[外電] Odom raises his game as Lakers raise theirs

[Solid4 (豆腐)]

中文標題：老二跟著湖人舉起來了！>////<
By GREGG PATTON
The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - For a while there, it looked like Lamar Odom's unfortunate
legacy as a Laker would be pretty simple.
有一段時間，老二看起來他在湖人不幸的生活永遠都不會改變了。

He was a lament: "The best we can get for Shaquille O'Neal?!?"
他一直是湖人迷心中的痛：這是我們拿O'neal來換到的嗎？

For three and a half years -- as the Lakers played to a mediocre level that
frustrated fans and left star Kobe Bryant seeking a ticket out of town -- he
was a constant reminder that the golden championship era of 1999-2002 was
gone.
有三年半的時光，湖人一直是讓球迷惱怒的中階球隊，並讓明星Kobe Bryant憤而萌生
離開的念頭：事實是，1999-2002的黃金王朝已經不在了。

He was the designated No. 2 option behind world-beater Bryant, a role which
he never embraced, nor fit. Every rumored trade -- always for some guy who
would save the Lakers -- included his name.
他一直都是被硬塞了第二得分手這個位置，排在世界第一的神後面，這是一個他一直都
沒有什麼好表現的位置，也不適合的位置。每一次有交易的乳摸--每一次對象都是"可
以拯救湖人"的人--都包括了可憐的老二。〒△〒

It was as if the Lakers would never be good again, until they could exchange
Odom for someone, anyone.
一切的情況看起來就像:直到湖人可以把Odom交易掉，湖人永遠都不會成為強隊。

Funny how it worked out. The Lakers are good again, and look who's still here
-- and suddenly appreciated.
好笑的是，現在湖人又是強隊了，看看誰還在這--而且開始被尊敬、感謝。

If the trade for Pao Gasol instantly shot the Lakers into championship
contention, among the happy fallout has been Odom's restored reputation. If a
lot of people considered him an inadequate No. 2, he's a big-time No. 3.
如果Pau Gasol的來到讓湖人瞬間變成熱門奪冠隊伍，那在眾多副作用裡面其中之一，
就是Odom的名聲終於重新攀升了。大家認為他是個很短的老二，可是事實上他是個超強
的老三啊

"I don't know if I felt underappreciated," said Odom on Saturday night,
before the Lakers -- masquerading as the visiting team against the Clippers
at Staples Center -- won for the eighth time since Gasol joined the team nine
games ago. "I've always been comfortable in my own skin."
「我是不知道我有感覺不被感謝或沒被尊敬啦，」Odom在星期六晚上說，在湖人假扮客隊
在Staple Center自家主場打敗快艇，自從Gasol九場比賽前被交易來之後第八次贏球。
「我一直比較習慣做我自己。」

But he knows that he is being re-evaluated.
不過，他還是知道他現在正被球迷們重新審視。

"Especially when you can finish the game with a win," he said, smiling. "I
think people understand what I do now, how I play. They'll notice the
intangibles. On a great team, they see I can do a little bit of everything."
「特別是當你順利的打了一場好球，拿下這場球賽，」他微笑的說。「我想人們懂了我
的功能，我的打法。他們會注意到那些很抽象的東西。在一個好的球隊上，他們看到我
每項都可以做一點。」

Like the triple-double he produced recently against Minnesota. And the way
his rebounding numbers have gone up (from about 10 per game to about 13 per
game) since Gasol joined the team. And the way he's still scoring at a
respectable pace, about 13 points per game.
就像他最近對上灰狼時的大三元。還有他自從Gasol的加入以來的籃板數增加(從原本每
場10籃板到13籃板)。還有，他還是很穩定的拿分，平均每場13分。

"I'm even shooting a little bit less," he said.
「我甚至比較少投籃呢。」他說。

If Odom was a convenient scapegoat when the Lakers floundered, he's suddenly
a major plus.
如果Odom在湖人一崛不振的時期只是個好用的球員，那他現在已經是一個極大的優勢。

Now in his ninth year, Odom looked like a guy who was destined to always miss
the NBA championship bus. He was drafted the No. 4 overall pick by the
Clippers, where he had fun on a losing team.
現在，在他的生涯的第九年，老二曾經看起來像是註定拿不到冠軍。他當年以第四順位
的身分被快艇選中，在這支常敗軍裡打的卻很愉快。

"We were a bunch of young guys who just really enjoyed playing with each
other," said Odom, who suffered through four losing seasons as a good player
on a bad string of teams.
「我們只是一群愛打球的小伙子。」Odom說，他在生涯的前四個球季球隊一直積弱
不振。

