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Mad about Cousins LEXINGTON, Ky. – When DeMarcus Cousins signs an autograph, you never know what you’re going to get. If the crowd is big and Kentucky’s standout freshman is in a hurry, he’ll simply scribble his initials and jersey number. Catch him alone at a restaurant or on campus, and Cousins may write his entire name in perfect penmanship. “The other night, he signed a shirt for me and I couldn’t even read it,” said Monique Cousins, DeMarcus’ mom. “I think he must’ve been in a bad mood. That doesn’t happen very often.” 你永遠不知道你會從表弟手中拿到甚麼樣的簽名。 如果人很多而表弟又趕時間的話,他只會簽他的名字縮寫加上球衣 號碼;如果你在餐廳或校園的一角逮到獨處的他時,他可能就會細 心地簽上他的全名。 「有一晚他簽了一個很短的簽名給我,我甚至看不出來他寫的是甚 麼,我想他當時的情緒一定很糟,不過這不常發生。」表弟的媽媽 Monique Cousins說道。 Not at Kentucky, where in less than a year the 6-foot-11, 270-pound center has become one of the biggest celebrities – literally – in the history of the Wildcats’ storied program. At Rupp Arena females write marriage proposals on signs while others hold up posterboards that read “In Kentucky We Love Our Cousins.” The autograph requests are non-stop, Cousins has his own nickname (“Boogie” ) and everyone, it seems, wants to pose for a picture with the future NBA lottery pick. Back in the fall, at a burger joint called Tolly-Ho, Cousins put his arm around a classmate during a photo and could feel the kid shaking. “Craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Cousins said. “Dude was so nervous.” 六呎十一吋,兩百七十磅的表弟用不到一年的時間便成為最著名的 球員之一,至少在野貓隊的歷史上是如此。在Rupp Arena不時可見 到女性球迷寫著向表弟求婚的告白大字報夾雜在「在肯塔基,我們 愛我們的表弟」的海報中。 簽名的要求不曾斷過而且大家都想和這位未來NBA樂透區新秀合照。 時間拉回到去年秋天,表弟在一間叫做Tolly-Ho的漢堡店拍了一張 照,照片中表弟用手臂抱住同學,你可以感覺到那位孩子被上下搖 晃著。 表弟:「那是我見過這瘋狂的事,他看起來超緊張的。」 Cousins laughs as he leans back in his chair at Wildcat Lodge, Kentucky’s athletic dormitory. As much as he’s enjoyed his time on the court during his first – and probably only – season for the 32-2 Wildcats, he’s relished his time off of it, too. Feeling loved and respected, he said, is a nice change from his days growing up in Alabama, where his mother said he was treated like a “piece of meat.” Cousins is thankful that the folks in Lexington were willing to let him establish his own identity instead of judging him by the labels that have always defined him. “I’m a thug,” Cousins said. “I’m a bad guy, a criminal. I know that’s what people say about me, people that don’t know me. “Nothing could be further from the truth.” 表弟靠在野貓隊宿舍的椅子上大笑。他非常享受他的第一個大學賽 季﹝可能也是唯一一個﹞,野貓本季戰績32勝2負,他也喜歡在這 裡的生活,在這裡他感受到愛與尊敬,表弟說搬到這裡對於他這個 在阿拉巴馬長大的孩子來說是個很棒的轉變,表弟的媽媽說表弟在 阿拉巴馬的生活像是塊被虎視眈眈的肥肉。 表弟很感謝萊辛頓的居民,他們幫助他重建自信,而不像其他人一 直在他身上貼標籤。 「我是個流氓,我是壞人,是罪犯,我知道那些人怎麼說我,他們 根本不懂我。」 事實能說明一切。 A first-team All-American pick by Yahoo! Sports, Cousins averages 15.3 points and 10.1 rebounds for the Wildcats – numbers that are even more phenomenal when you consider he plays just 23 minutes per game. Still, along with being one of college basketball’s most efficient players, Cousins is also one of the most enigmatic, polarizing figures the game has seen in years. Some teams devise schemes to try to stop Cousins while others resort to hacking away at his arms, ribs and groin. One fan may think Cousins is a whiner and a baby for complaining to the officials. Another sees passion and a desire to win. 表弟被雅虎體育選為全美大學籃球第一隊,本季平均15.3分10.1籃 板,而他的平均上場時間只有23分鐘而已。 