[外電] Joe D: 'A test unlike any other test'

[kerrys (台北不是我的家)]

    原文出處：
              http://truebluepistons.blogspot.com/

--

Just before the playoffs started, I asked Joe Dumars about Boston – about
Boston’s whirlwind regular season, about the big three’s ballyhooed focus,
about their willingness to sacrifice individually. After years of putting up
big numbers on bad teams, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen seemed
delighted to share the glory and the responsibility equally for a change. And I
asked Dumars about the certainty that Boston would head into the playoffs
widely favored to get out of the Eastern Conference.
    就在季後賽開打前夕，我問老喬一些關於波士頓的看法 - 關於波士頓如秋風掃落葉般
的例行賽表現，關於GAP三巨頭受到的萬眾矚目，關於他們甘心犧牲小我完成大我的無私精
神。年復一年在爛隊締造漂亮的個人數據後，KG、包皮和雷槍似乎都樂於為追求改變而與
彼此分享榮耀和責任。而我還問了老喬是否也認同眾人普遍看好季後賽波士頓將自東區脫
穎而出的想法？

He agreed wholeheartedly: “They should be the favorites. Conventional wisdom
is that it’s going to take you a little bit longer to come together than it
took them. I tip my hat to them. The way they came together, the way they made
it work, they should be commended, big time. I tip my hat to Doc Rivers. You
have to make it come together and he’s done a good job of that.”
    他毫無異議地表示認同："他們是該獲得青睞。就常理判斷，一支主力陣容大幅更換的
球隊所需的磨合時間應該更久才是。所以我要脫帽向他們致敬，向他們融合的方式以及使
之發揮效用的方式致敬，他們理應受到盛讚。另外，我也要脫帽向Doc Rivers致敬。你必
須讓球隊順利磨合，而他做得好極了！"

It was a sincere and gracious observation. Here’s what it wasn’t: a
concession preamble.
    這是經過仔細觀察後親切而真摯的評論。不過並不是退讓的前言。

Because he went on to say this: “The only thing I’ll see about that – and we
have a history of this – you still have to play the games. We’ve been the
favorites the last three or four straight years in the Eastern Conference and
we only got there twice. Two out of four years. That tells me you still have to
play the games. I don’t so much worry about being the favorites any more. I
worry about the games. Let’s get ready for the games and let’s play the games
.”
    因為他又說了："我只看到一件事情 - 我們也有過一樣的經歷 - 你還是得比賽啊。過
去三到四年的時間我們都被看好能在東區出線，而實際上我們只有兩次打進總冠軍賽。四
分之二的機率罷了。那告訴你還是得乖乖打好每一場比賽。所以我再也不關心是否被看好
。我只在乎比賽本身。只要做好比賽的準備，上場盡力爭取勝利就行了。"

And then he said this: “What happens when you go deep into playoff series is
you’re going to get tested. And it’s during those tests that you’re going to
be defined. There’s nothing you can do to get prepared for that until it
happens. You can’t talk about it, you can’t watch film on it – nothing. You
just have to go through it.
    接著他說："季後賽越到末段你會受到越多考驗。在那期間你或許會被發卡。你無法預
作準備，只能靜待考驗來臨。你沒辦法藉由討論，或藉由影片預習 - 沒辦法就是沒辦法。
你只能親自去體驗去經歷。"

“I’m not going to sit here and project what’s going to happen to those guys
once they get into those deep, tough playoff series. But I do know this:
That’s when all the resolve inside of you has to come out, because it is a
test unlike any other test. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of 10
Eastern Conference finals, as a player and as an executive, and I’m here to
tell you it is everything in you. Whatever you have in you, you better be tough
enough to handle that. You’re playing to go to the NBA Finals when you get
there. I don’t care what you say. I don’t care what’s happened in January or
February. You’ve got to stand up and be ready. And it’s tough.”
    "我沒辦法就坐在這裡憑空想像，那群傢伙走到嚴苛的季後賽末段會遭遇什麼事情。我
只知道：那是你必須展現決心的時刻，因為這個考驗和其他考驗都不一樣。我很幸運，曾
以球員和總管的身分十度參與東區冠軍賽，在這裡我要告訴你，結果關乎你內在的一切。
不管你有什麼料，你最好夠硬，足以臨危不亂處變不驚。走到那個階段，你是為了能順利
晉級總冠軍賽而打球。我不在乎你怎麼說。我不在乎一月或二月發生過什麼。你所要做的
就是勇敢站起，做好準備迎接挑戰，困難的挑戰。"

Here we are, the conference finals between the Pistons and Celtics – the
series the basketball world anticipated for months – all tied at two wins
apiece, the NBA Finals berth down to a best-of-three series.
    來了，由活塞和超賽擔綱演出的東區冠軍賽 - 籃球世界期待數月之久的系列賽 - 兩
隊各搶下兩勝，通往NBA總冠軍賽的資格賽也演變為三戰二勝制。

