【Title】Missing their shot
          Not reaching their playoff goals leaves bitter taste for NBA stars

【原作】JOHN DENTON - Florida Today

【链接】 http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/SPORTS/704100324/1002/SPORTS

【翻译】icydream

【原文】

ORLANDO - Jermaine O'Neal was already trying to deal with his knee hurting and h
is Indiana Pacers being in a total freefall when a question came about possibly
missing the playoffs, triggering more emotions.

小奥早就一筹莫展了，一方面是自己的膝伤，另一方面就是自己球队正走在一个完全的下坡
，很可能就此而跌出季后赛大门。


Tears welled in his eyes and the four-time All-Star slung a towel over his head
"I'm a very prideful player," O'Neal muttered before waving his hands to end
the interview session.

尽管双眼盈满泪水，头上耷着一条毛巾，这位四届全明星球员在挥手告别采访时仍然低沉
的说到：“我是一个非常有自尊心的球员。”


The NBA playoffs begin late next week and several star players, like Indiana's
O'Neal, are having to deal with the realization that they may not be around to t
ake part in the action. Picture a child's face pressed up against a candy store
window, unable to get at the treats inside, and you can understand the feelings
of some of the game's most decorated players.

NBA的季后赛在下周晚些时候就开始了，但是仍有几名巨星，比如印第安纳的小奥，不得不
面临他们的球队无法晋级的局面。就像一个脸紧紧贴着糖果店的玻璃窗的小孩，他非常非常
想进去，但还是不能够享受里面的招待。由此你可以理解到这些最出色的球员的心情如何了
。

"It's always disappointing when you don't arrive at your goals," Minnesota Timbe
rwolves superstar forward Kevin Garnett said. "I share responsibility like every
one in our locker room. You just hope in the back of your mind that it's somethi
ng you can change next year."

“达不到自己的目标始终是件失望的事情。”明尼苏达州狼队的巨星前锋KG说，“我跟更衣
室的每一名队友一样去分担责任。你只能暗暗期待来年能改变这一切。”


Garnett, a 10-time All-Star who is universally thought of as one of the game's b
est all-around players, will unthinkably miss the postseason for a third straigh
t year. Others like Seattle's Ray Allen, Boston's Paul Pierce, New York's Stepho
n Marbury, Memphis' Pau Gasol, Milwaukee's Michael Redd, Sacramento's Mike Bibby
and Golden State's Baron Davis are facing a similar fate as Garnett.

Garnett,这名10届全明星球员被普遍认为是NBA里最全面的球员之一，但却不可思议的连续
三年未能打入季后赛。别的球员像西雅图的Allen，波士顿的pp，纽约的马大少，孟菲斯的G
asol，雄鹿的Redd，国王的Bibby甚至金州的bd都正在面临相似的局面。


Gasol, the Grizzlies' 7-foot franchise center, has endured one headache after a
nother this season. He broke his foot in the World Championships last summer, ca
using him to miss the first six weeks of the NBA season. Without Gasol, Memphis
slumped badly and has the NBA's worst record at 19-59.

Gasol，这位灰熊队身高7尺招牌中锋，头疼的事情也接连不断。
自从去年夏天的世锦赛上右脚骨折不得不错过这个赛季的前六周。没有了Gasol，孟菲斯一
落千丈，并创造了联盟的最差战绩19胜59负。


Gasol, a native of Spain, hasn't taken too kindly to the thought of missing the
playoffs for the first time since 2003. His frustration was evident in Saturday
night's humiliating 28-point loss to the Orlando Magic when he repeatedly slappe
d the basket stanchion and chewed out teammates for not working hard enough on d
efense.

加索尔在2003年第一次与季后赛无缘事并没有太恼火，但是这次，周六28分惨败 给魔术之
后，他的沮丧是显而易见的。他大为光火的怒击篮球架，斥责队友没有充分的努力做好防守
.