儘管身為最有效率的大學籃球員之一,表弟所受到的評價卻非常兩 極。 有些球隊對表弟的策略就是亂拳往他身上招呼,表弟因此會向裁判 抗議,有些球迷認為表弟像個愛打小報告的小鬼;而有些球迷則在 他身上看到熱情和對勝利的渴望。 NBA scouts know that Cousins has all the tools to be a dominant force at the next level and help turn a dormant program into a winner. But some of them also wonder whether Cousins has anger management issues that could cause him to implode. “Ask all 30 teams about DeMarcus Cousins’ temper and you’ll get 30 different answers,” an NBA executive said last weekend. “I think that whole issue is overblown. “From the first game of the season to the NCAA tournament, people have been sitting on the edge of their chairs waiting for that kid to mess up, and he hasn’t. “Instead he just continues to kick some serious ass.” NBA球探深知表弟的天賦能主宰下一個層級,幫助弱旅變雄獅,但 也有不少人擔心表弟的情緒管理會誤事。 上星期一位NBA主管這樣說:「去問三十支球隊關於表弟的情緒問 題,你會得到三十種不同的答案。我覺得這個問題被過度放大了。」 「NCAA淘汰賽開始後,大家都等著看這孩子把事情搞砸,但這孩子 並沒有搞砸任何事。」 「取而代之的是他狠狠痛擊了對手。」 “The Big Ticket” played his first organized basketball game as an eighth-grader, but Cousins was given his nickname before he ever stepped on the court. Gary Williams, a recruiter for the AAU Birmingham (Ala.) Storm, went to watch a prep contest at Erwin High School and noticed Cousins walking through the halls. At age 14 he was already 6 feet 6, so Williams figured he was a senior. “You know any eighth-graders who might want to play basketball?” Williams asked Cousins. “I’m in the eighth grade,” he replied. 「希望之星」的第一場正式比賽是八年級的時候,但表弟還沒上場 打球前就已經獲得這個綽號。 AAU伯明罕風暴隊的招生教練Gary Williams當時前往Erwin高中看 一場練習賽,他注意到穿過球場的表弟,14歲的表弟當時已經六呎 六吋高,所以Williams誤以為表弟是個高中生。 「你有認識想打籃球的八年級生嗎?」Williams問表弟。 「我就是八年級阿。」表弟回應道。 A meeting was set up with Cousins’ parents and Storm coach Danny Pritchett, who still remembers the moment Cousins stepped out of the car. “His mom told me over the phone that he was about 6-3,” Pritchett said. “ But when he rose out of that car he kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It was like he never stopped standing. In my mind I was thinking ‘ Yes!’ “I knew he was going to be a kid everyone would want to watch play. He was going to be The Big Ticket.” Before then Cousins never had much interest in sports. His junior high school classmates used to pick on him and tease him about not using his height to his advantage. “A waste of space,” someone once called him. “I was just hanging around, doing nothing but getting into trouble,” Cousins said. Now that was no longer the case. 表弟的雙親和風暴隊教練Danny Pritchett約了見面,Pritchett直 到現在仍記得表弟走出車外的情景。 「他媽在電話中跟我說他大約六呎三,但當他起身離開車外時,我 覺得他一直不斷變大,好像他一直沒有站直的樣子,當時我心裡就 決定要這孩子了。」 「我知道他是那種大家都想看他打球的孩子,他會是希望之星。」 在表弟對運動還不太感興趣之前,他的國中同學常嘲笑不會利用自 己的身高,「浪費空間人」─曾經有人這樣叫他。 表弟:「當時我遊手好閒,除了惹事生非外一事無成。」 如今這些都已成往事。 Within weeks a kid who didn’t know how to shoot a layup was calling Pritchett every day, begging him to take him to the gym. It wasn’t long before he could jump high enough to dunk, and he was so dominant that teams began intentionally fouling and cheap-shoting Cousins to keep him from scoring. “They were hanging on his back and hitting him with their open hands or fists,” Pritchett said. “Initially he thought, ‘This is about more than basketball. They’re trying to hurt me.’ “We explained to him, ‘It’s an honor for someone to have to double-team you. It’s an honor for a kid to have to do all these [illegal] things to stop you.’” By the end of his first year with the Storm, Cousins had lived up to his nickname. Spectators were circling the court to watch his AAU games, and Rivals.com had ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in the country for his class. 剛開始表弟連上藍都不會,整日黏著教練,拜託教練帶他上體育館, 不久後他已經可以灌籃,他開始主宰球場,逼得對手要用犯規和垃 圾話來阻止他得分。 Pritchett:「他們黏在他背上不停地打他,一開始表弟認為這已 經超過尺度了,他們想傷害他。」 「我們向他解釋,在球場上被包夾是一種光榮,逼對手用非法手段 阻止自己是一種榮耀。」 在風暴隊的第一個球季結束後,表弟擦亮了自己的招牌,觀眾圍繞 在場邊想看他AAU的比賽,Rivals.com更將他排在同年級的全國新 秀首位。 待續... -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.167.177.161 ※ 編輯: kingpredrag 來自: 118.167.177.161 (05/11 15:17)
bcbbc9:未看先推 05/11 16:46
walilecane:推 感謝翻譯 05/11 17:00
RonArtest93:其實看完表弟的訪問 對他真的不討厭啊 05/11 20:04
RonArtest93:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnG9HC_ucbI 05/11 20:04
RonArtest93:感覺很像大小孩 05/11 20:05
KillLakers:Wall:幹 躺著都中槍 XDDD 不過最後一個人的採訪 05/11 21:16
KillLakers:讓我毛毛的 連他都婊表弟「控制你的情緒」......... 05/11 21:17
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- < 作者: kingpredrag (I love Man Utd!!!!!!!!!) 看板: Kings 標題: [外電] 表弟的「狂」 part 2 時間: Tue May 11 21:32:02 2010 表弟的「狂」 part 2 “The day that ranking came out, a woman walked up to me and said, ‘Your life is about to change,’” Monique Cousins said. “She was right. In some ways it’s been downhill ever since.” Excited as he was about his future in basketball, Cousins’ semi-celebrity status caused emotional strain on him and his family. Faculty members at his high school who had ties to other AAU teams approached him in class or in the hallways and tried to use shoes and money to try to bribe him to leave the Storm to play for their program instead. College coaches began contacting Monique to tell her they would “take care of her” if DeMarcus signed with their school and people began spreading false rumors about his personal life. “People were using me,” Cousins said. “They were taking advantage of me and trying to buy me. Coach Danny and I came up together. He took a chance on me and I wasn’t going to leave him, but when I didn’t people threw dirt on my name and tried to walk over me.” Monique Cousins:「排名結果出爐的那天,有一位女士走過來跟 我說:『你的未來即將改變。』他說的對,某些方面來說變得越來 越糟。」 在為自己的籃球未來興奮之際,表弟的小有名氣卻也為他自己和家 人帶來精神上的壓力,學校的教職員常常帶著其他ACC球隊的人到 他班上或學校大門堵他,想用球鞋和金錢誘惑他,讓他離開風暴隊 到他們的球隊打球。 大學教練開始找上Monique,告訴他只要表弟和他們學校簽約,他 們就會照顧Monique的生活,同時人們開始散播表弟私生活的負面 傳言。 表弟:「大家都想利用我。他們都想占我便宜,想要收買我,我和 Danny教練不會分開,他為我開了一扇大門,所以我也不會離開他, 但當我ㄧ一回絕後,他們開始污化我的名聲,想要踐踏我的人格。」 Monique remembers it a different way. “People did walk over him,” she said. “They walked over both of us. We didn ’t know how to handle it all. Everything was so overwhelming. “In the end you just trust in your beliefs, lean on the people you trust – and pray.” Making the situation even more difficult was that DeMarcus was only 14 and 15 at the time. With Monique working to support him and his five siblings and his biological father out of the picture, Cousins said the brash attitude he developed on the basketball court began affecting his life in a negative way. Violence and shootings were common in Cousins’ neighborhood. Many of his friends were either using drugs or selling them, and a senior on the Erwin basketball team that Cousins looked up to was arrested for a string of armed robberies. Monique的回憶有些不同。 「那些人踐踏他,實際上他們是踐踏了我們母子倆,我們不曉得該 如何面對這種情況,每件事都像巨浪一樣壓過來。」 「最後你只能相信自己的信念,倚靠你信任的人,然後禱告。」 表弟十四、十五歲那時期,情況繼續惡化,生父早已不見蹤影的表 弟一家必須靠Monique獨自工作扶養表弟和五個孩子,表弟說當時 他在球場上的急性子也開始對他的生活產生不好的影響。 