AI，三十而立 （二）

[hanway (紗之器)]

O'Brien learned about Iverson's toughness when coaching the Boston Celtics.
During the first round of the '02 playoffs, Iverson almost single-handedly
took the series away from the Celtics, stretching the series to five games.

O'Brien在波士頓擔任教練時見識到了Iverson到底有多頑強。'02年季後賽的第一輪
中，Iverson隻手遮天，差點一人將賽爾提克作翻，迫使兩隊一路塵戰至第五場。


So when O'Brien was given the Sixers head coach position before the season,
he immediately expressed his excitement in coaching Iverson.

正因如此，本季前O'Brien來到七六人接下總教練職位時，馬上就表明了對於能夠教
導Iverson的興奮之情。


And he still does, despite some bumps along the way. Iverson has openly
questioned O'Brien's defensive philosophy, and questioned the handling of
his minutes. Then again, most NBA players do that. It's just that when AI
 - one of the most popular, most adored, most scrutinized athetes in the
world - does it, it makes front page news.

即使歷經波折，這樣的情緒一直延續到今天。Iverson曾經公開質疑O'Brien的防守
哲學，也對於自己出場時間的分配不無意見。話又說回來，大部分的NBA球員都表達
過類似的不滿，但是，也只有像AI這樣廣受歡迎、備受矚目、集三千寵愛於一身的
世界級運動員抱怨的時候，才會上頭條新聞。


"No matter what, Allen is going to be the one with the ball in his hands,"
O'Brien said. "There's no question about that. He never stops amazing me.
A player-coach relationship is never perfect. There will be issues that
need to be dealt. I've always admired his game, even when I was with
Boston.

「不管怎麼說，球一定會在Allen的手裡。」O'Brien：「這一點毫無疑問。他總是
讓我不斷激賞。球員和教練間的關係不可能是完美的，一定會有一些問題要解決。
我一向都很欣賞他的球風，從我在波士頓的時候就開始了。」



"He's very coachable despite what some people might say. He plays Hard every
night and leaves everything on the court. He wants a championship. Everyone
in this organization does."

「別人可能不這麼覺得，可是他其實很好帶。他每天晚上都很努力，在球場上全力以
赴。他要的是總冠軍。整個球隊的人都很渴望。」


The closest Iverson has come to a championship was in the '01 season, as
the Sixers plowed through the Eastern Conference playoffs and won Game 1
of the Finals against the heavily-favored Los Angeles Lakers, before dropping
four straight. When then-Sixers coach Larry Brown left for Detroit before the
'03-04 season and assistant Randy Ayers took over, it began a period
characterized by injury, roster upheavel and coaching changes. AI battled
injuries throughout '03-04, and the Sixers missed the playoffs.

Iverson離總冠軍最近的一次，是'01年的球季。七六人當時在東區殺出一條血路，闖
過了冠軍賽，並在總冠軍戰碰上了被各方看好的洛杉磯湖人，雖然先拿下一勝，卻連
敗四場。當時擔任總教練的Larry Brown離職前往底特律之後，繼任的助理教練Randy
Ayers開始了充滿傷病問題、名單變動、和教練更替的'03-'04球季。整整一季，AI都
為傷痛所苦，七六人也被擋在季後賽的大門之外。


<待續>




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推 sgxer:推唷~
推 arkod:感謝連載  :D
推 changyiyao: 我好喜歡你翻的標題，「三十而立」，讚！
推 proka:辛苦了^^在沒季後可看時，這種文章讀起來真感動^^
→ proka:希望明年有季後七六人可以看～
推 parisya:我也喜歡標題！