He has asked the Grizzlies to trade him this season, wanting to get to a team wh
ere he feels he can compete for a championship.The thought of enduring another s
eason like this one -- even with possible top selection Greg Oden playing along
side of him -- is one he doesn't want to think about. Gasol sounded very much as
if he was waving the white flag and again asking to be traded to a team that cou
ld get him back to the playoffs.

加索尔早就请求球队把他交易出去，他希望可以加盟一只获得总冠军的队伍。如果下个赛季
还像这样下去--哪怕乐透抽中了Oden--他是绝对不愿意的。加索尔再次给球队发出的信号还
是希望被交易到一只能进季后赛的球队中去。

"It has to be much more than that," Gasol said Saturday, referring to Memphis re
building with a top pick like Greg Oden in the June draft. "It's not enough. A y
oung kid is not going to make a whole lot of difference. It's going to take the
right free agents, the right moves to get guys who are prepared and ready to com
pete. All the ownership stuff has to be resolved in some way. There are just too
many things going on (for him to want to return to Memphis)."

加索尔周六对球队拥有高顺位选秀签来进行重建之事说那样是远远不够的。他认为一个年轻
的孩子不可能带来太大的变化。他认为球队要选择正确的人选，争取得到那些准备好比赛的
人，管理高层必须要下定决心（去得到合适的球员），要想Gasol留在孟菲斯，还有很多事
情要解决。


Garnett Speculation continues to swirl around the future of Garnett, the star wh
o seems hopelessly trapped in Minnesota where rebuilding has become a yearly occ
urrence. Timberwolves management has made bad moves trying to add talent around
Garnett, and because his salary ($21 million this season) eats up so much of the
salary cap, there is little margin for error in Minnesota. So Garnett is left to
try and win with castoffs Ricky Davis and Mark Blount, underproductive free-agen
t acquisitions Marco Jaric and Mike James and rookies Randy Foye and Craig Smith
. As a result, he will spend his third consecutive postseason watching from home
.

有关KG的众多流言蜚语继续困扰着狼王的未来，这位巨星似乎陷在森林狼这只年年重建但毫
无希望的球队里了。森林狼的经理做了糟糕的决策希望在KG身边增加几个有天分的球员；但
由于KG的薪金（今年2100万$）占了球队工资帽一大半，因此对球队出现的问题也无可奈何
。KG只能跟两大废柴Ricky Davis、Mark Bloun，还有俩入不敷出的自由人Marco Jaric和 M
ike James以及新秀Randy Foye和Craig Smith一起打拼江山。所有这一切的结果是，KG只能
连续第三年坐在家里看PlayOffs。


"K.G. really wants to win. It's so tough for him, but he still approaches it the
same way night in and night out," said Orlando's Dwight Howard, who idolized Gar
nett as a child and talked with the Minnesota star recently at the NBA All-Star
Game about his frustrations. "He still plays his heart out and that's all you c
an ask of him."

“KG真的很想赢球。对他来说虽然很艰难，但他每晚都在努力达到这个目的。”魔术的Howa
rd说。当Howard还是个小孩子的时候就极其崇拜KG，并在今年的全明星赛上和KG交谈了他的
挫折。“他仍然用心去打球，这是你所有能去问他的。”


Some, like outspoken TNT analyst Charles Barkley, have pined for Garnett to dema
nd a trade out of Minnesota so that he can play for a championship contender whi
le still in the prime years of his career. Barkley knows a thing or two about th
e frustration of not winning a championship. He, along with Karl Malone, John St
ockton, Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller, are some of the most accomplished playe
rs in NBA history to never win a title.

某些人，比如TNT一位坦率的分析家Charles爵士，期望KG能够交易出森林狼以便还在在他巅
峰时期的时候能打下一座总冠军。Barkley当然晓得不能获得冠军的沮丧感受，因为他，以
及Malone，Stockton，Ewing，Miller都是那些最有才华但木有品尝到总冠军滋味的球员。


Garnett dismissed the notion that he would try and escape Minnesota for a ready-
made championship team. He has played his entire 12-year career in Minnesota, an
d he dismissed the notion that he would try and force a trade to a playoff-cali
ber team.