鬥毆和槍聲在表弟住家周遭屢見不鮮,他許多朋友都在吸毒甚至販 毒,一位表弟尊敬的Erwin籃球隊高四球員更因為數宗搶案被捕。 Cousins managed to steer clear of trouble until his sophomore year when, midway through the basketball season, he got into a physical altercation on a school bus with a faculty member following a game. Cousins is adamant that he was defending himself, but he also conceded that his own immaturity may have provoked the fight. He was suspended from the team for the rest of the season and, after finishing out the school year, decided to transfer to another high school the following fall. “That’s been a dark cloud that has hung over me for my entire career,” Cousins said. “Every time I do something good, that gets brought back up.” From that point on Cousins said he felt as if he had a target on his back. 直到高二那年表弟才決心和麻煩撇清關係,他在校車上和去看比賽 的學校教職員發生肢體衝突,表弟堅稱他是出於自衛,但他也承認 他的不成熟或許是這場衝突的導火線。 表弟被判禁止參加當季剩餘的全部賽事,學年結束後,表弟決定在 秋天轉學到其他高中。 「這將是我職業生涯的污點,每當我有好表現的時候,大家就會提 起這件事。」 從那時起,表弟覺得他背上彷彿被劃了一道標靶。 The following summer he attended a pool party where someone was seriously injured in a fight. Even though he wasn’t involved, Cousins received a ticket in a mail a few weeks later indicating he had been charged with battery. The charges were eventually dropped, but the situation was another reminder of the scrutiny and spotlight that accompanied his status as a basketball star. A few months later he was deemed ineligible to play at Clay-Chalkville High School because of allegations that first-year coach Robi Coker, a former staff member at Ole Miss, recruited him there. Cousins and his mother denied those allegations. “There were a lot of people that didn’t want to see him succeed,” Monique said. “I love Alabama. I was born and raised here. But there are some things we just shouldn’t have had to go through. At that point the hits just became too hard.” 當年暑假表弟參加一個派對,派對中有人因為打架而受重傷,雖然 表弟沒有參與,但幾週後他仍收到傳票,通知他因為參與鬥毆而被 起訴。該項官司最後無疾而終,但這件事情也變成大家看到他繳出 明星數據時一定要提的往事。 幾個月後表弟被認為不適合在Clay-Chalkville高中打球,主因是 當時執教滿一年的教頭Robi Coker對他有疑慮,他是前Ole Miss的 教練團成員,曾試圖把表弟招募到該校。表弟和他媽否認這些指控。 Monique:「有很多人不願意看到表弟成功,我喜歡阿拉巴馬,我 在那出生長大,但那裡有太多事情我們無法承受的,而且事情每況 愈下。 So DeMarcus and his mother packed up their car, left Birmingham and moved back to the city where Cousins was born and had lived until the fourth grade. Mobile, Alabama. LeFlore (Ala.) High School has just won a playoff game by double digits, but as Otis Hughley walked off the court, the Rattlers head coach hardly seems to be enjoying the victory. Instead he’s berating a player who had taunted the opposing crowd by flicking his jersey as the final horn sounded. “We don’t stand for that stuff here,” Hughley said the following day. “ Ask anyone that’s ever played for me. That’s not what we teach here.” 因此表弟和他媽打包行李,離開伯明罕搬回表弟出生並住到四年級 的地方,阿拉巴馬的摩比港。 LeFloree剛在一場季後賽大勝雙位數以上,但當教練Otis Hughley 離開球場時,他卻很難為這場勝利而高興。 他剛剛在場上叱責了自家球員,因為當比賽結束槍響時,他的球員 抖動著身上的球衣向對手挑釁。 之後Hughley表示:「我們不該那樣做,問問看任何被我帶過的球員, 那不是我敎他們的東西。」 Kentucky coach John Calipari often says that standout freshmen Cousins, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe have always been coddled but never coached or disciplined. That may be the case with Wall and Bledsoe. But Cousins? “That’s not true,” Hughley says with a chuckle. “He’s got to say those kinds of things and that’s fine. But that’s obviously not true.” Cousins agrees. “Oh I definitely knew what it was like to be yelled at and coached and disciplined,” he said. “Coach Cal is on another level, but Coach Hughley was tough. He was crazy.” 