The players could use the day as they needed. Which, if the season's previous five weeks were any indication, meant Manu Ginobili may have spent part of it with his right foot in a bucket of ice.
球員們可以依他們的需要,好好利用這一天。依本季過去五週跡象判斷,這意指Manu Ginobili在公休的這天,可能正花了一部分時間將他的右腳放進冰桶裡。
He also could have chosen to soak his left knee in the team's training pool. Or wrap a heating pad around his right thigh. Most likely, he slept.
他也可能選擇將他的左膝浸泡在隊上的診療池中,或者在右大腿上纏一綑熱敷墊。當然啦,最大可能性,他會好好睡一場。
At times, Ginobili has looked 28 going on 77, wincing as he bends over to pull on his socks, joking that he's getting "old." Then the next game comes and he's back on the floor, running down rebounds, plowing into the lane, scoring 27 points as he did Wednesday against Miami. Sacrificing his body again.
有時,28歲的Ginobili會看起來像七十七歲般畏縮,當他俯身穿襪時,嘲笑自己已經變老了。然而,接下來的比賽,當他回到球場,搶奪籃板球,或是切入禁區,狂砍27分,就像昨晚對抗熱火隊那樣,他又再一次不顧自己〝年邁〞身軀。
After missing two games with a bone bruise on his right ankle, Ginobili returned Monday in Orlando. In less than three minutes, he drove his left knee into someone else's knee and came up limping.
在因右腳踝骨頭腫脹而錯過兩場比賽之後,Ginobili週一於奧蘭多重返球場。開場不到三分鐘,他左膝與對手碰撞,跛跛而行。
It is times like that, when Popovich holds his breath and trainer Will Sevening gets ready to leave his seat, Ginobili is asked whether it would be wiser to dial down his aggressiveness. Shouldn't he try harder to avoid contact?
一如往常。帕波教練屏住呼吸,訓練員威爾西門寧準備離開位置,而Ginobili自己呢?他必須捫心自問,是否他應該以更有智慧的方式減低傷害?難道他不應該更努力避免碰撞嗎?
Shouldn't he worry more about preserving his health?
或者,他難道不應該對於自我保健之道更加注意?
"I can't," Ginobili said. "I don't know how to do it."
「哦,我不能。」他說,「關於此事,我不知道該如何做。」
El Contusíon, as Brent Barry dubbed his teammate last season, has had an easier time living up to his nickname than his All-Star status. Three days before the start of the season, Ginobili bruised his right quadriceps. Not long after, he hurt his right foot, an injury that continues to trouble him.
與他全明星賽時的狀況相較,Ginobili無疑將有更容易的時間實踐他「挫傷人」的稱號──這是隊友貝瑞上季幫他取的。本季開打前三天,他拉傷了右側四頭肌;不久之後,他弄傷右腳,而這次傷害現在仍困擾著他。
Even enjoying a restful summer for the first time in years may have done more harm than good. Accustomed to training with Argentina's national team each offseason, he's had a harder time finding his rhythm.
甚至在多年以來第一次悠閒渡過的夏季休兵期,對他而言似乎也是弊多於利。之後,慣例於季後隨阿根廷國家代表隊練球過程,他花了極困難的時間去找回球感。
"When you play as frenetically as he plays, you have to be fresh in the sense of you've been playing," Popovich said. "If you haven't played in a while and try to play at that pace, you're going to make mistakes; your stroke isn't there yet. It took a while for the basketball part of his game to catch up to the speed part of his game."
「當你打球像他一樣瘋狂時,你必須對於慣常的打球方式有新的感覺。」帕波教練表示:「假如你有一陣子不打球,然後嘗試以那樣的步伐打球,你會很容易出錯,你的節奏也不會到位。需要一點時間讓他比賽中球的部分趕上速度部分。」
Ginobili has downplayed the impact of his injuries, saying instead he's just needed longer to regain his sharpness. But while he missed only two games after jamming his right foot against the Los Angeles Lakers last week, he also acknowledges that the injury hasn't healed. Landing in the wrong position is painful.
Ginobili自己對於傷勢的影響是輕描淡寫,只表示需要更多時間以恢復他的凌厲水準。然而,當他上週在與湖人隊的比賽中,右腳受傷,停戰兩場之後,他自己也承認,傷勢並未復原,只能坐在場邊觀戰實在難受。
"Sometimes my ankle hurts, so I can't keep doing crazy things," he said. "But once I start feeling better, I go back to being regular."
「偶爾,我的腳踝受傷,所以我不能作一些瘋狂事。」他說:「但是,一旦我感覺好些時,我就會回到場上恢復正常了。」
For Ginobili, "regular" means relentless. Against the Heat, he repeatedly took the ball to the rim, lofting floaters over the outstretched arm of center Alonzo Mourning.
對Ginobili而言,所謂「正常」,意指「無情」。在與熱火隊的比賽裡,他多次持球切入,越過熱火中鋒莫寧伸出的手臂,爭奪籃板。(此處Dr. Eye的整句翻譯十分好笑:在悲痛的中鋒阿朗索伸開的手臂上方.....)
"I can play better than I did," Ginobili said, "but I'm happy because I needed a good (game)."
「我可以打得更好。」Ginobili賽後表示,「但我很高興,因為我真的需要一場好的比賽。」
For the season, Ginobili is averaging 15.2 points on 46.2 percent shooting, only a modest drop from a year ago when the Western Conference coaches selected him for the All-Star team.
本季至今,Ginobili平均單場得分15.2,在46.2%出手中。與一年前西區教練團選他打全明星賽時相較,僅有部分下滑。
Popovich has scaled back Ginobili's court time in practice to give him enough time to recover between games. He also has limited his minutes to just under 30 per game, nearly identical to last season.
帕波教練已經減少Ginobili練習時的上場時間,以使他有充分的恢復時間在賽事中。同時,教練也限制他每場比賽上場時間在30分鐘內,與上個球季非常接近。
"But, I don't know how to protect him once he's in a game," Popovich said.
「但是,我不知道當他上場比賽時該怎麼保護他。」無奈的帕波維奇這樣說。
As Ginobili gets older, Popovich thinks he will have to reshape his game similar to how Michael Jordan made himself into a jump shooter. A step in that direction, Popovich said, is that Ginobili's confidence in his 3-point shot has increased over the past two seasons.
當Ginobili年紀漸長之後,帕波教練認為他必須改造他的比賽,就像麥可喬登將自己重新定位成一個射手一樣。在這方向之下,帕波教練表示,Ginobili首先必須較過去兩個球季而言,提升自己三分球命中率的信心。
"Pace will be important to his game because he can't just be hell-bent for leather every time he touches the ball," Popovich said. "You can't completely take away him forcing himself on the game because he does make some amazing plays. But he'll find a balance."
「步法在他的比賽中將會極為重要的,因為他不能只是固執死守(?),當他每次碰到球時。」帕波教練說:「你不能強迫他在比賽中完全防衛自己,因為他真的有些神奇的演出。但他終會找到平衡的。」
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在MySA看到的報導,原文網址不知是否被移除了,不過覺得這位Johnny Ludden老兄寫作手法頗為高明,哎,為何台灣媒體的運動報導不能如此妙筆生花呢?