Recent Success Complicates Nets' Future - 布魯克林籃網 Brooklyn Nets

By JOHN HOLLINGER
January 31, 2007

What a difference one shot can make.

一球之差到底影響有多大？

Just when it seemed like the Nets were en route to their fourth closes-shave
loss in five tries, Vince Carter flung in a 35-footer at the buzzer on
Monday, and all of a sudden everything seems rosy.

就在籃網隊看樣子將要輸掉他們第四場比分很接近的比賽，
Vince Carter 在號聲響起的同時投進了一個三十五呎的大號三分球，
一切突然變的十分美好...。


With that dramatic 116–115 win over the Jazz, the Nets have won 11 of their
past 16 games, and three of the defeats came by just a single point. Making
it more remarkable is that they've done it without Nenad Krstic, and more
recently without Richard Jefferson.

在贏了這戲劇化的一場比賽，籃網在過去十六場比賽贏了十一場，
有三場的敗場各只輸了一分。

值得注意的是，這些戰績是在他們失去Nenad Krstic以及最近少了
Richard Jefferson 所得到的。

Jefferson will miss another month, but he couldn't have chosen a better time
to be out of action. With six of the next seven games against opponents that
are either reeling (Orlando) or awful (Atlanta, Boston, and Philadelphia),
the Nets find themselves with a great opportunity to get a leg up in the
Eastern Conference playoff race, even with Jefferson out of the lineup.

Jefferson 將會缺席一個月，但他選擇的時間真的再好不過了。

就在未來的七場比賽當中，有六場是些戰績不好的球隊(老鷹、塞爾提克、七六人)，
和不穩定當中的魔術隊，籃網有一個相當好的機會為他們的東區聯盟季後賽種子
衝刺，甚至在RJ缺席的這段時間。

With the trading deadline looming in three weeks, New Jersey finds itself
having to make a decision between its present and its future. I had argued a
month ago that it was time for Rod Thorn to reach for the dynamite, with New
Jersey at 11–18 and Krstic out for the year it seemed an open-and-shut case.
But the Nets' recent run of success puts them in a quandary, because now
they're in the middle ground where the decision is significantly more
difficult. Thanks to the upcoming schedule, New Jersey probably will be a
couple of games over .500 when the deadline rolls around, which makes the
temptation to stick it out with this group incredibly powerful.

在交易截止至逐漸接近的這三週，籃網發覺他們必須決定他們現在或者未來的命運。

我在過去一個月前曾經爭論過，Rod Thorn必須做些大動作，
就在籃網戰績只有11勝18敗以及 Krstic 將要缺席一季的情形下，
這是個很簡單的抉擇。

不過現在籃網的近況意外的成功反而讓他們陷入窘境，
因為在這種中間灰色地帶，他們的決定將會明顯的變得困難。

感謝接下來的賽程，當截止日到之時，紐澤西很有可能將會超越五成勝率
多贏幾場比賽，這會造成另外一種誘惑，讓他們看起來不需要交易、
這支球隊並不需要改變。

This is especially true since the Eastern Conference is up for grabs this
season. If the Nets choose to add rather than subtract at the deadline, the
rejuvenated club could be in position to make a deep playoff run once
Jefferson gets back. Even now, the top two teams in the conference,
Washington and Detroit, are only five games ahead of the Nets in the
standings heading into last night's play.

今年東區聯盟的狀態真的是渾沌不明，看樣子誰都有機會。

假如籃網在截止日前選擇去增加他們的陣容而不是去減少，
這支恢復年輕的球隊將會在RJ回來之後的季後賽走得長遠。

甚至現在，東區的前兩支球隊，巫師以及活塞，也只領先
籃網五場勝差而已。

Additionally, each of those clubs has the same weakness New Jersey does — a
critical lack of depth. Thus, if either was to lose a starter, the Nets hopes
would be much stronger. The same goes for the Cleveland LeBrons, a one-man
team in dire need of help. The only other major threat in the East, Chicago,
has proved vulnerable to the Nets' style of play, as the Bulls lack a quality
post player who can punish the Nets' unproven bigs.