肯塔基教練John Calipari常說他那些傑出的大一生表弟、Wall和 Bledsoe被照顧的很好,而且不需要特別去管教他們,這句話或許 適用在Wall和Bledsoe身上,但適用於表弟嗎? Hughley:「這不是真的,他當然需要說些場面話,但這很明顯是 錯的。」 表弟也同意Hughley的看法。 表弟:「我非常了解被吼被管教的感覺,卡教練是另一種教練,但 Hughley教練很硬,他是個狂人。」 It’s no wonder that Cousins wanted to play for Hughley at LeFlore. In the four seasons before Cousins’ arrival in the fall of 2007, 16 of Hughley’s players had earned Division I scholarships. LeFlore was 35-0 entering the state championship game the previous year. National television appearances were commonplace for a team whose coach serves as instructor at Pete Newell’s Big Man Camp during the summer. “Why wouldn’t he want to come here?” said Hughley, a former college assistant coach at various levels. “We were glad to have DeMarcus, but we didn’t need him. Our culture had already been built.” Even though he was told he could transfer to any school in the state once he left Birmingham, Cousins was forced to sit out the first nine games because of recruiting allegations. 無庸置疑地表弟願意為Hughley教練在LeFlore打球,表弟於2007年 秋天入隊,此前的四個球季,Hughley帶著手下十六位球員贏得數 次分區冠軍。 前一年Leflore以35勝零敗的戰績進入州冠軍賽,在全國轉播上見 他們是司空見慣的事,Hughley也常在暑假到Pete Newell的長人訓 練營擔任指導員。 Hughley:「有甚麼理由他不想來這裡?我們很高興表弟能加盟, 但我們並非真的需要他,我們的球隊已經建立完備。」 雖然表弟被告知離開伯明罕後可以自由轉到任何學校,但他還是因 為招募規定被迫坐了九場板凳。 “We hadn’t lost a game in this area for four years and we hadn’t lost one in the state for two years,” Hughley said. “They thought, ‘The rich are getting richer. We’ve got to do something about this.’” Once Cousins became eligible it was obvious he and Hughley were a good fit. Hughley began picking DeMarcus up each Sunday morning so he could attend church services with him, his wife and three young children. Because they didn’t have a gymnasium at their school, LeFlore played all of its games on the road. The more time Hughley spent with Cousins on buses and vans and in arenas and hotels, the more he realized that he hardly fit the reputation that preceded him. The only “fights” he was involved in were harmless wrestling matches with assistant coach Jeff Pope in fast food parking lots. Cousins was never ejected from a game and, although he talked back at times, he never refused to follow orders. 「四年來我們在這一區沒有輸掉任何一場球,在我們州裡兩年內沒 吞過一敗,別人會認為我們是富者恆富,但我們為此著實下了許多 工夫。」 當表弟取得上場資格後,你會發現他和Hughley非常的配,每個禮 拜天Hughley都會把表弟挖起床,帶著表弟和他老婆以及三個孩子 去做禮拜。 因為他們學校沒有體育館,Leflore所有比賽都在客場進行,Hughley 和表弟在校車、貨車、球場和旅館上花了非常多的時間相處,當他 越了解表弟,他就越難相信先前在表弟身上的流言蜚語。 表弟之後所牽涉的唯一一場「架」是場無害的摔角比賽,他和助理 教練在速食店的停車場鬧著玩的,表弟從不拒絕任何遊戲,雖然他 已經一再地說要回家了,但他還是不會拒絕同伴的邀請。 “DeMarcus isn’t a tough kid,” he said. “On the court he may be tough, but off the court he’s scared of the dog. He’s not a wussy kid, but he’s a sweet kid. I don’t know anyone that’s met him that doesn’t like him. “My son sees him on TV now and almost starts crying: ‘I miss DeMarcus.’” Even though Hughley knew the real DeMarcus Cousins, the problems Cousins encountered in Birmingham were public knowledge in Mobile. Cousins also continued to receive criticism for his attitude and poor body language during games. 「表弟不是那種頑強的小孩,在球場上他很硬,但下了球場他居然 會怕狗耶,不過他不是軟弱的娘娘腔,他是個窩心的小孩,我不了 解為何之前他遇過的人居然會不喜歡他。」 「我兒子現在在電視上看到表弟就會開始哭著說『我想表弟。』」 雖然Hughley知道表弟的本性,但表弟之前在伯明罕的遭遇還是傳 遍了摩比港,表弟也必須繼續面對隨之而來的批評以及場上的肢體 挑釁。 待續... -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.167.177.161
