(单词翻译:单击)
It’s no secret how I feel about the strategy of intentionally fouling poor free throw shooters.
我对待向罚球差劲的球员执行砍人战术的态度从来就不是什么秘密。
Leagues are always hesitant to make rule changes, for what should be obvious reasons.
因为一些显而易见的理由,联盟对于修改规则总是束手束脚。
For instance, rule changes like the introduction of the shot clock or the three point line make it all but impossible to compare statistics from different eras.
比如说,引入24秒进攻时间和三分线这两次规则更迭,让不同时代的战术无法相提并论。
But that doesn’t mean you never make changes: you have to balance the needs of the game with tradition. Hopefully we can all agree that the shot clock and the three point line are both very good things.
但这并不意味着你做不得一丁点改变:你应该平衡传统精神和现代需求。时代证明,24秒和三分线都有益于篮球运动的发展。
The league rightly overcame their reticence this summer and actually modified the rules concerning off the ball fouls — ultimately making a change that was almost completely meaningless. It was the worst of both worlds: daring to make a change, while doing nothing to address the problem.
在这个夏天,联盟终于克服重重阻力,修改了一系列与无球犯规相关的规则——然而事实最终证明,这个修改大约确实毫无意义,在传统精神和现代需求两方面都不讨好:妄图做出改变,却又没解决问题。
In the last two Clippers’ games, we’ve had the extreme pleasure of watching terrific basketball through three and a half quarters, followed by the extreme displeasure of watching those games grind to a halt, essentially because Adam Silver is apparently too stupid or too scared to make a meaningful change.
由于亚当·肖华显而易见的愚蠢或者怯懦,他没能对无球犯规的规则做出有意义的改动,这导致在快船队最近的两场比赛中(11月12日快船打雷霆和11月13日快船打森林狼),前三节的比赛如火如荼,观众兴致高昂,而在第四节过半,精彩戛然而止,之后的比赛萎靡不振,观众无精打采。
Thank goodness the Clippers have been winning most of their games by 40 or so, putting DeAndre Jordan on the bench in the fourth quarter while also placing the game far too out of reach to even bother with silly chicanery, no matter how unscrupulous the coach.
多亏快船队在他们绝大多数比赛中都能痛宰对手四十分,让比赛早早地失去悬念,从而让德安德鲁·乔丹在第四节稳坐板凳席上,远离来自其他无耻的教练的狡诈行径。
Let’s recap first: prior to this season, the rules awarded one free throw and the ball out of bounds to the offended team for fouls committed off the ball in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.
让我们首先来回顾一下无球犯规规则的变更:在这个赛季之前,在第四节最后两分钟和加时赛中,对无球队员犯规会额外让该球员所在球队一罚一掷。
This season, they extended that rule to cover the final two minutes of all four quarters. Intentional, off the ball fouls at all other points in the game incur no additional penalty for the team committing the foul.
而这个赛季,联盟官员扩大了这条规则的使用范围,新规则的使用时间延伸到了每一节的最后两分钟。其他时间的无球犯规将不会给犯规球队额外惩罚。
So if you’re scoring at home, the NBA took a practice that is completely outside of the spirit of the game and changed the rule book so that now they allow it during 40 out of 48 minutes, instead of allowing it during 46 out of 48 minutes.
如果你是一位老球迷,你当然会明白砍人战术完全违背了NBA的传统精神,而NBA修改规则之后,竟然只是允许它在48分钟的比赛中可使用时间,从46分钟降低到了40分钟。
And they even screwed that part up. On Friday night in Oklahoma City, with seven seconds left in the first half and the Clippers not yet in the bonus, J.J. Redick intentionally fouled Victor Oladipo off the ball because the team had a foul to give.
更过分的是,他们还把其他环节搞砸了。周五晚上在俄克拉荷马客场作战时,上半场还有7秒结束,而快船队还差一次犯规才达到罚球次数,JJ-雷迪克故意对维克托-奥拉迪波无球犯规。
Unfortunately, the new rule that takes affect in the final two minutes of each quarter is enforced IRRESPECTIVE of whether the team being fouled is in the bonus.
新规则马上生效,在每一节的最后两分钟无球犯规必须罚球,不管球队是否已经到达罚球上限。
The amazing thing is that the strategy continues to be ineffective, even when the foul shooter is missing free throws. On Friday night, the Thunder started fouling with 5:41 remaining and the Clippers ahead by three points.
而让人意想不到的是,即便被砍球员总是罚丢,这项战术仍然是低效的追分手段。周五晚上,距离比赛结束还有5分41秒时,雷霆队祭出犯规战术时,快船仅领先三分。
(Let’s briefly stop there, shall we: you’re at home, you’ve played 42 minutes against the team with the best record in basketball, a team you defeated just nine days prior, and it’s a one possession game. How about playing defense for the final six minutes? How about trying to win the game playing basketball, as opposed to employing a slimy gimmick? Is that too much to ask, Billy Donovan?)
(不好意思暂停一下,我有话要说:你们主场作战,你们已经和史上最佳的球队对抗了42分钟,一支本赛季唯一一场输球在九天刚刚贡献给你们的球队,前42分钟的比赛惊心动魄扣人心弦。为什么不能在最后6分钟全力防守?为什么不能堂堂正正地用篮球的方式来赢得比赛?为什么要用这种磨磨唧唧的无耻把戏?我问得是不是太过分了,比利·多诺万教练?)
