[外電] Freakonomics in The Times Magazine: Hoop Data Dreams

[bri (.....................)]

先不看季後賽了，轉換一下心情吧。看過蘋果橘子經濟學 (Freakonomics：A Rogue
Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything)嗎？這是該書作者的文章，提到
他們另一篇有關Celtics的數據頭的專欄文章。專欄文章明天推出，敬請期待。

http://0rz.tw/2a44n

Freakonomics in The Times Magazine: Hoop Data Dreams
By Stephen J. Dubner

The column centers on the Boston Celtics, who have just completed the best
-ever turnaround in N.B.A. history, winning 66 games this year after winning
just 24 last year. The Celtics are one of a handful of N.B.A. teams that have
recently become very data-centric (including the Rockets, whose general
manager, Daryl Morey, came to Houston from the Celtics), and the Celtics’ stat
man is a very colorful young guy named Mike Zarren. Here’s a bit about Zarren
from the column:

這個專欄集中在波士頓塞爾提克隊，它剛完成了NBA史上最大的勝場進?紀錄，上個球季
贏了24場，今年則贏了66場。Celtics是一堆最近變成非常以資料為中心的球隊之一(包
括火箭隊，而其GM Daryl Morey是從波士頓到休士頓來的)，而Celtics的數據專家是個
非常有趣的年輕人，叫做Mike Zarren。以下是一些有關Zarren的片段：

[He] seems to know every data point about every N.B.A. player, past and
present. Garnett calls him Numbers, the Celtics Dancers call him Stats and Paul
Pierce, the team’s longtime standout, calls him M.I.T. even though Zarren
never went there. He did, however, lead a University of Chicago quiz-bowl team
to four national tournament victories and later graduated from Harvard Law.
(Disclosure: Steven Levitt taught Zarren while the latter was an economics
undergrad at Chicago.) …

他似乎知道每個NBA球員的每一種資料，不管是過去或是現在。Garnett叫他”數字”，
Celtics啦啦隊叫他”數據”，而本隊長期的資優生Paul Pierce叫他”M.I.T.”，即便
Zarren從來沒唸過那裡。然而，他的確帶領過一支芝加哥大學的機智問答隊，得到四個
全國巡迴賽勝利，稍後則從哈佛大學法學院畢業。(資訊揭露：Steven Levitt在芝加哥
大學教過Zarren，當時後者就讀該校經濟系大學部。)

Zarren also happens to be the team’s associate counsel, although this would be
hard to believe if you came across him at a game, way up in the cheap seats,
wearing his green satin Celtics jacket and shouting himself hoarse: ‘‘He
pushed! He pushed! … You got ’em, K.G.!’’ To describe his Celtics fandom as
rabid would be a gross understatement. This is his third season on the
Celtics’ payroll — he worked two years without pay as a law student and while
clerking for a judge — but his family has had season tickets since 1974. He
began regularly attending games at age 5, and since moving back to Boston after
college, he has missed only five home games. ‘‘Three of those,’’ he says,
‘‘were due to illness.’’

Zarren剛好也是球隊的助理顧問，但是你在比賽中看到他會很難相信，坐在高高的便宜
位子，穿著綠色的Celtics夾克，嘶啞地大喊”他推人了！他推人了！把他們宰了，KG！
”要說他是瘋狂的Celtics球迷，還是太簡單地低估他了。這是他第三個球季在Celtics
支薪—之前他工作了兩年沒支薪，當時他是個作法官助理的法學院學生—但是他的家庭
從1974年就持有季票。他五歲就開始定期地看比賽，自從大學後搬回波士頓，他只錯過
五次主場比賽。”有三次是因為生病”他說。

Zarren and Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ general manager, were way too smart to
tell us much about their own and opposing players’ tendencies, strengths, and
weaknesses. They are, after all, trying to win a championship, and even the
lowly Hawks are proving pretty pesky in the first round of playoffs.
Nevertheless, I hope you all find the piece as interesting to read as we found
it interesting to write.

Zarren和Celtics GM Danny Ainge太聰明，而不願意告訴我們太多有關自己和對手的趨
勢、優點、和弱點。不管如何，他們還是想贏得一個冠軍，而即便老鷹隊在季後賽第一
輪也被證明是很麻煩的。然而，我希望你們會覺得這篇文章是很有趣的，就像我們覺得
寫起來很有趣一樣。

It was particularly worthwhile talking to Ainge, who was a great three-sport
athlete and whose basketball intelligence is very keen. He said one thing
during our interview that didn’t make it into the piece because it’s really
off-topic, but it’s related to the talent/practice question we’ve written
about before (most recently in regards to A-Rod).

特別值得一提的是跟 Ainge聊天，他是一個參加三項運動的偉大運動員，而他的籃球智
商是很敏銳的。他在訪談中談到一件事，因為太離題了沒被我們寫在文章內容中，但是
是有關於天份/練習的問題。我們以前寫過這方面的文章(最近一次是有關於A-Rod)。

When we asked Ainge about the relationship between talent, practice, and
athletic excellence, here’s what he had to say:

當我們問Ainge有關天份、練習、優秀的運動成就間的關係時，以下是他說的話：

My experience tells me that people like to do what they’re really good at. And
so, in my life and the players I’ve been around, it’s unbelievable how I look
out there on the court and I watch Eddie House and Ray Allen shooting jump
shots in practice. I’ll look in there and I’ll see Kendrick Perkins and Big
Baby lifting weights. It should be the other way around, but it’s been that
way all the time.

我的經驗告訴我，人們喜歡從事他們擅長的。在我的生命和我看過的球員中，有些很不
可思議的，比如說看到Eddie House和Ray Allen練習跳投。在室內則是Kendrick Perkins
和Big Baby在作舉重。應該要倒過來，但是在這裡總是這樣。

The guys that are great at getting stronger and have great bodies are in there
lifting weights and the shooters are shooting because that’s what they like
to do. So that’s what my experience tells me. I was really good as an athlete
as a child, so I gravitated toward it because from age five, I was really good,
and I knew I was good. And I had older brothers that knew I was good and I got
a lot of attention for being good and so that’s what I did.

擅長變的更強壯、有絕佳身材的傢伙在那練舉重，射手練投籃，因為這是他們喜歡的。
所以這是我的經驗告訴我的。我在孩童時期是個非常好的運動員，我沉迷其中，因為從
五歲起我就很棒，而且我知道我很棒。我有個哥哥知道我很棒，而我因為很棒所以得到
很多注意力，所以我就這樣子作了。


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◆ From: 218.166.205.32
※ 編輯: bri             來自: 218.166.205.32       (05/03 23:25)
推 cyjoe       :我跳出來了XDDD  give you a tommy point~
→ bri         :Toooooooommy Point!!  (還真high啊~)
→ cyjoe       :但是我很怕看到另人擔心的數據分析啊...(心理準備中)
推 yuhuilu     :推一個! 真有意思的文章~~
推 Kreen       :推～