[外電] Pistons: Getting Younger in a Hurry

[kerrys (台北不是我的家)]

    原文出處：
              http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22999.shtml

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The Pistons are known around the league as being a veteran team, and for good
reason. At the start of the 2006-07 season, NBA.com reported the average age of
the roster to be 28.28 years, third-oldest in the league behind the San Antonio
Spurs (30.37) and Phoenix Suns (28.98).
    活塞在聯盟當中是眾所皆知而且以沉著穩健著名的老人球隊。在'06-'07年球季開始之
際，NBA官網報導活塞球員的平均年齡是28.28歲，在聯盟中是僅次於聖安東尼奧馬刺
(30.37歲)和鳳凰城太陽(28.98歲)，平均年齡第三老的球隊。

One year later you’d imagine the roster would continue to get older, but
instead it’s gotten much, much younger. Not re-signing 38-year-old Dale Davis
helped, as did signing all three of this year’s draft picks (Rodney Stuckey,
Arron Afflalo and Sammy Mejia), as well as a second-round pick from a year ago
(Cheik Samb). Detroit’s roster now has an average age of 26.5 years, which
should rank among the middle of the pack once rosters are settled.
    一年後你可以想像球員平均年齡會繼續提高，但相反地，活塞球員的平均年齡卻大大
地降低了。之所以如此是因為活塞沒有和高齡38的Dale Davis續約，另外還簽下了今年的
三名新秀(Rodney Stuckey、Arron Afflalo和Sammy Mejia)以及去年第二輪挑中的Cheik
Samb。現在底特律的球員平均年齡是26.5歲，這數字在球員名單確定後應該可以排在聯盟
的中段班。

Of all the rookies, Stuckey should make the biggest impact in his first year.
He was the 15th overall pick in June’s draft, and after impressing at the Las
Vegas Summer League he’s making a case for deserving a higher selection.
Fortunately for Detroit, he fell to the Pistons due to a lack of professional
scouts getting a chance to see him play at remote Eastern Washington University
.
    在所有菜鳥當中，Stuckey應該最有機會在第一年就拿出令人印象深刻的表現。他在六
月的選秀會中第15順位被活塞挑走，而且在拉斯維加斯夏季聯盟中出色的表現已經證明了
為什麼他值得活塞用較高的順位去挑選他。對底特律來說很幸運，他能被活塞撿走是因為
大部分的職業球探都沒有機會一探竟究，不了解遠在東華盛頓大學的Stuckey表現有多優異
。

Considering he was by far the most talented player on an unheralded college
team, it’s not a surprise he was asked to carry much of the scoring load. To
his credit he came through, averaging 24.3 points per game in his two seasons
while showing an excellent ability to cut through the lane and get to the
basket. But he also averaged 4.8 assists and the Pistons hope to further take
advantage of his passing skills.
    考慮到他是這間默默無名的二流大學中迄今最有天份的球員，他被賦予許多的得分重
任也就沒什麼好令人訝異的了。因為擁有無限開火權，他在兩個球季內平均每場比賽攻得
24.3分，同時也展現了卓越的切入禁區，直接挑戰籃框的能力。但他平均每場比賽也能遞
出4.8次助攻，而活塞希望他能進一步加強，發揮他的傳導技巧。

Most draft experts described him as a “combo guard,” which is often
translated to mean “too short to be a shooting guard.” Don’t forget, though,
the same label was applied to Ben Gordon and Dwyane Wade when they came out of
school, and Stuckey is at least an inch taller than either of those two players
.
    大部分的選秀專家把他描述為一個"雙能衛"，那通常被解讀為"太矮所以沒辦法勝任得
分後衛"的意思。儘管如此，但別忘了當初狗蛋和典韋剛離開學校時也曾被貼過同樣的標籤
，而Stuckey比他們兩位球員都至少高出一吋。

The Pistons want Stuckey to be more than just a scorer, as he’s expected to be
the primary backup to both backcourt positions. To prepare him for a role as
the backup point guard he played exclusively at that position during Summer
League action, and although he only averaged 2.6 assists per game, his
ball-handling skills were evident.
    活塞希望Stuckey不只是做好得分手的角色，他更被視為後場兩個位置的主要替補球員
。為了讓他能提早適應替補控衛的角色，他在夏季聯盟期間大部分時間主打控衛的位置，
雖然他一場比賽平均只遞出2.6次助攻，但他已經證明了自己具備一定程度的控球技巧。

It might be considered a bit of a risk to go into the season with an unproven
backup at such a critical position, but it’s certainly no worse than last year
when Flip Murray, Lindsey Hunter and Will Blalock were the only point guards on
the bench. Murray enjoyed sporadic success but was in and out of the rotation
all year. Hunter showed he can still bring a defensive spark but was a
liability with the ball in his hands, especially in transition. And while
Blalock showed some potential, he recently signed with an Israeli team, which
shows what the rest of the NBA thought about his skills.
    或許有人會認為把替補控衛的關鍵任務賦予一位還未驗明正身的菜鳥太過冒險，但再
糟也糟不過上個球季板凳席上只有魔銳、獵人和Will Blalock等替補控衛了。魔銳享受偶
一為之的小爆發但一整年都在固定輪替名單中進進出出。獵人顯示他仍能在防守端給予球
隊一些幫助，但他卻有黏球的壞習慣，尤其是在攻守轉換之間。而儘管Blalock展現了一些
潛力，他最近卻只能與以色列的球隊簽約，這也間接證明了在NBA其他球隊眼中，對於他球
技的評價是如何了。