此外，每一支東區球隊都和籃網有相同的劣勢，那就是板凳深度。

因此，假如每一支球隊失去了一名先發，籃網的希望就更加的強烈。

騎士隊的LeBron，像是一支需要幫助的一人球隊。

再看看其他的東區威脅，公牛隊，已經證明對上籃網不見得佔上風的，
以及公牛也缺少一個可以低位單打虐待籃網薄弱禁區的長人。

That said, we shouldn't sugarcoat things. Despite the recent run of success,
New Jersey's current group needs more help if it's to make a serious run at
the Eastern crown. That will require Thorn to go in the complete opposite
direction from rebuilding, by trading some of his youth for quality veterans.
The most likely suspects would be Marcus Williams and Josh Boone, but one
supposes Hassan Adams and Mile Ilic would also be made available if that
could provide the Nets an item off their shopping list — either a low-post
scorer or a sharp-shooting wing to spell Vince Carter and Jefferson.

但是我們不應該把事情都裹上一層糖衣。不管最近成功的表現，
假如籃網還想要更進一步的往前提升，目前的陣容依舊需要一些協助。

這需要 Thorn 做出與重建球隊的相反方向。例如交易一些年輕球員
換得已經有能力的老手。如果是這樣，那Marcus Williams和Josh Boone
則是最有可能的，不過Hassan Adams和Mile Ilic 也是可能在籃網的交易
名單上。比如說換來一名低位單打的得分長人或是可以在VC以及RJ旁邊
投籃的射手。

However, the potential reward of Eastern Conference contention has to be
weighed against the relatively large risk the Nets run of mortgaging their
future. Carter can opt out of his deal after the season and could potentially
leave New Jersey as an unrestricted free agent. That would leave the Nets
high and dry because they lack the cap space to sign a replacement and would
pretty much terminate their hopes of contention for a couple of years.

然而，籃網如果要全力放在東區爭霸上，則要賠上他們未來發展潛力的風險。

Carter可以在本季結束後選擇結束合約，並且當一名不受限制的自由球員。

那會讓籃網有很大的薪資空間去簽一些取代的球員，但也很可能會終結掉
他們未來幾年的競爭力。

New Jersey also entertained discussions about dealing Jason Kidd and Richard
Jefferson before the hot streak (and before Jefferson's injury), but Carter
is the first piece on the chessboard. How Thorn and the Nets read his
situation is critical to how they proceed. If they think he's leaving after
the season, they're compelled to trade him now and get something of value in
return, regardless of what it does to the Nets' playoff hopes. On the other
hand, if they think Carter will either re-sign or, at worst, agree to a
sign-and-trade deal that brings back equivalent talent, there's little harm
in playing the season out and seeing what happens.

紐澤西過去曾討論過交易KIDD或RJ在這段勝率很高之前，(以及RJ的傷勢之前)，
但VC則是棋盤上的第一枚棋子。

假如他們認為他將要在本季之後離開，把VC交易並且得到一些價值回來
是一條路，不管在季後賽他是籃網多大的希望。

反之，他們若認為VC將會延長合約，或者更壞的情況先遷後換，換來
同等的球員， 那對就目前的狀況打下去看會發生甚麼事情所產生的傷害只是很小的。

Either way, the recent run of success has made what could have been a very
easy decision a vastly more difficult one. Again, the Nets still have an
awful lot of work to do if they're going to be plausible Eastern Conference
contenders. But the hill no longer seems quite as steep as it did a month ago
at 11–18. And with each passing week that the rest of the conference fails
to pull away from the Nets, the picture brightens a little more.

每一個方法，最近成功的狀態使得簡單的抉擇變成困難些。
依然，如果籃網想要成為東區的競爭者他們還是有很多事情得做。
但就在一個月之前 11勝18敗時，他們看起來並沒有那樣有希望。
並且在每過一週，聯盟的其他球隊並沒有成功拉開與籃網的勝差，
目前的狀況看起來算是明朗的。

The result is perhaps one of the trickiest decisions in Rod Thorn's tenure,
because there is no longer an obviously correct answer. However he plays his
cards, let's hope he's reading Carter's intent correctly, because that's the
key to winning this hand.

Thorn 的狡猾決定將會造成不一樣的結果，
因為沒有一個正確以及明顯對的答案。
然而他玩著手上的牌，讓我們期盼他把VC的意圖都摸透了，
因為這是他贏得這場遊戲的關鍵。

http://www.nysun.com/article/47767?page_no=1

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