[外電] For His Next Trick: Saunders...(上)

看板Pistons作者hanway (紗之器)時間16年前 (2007/11/07 23:46)推噓10(10推 0噓 5→)

留言15則, 12人參與討論串1/1

http://0rz.tw/0e3fG FOR HIS NEXT TRICK: Saunders tries to make doubters finally disappear 老桑的下一場魔術表演：把懷疑論者通通變不見 By MITCH ALBOM FREE PRESS COLUMNIST October 31, 2007 He wears long pants, his socks are dark, his shoes have heels and he’s not even allowed on the court. He doesn’t shoot. He doesn’t dribble. He doesn’ t rebound, post-up or block a single shot. He doesn’t even have a number. Yet Flip Saunders — of everyone in the Pistons’ organization — is the one on the hot seat? Well, Sports Illustrated thinks so. ESPN thinks so. Stephen A. Smith, the NBA analyst, said Wednesday that if the Pistons didn’t make the NBA Finals this season, Saunders was gone, no doubt about it. 這個男人穿的是長褲，套的是深色襪子、踩的是有跟皮鞋，他甚至不得踏入球場。他不投籃、不運球、不搶籃板、不打低位、不搧火鍋。他連背號也沒有。不過全活塞隊上，卻是這個男人--老桑、Flip Saunders--背負了最大的壓力？運動畫刊和ESPN都這麼認為，而NBA分析師、Stephen A. Smith上週三說，如果活塞隊今年打不進NBA冠軍賽，老桑肯定被火，毫無疑問。 Yet Saunders, who dabbles as an amateur magician, doesn’t believe there’s a rabbit in that hat. "No,” he says flatly when asked if his job is on the line. Then why all the noise? “Expectations,” he says. “Expectations. We haven’t won a championship. So that is what drives you.” 但喜歡在閒暇時玩幾手魔術的老桑，認為這些說法都是空穴來風。「不，」被問到工作是否有危機時，他的回答簡單明瞭。那媒體到底在吵什麼？「期望，」他說。「期望。我們還沒拿過總冠軍。這成了我們最大的動力。」 We are talking in his office at the Pistons’ practice facility in Auburn Hills. Saunders, the head coach now in his third season, is sitting behind his desk, but he doesn’t sit still. He is constantly shifting, throwing his arms behind his head, wedging his feet against the desk, squirming in his chair like a man trying to find a comfortable position. And I suppose, in many ways, he still is. Remember, Saunders, 52, followed a volcano, Larry Brown, who took the Pistons to two NBA Finals and one championship in two years. Unfortunately, life under Brown was like life on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Under Saunders, things have been more peaceful. But also less successful. No championships. No NBA Finals. Just two conference finals, both defeats, the last of which ended with four straight losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers. 我來到活塞隊在奧本山的練習場，相約在他的辦公室見面。即將展開第三個球季的老桑，坐在辦公桌後，但他定不下來。他不斷改換姿勢，時而把手臂枕在腦後，時而把腳卡在書桌邊緣，在椅子裡扭呀扭的，似乎想找個舒服的位置。我想，從很多角度來說，他依然在尋找他的定位。別忘記，52歲的老桑接下的，可是布朗爺、Larry Brown的燙手山芋。在布朗的麾下，活塞兩年內二度攻進NBA冠軍賽，抱回一座金盃。不幸的，布朗爺時期的活塞，就像是紐約證交所的場子中央，風波不斷。來到老桑時代，生活平靜許多，但成就卻大不如前。沒有總冠軍、沒有決賽，兩次打進分區冠軍賽都以失敗收場，第二次還是被騎士隊橫掃出局。 How much of this is on the coach? And how much can the man in the suit really do with a team full of veterans — some of whom feel they know better? At one point in our conversation — when I ask for a demonstration of his magician’s abilities — Flip reaches into the drawer and takes out a playing card, which he deftly makes disappear and reappear in his other hand. He’s very good. I can’t help wondering whether he wishes he could make people’s doubts disappear the same way. 