Teams forget that as they are fouling they are also taking themselves out of any semblance of offensive rhythm, while also ensuring that they will be facing a set defense every trip. And by the way, the Clippers have far and away the best defense in the NBA right now.
采取砍人战术的球队忽略了一点:当他们不停地用犯规中断比赛时,他们其实也中断了自己的进攻节奏,这就意味着他们每一次进攻都要面对敌人的严阵以待的防线。顺便一提,目前快船的防守在全联盟遥遥领先。
Consider two specific plays. After Luc Richard Mbah a Moute blocked a shot, the Clippers were running out in transition. The Thunder were scrambled, and were seemingly more concerned with finding Jordan in order to foul him, than with finding the ball.
我举两个例子。卢克-理查德-巴莫特封盖对手之后,快船全队攻防转换。雷霆急忙撤防,并且将注意力放在小乔丹去哪儿了而不是球在谁的手上,以便实行砍人战术。
Enes Kanter literally ignored Chris Paul while pointing at Jordan, apparently imploring one of his teammates to commit the intentional foul. Paul, alone behind the arc, calmly sank the three as the Thunder players tried to pull their collective heads out of their asses.
埃内斯-坎特指向小乔丹,明显在乞求他的队友们谁去给小乔丹犯个规,完全忽略了克里斯-保罗。于是保罗在三分线后,茕茕孑立,冷静施射,球涮筐而入时,雷霆球员才恍然大悟,然为时已晚。
Later, after the Thunder had called off the hack-a-Jordan and committed to playing defense, they immediately forced the Clippers into a turnover which led to an open corner three from Oladipo, which cut the lead back to three — right where we had started when the abomination began.
随后,当雷霆队取消砍乔丹战术并且认真防守时,他们立刻制造了快船一个失误并且让奥拉迪波投中一个空位底角三分,将落后差距缩小到三分——终于回到了这场闹剧开始时的分差。
But none of this is new. We’ve been here before, we’ve expressed our distaste for the practice, we’ve pointed out that it’s not even particularly effective.
这些结论并不新鲜。我们已经看到过类似的情形,我们已经表达过对这种犯规战术的厌恶之情,我们已经指出了砍人战术并不是那么有效。
Instead, let’s talk about Doc Rivers for a moment. On Friday night, DeAndre Jordan was on the bench to begin the fourth quarter, checking in with 5:43 left in the game.
换个话题,让我们聊一会道格·里弗斯。周五晚上,德安德鲁-乔丹在第四节开始的时候仍然坐在替补席,直到距离比赛结束还有5分43秒时才回到场上。
Nick Collison fouled Jordan two seconds later, and the Thunder fouled him five more times over the next three minutes.
两秒钟后,尼克-科里森已经完成了对他的犯规,随后三分钟内,雷霆队又在他身上制造了五次犯规。
On Saturday, Jordan was once again resting at the start of the final period. He checked in with 5:52 remaining and the Timberwolves committed a whopping 15 fouls over the remainder of the game, beginning five seconds after Jordan took the floor. Ugh.
而在周六,小乔丹再一次无缘第四节上半场比赛。他在距离比赛结束5分52秒时替补上场,五秒钟后裁判便吹了森林狼的犯规,而在比赛剩余时间里森林狼统共制造了15次犯规。呵呵!
We know that Jordan needs rest during the course of the game, but why not have him log his minutes at the START of the fourth, and plan to rest him in the period from six minutes left until two minutes left, prime time for hacking?
我们知道小乔丹在比赛过程中需要休息,但为什么不让小乔丹在第四节首发上场,然后让他从比赛结束还剩6分钟时开始休息,直到最后两分钟——砍人战术的“黄金时间”——再次上场呢?
With his current substitution pattern, Rivers is inviting opponents to send an ice cold Jordan straight to the line, which is exactly what happened on Friday and Saturday.
而他现在的轮转安排让小乔丹被送上罚球线时手感冰凉,就如周五和周六的比赛那样。
Of course, an opposing coach could choose to commit five quick fouls and get into the bonus to begin the fourth quarter while Jordan is out there.
当然,对方教练可能会选择当第四节开始而小乔丹在场时,快速犯规五次以达到罚球次数。
If that happens, you calmly take Jordan out and pad the lead with a parade to the line for 90% foul shooters like Jamal Crawford and Chris Paul.
如果发生了这种事,你可以换下小乔丹,而通过贾马尔-克劳福德和克里斯-保罗这种90%命中率的罚球好手去罚球线狂轰乱炸来巩固领先。
Yes, Doc prefers to keep his first and second units somewhat separate, and changing Jordan’s rest pattern would have him playing with the reserves while putting Marreese Speights on the floor with the starters for a few extra minutes.
没错,河文档不喜欢把他的第一阵容和第二阵容混在一起,他不会改变小乔丹的轮换时间去让他带领替补阵容,而让马利斯-斯贝茨去和首发阵容多打几分钟。
But isn’t it worth it? Simply by tweaking when Jordan gets his rest, Rivers could significantly limit when opposing coaches can employ the strategy, and at the same time spare me the pain of watching that shit show.
但这样改变非常值得啊!只是改变一下小乔丹的休息时间,就可以有效限制对方教练采用犯规战术,并且还把我从屎一样的观赛体验中释放出来。
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