[外電] 街頭頑童

[maxtail (馬克斯泰爾)]

Bigger, brighter Miles hits his stride

街頭頑童

Calvin Junior Miles says he's an absolute nerd.

他說自己是個阿宅。

He says he can work or fix any electronic doodad ever made. He says
basketball is therapeutic for him. He says he's finally a mature NBA player.
He says he can get better, that he can be an All-Star. He also says the
injury to his hand earlier this season was one of the best things that could
have happened to him.

他說自己精通及修理各式各樣的3C產品，
他說籃球對他而言就像女僕一樣具有療癒功效，
他說自己已經蛻化為一個成熟的職業運動員，
他說他還會變得更強，有朝一日會進明星賽，
他還說在他的生命中沒有比季初手受傷更美好的事了。

他是西街‧賣耳屎。

The kid the Jazz took out of Dallas' Skyline High School five seasons back,
the teenager Jerry Sloan says he "almost felt sorry for in practice because
he was getting his rear-end kicked around," is all grown up now and creating
shots and driving hard to the basket and hitting threes and playing defense
and going for 21 points in critical playoff games against the Denver Nuggets.

五年前，爵士在選秀會上挑中了這名達拉斯天線高校的跳級生，
那個曾經被治軍嚴厲的老魔頭操得唉唉叫的年輕小伙子，
現在看起來十足是個老油條，遠投近切、跑位防守無往不利，
還在對金塊的季後關鍵比賽一口氣攻下21分。

A kid, Miles is no longer.

初生之犢？別鬧了。

He's always had talent, Sloan says. He could always handle the ball and shoot
it. He just needed to learn the hard-knock lessons a young player must
assimilate to survive in a grown man's league.

西街這小子有天份、會控球、還有一手投射功夫，
只要再多點被老球皮羞辱的經驗，他就能學會怎麼存活─教皇如是說。

"He had to grow and take his lumps while he was growing," Sloan says. "He had
to work on his conditioning. We always had confidence in him. But it's been
on-the-job training."

「他要懂得如何調適自己，我們對他有信心，但這只能從實戰中去磨練。」

Some parts of it less on the job than others.

"Consistent playing time, that's what he needed," Deron Williams says. "He's
making things happen because he's getting the chance."

「他最欠缺的就是持續且固定的上場時間，」蝶龍說，
「現在總算有了機會，你看，成效是不是也漸漸浮現了呢？」

After a year in which Miles averaged 23 minutes -- six more than his career
average -- and nine points, shooting 43 percent, he's gotten 33 and 16,
shooting 46 percent, in these playoffs, making considerable contributions to
a team that, without Andrei Kirilenko, has badly needed him.

這個系列季後賽西街的上場時間增加到33分鐘，
單場平均16分與46%的命中率，也都超越其生涯數據，
適時的致命一擊更讓高潮的爵迷幾乎忘了羅剎人在板凳席後啜泣。

"My confidence has gotten better, just being out on the floor," he says. "I
know now what I'm supposed to do. It's been a long road getting there."

「現在的我自我感覺非常良好，」西街昂首說，
「我知道自己在場上該做什麼，拜託～這可是五年寒窗的成果啊！」

It doesn't seem that long ago that Miles was demoted to the D-League in his
rookie season, playing for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, coached then by
former Laker Michael Cooper. Cooper's evaluation of the 18-year-old went like
this: "He has 10 years of prime-time basketball in him. He's not Kobe. But he
can do some of the things that Kobe could do."

遙想曾經被下放發展聯盟的那個菜鳥球季，
當時的教練Cooper給了這個18歲的小嫩嫩如此評價：
「接下來有黃金十年等著他，他不是下一個※※，但他可以多學學※※。」

And he didn't do some of the things that Kobe could do.

Like work hard.

"He gets to coasting a lot," Cooper said.

可惜當時的街頭頑童並不像※※那般對球技下足苦功。

Over time, Miles improved his physical training, to the point where he
actually could think clearer on the court. Sloan subsequently gave him
nibbles and bits of playing time, and the Jazz decided to keep Miles when he
got an offer for $3 million a pop from Oklahoma City, a decision that was
criticized by some for being a waste of money.

It was no waste.

幸而隨著年歲增長，西街開始想通並鍛鍊自己成為教皇要的肉體，
但教皇給他的上場機會只能算是零星片段並不穩定，
也讓爵士決意跟隨雷霆報價留下西街時招致一些浪費錢的批評，
但，誰能想到，

隔年還有一筆更讓人爆炸不爽的呢？

After a hand injury suffered near the start of this season, Miles came back
and played his suddenly larger role. He was inconsistent, at times, but
became more aggressive on offense and defense, and that aggressiveness
started to smooth the undulations.