這一切，教練該負多少責任？一個穿西裝的傢伙又能拿一整隊老鳥怎麼辦--尤其是某些人自認比他更行？訪談進行到一半，我請他露兩手魔術師的功力。老桑伸手從抽屜裡拿出一疊撲克牌，熟練的讓一張張牌在另一手中出現、消失。他的技巧很高明。我不禁踹想，他是否希望自己也能讓別人的懷疑論，同樣的煙消雲散。 Ruling with an iron fist? 鐵腕政策？ Did you know Saunders did magic? He’s been studying it for years. He has a book of coin magic in his office. He visits magic shops on the road. He mostly does his tricks at parties or for friends, but he takes it seriously and, based on a few moves he pulls off in the office — including making car keys disappear — he’s quite skilled at sleight of hand. But no amount of misdirection will help Saunders this season. There are two things he has to do. The first is to play the younger Pistons — the rookies and the reserves — to preserve the veterans’ bodies for the playoffs. The second is to get up into the faces of anybody — starting five included — who isn’t performing up to snuff. 你知道老桑會變魔術嗎？他已經研究多年了。他在辦公室放了一本銅板魔術書。他會逛路邊的魔術用品店。他多半在派對上或朋友前表演他的戲法，但他不只是隨便玩玩，而且從他在辦公室耍的幾招手法--包括讓車鑰匙憑空消失--來看，他對於幻術可是相當在行。不過在這個球季，再多的障眼法也幫不了老桑。他有兩件事必須完成。首先是讓年輕球員--菜鳥和板凳們--上場比賽，以節省老將的體力，應付季後賽。其次，不論任何人--包括先發五虎--沒打出該有的水準，他都得面對面給對方一頓難堪。 Last May, when certain starters went dry and committed uncharacteristic turnovers, some felt Saunders was too light. He trusted them too much, shook them up too little. That won’t happen again this season — or Saunders may indeed be gone. He seems to have clearly been told that the players are the horses, but he has gotta shake the reins. "When you first come in, especially when you have a veteran team, you give them opportunities,” he says, by way of defense. “You gotta remember, we started my first season like 15-2. So it wasn’t where I felt I had to come in and change things and say, ‘Well, this is my team and we’re changing everything about how you play and what you do.’ “I think now, we have some younger guys, and the other guys are definitely more aware of whom I am, what I am, what my expectations are.” 去年五月，部分先發球員打擺子，犯下離譜的失誤，有人覺得老桑太軟了。他給他們太多信任、太少教訓。這個球季他不會重蹈覆轍--否則老桑可能真的會說再見。似乎有人清楚告訴過他，球員是帶頭的馬匹，但他非把韁繩握緊不可。「你剛進到一個新球隊，尤其是球員都是老將了，你會給他們機會，」他為自己辯護。「你得記住，我們開季的成績大概是15勝2敗。所以我當時不覺得我非得一上任就做很多改變，說『這是我的球隊，你們的打法和習慣要全部改掉。』」「我想，現在我們有一些年輕球員，其他人也一定更瞭解我的個性、我的風格，我的要求在哪裡。」 So he’s going to be louder. He’s going to be more abrupt. He’s going to tell the players if they’re not delivering. And I know what you’re thinking. Rasheed. 所以他會更積極出聲。他會更主動介入。如果球員表現差強人意，他會告訴他們。我知道你想到誰了。希蛙。（未完待續）譯 / hanway p.s. 我把相關的段落串在一起翻譯，希望想看原文的能看原文，想看譯文也不至於太零碎。這個系列會分成三篇來翻。 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 125.225.66.15

推

cd928

11/07 23:50, , 1^F

11/07 23:50, 1^F

※ 編輯: hanway 來自: 125.225.66.15 (11/07 23:51)

推

pennymarcus

11/07 23:57, , 2^F

11/07 23:57, 2^F

推

DrLuna

11/08 00:06, , 3^F