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> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- < 作者: kingpredrag (I love Man Utd!!!!!!!!!) 看板: Kings 標題: [外電] 表弟的「狂」 part 3 時間: Wed May 12 21:59:16 2010 Some people may have thought Cousins acted like a punk when he’d get face-to-face with an opponent or flail his arms after absorbing a flagrant foul. Monique Cousins saw it as a natural reaction any 17-year-old would have after taking a vicious shot. “DeMarcus has had his front teeth knocked out four times,” she said. “ Every team he plays, the scouting report says, ‘Foul Cousins until he loses his cool.’ Who else deals with a scouting report like that? Each game he gets pounded and pounded and hit and scratched. “Ask yourself this: If five guys intentionally pounded on you for an entire game, how would you react?” 表弟被對手惡性犯規後會用臉去頂著對手的臉,或者猛烈地拍擊 自己的手臂,有些人覺得表弟這種舉動很無賴,但表弟的媽媽 Monique Cousins認為這是任何十七歲少年被惡意犯規後的正常 反應。 「表弟的門牙被打掉四次,每次敵隊的偵查報告都是『對表弟犯 規直到他失去理智』,有其他人的偵查報告會這樣做嗎?每場比 賽對手總是對他又打又敲又抓。」 「你捫心自問:如果對方五個人整場比賽都故意一直撞你,你會 怎麼做?」 In his final high school game, Cousins fouled out with about 3 minutes remaining on a technical foul. His team lost 52-39. An article in the Birmingham News indicated that Cousins, who scored just seven points, continuously complained to officials about a lack of foul calls and that he taunted the opposition after opening the game with a hook shot. Former NBA star Charles Barkley drove in from Atlanta to watch Cousins for the first time. “Very disappointing,” said Barkley when asked to discuss Cousins’ play. Hughley prevented Cousins from speaking with the media after the game. A few weeks later – even though he was ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the nation – sportswriters didn’t even vote him as the top player in the state. 高中最後一場比賽,比賽剩下最後三分鐘時表弟因為一次技術犯規 犯滿畢業,球隊最終以52-39輸球,伯明罕新聞報的一篇文章這樣 寫著:表弟只得到七分,他整場比賽不停地向裁判抗議漏判,而且 他還在比賽開始不久一次鉤射得分後挑釁對手。 前NBA球星Charles Barkley特地從亞特蘭大開車來看表弟打球。 ﹝這是巴克利第一次來看表弟打球。﹞ 「非常失望。」當被問及表弟的表現如何時,惡漢這樣回答。 Hughley於賽後禁止表弟對媒體發言,幾週後,最佳球員的票選出 爐,表弟雖然被評價為全國新秀第二名,但沒有任何體育作家投票 給他。 For awhile Cousins had considered signing with Alabama-Birmingham to play for Mike Davis, but by that point he was ready to leave the state. He said he needed a fresh start, and it’s tough to get a fresh start in an old place where people harp on your past instead of offering encouraging words about your future. “DeMarcus lives on Front Street,” Hughley said, “and there’s a lot responsibility that comes along with living on Front Street. He’s done an unbelievable job considering all the people that are out there waiting for him to screw up. “People are trying to get a kid to act like an adult all the time when adults don’t even act like adults. No one is perfect. I’m just glad life isn ’t fair, because we’d all go to hell for what we’ve done.” 不久後表弟被認為會就讀阿拉巴馬大學為Mike Davis打球,但其實 表弟已經準備好要離開,他想要有一個新的開始,待在一個人們總 是用揭瘡疤代替鼓勵的舊地方很難有新的開始。 Hughley:「表弟在前街區長大,在那裡生活就會被賦予許多責任, 當大家都等著看他笑話時,他完成了不可思議的工作。」 「即使是一個大人也不可能總是像個大人,但大家卻希望一個孩子 能像大人一樣成熟,沒有人是完美的,我很高興生命是不公平的, 因為我們終將為自己的所作所為下地獄。」 