the Zone 51 combination rank eighth in defensive efficiency among the 31 duos that have faced at least 50 pick-and-rolls in the league this season.

A total of 74 different two-person lineups played together for at least 250 minutes. The "Zone 51" combination limited the opponent's shooting percentage to 41%, ranking second among these combinations.

"I am very happy that everyone is starting to see the tacit understanding between me and Vunbanyama from the perspective of spectators," Castle said. "Vinbanyama is very patient as a teammate, which makes it easy for me to adapt to the new environment. Everyone wants to play with Bunyama, so it’s great to be able to play with him. Now, he is like a brother to me and we talk about everything. "