A Truly Thoughtless Loss - 波士頓塞爾提克 Boston Celtics

CelticsBlog
Written by Steve Weinman

At the risk of stating the patently obvious, the Celtics let one get
away last night.

冒著被”輸給自己魂”噓的危險，賽爾提克昨晚讓勝利從自己的手中溜走。

The referees didn't take it away.

裁判和比賽結果一點關係也沒有。

As well as the Pistons played at times, they didn't take it away either.
Despite extending their lead to double-digits in the fourth quarter, they
could never seem to put the green away for good until the waning seconds.

雖然活塞昨晚的確打的很好，但也不全然保證他們的勝利，僅管第四節一度讓比分
拉大到雙位數，賽爾提克整場比賽一直緊緊的咬住對手直到最後的讀秒階段。

No, what makes this loss so frustrating is that this one is clearly on
the Celtics, not so much for being the inferior physical team for the
evening but for clearly coming in second place on the mental front.

主場被破固然讓人心痛，但更叫賽爾提克球迷失望的是目睹球隊如何把主場
拱手讓人，體能上，賽爾提克絕不輸給活塞，但在心理層面上，很明顯的
落後給對手。

The Guru has long enjoyed rebuffing claims of Tony Allen becoming a
solid defender with the following scathing assessment: "I like his
athleticism. I love that he plays hard. But consistently playing
good defense has one more requirement, which Tony doesn't yet fulfill:
possession of a brain. Maybe one day he'll get there, and I certainly
hope I'm wrong about him. But he's still a long way from that point."

過去我們稱讚Tony Allen在防守上的對球隊的貢獻，至少也認同他出色的體能
和對防守的努力，但目前我們更需要他能把防守維持在一致性的水準，TA現階
段還是無法達成，你知道他缺了什麼嗎？腦子，到現在他仍沒有打球的頭腦，
我衷心希望有一天他會證明我對他看法的錯誤，但他目前的表現離標準還有一
大段距離。

The problem for the Celtics wasn't that TA didn't play thoughtful
defense last night. It was that not too many others did either.

話雖如此，昨晚落敗的原因不是因為Tony Allen欠缺考慮的防守，而是其他人
也沒使用他們的腦子 。

The Celtics are in the midst of a series against a smart Detroit team
that excels from the free throw line. One member of the starting
backcourt shoots 83 percent from the line; the other, 91. Two members
of the frontcourt hit nearly 77 percent of their attempts. Antonio
McDyess is the only liability at 62.2 percent on the season, and he's
been at 86.7 percent for the playoffs. Top reserve Rodney Stuckey
shoots over 80 percet as well.

活賽是一隻聰明，具有經驗，而且在罰球線上神準的隊伍，他們二個後場的罰球
命中率分別是83%，91%，二位前鋒也差不多有77%，McDyess是唯一先發裡罰球較
不理想的球員，只有62.2％，但進入季後賽馬上提高到86.7%，連替補Rodney
Stuckey都有80%的罰球命中率。

This Pistons team understands what its strengths are and does its best
to play to them. Several Pistons use the up-fake masterfully, including
backcourt mates Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups. They cut to the
basket hard, use their bodies effectively to draw contact and ultimately
earn their share of trips to the foul line. They usually make the most
of those opportunities.

他們了解自己的強項而且精通如何運用優勢得分，像是Rip和Billups就是利用
假動作賺犯規的大師，比賽中常看見他們切入籃下，有效地利用身體吸引防守
者接觸，最終得到站上罰球線的犯規，而他們罰失的機會不多。

This makes it all the more imperative that those looking to defeat the
Pistons don't gift them unnecessary trips to that line.

所以要擊敗活塞，很重要的就是避免不必要的犯規一再把他們送上罰球線。

Sadly, that's exactly what the Celtics spent the night doing.

很遺憾地，賽爾提克昨晚沒有記取這個教訓。

It started on the game's very first play when Kendrick Perkins and Rajon
Rondo botched a defensive switch, which led to Perk being isolated on
the right wing with Billups. Foul. Two shots. Bang. Bang.

比賽一開始時因為Rondo和Perkins交換了防守位置，導致Perkins在右翼被孤立
面對Billups，Perk犯規，Billups罰二球，碰碰，賽爾提克應聲倒地。

That set the tone for the night.

這差不多定下了比賽的基調。

Just hours later, in the midst of my excessive stewing about this one,
the rest is largely a blur. But a few moments stand out.

我在極度的不安中渡過了一個小時，比賽許多細節已經模糊了，但有幾個片段
特別引起我的注意。

Not once but twice, the Celtics fouled the Pistons more than 70 feet
from the Detroit basket. At least once -- when Perk fouled Rasheed
Wallace on a loose ball with just outside of three minutes left to play
in the second quarter -- the Celts were already in the penalty, leading
to free throws for Wallace.

不只一次，賽爾提克在距離活賽籃框至少70呎遠的地方犯規，第二節結束前
三分鐘前Perk對Rasheed犯下爭球犯規，導致Rasheed的罰球。（我不記得這
個Play了，有印象的人指點我一下是什麼情況？）

Big Baby Davis allowed McDyess to beat him for an easy lay-up and
fouled him after the play.