KG拒绝试图离开森林狼到一只拿过总冠军的球队。他在森林狼度过了自己12年的职业生涯，
但他表示他不会迫使球队把他交易到一只季后赛球队。


"People always expect that because, number one, it sells papers," Garnett said.
"Let's keep it real. The (salary cap) dollars are there. When you are dealing wi
t the kids who came to the NBA from high school we take pride in the opportunity
we have been given. (Lakers' star) Kobe (Bryant) has been fortunate to stay in L
.A., and hopefully (Cleveland's) LeBron (James) will be fortunate to stay where
he is. Hopefully, I can stay here and make this right."

“人们能一直期望我会被交易 ，首先，这样报纸卖的更好。”KG说，“现实一点看，我的
薪水就在那里摆着。我很骄傲我能被给与机会从高中直接进入NBA。科比也是一样幸运的留
在了湖人，而勒布朗詹姆斯也很有可能幸运的呆在克里夫兰。因此我也希望自己能够一直呆
在这里并把森林狼变得更好。”


Pierce and Allen, who have 12 all-star game appearances combined between them,
will both be out of the playoffs a second consecutive season. Their plights this
season have been remarkably similar.

Pierce‘和Allen，加起来一共12次入选全明星，都即将要连续两年无缘季后赛。他们这个
赛季的困境惊人的相似（都是伤病）。


Pierce has played just 47 games because of injuries to his elbow and foot, and h
as likely been shut down for the season. Had he played in enough games, his 25 p
oints per game would have been good for ninth in the NBA. But because he is surr
ounded by the NBA's youngest team, Pierce's efforts were mostly wasted.

Pierce因为肘伤和脚伤只打了47场比赛，而且很有可能会错过剩余的比赛。如果他能够打更
多的比赛，相信他场均25分的得分（列NBA第九位）会对球队帮助很大，但是由于他处在联
盟最年轻的球队里，他的努力大都被（队友）浪费掉了。


Allen similarly gave up the fight early, getting season-ending surgery on his an
kles last week when it became apparent his Sonics would miss the playoffs a seco
nd year in a row. His 26.4 points per game, good for eighth in the NBA this seas
on, were a career-high, but not enough to coax the rebuilding Sonics into the pl
ayoffs. He said earlier this season he didn't think it would be a bad reflection
on him if he misses yet another postseason.

Allen同样的早早放弃了赛季，眼见超音速要连续两年无缘季后赛，Allen上周选择了脚踝手
术，这样他将告别剩余全部比赛。他场均26.4分的得分列联盟第八位，也是个人职业生涯新
高，但是还不足以使重建中的超音速打进季后赛。这个赛季早期的时候他就说如果今年还不
能晋级季后赛对他不会有坏的影响。


"If you're a winner you never really get used to the losing," Allen said. "It do
esn't matter if you have young guys or old guys around you, you're playing to wi
n. I don't think the perception of me is going to change."

“如果你是一个胜利者，你永远不会适应失败。”Allen说，“身边的队友年轻与否并不重
要，关键是你要去赢球。我不认为我的理解会有变化。”


O'Neal is one star who still has a chance to salvage the season and get his Pace
rs in the playoffs. Indiana once seemed comfortably in the playoffs, but that wa
s before it lost 17 of 19 games during one stretch. The Pacers have rebounded to
win three of four to pull within one game of the eighth and final playoff slot.

小奥还有机会去拯救这个赛季使得步行者能够晋级季后赛。步行者曾经一度看起来对季后赛
很乐观，但接下来一段19场输17场的现实打破了这个美梦. 作为反弹，他们接下来4场比赛
赢了3场，离第八位还差一场。


Said O'Neal: "I would have thought a long time ago we would have turned this thi
ng around. You would think the incentive would be there to get better and make t
he playoffs. It will be a huge disappointment if we don't make the playoffs."

小奥说：“我早就考虑过我们是能够扭转这一窘境的。你会认为激励我们的是变得更好去赢
得季后赛。如果我们失去了季后赛的资格，那绝对是一个巨大的失望。”

      
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