http://s.oregonlive.com/WPQ2MAJ
Just before Moe Harkless finished his post-practice interview and strolled
off the court at the Trail Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin, he
declared himself fit for the regular season.
"I'm ready to go," he said Saturday.
Aren't we all?
Harkless在球队练习前的记者会表示，“他已经准备好迎接新的球季了”
球迷们难道不也是吗？
The Blazers' preseason slogged along Sunday night at the Moda Center as the
Denver Nuggets dismissed them 106-97. It was the Blazers' fifth game of the
exhibition season and they have two more — road matchups at the Utah Jazz
and Golden State Warriors — looming next week. As the Blazers prepare to
leave a week before the regular season begins, it's fair to wonder: Why?
10/16与金块的比赛是拓荒者本季第五场的季前赛
而在例行赛开始前的这个礼拜
拓荒者还有两场的客场比赛要打
为什么赛程要这样安排？
NBA teams typically play between seven and eight preseason games and the
consensus in NBA locker rooms is that is two or three too many.
"At the end of the day, they're pointless," Blazers big man Ed Davis said.
"They don't mean anything. This is my job and I don't make the rules. I just
do what I'm told. But it is a little long."
NBA的球队通常会被安排7到8场的热身赛
而球员们普遍认为可以再少个两到三场
Ed Davis认为：“热身赛没有任何意义，但打球是他的工作而且不是他在制定规则
所以必须要遵守NBA官方的规定，但平心而论热身赛实在是有点多”
A little long? The Nuggets, who are one of the unlucky teams playing eight
exhibition games this month, certainly think so. They left for Omaha and
training camp on Sept. 26 and coach Mike Malone estimates that his team has
been in Denver just five or six days since. They opened the exhibition season
by visiting the Toronto Raptors in Calgary, Canada, which was the first of
four road games to start the preseason. Six of their eight exhibition games
are away from Denver.
"It's been a very demanding preseason schedule," Malone said. "You hear
rumblings that at some point the league is going to move it down to six and
try to shorten the preseason. That way they can really try to eliminate as
many back to backs, four-in-fives as possible in the regular season."
If Malone had his druthers, his team would play no more than six exhibition
games. An informal poll around the Blazers' locker room suggests players want
even less. If it were up to Davis and CJ McCollum, the Blazers would have
four games. Harkless and Damian Lillard would support five. Allen Crabbe says
either four of five would do.
"I think the first two games are rough, you're getting back into it," Lillard
said. "The third one is a little better. And then I think you need two to
really play some real minutes and get ready for the regular season. I don't
think you need seven. That's a lot."
金块队是其中一只被安排了八场热身赛的球队，其中六场是客场
Mike Marlone估计他们这个月来只在丹佛待了五到六天
“这是个非常吃力的赛程。”Marlone说
“一直有传言说NBA迟早会将热身赛减至6场，就像减少背靠背与五天四战的比赛一样”
如果Marlone有选择，金块队会进行至多六场的热身赛
而根据拓荒者队内非正式的调查，球员想要的热身赛数量更少
Ed Davis和McCollum支持四场，Harkless与Lillard想要五场，Crabbe则说四或五场都可以
Lillard认为，前两场的热身赛特别难打，因为必须重新回到球场的节奏
而第三场开始则渐入佳境，在第五场结束后状况就已回到季赛的水准了
The byproduct of a seven-and eight-game exhibition schedule is laced with
negatives. The games aren't merely meaningless, but often boring and sloppy.
Players and fans can be disinterested. Players not only are being asked to
play more than they want — and perhaps need — but also are being put at
unnecessary risk. From Martell Webster to Nicolas Batum to McCollum, multiple
Blazers have succumbed to fluke preseason injuries over the last decade.
Franchises are tempting fate by putting its stars in the line of fire during
games that don't count.
And those are the stars that actually play. Oftentimes, coaches rest their
best players to save them for the regular season, a smart decision that also
happens to be a disservice to fans.
Season ticket holders pay regular price for exhibition games as part of their
ticket packages, but enjoy a fraction of the regular season entertainment
value. The Blazers had a nice crowd Sunday, but arenas across the league sit
half full throughout the preseason. And while it's true that end-of-the bench
role players deserve a chance to play and guys like Grant Jerrett and Tim
Quarterman — and others fighting for NBA roster spots — count on these
games for their livelihoods, it's also true that roster and rotation spots
are decided through practices and scrimmages in October rather than a
20-minute exhibition shift.
球队会倾向让主力轮休，以免其因不重要的比赛而受伤
但这也降低了比赛的可看性与精采程度
拓荒者的假日比赛通常会满场，但热身赛时却只有一半的观众进场
另一方面，热身赛却是那些板凳末端球员争取进入球员名单的好机会
尽管球队的轮替阵容多在练习时就已决定
Besides, the majority of exhibition games are vanilla because coaches often
hold back on revealing too much before the real competition begins. In the
final four games of the exhibition season, the Blazers face the Los Angeles
Clippers, Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors — or the exact same
teams they'll face in the first four games of the regular season. That means
coach Terry Stotts will be reluctant to dip too deep into his playbook and
reveal too much of his player rotation in an effort to avoid tipping his hand
to his opponents.
That lessons the appeal of the games even more.
此外，教练常会为了避免泄漏太多战术与球员轮替等情报给敌队而轮休主力
这远比球赛的精采度重要
The good news for Blazers fans is that, assuming their favorite players avoid
injuries, no one wearing red and black is actively complaining. Yes, players
and coaches would prefer to play fewer exhibition games — and perhaps
negotiations for the new collective bargaining agreement will lead to a
reduced schedule — but they also know it's a minor issue in the grand scheme
of things.
"I get paid millions of dollars to play basketball," Meyers Leonard said.
"Whatever they want me to do, I'm going to do."
但对球迷来说，至少他们喜欢的球员没有人积极的抱怨
尽管新版劳资协议可能会减少赛程，这也不是最重要的议题
就如同Meyers Leonard所说，“我拿了这么多钱，这是我该做的”
心得：季前赛的场数或许是该好好讨论了
毕竟各队都在轮休
球赛的观赏性不大
帮助球员适应的目的也没达到