Big Baby讓McDyess輕鬆上籃得分後才對他犯規。

Through three quarters, the green couldn't be bothered to pay attention
to the Pistons' tendency to shot-fake. The Celts simply could not stay
on their feet defensively, leading to plenty of shooting fouls. As it
stood, it was fortunate that Detroit didn't end up converting more
continuation opportunities. Hamilton and Billups combined for 20
attempts at the line, largely thanks to this maneuver.

第三節，綠衫軍似乎無法抵抗活塞假動作的引誘，紛紛跳進活塞的投籃陷阱中，
導致更多的罰球機會，若不是活塞的攻擊短暫熄火，他們領先的優勢可能會更加
擴大，總計起來，Hamilton和Billups利用投籃假動作所得到的犯規為他們提供了
20分的罰球機會。

Thanks as well to away from the ball fouls, of which the C's picked up
a few as well. Yes, it's tough to keep up with the likes of Hamilton
and Billups, but these guys can't be sent to the stripe without doing
some work that goes beyond sprinting a few feet without the ball. It
was a team effort here, too -- Posey, Garnett and TA were all guilty
at times. That isn't to point fingers, but simply to make it clear
that the team as a unit wasn't there.

至於那些對無持球者的犯規（當然賽爾提克也得到不少），我知道要防守
Hamilton和Billups是非常困難的一件事， 但至少試著去使他們跑動更多
而不是白白讓他們站上罰球線，這需要團隊的努力，Posey, Garnett和TA
有時做的不夠，我並不是要責怪任何一個人，只是指出昨晚我們的隊伍沒有
做到這點。

Rajon Rondo compounded a third quarter trip to the line for Billups
with a technical, which added a third shot for the point guard. Again,
free points were given away for no good reason.

Rondo第三節因為技術犯規讓Billups罰下第三球，再一次，賽爾提克無緣無故的
又送給對手一分，

The list goes on, but you get the idea. It wasn't just the fouling
either; it was the complete mental effort or lack thereof on the
defensive end. Yes, the players hustled and busted it all game as
always. But they didn't rotate effectively. They didn't finish traps.
They played 20 seconds of great defense instead of 24 on several possessions.
Against the Hawks and even sometimes agains the Cavs, the Celts could
get away with that.

這清單還可以繼續下去，但你們知道我的重點了，輸球不只因為犯規和罰球，
而是團隊在心理層面為防守所投入的程度，是的，他們努力的跑動和拼搶，
但卻失去了有效的輪轉防守，沒有辦法從一而終貫徹防守的強度，面對老鷹
或騎士時，也許還能僥倖逃過。

Not against this Detroit team. Billups nailed a three at the shot
clock buzzer. Hamilton forced Garnett out too far on a trap late
in the clock and ran past him to bury a floater to extend the Pistons'
lead to six in the final minute. Tayshaun Prince finished an open
dunk in the second quarter, which led to Leon Powe exiting stage left,
not to be seen again for the evening. It was that sort of night.

但面對活塞這樣的隊伍，我們經的起這樣的心態嗎？Billups在鐘響前投入
一計三分，Hamilton在最後讀秒時閃過KG切入拋投把比分拉開至六分，Prince
在第二節的灌籃讓Powe從此告別了球場，再也沒機會上場，這就是賽爾提克
主場失守的一夜。

For all this negativity, that part is important, too: It was that sort
of a night. One night. One time. By and large, this isn't a dumb
Celtics team. Or a bad defensive team. In fact, quite the opposite.
The Celtics were the best defensive team in basketball this season,
and a big part of that was related to the players consistently making
the right decisions, particularly regarding how to rotate and what spots
to be in to keep the 'D' running on all cylinders.

僅管這麼多負面的批評，至少還有一點很重要，在賽爾提克主場失守的這一夜，
這一刻，我們場上並不是一隻愚笨或拙劣的防守隊伍，正好相反，賽爾提克是
季賽中防守最好的隊伍，絕大原因歸功於球員持續不斷對防守付出的心力，如何
有效的輪轉，如何在正確的位置上做出正確的決定，如何保持最高水準的防守。

It was just for one single night that the mental commitment clearly
wasn't there for this team. It was painful to watch, and it isn't
any more pleasant to write about. But that's it. It's over. The game,
that is. This series certainly isn't. The sky isn't falling. Yes,
the Celts need to take a game in Detroit (two would be nice), but just
as losing at home wasn't impossible, neither is winning on the road.

昨晚同樣的投入已不複見，看了讓人心痛，更提不起勁動筆來寫，幸好，這篇
文章和比賽都已經結束了，但這一系列的對抗還早的很，天沒有塌下來，
賽爾提克至少需要一場客場的勝利才能晉級（拿下二場會更好），既然天下無
不破的主場，自然也沒有拿不下的客場。

What the Celtics and their faithful (us) learned tonight was that it
will be nearly impossible to beat this Detroit team without full mental
commitment from everybody. But that's that. Nothing says the fellas
won't come out with renewed fervor on Saturday night.

如今賽爾提克和他忠實不變的球迷學到了寶貴的一課，沒有所有隊員全心全力
投注在防守上要打敗活賽幾乎是一件不可能的事，難說星期六晚上賽爾提克就
讓我們看到重新燃起的熱情。

So on we move to Detroit -- and away from a frustrating missed
opportunity in Game 2.

接下來我們將動身前往底特律，遠離這場勝利與我們擦身而過的痛苦回憶。


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