A few hours before Kentucky’s basketball team left for a Feb. 16 game at Mississippi State, DeMarcus Cousins’ phone began to ring as he ate a piece of sausage pizza at the Wildcat Lodge. As he answered, Cousins activated the speaker so some visitors could hear. “What’s up (expletive)?” a voice on the other end said. “You ready to get dominated? I hate you so much! You’re the biggest baby in the SEC – the biggest (expletive) ever!” The caller had just referred to Cousins using a homophobic slur and a racial slur, but instead of getting upset, he started laughing as he scrolled through more than 100 missed calls and text messages all beginning with Starkville, Mississippi’s 662 area code. “I guess I’ll have to change my number,” he said. “But I think I’ll wait until after the game so I can see what they say after we beat them.” The scenario provided a perfect example of how far Cousins – who scored a team-high 19 points in Kentucky’s overtime victory the following night – has come since arriving at Kentucky. 二月十六日,幾小時後肯塔基將對上密西西比州大,表弟正在野貓 隊宿舍吃披薩時手機響了。 表弟用擴音接電話,讓其他人也能聽見談話內容。 「搞什?」電話那頭傳出聲音「你準備好被宰了嗎?我看你很不爽, 你只不過是SEC裡最巨大的小baby,最巨大的!」 對方開始用一些侮辱同性戀和種族歧視的字眼辱罵表弟,但表弟沒 有因此而沮喪,他邊笑邊給我們看他手機裡一百多通未接來電和簡 訊,所有來電的區域碼都顯示著662。﹝密西西比州Starkville區 的區碼。﹞ 「我猜我該換號碼了,但我想等到比賽結束後再換,因為我想看看 他們被我們擊敗後會說甚麼?」 這場比賽表弟攻下全隊最高的十九分幫助球隊在延長賽獲勝。這個 例子是表弟目前在肯塔基生活的最佳寫照。 Even though he’s expected to enter the NBA draft after the NCAA tournament, Cousins said he recognizes how much he’s developed since arriving at college nine months ago. “Everyone needs at least a year of college,” he said. “It helps you mature and it gets you one step closer to becoming a man. There are baby steps to becoming a man, and I’ve taken a lot of them during the last year.” Much of that is because of head coach John Calipari, who Cousins had signed to play for at Memphis before getting out of his letter of intent to follow him to Kentucky. No coach in the country does as good of a job as Calipari of preparing one-and-done caliber players for the NBA – mainly because he’s hard on them and refuses to treat them like superstars. 表弟被預期大一球季結束後便會投入NBA選秀,表弟說他必須承認 這九個月的大學生活幫助他成長許多。 表弟:「大家都應該至少在大學待一年,大學能幫助你成熟並更接 近成為一個男人,成為男人就像嬰兒學步,但這一年來我已經有了 長足的進步。」 最大功臣就是肯塔基教練John Calipari,本來表弟要去曼菲斯打球, 但接到卡教練的信後,他便追隨卡教練到肯塔基去。 在國內沒有人像卡教練一樣提供如此多大一生給NBA﹝原文是指到大 學過水一年就投入職業運動的球員﹞,這主要是因為他在球員身上下 了需多苦心並拒絕為這些孩子戴高帽。 “His whole life, when he was challenged to do stuff he didn’t want to do, he ’d react like a 13-year-old,” Calipari said. “So when he wasn’t in shape and we were doing conditioning, he’d start having fits. “I’d say, ‘Fine, go on the side until you can finish these drills. When he figured out that I wasn’t budging and that none of it would work with me and that it wasn’t going to upset our practice, he slowly started coming around. “When he found that by getting in shape and doing it right and listening, he was being elevated as a player, he was like, ‘I’m going to listen and do what the guy tells me to do.’” Calipari said he couldn’t be more impressed with Cousins’ personality and the way he respects his coaches and teammates. “He’s not some self-absorbed jag-off,” Calipari said. “He’s really not. He’s got a huge heart for other people. He cares about how they feel.” 「他過去總是被迫去做一些他不想做的事,所以他才會有像個十三 歲小孩的反應,當他脫離那樣的環境後,我們開始幫她做調整,而 他也開始適應。」 「我通常會叫他去旁邊想想,等想通再回來,當他了解到我不會讓 步,沒有任何事能動搖我,而且也不會對球隊練習有任何不良影響 後,他漸漸地能跟上腳步。」 「當他發現『了解情況,把事情做對,聆聽別人的忠告能幫他更像 一個籃球員』後,他開始喜歡『聽別人的忠告並去踐行』這件事。」 卡教練對表弟這個人以及他對待教練和隊友的印象非常深刻。 「他不是那種只為自己想的渾球,他真的不是,他很為別人著想, 他在乎別人的看法。」 