The Pistons surprised some people by taking Afflalo with the 27th overall pick
– not because of Afflalo’s ability but simply because another shooting guard
didn’t fill any of their most pressing needs. Nevertheless, the Pistons
couldn’t pass up the experienced guard, who had played on the biggest of
stages with consecutive Final Four appearances the last two years with UCLA.
    活塞在第27順位挑走Afflalo讓某些人感到驚訝 - 並不是因為Afflalo的能力而只是因
為另一名得分後衛根本無法解決活塞的燃眉之急。然而，活塞沒辦法跳過這名經驗豐富的
後衛不選，他在過去兩年連續帶領UCLA躍上最後四強的大舞台。

Known both as a defensive stopper and a deft shooter, Afflalo is an all-around
talent who should eventually carve out a long career in the NBA. At 6-foot-5
he’s smaller than most small forwards, but his ability to play out of position
and defend opposing threes – at least in small doses – might be his best path
to playing time as a rookie.
    同時以防守大鎖和靈巧射手著稱的Afflalo是一個全方位的球員，他應該能在NBA打滾
好一段時間。6呎5吋的他比絕大部分的小前鋒都還矮小，但他能稱職扮演三號球員以及能
防守對方小前鋒的能力 - 至少能守住體型較小的 - 或許是他身為菜鳥期間爭取上場時間
的絕佳武器。

As a second-round pick out of DePaul University, Mejia has already exceeded
many expectations by signing a contract; given how precious roster spots are
for a contending team and the fact that Detroit had two first-round picks, it
first seemed likely for Mejia to spend a year in Europe. He still may end up
spending most of the season playing in the D-League, but his versatility caught
the team’s eye. He frequently played point-forward in college, and considering
the Pistons are short at small forward depth, it made sense to retain him over
a guy like Blalock, last year’s second-round pick.
    出身帝波大學，在第二輪中選的Mejia能獲得一紙合約已經超越了許多人對他的期待；
不管他在這支具有競爭力的球隊能獲得多少寶貴的上場時間而且事實上活塞今年擁有兩個
第二輪選秀權，Mejia一開始似乎就註定要花個一年到歐洲去練功。本季他仍可能在發展聯
盟度過大部分的時間，但他的多才多藝已經吸引了球隊的目光。他在大學時時常扮演控球
前鋒的角色，而考慮到活塞在小前鋒的深度相當欠缺，這或許會讓他比起去年的第二輪新
秀Blalock有更大的機會留在隊上。

Samb, acquired by the Pistons last summer in a draft day trade that sent
Maurice Evans to the Lakers, is another intriguing prospect. A native of
Senegal, the 7-foot-1 center is already 23 years old but is still quite raw
after picking up the game late. He turned some heads at the Las Vegas Summer
League the last two years, showing obvious shot-blocking acumen in addition to
a surprisingly fluid offensive game.
    活塞上個球季在選秀會中把Maurice Evans送至湖人換來的Samb是另一個秘密武器。塞
內加爾土生土長的7呎1吋中鋒已經23歲了但各項籃球技巧仍相當生澀因為他很晚才開始接
觸籃球。他在過去兩年於拉斯維加斯的夏季聯盟除了令人訝異的流暢進攻動作外還展現了
驚人的蓋鍋天份，吸引了一些人的注意力。

Samb played in one of Spain’s lower-level developmental leagues last year, but
the Pistons signed him this summer so he could more closely work with their
coaching staff and the team could avoid paying a hefty buyout down the line. He
obviously has outstanding length, but he needs to spend the next couple of
years filling out his frame and improving his conditioning to survive the NBA
game. If that happens, though, he’d be an excellent option off the bench and
perhaps even a starter.
    Samb去年效力於西班牙一個次級發展聯盟的球隊，但活塞在今年夏天簽下他，希望他
能近距離和教練團及球隊共同練球，同時也在底限前避免了支付昂貴的買斷費用。很顯然
地他擁有傲人的身高，但它需要花上幾年的時間好好打造一副好身材並增加他的體能狀況
才可能在NBA層級的比賽中存活下來。儘管如此，如果他做到了，他可能會是板凳上一枚絕
佳替補人選，甚至還可能成為一位先發球員。

--
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◆ From: 222.250.25.178
推 pennymarcus:原來活塞在上季那麼老啊 XDDDD 不過前三老球隊戰績都
→ pennymarcus:不錯說
推 delsole:老人球才是精髓啊~~~~~
推 kreen:推～
推 foolpchome:活塞選人實在厲害 期待球季開打
推 twister527:推~~
推 PegasusSeiya:原來活塞留那麼多秘密武器
推 Loj:
→ hunight:阿法羅是穩定射手...........
推 RAYBO:來推了
※ 編輯: kerrys          來自: 222.250.25.178       (08/17 23:29)