→ pennymarcus:口雷翻譯一下這篇啦 XDD 05/21 08:54
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/080520&sportCat=nba
By Scoop Jackson
Page 2
Here we go again.
Are you ready? Am I? They are about to either send me into a nonoptional
state of euphoria or rip my heart apart. But if you are a fan or follower of
Detroit Pistons [sing it] bas-ket-ball!, you are used to this. With them, we
live life B.I.G., ready to die.
Rasheed Wallace plays brilliantly. Then …
It's dysfunction. Them. Us. Together. A relationship built on hope without
trust. They make you believe they can win it all, then …
The fallout. Year after year. Potential unreached, business unfinished. Then
…
They reach a level of basketball no other team seems to reach. They play a
brand of basketball no other team can play. They become heroes, gods of the
moment. 'Sheed is everyone's favorite player. Smooth and Rip are one of the
best guard tandems ever. Then …
The arrogance sets in, and that typical Pistons malaise begins. You know,
when they start playing down to the level of their competition. When they
allow a sub-.500 team, the Sixers, to take a 2-1 lead in the first round
after they supposedly learned their lesson in last year's playoffs by losing
to a one-man team called LeBron after being up 2-0. And right when you are
about to give up on them, about to claim another team as your own, Tayshaun
makes a thaumaturgic block, and you are hooked again! Sucked back into
believing that this a team of destiny and dynasty. That no team -- even one
with Shaq and Kobe on it (remember 2004?) -- can beat them. And they prove
you right. Then …
They lost to San Antonio in Game 7 of the 2005 Finals because they didn't
push themselves during the regular season to earn home-court advantage --
which should have been the difference in the organization having four rings
instead of three. Then they came back the next year and played like the
1995-96 Bulls during the regular season, only to let D-Wade outplay their
entire team in a series that, on paper, they were supposed to have finished
in five games to set up a sweep in the Finals against Dallas.
Now they find themselves in the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth year
in a row. Only one ring. The Atlanta Braves of the hardwood.
They are a team that is so consistent in being good that they elude greatness
-- sometimes, it seems, on purpose. Like the brilliant kid in school who has
an IQ of 140 but flunks classes by design because he's afraid of the
responsibility of maintaining valedictorian status, afraid of what being
smart really means, afraid of success. Then …
Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton dissect opposing backcourts. Then …
It clicks. That light goes off, and they realize this is no longer a game. So
they knuckle down, get serious, win games they are supposed to win and some
they aren't, and finish a series against Orlando in five games when it should
have gone seven. They begin to overachieve. They start to will victories in
collective efforts, with a different leading scorer and rebounder every game.
Then …
They go back to playing that overconfident, impassive, phlegmatic, fearful
and loathing Detroit [expletive] bas-ket-ball! that makes you wonder not only
why Ben Wallace was the only starter not asked to come back, but why Flip
Saunders still is coaching and why Joe Dumars still is considered one of the
league's best GMs when his team plays basketball with an insolence that would
make Kanye seem humble.
It is this that we have to live with because this is the way they play. A
squad unpredictable as hotel showers. A squad you learn to love and hate
synchronously schizophrenically. A squad that will give you more gray hairs
than Rasheed's premature spot. It is an affair held with a team that will
eventually disappoint you, but there's nothing you can do about it. For years
I've tried to leave, but couldn't. Can't.
Because now they have to play the Celtics and shock the world. They have to
live up to their expectations and get past the reality that this is the
series they aren't supposed to survive. No home-court advantage against a
team that wins only at home. No chance of beating a battle-tested team that
was built to win a ring and has played two Game 7s like its life has depended
on them. But because of the way the Celts played in games one through six
during their past two series, even non-Pistons fans are beginning to think --
believe -- that Detroit will be the team playing beyond this series.
But us gluttons-for-disappointment Pistons fans know better. We know the
dysfunctional co-existence that lives within our team and us. We know the
Pistons will win a game in Boston, that they will take the lead in the
series, that they will finally play like the team we all know they are
capable of being, the unquestioned best team in basketball.
Then …
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電影,因為有妳在我身邊而精采...
咖啡,因為有妳而香醇...
生活,因為妳而有了色彩...
生命,因為有了妳而完整...
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