在經歷了開季的手部手術後，重回場上的西街變得開竅許多，
雖然狀態難免有所起落，但他在攻守兩端都顯得更加積極。

He came back, as Sloan says it, "with a brighter idea" about how to play, how
to compete.

教皇表示欣慰。

"The injury opened up my whole game, because I couldn't just shoot it," Miles
says. "I had to do other things, like take it to the basket. That's one of
the biggest differences. I'm stronger, too. When I came in, I was 185 pounds.
Now, I'm 227."

「手傷反而讓我開發出更多進攻手段，而非老想定點投射，」西街解釋，
「我得想辦法靠近籃框，這樣的思維跟以前是完全不一樣的，」
「還有我也變得比以前更強壯了，從185磅長到227磅。」

Away from basketball, Miles still likes to do the things other 23-year-olds
like to do: He's a geek when it comes to the aforementioned electronic
devices. He's a music nut, his choices always eclectic, "everything from
Rascal Flatts and Billy Ray Cyrus to Lupe Fiasco and Common."

當然不碰籃球的時候，西街就只是個23歲的年輕人，
會做些年輕人才會幹的事兒，除了對電子用品的狂熱，
他也熱愛聽歌，不過他喜好比較雜，從鄉村音樂到饒舌都有。

But the game remains the center of his universe, more important to him, he
says, than money.

但籃球世界終究才是他的中心，重要程度甚至凌駕金錢之上─他自個兒說的。

"Money's nice, better than not having any, but it's not the biggest deal," he
says. "I used to play basketball for free. I've been a gym-rat since I was 3.
Basketball's everything. It's the way I coped with problems when I was
younger. If I had something, I'd go to the gym where it was just me and the
ball. It cleared my head."

「有錢當然比沒錢好，但那並不代表一切，」西街說，
「以前打球也沒人給我錢哪，我從3歲開始就愛在體育館混，」
「籃球才是我的一切，我享受在體育館裡人球共處的時刻，」
「那能使我的思緒沈澱。」

That's where and how he made his decision to turn pro instead of going to
Texas, where he signed and then backed out in favor of the draft. The Jazz
took him in the second round in 2005.

這一切成為他後來立志當一個職業籃球員的開端。

He's mostly bumped and skidded since then, until his recent emergence. But
he's now transformed himself into one of the Jazz's most important players.
That was plain to see in Game 4, when he scored 21 points on 8-for-15
shooting.

雖然過程並非一帆風順，但現在的他已在爵士站穩腳步。

"I definitely feel like I can help this team," he says. "Games like [Sunday
night's] are the best. I want those kinds of opportunities, making plays on
both ends of the floor. I hope for that. I live for it. That's when it's the
most fun."

「我強烈感覺自己能夠對球隊有所幫助，」西街說，
「能夠打得像第四戰那樣超爽的，我渴求一切表現機會，」
「在攻守兩端做出貢獻，我為此而生，這種成就感無可比擬。」

雖然外表看起來還是像個街頭頑童，
但現在這個頑早已換成頑強的頑─這就是西街‧賣耳屎。


老歌回味：http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziDtEPCFM0I


--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 140.112.110.3
噓 wadekao:＊＊真是無所不在
噓 MOTONARI:如果CJ有KOBE的際遇 成績應該也不會輸太多
噓 snoopyjapn:這樣都可以提kobe
噓 monmo:             在丹佛
→ DK47:                      強
推 yellowboy:       CJ.Miles大爆發!!
噓 monmo:                       行突破Melo上籃
噓 DK47:................kobe口味真重
→ stocktonty:為什麼好的不學  要去學老大？  不好吧
推 sixpoint:誰能想到，隔年還有一筆更讓人爆炸不爽的呢？
噓 wubai32:　
推 lovebuley:真的覺得大尾的英文太強了...每次都一堆英文用法看不懂
→ lovebuley:都是靠大尾的翻譯
噓 noodlecool:噢、來自達拉斯天線高校的那個寶寶~ 挺能打得嘛!!
→ stocktonty:最後還不是打不過神奈川N.O.1
→ mules:不是神戶?   所謂的No.1
→ mules:目前日本最大的暴力團為山口組，大本營置於兵庫縣神戶市
推 happyreach:隔年還有一筆更讓人爆炸不爽的呢？  我笑到岔氣..
推 kaikai1112:達拉斯天線寶寶  ~~~~~~~~~
噓 xjazz:CJ會鬧脾氣不投籃嗎
噓 Kreen:XD
噓 Stockton:東市買駿馬，西街
噓 gratitude:他應該感謝爵士  不然去雷霆一樣每場15分鐘到老
→ sam369:X
噓 fallenmoon:X爵士好機車XDD
噓 Acho21:西街!
噓 Stockton:東市買駿馬，西街賣
→ sneak: 目前日本最大的暴力團為 https://daxiv.com