Jeremy Lin dumbly denied chance to guard Damian Lillard: One last
idiotic benching haunts Kevin McHale
Lin愚蠢地被剝奪了防守Lillard的機會:一個最後白癡調度的決定將會如幽靈般的
糾纏McHale
BY CHRIS BALDWIN 5.3.14, http://tinyurl.com/kyybygg
The Houston Rockets' fastest player helplessly watches from the end of
the bench as Damian Lillard catches the ball with enough space between
him and the nearest defender to build a small moat. Jeremy Lin is
standing near the corner on the sideline, having just been inexplicably
benched by Kevin McHale one final, fatal time.
休士頓火箭隊的最快的球員無奈地從板凳末端看著Lillard在與接近的防守隊員之
間有如同建了一個小型的護城河那麼大的空檔情況下接了球。
在一個最後的致命的時刻，正被麥克海爾莫名其妙地晾在板凳上的Lin就站在邊線
旁的角落上。
Chandler Parsons barely ends up within spitting range of Lillard (and
even Keith Herandez might have some doubts of that). Forget about any
chance of bothering the shot.
Parsons勉強拉近了與Lillard到口水射程內（即使Herandez也可能有一些存疑;某
個電視節目Seinfeld的某一個典故）。任何干擾這個出手的機會可以說是算了。
McHale's handpicked defender completely blows the assignment that
should have been Jeremy Lin's. No question. No debate. Lin stays with
Lillard nearly every chance he gets during the game. He draws praises
for his defense from ESPN commentator Hubie Brown, an old coach who
knows plenty of basketball. Lin forces Lillard to make some
ridiculously tough shots, including that magnificent up-and-under move.
McHale的精心挑選的防守者完全搞砸這個原來是Lin的任務。毫無疑問無須討論。
Lin在整場比賽中緊跟著Lillard。他從防守上得到來自ESPN的評論員Hubie Brown
的讚譽(註:林來瘋期間ESPN負責轉撥Knicks的評論員，可以說是LOF），一個很了
解籃球的老教練。Lin迫使Lillard做出一些極度艱難的投籃。
But with the Rockets season on the line, with McHale's team only 0.9
seconds away from forcing one of those Game Sevens that home teams
don't lose, with anyone who's watched the Trail Blazers even once this
season knowing exactly where the ball's going, McHale seizes up. He
yanks Lin from the game at the 0.9 second mark to get Terrence Jones on
the floor for the final play.
但在這火箭本賽季的生死關頭，當球隊正要將比賽逼進第七場一向不敗的主場只
剩0.9秒之際，任何這季看過拓荒者隊都知道，這球會往那去，McHale此時卻昏頭
了。他在終場0.9秒時拔掉了Lin，然後在最後一擊的時候，把Jones放在場內。
Instead of putting his fastest guard on Portland's Big Shot Maker, he
gives the job to Parsons — a 6-foot-9 forward.
不是把他的最快的後衛來對應波特蘭掌握最重要一擊的人，他把這個任務給了
Parsons - 一個6尺9的前鋒。
And you still think the final shot is some sort of miracle?
而你仍然認為最後的絕殺是某種奇蹟？
Please. It's just one more coaching blunder. Kevin McHale benches
Jeremy Lin and blows the game. Sound familiar? It's been the hidden
soundtrack of this star-crossed Rockets season all along — one a
largely adoring Houston media refused to see.
拜托。這根本只是一個教練調度的失誤。McHale冰Lin而搞砸了比賽，聽起來很熟
悉？它一直是火箭本賽季已注定是悲劇以終的隱藏旋律 - 一堆orz中的休士頓媒
體所無視的。
Oh, Damian Lillard hits a hell of a shot. But McHale allows him to get
the look — an insanely good look considering the circumstances. Is it
any wonder that Lillard obliges by sticking a walk-off, series-ending
3-pointer that will long live on in NBA history?
哦，Lillard射了驚人的一擊。但是是McHale讓他獲得如此的空檔 - 以絕殺的條
件來說一片曠野。想想，Lillard這個讓系列終止的三分球，會讓人在NBA歷史中
被長久的回味？
Trail Blazers 99, Rockets 98. Thanks for coming, your playoffs are over.
