The NBA preseason is too long - NBA

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Just before Moe Harkless finished his post-practice interview and strolled
off the court at the Trail Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin, he
declared himself fit for the regular season.

"I'm ready to go," he said Saturday.

Aren't we all?



Harkless在球隊練習前的記者會表示，「他已經準備好迎接新的球季了」

球迷們難道不也是嗎？



The Blazers' preseason slogged along Sunday night at the Moda Center as the
Denver Nuggets dismissed them 106-97. It was the Blazers' fifth game of the
exhibition season and they have two more — road matchups at the Utah Jazz
and Golden State Warriors — looming next week. As the Blazers prepare to
leave a week before the regular season begins, it's fair to wonder: Why?


10/16與金塊的比賽是拓荒者本季第五場的季前賽

而在例行賽開始前的這個禮拜

拓荒者還有兩場的客場比賽要打

為什麼賽程要這樣安排？




NBA teams typically play between seven and eight preseason games and the
consensus in NBA locker rooms is that is two or three too many.

"At the end of the day, they're pointless," Blazers big man Ed Davis said.
"They don't mean anything. This is my job and I don't make the rules. I just
do what I'm told. But it is a little long."


NBA的球隊通常會被安排7到8場的熱身賽

而球員們普遍認為可以再少個兩到三場


Ed Davis認為：「熱身賽沒有任何意義，但打球是他的工作而且不是他在制定規則

所以必須要遵守NBA官方的規定，但平心而論熱身賽實在是有點多」



A little long? The Nuggets, who are one of the unlucky teams playing eight
exhibition games this month, certainly think so. They left for Omaha and
training camp on Sept. 26 and coach Mike Malone estimates that his team has
been in Denver just five or six days since. They opened the exhibition season
by visiting the Toronto Raptors in Calgary, Canada, which was the first of
four road games to start the preseason. Six of their eight exhibition games
are away from Denver.

"It's been a very demanding preseason schedule," Malone said. "You hear
rumblings that at some point the league is going to move it down to six and
try to shorten the preseason. That way they can really try to eliminate as
many back to backs, four-in-fives as possible in the regular season."

If Malone had his druthers, his team would play no more than six exhibition
games. An informal poll around the Blazers' locker room suggests players want
even less. If it were up to Davis and CJ McCollum, the Blazers would have
four games. Harkless and Damian Lillard would support five. Allen Crabbe says
either four of five would do.

"I think the first two games are rough, you're getting back into it," Lillard
said. "The third one is a little better. And then I think you need two to
really play some real minutes and get ready for the regular season. I don't
think you need seven. That's a lot."

金塊隊是其中一隻被安排了八場熱身賽的球隊，其中六場是客場

Mike Marlone估計他們這個月來只在丹佛待了五到六天


「這是個非常吃力的賽程。」Marlone說

「一直有傳言說NBA遲早會將熱身賽減至6場，就像減少背靠背與五天四戰的比賽一樣」

如果Marlone有選擇，金塊隊會進行至多六場的熱身賽

而根據拓荒者隊內非正式的調查，球員想要的熱身賽數量更少

Ed Davis和McCollum支持四場，Harkless與Lillard想要五場，Crabbe則說四或五場都可以

Lillard認為，前兩場的熱身賽特別難打，因為必須重新回到球場的節奏

而第三場開始則漸入佳境，在第五場結束後狀況就已回到季賽的水準了


The byproduct of a seven-and eight-game exhibition schedule is laced with
negatives. The games aren't merely meaningless, but often boring and sloppy.
Players and fans can be disinterested. Players not only are being asked to
play more than they want — and perhaps need — but also are being put at
unnecessary risk. From Martell Webster to Nicolas Batum to McCollum, multiple
Blazers have succumbed to fluke preseason injuries over the last decade.
Franchises are tempting fate by putting its stars in the line of fire during
games that don't count.

And those are the stars that actually play. Oftentimes, coaches rest their
best players to save them for the regular season, a smart decision that also
happens to be a disservice to fans.

Season ticket holders pay regular price for exhibition games as part of their
ticket packages, but enjoy a fraction of the regular season entertainment
value. The Blazers had a nice crowd Sunday, but arenas across the league sit
half full throughout the preseason. And while it's true that end-of-the bench
role players deserve a chance to play and guys like Grant Jerrett and Tim
Quarterman — and others fighting for NBA roster spots — count on these
games for their livelihoods, it's also true that roster and rotation spots
are decided through practices and scrimmages in October rather than a
20-minute exhibition shift.

球隊會傾向讓主力輪休，以免其因不重要的比賽而受傷

但這也降低了比賽的可看性與精采程度

拓荒者的假日比賽通常會滿場，但熱身賽時卻只有一半的觀眾進場

另一方面，熱身賽卻是那些板凳末端球員爭取進入球員名單的好機會

儘管球隊的輪替陣容多在練習時就已決定


Besides, the majority of exhibition games are vanilla because coaches often
hold back on revealing too much before the real competition begins. In the
final four games of the exhibition season, the Blazers face the Los Angeles
Clippers, Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors — or the exact same
teams they'll face in the first four games of the regular season. That means
coach Terry Stotts will be reluctant to dip too deep into his playbook and
reveal too much of his player rotation in an effort to avoid tipping his hand
to his opponents.

That lessons the appeal of the games even more.

此外，教練常會為了避免洩漏太多戰術與球員輪替等情報給敵隊而輪休主力

這遠比球賽的精采度重要



The good news for Blazers fans is that, assuming their favorite players avoid
injuries, no one wearing red and black is actively complaining. Yes, players
and coaches would prefer to play fewer exhibition games — and perhaps
negotiations for the new collective bargaining agreement will lead to a
reduced schedule — but they also know it's a minor issue in the grand scheme
of things.

"I get paid millions of dollars to play basketball," Meyers Leonard said.
"Whatever they want me to do, I'm going to do."

但對球迷來說，至少他們喜歡的球員沒有人積極的抱怨

儘管新版勞資協議可能會減少賽程，這也不是最重要的議題

就如同Meyers Leonard所說，「我拿了這麼多錢，這是我該做的」







心得：季前賽的場數或許是該好好討論了

畢竟各隊都在輪休

球賽的觀賞性不大

幫助球員適應的目的也沒達到

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