Re: Durant Closes the Gap - 波特蘭拓荒者 Portland Trail Blazers

: If you've been thinking this will be an easy decision for the Trail Blazers,
: you didn't see Kevin Durant's workout at the practice facility on Friday
: morning. If the debate was barely-controlled burn before, now it's safe to
: say it's jumped the fire lines and is officially ablaze. Credit Durant for
: putting the Blazers in this situation. That's exactly what he wanted to do.
: Durant's first task today was a jumping test. His standing jump, off two
: feet, was impressive. When he was allowed to take a few steps and jump off
: one foot, the only thing I heard was a Blazer executive, standing next to me,
: say "holy ___." His hand hit somewhere around 12 and a-half feet, a few
: inches higher than Greg Oden hit on Wednesday. I'm not trying to make too
: much out of a high-jump test, but it was the first, of many times during the
: workout, he caused jaws to drop.
如果你認為波特蘭的狀元籤該怎麼選是個簡單抉擇的話--你一定沒有看到星期五早上
Durant在拓荒者訓練中心的體能測試。如果說這個爭議在之前還算被控制住，現在可
以說已經如野火燎原般的公開引爆了。而這正是Durant希望的。

Durant今天的第一個測試是垂直立定起跳，滿不錯的。但加上助跑之後呢？我只聽見我
身旁一位管理階層的人脫口而出：「哇靠...！」他的手觸到大約12.5英呎的地方，比
Oden能觸到的地方還高幾吋。我不想著墨太多在跳躍測試上，這只是他的第一個測試，
而他也不斷在整場測試中讓人瞠目結舌。

: As you probably already know, Durant is silky smooth, and put on the best
: outside shooting display we've seen yet. His long-range shot looks the same
: as his 10-foot jumper, and he strokes from several feet beyond the 3-point
: line with ease. As much as I knew he was an incredible athlete, it was his
: shooting touch I was most impressed with. Count me among those who look back
: at the much-publicized, failed 185-pound bench press attempt in Orlando, and
: say, "who cares?"
你可能也早就知道，Durant的協調性極佳，而且也展現了我們看過最好的外線能力。
他的外線投籃看起來就跟10-foot的近距投籃一樣順暢，連在三分線外的跳投也非常有
信心，就我所看到的而言，他擁有是難以置信的體能條件，我尤其對於他的投籃手感非
常是印象深刻。看來我也加入那群完全不在乎Durant曾在Orlando的公開測試中挺舉185磅
失敗的人了。

: Durant never seemed to tire during the workout, and if he was nervous, it
: didn't show. He, in fact, got even better when the media horde was allowed in
: for the final 30 minutes of the workout. They got to watch some long-range
: shooting drills, and he was spot on. They also got to see a jumping endurance
: test, when Durant was asked to catch the ball beyond the foul line, take one
: dribble, and jam with two hands, over and over again, without taking a rest.
: A couple of times he didn't even need to dribble. He's got incredibly long
: strides, and showed very solid ball-handling skills in the full-court drills.
: Durant has been described as not being as media-polished as Oden, and that's
: probably true. But, he was engaging, charming, and mentioned many times how
: badly he wants to be the Blazers' selection at number one.
Durant在測試中幾乎沒有顯露出任何疲態，而即使他真的感到緊張，至少完全沒有表現
出來。事實上，他在媒體開放入場之後的最後30分鐘甚至表現的更好。媒體親眼見識到
他的投籃能力，而他也似乎在此時更準了；另外媒體也見識到他的持續跳躍力測試，在
這個測試中，Durant被要求不斷重複以下動作：「在罰球線後方接到傳球後運球雙手灌
籃」，中間不能休息。有好幾次他甚至不需要運球就可以完成，他的跨步非常大，而且
擁有紮實的運球技巧和打全場球的能力。Durant似乎在應對媒體上還不如Oden自然純熟
，但是他非常專注，很有魅力，也不斷提到他有多麼渴望成為拓荒者的狀元籤人選。

: Blazers owner Paul Allen was on hand again, and several times clapped his
: hands during the workout, and even shouted encouragement to Durant. I had the
: chance to interview Allen after it was all done, and we'll have that for you
: soon on our Draft Central page. After the interview, Allen smiled and said,
: "well, who would you take?" And, I think he was actually interested in the
: answer. He asked a lot of people. Moments later he headed into a closed-door
: meeting with Kevin Pritchard and his staff.
拓荒者的老闆Paul Allen也在場，在測試中還鼓掌了好幾次，甚至還對著Durant喊出
激勵的話。我在測試之後對採訪了Paul Allen，這段訪問將被放在Draft Central網頁
中，在採訪結束之後，Allen笑著說「你會選誰呢？」而他看起來似乎真的對這個答案
很有興趣，並且問了很多人。之後他便走進密閉的小房間中和Kevin Pritchard及其他
人員開會。而Pritchard還是繼續堅持「我們尚未做出決定」，我相信他的說法。

: I had the chance to spend several minutes with Durant after his workout, and
: we'll have the interview for you shortly, on Draft Central, along with some
: highlights of the workout. Durant said he appreciated Brandon Roy and
: LaMarcus Aldridge meeting him at the airport yesterday. He also had dinner
: with the two on Thursday night. Durant also told me that Oden sent him text
: messages Thursday night, and attempted to tell him what to expect from the
: workout. As you've probably heard, these two guys, who will forever be linked
: because of this draft, have become friends.
在測試之後我也有機會採訪Durant幾分鐘，這段訪談也將被放在Draft Central中，
並附帶一些測試中的精彩畫面。Durant說他很感謝Roy跟Aldridge昨天在機場接機，
而且也提到Oden在星期四晚上傳了一封簡訊給他並嘗試提醒他在測試中會發生什麼事
情，就像你也許已聽說過的，這兩個也許終其一生都會被一起談論的球員，已經成為
朋友了。

: I was left to ponder several questions. Who is better suited for this Blazers
: roster? Who stands the better chance of being a hall of famer (not that they
: both won't possibly be)? Who will give the Blazers a better chance at winning
: a title? Did one player stand out enough in these workouts to get the edge in
: the minds of the Blazers' staff?
: Mostly though, I guess I still can't figure out who I would take. This isn't
: fabricated drama. Durant made sure of that.
: http://mikebarrettsblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/durant-closes-gap.html
於是我開始思考幾個問題，誰會比較適合拓荒者的陣容呢？誰更有機會成為名人堂
球員呢？誰更有機會帶給拓荒者總冠軍呢？誰會在測試之後，成為拓荒者的管理階
層心目中較有優勢的那個人呢？

說真的，我想我還是無法決定這兩個人中該如何取捨。這還真的不是一個可以順著
劇本走的故事，至少Durant確定了這件事情。


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