拓荒者對火箭99:98。謝謝光臨，您的季後賽已經結束了。
There is no way it should end like this for Dwight Howard, who plays
one of the most dominant big man fourth quarters you'll ever see.
There's no way it should end like this for way for James Harden, who
finally delivers that monster game (34 points on only 15 shots, 32
of those points coming in the game's first 30 minutes). There's no
way it should end like this for Jeremy Lin, who appears to hit the
triple that seals the game — only to see it wiped out by a pointless
Omer Asik offensive foul.
對Howard這個第四節統治級的長人來說，這季不應該是如此的結束。對Harden這
個最後一場比賽怪務般的表現（34分，只有15次投籃，在比賽的前30分鐘得到32
分），這季不應該是如此的結束。對Lin來說這季不應該是如此草率的結束，Lin
最後砍下能保住戰果的三分球卻因為Asik毫無意義的進攻犯規而遭抹去。
But it does. Because Kevin McHale cannot help himself. He benches
Jeremy Lin for the deciding play.
但它就是如此。正是因為McHale不能幫助自己。他在命運決定的一擊時冰了Lin。
With a chance to set up his defense out of a timeout, McHale pulls out
his fastest guard, the player who Brown praises for flying over on a
defensive rotation to force Lillard to miss a three earlier in the
game. Houston's coach insists on ending the game with his favored,
flawed lineup of Harden, Howard, Parsons, Jones and Patrick Beverley
on the floor.
在暫停機會重整他的防守陣容，McHale卻拉出他最快的後衛，這個被布朗爺稱讚
為飛越防守輪值之上的球員，並且在早先的比賽中逼迫著Lillard錯過了一些三分
球。然而休士頓火箭隊的教練堅持使用有他偏愛而有缺陷的Harden，Howard，
Parsons，Jones和Beverley陣容在場上到終場。
And he assigns Lillard — the ultra quick Portland point guard — to
Parsons. Who's surprised this didn't work?
他責令Lillard - 超速的拓荒者控球後衛的防守任務給Parsons。誰會對這失著感
到驚訝？
"We didn't execute very well on that last defensive play," McHale says
in his televised postgame press conference. "(Lillard) took off and
Chandler just never caught up."
“我們在這最後的防守上沒有執行得很好，”McHale在他的電視賽後新聞記者會上
說。“（Lillard）起跑後Parsons根本沒法追上。”
It takes one quick jab step for Lillard to lose Parsons. Meanwhile, the
quick Lin just stands there on the end of the bench, watching the
season go down in the flick of Lillard's wrist.
它需要一個快速的衝刺般的一步就能讓Lillard甩掉Parsons。在此同時，快腿的
Lin只是站在板凳末端上，看著本賽季隨著Lillard的手腕一撇而結束。
"He just got a step on me coming off the stagger (screen inbounds play)
,"Parsons tells CSN Houston in the Rockets locker room. ". . . With .
9, you can't give up a three. It's the only way you lose."
“他剛剛在錯位時對我的甩開(發球進場的阻擋)”，帕森斯在火箭隊的更衣室告訴
CSN休士頓頻道。“在只剩0.9秒的情況下，你不能放棄外線的防守，這是你唯一會
輸掉的可能。”
The Rockets lose in the first round in six games — the same exact
result they recorded in the playoffs last season without Dwight Howard.
What great progress did the team make this year again?
火箭隊在六場比賽的第一輪輸掉了- 跟他們在上個季後賽在沒有Howard的情況下
得到完全相同的結果。今年這個隊到底做了什麼大躍進了嗎？
The Rockets are getting more talented — and McHale still has them
running in place. There's no way to paint this ending as anything but a
complete disaster. Especially not with Daryl Morey — the Rockets own
general manager — saying before the series began that if both teams
played their best, Houston would win.
火箭隊的球員越來越多有才華 - 而McHale仍然掌控一切。這是不可能不描繪出一
個慘烈的災難結局。特別會是不同於Morey(火箭總經理)在系列開始所說的，如果
兩隊在盡全力的情況下，休士頓會贏。
And let's table any of that hindsight it's a four vs. five seed coin
toss series talk. Absolutely everyone picked the Rockets to win this
series. Many fawning Houston media cheerleaders — including 610 AM's
Nick Wright, he of the 4-1 series prediction — had the Rockets rolling
to an easy first round romp.