It’s time to stand up and be ready. And it’s tough.
    是時候了，勇敢站起做好準備迎接困難的挑戰吧。

“I think Game 5 is going to be tougher,” Flip Saunders said Tuesday morning,
Arron Afflalo shooting jump shots behind him – the only player in the building
on a day Saunders told the team to stay home until time to gather for the
flight to Boston, a much-needed physical, mental and emotional break amid the
playoff storm.
    "我認為第五戰會更為嚴酷，"老桑星期二早上說，Arron Afflalo則在他後面進行自主
投籃練習 - 阿福是當天唯一現身於體育館進行自主練習的球員，因為老桑告訴球隊可以在
家好好休息，等待整軍飛往波士頓進行前再行集合即可，而那樣身心靈三方面的完整休息
是球員迫切需要的。

“But I think it’s going to be tough for both teams. We have a three-game
series. As the series progresses and the end becomes inevitable for somebody,
now all of a sudden there’s more pressure on both teams. We both have the same
marching orders – a championship for either team. That’s what their goal is.
It’s going to be very much a pressure situation.”
    "但我認為那對兩支球隊都是更加嚴峻的考驗。我們面對的是三戰兩勝制的比賽。隨著
系列賽進行，總有一支球隊會成為輸家，現在突然間兩支球隊都承受更大的壓力了。我們
都有一樣的目的 - 兩支球隊都渴望拿下冠軍盃。那就是他們的目標。這是一個壓力更為沉
重的處境。"

This is the third straight series in which Boston has found itself in a
best-of-three finish, but this one is different in that the Celtics have had
their home-court invulnerability penetrated. Saunders saw signs of fatigue in
the Celtics in their Game 4 loss.
    這是波士頓連續第三輪身陷三戰兩勝制的情勢之中，但這次不一樣，因為超賽看似刀
槍不入的主場金鐘罩已經被滲透了。老桑在超賽吞下敗仗的第四戰已經發現他們有顯露疲
態的跡象。

“Their shot selection was a little more frivolous than it was in other games,
but that happens with fatigue and with pressure. With fatigue, it starts
wearing on you emotionally. You start seeing a change in how teams play a
little bit. We looked fatigued in Game 3, for some reason, and they looked (it
in Game 4). … Every pressure situation turns into a stressful situation and
when it turns into stress, you make bad decisions.”
    "比起其他比賽時，他們的出手選擇顯得有點輕率，而那是在精疲力盡又揹負壓力的狀
況才會發生的。疲憊會腐蝕你的鬥志。你會開始看到球隊的表現有些許不同。我們在第三
戰看起來疲憊不堪，不知怎麼回事，這情形在第四戰移轉到他們隊上。...一個又一個壓力
狀態持續累積會變成一種滿佈壓力的情況而當壓力過大時，你的出手選擇就會變差。"

It’s no guarantee how either team will look tomorrow night back in Boston, but
under extreme duress in Game 4 – facing a virtual must-win situation and with
seemingly every referee’s whistle going against them – the Pistons held up
well emotionally under conditions that in the past have caused them to come
unglued.
    我們無法保證明晚回到波士頓兩支球隊會有怎樣的表現，但在第四戰承受極大壓力的
情形下 - 面對一場非贏不可，否則將陷入背水一戰狀態且似乎每位裁判的吹判都衝著他們
來的比賽 - 在這種過去總會把自己搞得心煩氣躁的處境下，活塞諸將的心態調適得非常好
。

“They talk a lot about our team, local and national – ‘the switch.’ When
things get tough, we lose our composure. And last night, the only guy that lost
his composure was me, getting the technical foul. But our guys were very much
focused. They know the importance of them staying on the floor. They know the
importance of not giving points away. That was a big, big thing.”
    "不管是本地或全國各地，人們很常談論我們球隊的就是 - '開關'。當事情變得艱難
，我們就無法保持沉著冷靜。昨晚，唯一一個失去鎮定態度的就是我，還因此而領到大T。
但其他弟兄顯得很專注。他們知道把自己留在場上的重要性。他們知道不要輕易失分的重
要性。那是一件重要，至關重要的事。"

A big thing that gets bigger the longer this series goes, the stress
compounding, the tests multiplying. As Joe Dumars told me when this series was
still just a projection, it’s the time of year when teams are defined, a test
unlike any other test. The Pistons haven’t always aced those tests. But this
group of Celtics never has. And until they do, even their side has to wonder if
they have it in them.
    有件隨著系列賽進行越顯關鍵的事，各種壓力混雜交錯，各項考驗亦接踵而來。在這
個系列賽還只存在於預想狀態下時，老喬告訴我，這將是一年當中，兩隊真正見真章的時
刻，將是一個獨一無二的考驗。活塞在那些類似考驗中並不都是最後的贏家。但這支超賽
根本不曾經歷這樣的考驗。而且，一直到他們走到這一步，搞不好都還會懷疑，自己真有
這般能耐嗎？

--
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