[外電] Pistons eager to gauge 7-footer Samb’s progress in Vega

[guestly (郭寶)]

LAS VEGAS –
The globalization of basketball means prodigies don’t stay hidden
for long, no matter which continent spawns them. So when a 14-year-old started
causing ripples in Senegal three years ago and a Spanish scout got on the
trail, he made a pitch to Mamadou Samb’s mother.


籃球全球化的意思就是天才們別躲太久了，不管他們是哪一洲的後代。所以當一個14歲
少年三年前掀起塞內加爾籃壇的波動時西班牙球探就開始追蹤，並嘗試與Mamadou Samb
的母親接觸。


“You want Mamadou,” the Senegalese mother of nine tall young boys told him, “
you take Cheick, too.”


「你想要Mamadou，」九個塞內加爾年輕男孩的母親告訴他，「你也得要Cheick。」


Which is the start of the story of how the Pistons might have come to find
their big man for the next generation. It’s a story of many chapters with no
reliable way yet to tell how it ends. But a significant clue gets delivered
over the next 10 days in Las Vegas, where the truth often comes to die.


這可能就是活塞如何找到他們下一代大個子的故事開端。這是一個不太能相信的多章節
故事但我們還不知道它如何結束。一條線索會在 Las Vegas未來10天披露，但是真相常
伴隨著終結。


The Pistons acquired rights to the 7-foot-1 Samb on draft night 2006 from the
Los Angeles Lakers for Maurice Evans, a swingman of proven worth. Hardly anyone
knew anything about Samb then, but when he showed up at last year’s Las Vegas
Summer League the grapevine soon hummed with the buzz surrounding the
22-year-old with a wing span that seemingly spans the Dark Continent.


活塞用Maurice Evans，一個已證明身價的搖擺人，從湖人手中獲得2006選秀權並選到了
7呎1吋的Samb。那時幾乎沒有人知道Samb，但自從他在去年Las Vegas夏季聯盟現身後，
這個有著一對似乎能跨越黑暗大陸臂展的22歲年輕人的消息不脛而走。


Joe Dumars’ old Pistons running mate, Isiah Thomas, asked in amazement where he
’d found Samb. An Eastern Conference GM called and offered a veteran guard who
’d been a part-time starter and valuable contributor. All that for a player who
’d toiled unspectacularly in Spain’s B League just a few years after picking
up the sport at the urging of others in Senegal.


Dumars'的活塞老隊友，Isiah Thomas，很驚訝的問說他從哪發現Samb。這個東區GM了通電
希望可以用一個曾兼職先發的後衛換到他。這一切在不經意網羅了一個在西班牙B聯盟的球
員引起了塞內加爾人對籃球的注意後。


“When I’m young, I play football with my friends,” Samb said after a recent
workout at the Pistons’ Auburn Hills practice facility. “And one day, every
people, when I’m going out, saying to me, ‘Hey, you big. You have to play
basketball.’ And I say, ‘Why I have to play basketball?’ I do try. I like
basketball.”


「當我小的時候，我和朋友踢足球，」Samb最近練習結束後在活塞的訓練場Auburn Hills
說。「然後有一天，我出外時，每個人都對我說：『嘿，大個子。你應該要打籃球。』然
後我說：『為什麼我應該要打籃球？』我真的跑去打了。我喜歡籃球。」


Basketball appears to like him, too. Samb has natural shot-blocking skills,
good footwork and an uncanny shooting touch for a big man. At the end of a
two-hour workout under the eye of Pistons assistant and NBA Hall of Famer Dave
Cowens, Samb shoots dozens of perimeter jumpers in an effortless arc. He runs
with an easy gait and glides laterally with a fluidity uncommon to 7-footers.


