The layup masters
上篮高手
Is being good at the layup as simple as getting to the rim?
There’s rarely a distinction made between a player’s ability
to get in layup range versus his ability to actually sink it.
Perhaps that’s because “a layup” is also a metaphor for
something easy, like a “gimme” putt in golf.
熟练上篮和打进篮下一样简单吗？分别球员能打进篮框旁的能力和真正
能把球放进篮框的能力是少见的。可能是因为“上篮”是简单的代名词
，就像是高尔夫的“gimme（译按：休闲高尔夫球赛时，球离洞口不远就
直接算进洞，不用再推了的球）”。
Whoever popularized the metaphor probably never tried to score
over NBA giants, I’d hazard.
我大胆假设宣传这个说法的人可能没有尝试在NBA的巨人们前上篮得分。
The layup also gets no respect because it doesn’t demand respect.
Unlike the dunk, the layup fails to seize an arena’s attention
with a sudden lightning bolt at the hoop. Instead, it takes an
indirect route off the backboard before meandering along the rim,
waffling on whether to finally be a basket already.
上篮也不受到尊重，因为它不需要被尊重。不像雷霆万钧的灌篮般，上篮
无法抓住球场的注意力。反而是用个经过篮板的曲折路径，在成为计分板
上的分数前还在篮框上逗留。
Incredible dunks look super intentional, as though a player’s
life depended on forcing the ball through the rim at that moment.
Incredible layups look accidental, as though a fouled Dwyane Wade
thought “Why not?” while flinging the ball in the backboard’s
general direction.
惊人的灌篮看起来是绝对蓄意的，如同球员在那一刻把生命都用在把球灌
进去般。而惊人的上篮看起来是充满意外的，就像Dwyane Wade被犯规后往
篮板一抛时还想着“何不就唬烂一下？”。
So the layup commutes between “you’re open and should always
make it” and “you weren’t looking at the rim, that was total
luck.” It’s hard to get recognition for being good at something
when both the routine and the spectacular are so easily dismissed.
所以上篮介于“你有空档应该投进”和“你压根都没看篮框，唬烂进的”。
当基本功夫和精彩表现两者都轻易的被忽略时，是很难认定一个人是否真正
擅长于上篮。
Well, no one is dismissing the mighty layup in these parts. The
shortest bank shot is indeed a skill