The Clippers, as was their style, let him drift away when his contract
expired, and he signed with Miami. In the 2003-04 season with the Heat, he
got his first taste of the playoffs, but it wasn't Miami's time -- nor Odom's
-- yet.
快艇就跟他們的慣例一樣，在Odom的合約到期時把他放走了，Odom接下來跟邁阿密簽了
約，在03-04年第一次打進了季後賽，但那還不是邁阿密的時代；也不是Odom的時代，
至少還不是。

After that one year on the East Coast, he found himself heading back to LA to
join Bryant and the ghost town that once was a proud Lakers franchise. Gone
were O'Neal, Coach Phil Jackson, and one-year interlopers Karl Malone and
Gary Payton.
在那之後，他發現他又回到了洛杉磯，加入了Kobe跟這個只能緬懷前幾季紫金王朝的
空空如也的城鎮。那一年，歐肥、菲爾爺爺、只簽一年合約的郵差Malone跟手套Payton
都走了。

The trade stung again in 2006 when Shaq and the Heat won the NBA title.
這個交易在06年Shaq跟熱火拿下冠軍的時候，又重重的刺傷了Odom。

Last summer, as Bryant demanded his freedom from LA, and the front office
angled after the likes of Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal to appease Kobe,
it looked like Odom was the man most likely to disappear.
上個暑假(07年暑假)，Kobe要求被交易，不然就給他如Garnett或小歐尼爾，這一切看起
來Odom從人間蒸發了一樣。

Eight months later, the Gasol Miracle happened, and everything changed. As
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy put it, when he heard that Memphis had
gift-wrapped the Spaniard to the Lakers, "I thought they had the best team in
the league. It's pretty apparent you're going to get a lot better when you
don't have to give up a starter and you get a player of (Gasol's) caliber."
八個月後，耶穌神蹟發生了，所有事情都改變了。就像快艇教練Dunleavy說的，當他
聽到灰雄把這西班牙人打包好送給湖人的時候，「我以為他們一定是聯盟內最好的球隊，
這是很明顯的，當你不用放棄任何先發球員就拿到Gasol這種等級的球員。」

What you hear about Odom most often is that Gasol's arrival took the pressure
off the 6-10 New York native. Odom shrugs and disagrees.
當Odom被提起的時候，經常大家會說Gasol的到來減輕了Odom的壓力。Odom聳肩反駁。

"No, if anything, there's more pressure to come through," said Odom. "Even
when we play bad, we're supposed to win."
「其實不是。真要說的話，其實這是更多壓力。就算我們當天手感不好或怎樣，我們還
是應該要贏。」

That doesn't seem to be a problem. As the new and improved Lakers continue to
rack up wins -- Saturday's was their seventh in a row -- more and more people
are jumping on their bandwagon. And for the first time in his career, Odom
finds himself on a team with much more hope than disappointment, with more
expectations than excuses.
這看起來不像是個問題。這個更新更好的湖人隊不斷累積勝場數量--星期六的勝利是
他們第七場連勝--越來越多人變成了臨時湖人球迷。在他生涯中的第一次，Odom現在
處在一個希望比失望多，期望比藉口多的球隊。

"I've never been in the position of playing for the No. 1 or the No. 2 team,
in either conference," said Odom, who contributed 20 points, 10 rebounds,
four assists and two blocked shots to the Lakers 113-95 win over the
Clippers.
「我從未在一個在全聯盟第一二名球隊打球過的經驗。」Odom說，對上快艇時他貢獻了
20分10籃板4助攻2火鍋。

"For me, it's carpe diem -- seize the moment. Go out there and try to win as
many games as possible."
「我現在必須把握當下。站到球場上，並試圖贏每一場。」

As a valued piece of a powerhouse, no longer a symbol of a fallen dynasty.
現在他是一個在發電廠裡價值不斐的重要零件，而不是一個逝去的王朝的象徵。

這...大家就隨便看看吧，感覺這一篇沒有翻的很好，又趕著在比賽前翻完..

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 74.140.143.210
推 Kreen:推～
推 Kobe824:堆~ 所以說老二變長了嗎? XD
推 rickykobe:感恩推~不過20分10籃板4"助攻"2火鍋 不是抄截
→ rickykobe:我會很敏感的發現是因為..我的FB有ODOM..昨天剛好輸抄截
→ rickykobe:他昨天如果有四抄...我今天就贏了XDDD
※ 編輯: Solid4          來自: 74.140.143.210       (02/25 10:04)
→ Solid4:感謝<_._> 幫默哀一下Orz
推 hasebe:太太，我老二變長了! -- 辣媽．歐登 著
推 KB24MANIA:推~
推 axelKOF:太太，我把老二變長了! -- 辣媽．歐登 著
推 KobeBryant81:太太，我把老二變長了! -- 辣媽．歐登 執導
→ KobeBryant81:主角: 辣媽．歐登 配角: 科比 砲枷鎖 導演: Phil爺爺