籃球似乎也喜歡他。Samb有個天生的封阻技巧，很好的腳步和對大個子來說不尋常的投籃
手感。在兩個小時活塞助理教練和名人堂球員Dave Cowens的監督練習中，Samb投進了許多
弧度漂亮的中距離。他跑步的輕鬆步態和流暢的平行移動對一個7呎球員來說相當不尋常。


The wild card, of course, is how he looks in a full-court game populated by
nine other NBA bodies. The Pistons will be assessing that critically over the
next 10 days, because it will go a long way toward determining whether they
feel comfortable committing one of their 15 roster spots to the still-raw Samb.
He has a year left on his contract in Spain, but it’s at Samb’s option. If
the Pistons see a role for him and see the value in more closely monitoring and
aiding his development, it’s possible Samb will be playing in the NBA come the
fall.


當然，重點是他在九個NBA球員的比賽中表現如何。活塞將會在未來10天做風險評估，因為
要把技巧生疏的Samb放進15人名單之中還有一段很長的距離。他還有一年在西班牙的合約，
但決定權在Samb。如果活塞為他安排一個位置，找到就近監督他的意義，還有幫助他成長
的時候，或許Samb在秋天就會出現在NBA。


The fact Samb is so new to basketball is both good news and bad for the
Pistons. Though they have to teach him everything from the ground up, at least
they have no bad habits to first deconstruct. And he’s a most willing learner,
a kid with bright eyes, an easy smile and a quick intellect who apologizes for
his English even though he communicates just fine in his fourth language. In
addition to his native tongue, Samb speaks French and Spanish plus the English
he’s picked up only since being drafted a year ago.


但事實是Samb對籃球還有點陌生，這對活塞是個好消息也是個壞消息。雖然他們必須全部
從頭教起，但至少沒有壞習慣要改。他是個很有學習意願的學生，有著明亮的雙眼，平易
近人的笑容和迅速的理解力，他為他的英語能力感到抱歉，儘管這是他的第四種語言而且
已經說的不錯了。除了母語他還說法語、西班牙語，加上一年前選秀後才學的英語。


“He’s like a sponge,” said Cowens, who worked out with Samb last week for
the first time. “He’s got a lot of upside. He’s a pretty coordinated kid for
a big and he moves well. The biggest thing for him now is conditioning and the
strength in the core of his body.”


「他就像塊海綿，」Cowens如此描述，他上星期與Samb第一次練習。「他有很多長處。他
是個協調性出色的年輕大個而且動作良好。他現在最大的問題在於適應環境和增加身體強
度。」

Samb was listed variously at 195 to 215 pounds a year ago, but since getting
his first taste of the NBA he’s become a weight-lifting devotee.


Samb去年的體重由195磅增加到215，但從他接觸NBA他就變成了健身愛好者。


“Last year when I come to Summer League, my first time, I see a lot of
players, like, strong,” – and here he holds his hands well apart to display
broad shoulders – “and I be like this” – and here he holds up a long,
spidery index finger. “Skinny. I see I got to work on legs to get more big and
come back to Spain this season. I have a little pain in my foot – I no play. I
lift and lift and lift. I weigh now like 12 kilos more – I don’t know in
pounds.”


「去年我第一次來到夏季聯盟，我看到很多強壯的球員，」他把雙手展開，顯現寬厚的臂
膀，「我就像這樣，」說到這裡他伸出長如蜘蛛的食指。「瘦弱。我想我過度使用腿部，
在回到西班牙之後，我的腿有點疼痛。我暫停打球。我舉我舉我舉舉舉重。我增加了12公
斤，我不知道這有多少磅。」


Twelve kilos to just over 26 pounds, and, in fact, Cowens looks at Samb, now
somewhere around 235 to 240, and says, “We don’t want him to get too big
(through the chest). With him it’s all between the knees and the core, the
abdomen. That’s where he has to get stronger because that’s what controls all
the movement.”