而且讓我們攤開任何事後諸葛來看，它其實是一個第四對第五種子擲銅板系列(意
即誰贏誰輸都有可能)。當然每個人都押火箭隊會贏得這個系列賽。許多拍馬屁的
休士頓媒體啦啦隊 - 包括"610上午"頻道的Nick Wright，他的4勝1敗系列預測 -
火箭首輪將輕取對手。
Instead, Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts completely schools McHale.
Right through the final play.
相反地，拓荒者總教練Stotts從頭到尾的幫McHale上了一課。
The Terry Stotts Trump Card
Stotts的王牌
It's not easy for Kevin McHale to outsmart himself, but he manages to do
it.
能讓McHale比他自己更聰明這是不容易的(也就是要更笨很難了)，但他成功地做到
這一點。
Stotts gets Lillard — the fearless point guard from Oakland who insists
the zero on his jersey is an O for his tough, rough hometown — the shot
everyone in Portland wants. McHale benches his best chance to stop it.
Stotts得到Lillard(一個從奧克蘭來的無懼的控衛，堅持在他的球衣上使用零號代
表著他堅韌的故鄉)全任何波特蘭人都想要的一擊。McHale自己冷凍了阻擋那一擊
最好機會。
Swish! Thanks for coming, your playoffs are over.
呵呵！謝謝光臨，您的季後賽已經結束了。
"They were well coached," Howard says in his postgame dais moment, his
13-point fourth quarter and all those offensive rebounds completely
wasted. "And they won the series."
“他們被指導的很好，”在他賽後台上Howard說著，他得13分的第四節和所有進攻籃
板完全被浪費了。“他們贏得這個系列。”
Parsons ends up sitting slumped on the edge of the scorer's table after
Lillard's game-winner, his futile momentum having taken him there, his
sudden heartache having left him no will to move from the stop
afterwards. In reality, Parsons isn't the one who just never caught up.
McHale is.
在Lillar絕殺之後，Parsons最終癱坐在記分台邊的邊緣，他徒勞無功的奔跑把他
帶到場邊，他的突然心痛使他沒有意願從那裡走開。實際上，Parsons並不是那個
從來沒搞清楚的傢伙。而是McHale。
Anyone who bothered to look a little deeper could have seen the Rockets
playoff disaster coming all season. McHale's been laying the groundwork
for this for months with his refusal to start his best point guard, his
panicky sudden rotation switches (when did Donatas Motiejunas fall down
a well?) and his glaring confidence-stealing lack of trust in so many of
the bench options Morey gave him.
在整個賽季中，任何人不厭其煩把問題看得更深入的人，會能預見到火箭季後賽災
難來臨。McHale這幾個月一直在鋪路，拒絕來讓他最好的控衛先發，他的慌張輪值
劇動（何時D'Mo也掛掉了呢？）和他對這麼多的Morey所給予他的板凳選項中信心
缺乏。
It all comes crashing down in the roar of the Moda Center, with Lillard
hitting the too-easy look and then taking the microphone to scream "Rip
City!" in the Rockets' still-ringing ears.
這一切都轟然倒塌在莫達中心的狂吼聲中，讓Lillard打的太輕鬆，在火箭隊仍覺
得震耳欲聾時，對話筒尖叫“Rip City！”
"I didn't think this series was defined by that final shot," Rockets
great Calvin Murphy says on CSN's postgame show.
“我沒想到這個系列是由最後一投來決定，”在CSN賽後節目前火箭隊知名的Murphy
說。
Murph's right. This playoff disaster is hardly all about one shot. But
this final shot sure cruelly and devastatingly encapsulates the Rockets
woes.
Murph是對的。但這個季後賽災難幾乎是無關於這一投。然而，這最後一投卻是殘
酷地和毀滅性封裝了火箭隊的困境。
Kevin McHale benches Jeremy Lin. The Rockets lose. The Lin Only Haters
will erupt in self righteous protest. But one can only hide the truth
for so long.
McHale冰Lin。火箭隊輸了。這些林黑將自以為是地(對著林)爆發出來。但這一次
只能將真相瞞這麼久，紙再也包不住火了。