Monique Cousins relocated her family to Lexington last summer to help Cousins adapt to college life. Cousins’ 16-year-old brother, Jaleel – who stands 6-6 and weighs 255 pounds – enrolled at an area high school and everything seemed great. But after a few months Monique’s mother fell ill and she had to move back to Mobile. By that time she said she was more than comfortable with leaving her son alone in his new surroundings. “He’s in an environment where he can be himself,” she said. “No one is out to get him anymore. He doesn’t have a target on his back.” Hughley senses the same thing when he talks to Cousins on the phone. “He’s been allowed to resume his childhood and his maturation process,” Hughley said. “He was always under so much scrutiny in Alabama that he was always guarded. In some ways he was like Michael Jackson. That part of his life was taken from him.” Monique去年暑假舉家遷移到萊辛頓以便幫助表弟適應新環境,表 弟十六歲的弟弟Jaleel已經六呎六吋高,兩百五十五磅重,轉學到 當地高中,所有事情看起來都好極了。 但幾個月後Monique覺得身體開始不舒服,所以他又搬回摩比港, 他說他很放心把兒子留在那裡。 「他現在的生活可以讓他真正做自己,沒有人再找他麻煩,他的背 後不再有標靶。」 Hughley也藉由和表弟通電話感受到同樣的事。 Hughley:「他終於可以找回他的童年並安心的成長,在阿拉巴馬 他一直活在大家的監視下,他一直被盯著,某方面來說他就像Micheal Jackson,這種生活奪走了他的自我。」 Cousins knows his size and tattoos make for an intimidating look, but he says he’s approachable and will talk to anyone – whether he’s walking through campus or eating crab legs at Hooters with Wall and Bledsoe. The players refer to themselves as “Three Amigos.” “I’m not going to bite anyone’s head off,” he said. “You respect me. I’ ll respect you. I’m having so much fun. I never thought college would be like this.” The liberating feeling is obviously paying dividends on the court. 表弟知道他的體型和身上的刺青看起來很嚇人,但他說他其實很平 易近人,願意和任何人講話,不管是他正走過校園或是他和Wall以 及Bledsoe正在餐廳啃蟹腳都可以找他聊天。其他球員都說表弟、 wall和Bledsoe是三劍客。 「我不會咬人,你敬我一分,我敬你三分,我在這的生活很快樂, 我從沒想過大學生活會是這樣。」 這種自由的感覺也在場上轉化成正面的表現。 During one late-season stretch, Cousins posted double-doubles in 10 of 12 games. He was named Freshman of the Year in the SEC and is now projected to be a Top 5 pick in this summer’s NBA draft. Cousins has had a few less-than-flattering moments. He walked out of a huddle while Calipari was yelling at him last week. Earlier this season he was kneed in the head by Louisville’s Jared Swopshire during a skirmish for the ball. Cameras caught him throwing a forearm into Swopshire’s head. Still, those things are minor compared to the reputation that preceded Cousins ’ arrival. No matter what happens in the NCAA tournament and beyond, Cousins will always be able to say that he did more than just live up to his expectations at Kentucky. He surpassed them. “Everyone in Alabama comes up to me now and says, ‘I saw DeMarcus on TV last night,’” Hughley said. “These are some of the same people who used to criticize him and talk behind his back. I think the state is starting to appreciate him now. Everyone here is getting behind him. They’re happy for him. “Mainly because he proved them all wrong.” 球季尾聲的最後十二場比賽,表弟有十場比賽繳出雙十成績,他獲 選為SEC的年度大一生,而且預期是今年選秀的前五順位人選。 當然本季他也不是全然過的這麼順遂,上週球隊作戰術下達時,他 因為被卡教頭吼而離席,本賽季初他在爭球時被路易斯維爾大學的 Jared Swopshire用膝蓋擊中頭部,之後表弟被鏡頭抓到他用頭擊 回敬對手。 但表弟本季的表現讓這些事都變得不那麼重要,不論三月瘋結果為 何或是之後發生甚麼事,表弟都能抬起頭來說他已經做的比大家所 期望的更多。 他戰勝了那些看衰的眼光。 Hughley:「每個住在阿拉巴馬的人都來找我,跟我說『我昨晚在 電視上看到表弟耶。』而這些人全是當初在他背後說三道四的人, 我想我們州已經開始懂得欣賞他,支持他,為他感到高興。」 「而這全是因為他證明他們錯了。」 〈完〉 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.167.172.126