12公斤超過26磅，而事實上Samb已經約有235~240磅了。Cowens看著他說：「我們不希望
他變的太大隻(對胸膛來說)。他的問題在膝蓋和運動核心，也就是腹部。那是他必須加強
的部位，因為那是控制所有動作的地方。」


Cowens has seen hundreds of players with enough talent to crack the NBA come
and go having left no impact. He’s not one to make snap assessments of a player
’s future based on a few workouts.


Cowens看過數以百計有天份的球員闖進NBA而沒有留下任何影響。他不是在幾次練習中很快
就對球員未來做出評估的人。


He talks of the “weeding out” process that winnows the pool of thousands of
talented basketball players to the relatively few who wind up making a handsome
living at it. First comes the body and raw athletic ability that Samb obviously
possesses. Then an athlete’s tolerance for pain and a body’s ability to
absorb punishment. Then the ability to fine tune athleticism into skill. And
finally a willingness to compete.


他談到去蕪存菁的過程把少數能在其中生存的球員從幾千個球員中篩選出。第一是Samb明
顯擁有的身材和基本運動能力。然後是運動員的耐傷度和身體吸收傷害的能力。接著是把
體能變成球技的能力。最後是競爭意願。


In his time with Samb, Cowens says “he’s here and he’s working hard. I like
his demeanor. He’s friendly, but you can see he’s got a little bit of a nasty
thing where he wants to compete. Now, how long he can sustain that is the next
thing. He’s going to be playing against the best and the toughest. Bill
Russell used to say there are some bad (SOBs) out there trying to make you look
bad – don’t ever forget that.”


在他和Samb共處的時間，Cowens說：「他人在這而且十分努力。我喜歡他的行為舉止。他
很友善，但你可以從一些小動作中看到他想要獲勝。現在他可以持續多久是下一步。他將
會和最好最堅強的球員對抗。Bill Russell曾經說過有總是一些讓你變糟的事情，千萬別
忘了提醒自己。


“He’s just in the beginning. But he’s got a chance. It’s all up to him. He’
s certainly got the size, the length, the touch, the dexterity, the footwork –
 he’s got all that stuff.”


「他才剛起步。但他已經有了機會。現在就看他的了。他的高度、體型、手感、速度、
腳步，該有的他幾乎都有了。」


“Good coach,” Samb says of Cowens. “He shows me things I never know in
basketball. Little, little, important things. I like to work with him.”


「好教練。」Samb對Cowens的看法。「他告訴我從不知道的籃球知識。小的，不起眼的，
重要的事。我喜歡和他一起做事。」


The Pistons arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday, practiced twice Thursday and
will do so again Friday before starting their five-game Summer League schedule
Saturday against Philadelphia. Every practice, every game, every scrimmage will
be another learning experience for Cheick Samb, another opportunity to write
the next chapter in a story yet to take form.


活塞隊在星期三到達Las Vegas，在星期六與76人開始他們下來的五場夏季聯盟之旅之前
星期四五各練習兩次。每次練習，每場球，每場爭鬥將會是Cheick Samb另一次學習經驗，
也是我們目睹未來傳奇的一個機會。



--
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◆ From: 125.231.222.155
→ guestly:第四段第四行的grapevine應該不是葡萄藤吧?? 不會翻求補正
推 limitlesscit:如果Samb可以變成藍比爾就好了  XDDD
推 RAYBO:SAMB有機會變成歐拉天王 或是變成歐羅糖?
推 pennymarcus:第五段東區GM那邊是不是有想用後衛老將換Samb的意思？
推 PaulDavis:是.
推 jj75520:他是我們禁區未來的新希望壓!
※ 編輯: guestly         來自: 125.231.220.246      (07/08 09:36)
→ guestly:翻的不好..真是抱歉
推 twister527:推~~
推 coyater:不知道有沒有人有Cheick Samb的影片,網路上找沒有  哀
推 jw55:Samb如果像Dalembert就很夠了 加油加油
推 LOJ:
推 kerrys:勇於嘗試翻譯就該給予鼓勵  加油  :)