这篇文章很好玩 描述Pritchard从抽中乐透到选走Oden这段时间的心路历程 Oden wasn't a slam dunk Sunday, July 01, 2007 JASON QUICK The Oregonian Staff Bleary-eyed and slightly ashen, Kevin Pritchard spread his arms wide on Friday for the world to see him. "I mean, look at me," the Trail Blazers general manager invited, poking fun at his disheveled and exhausted appearance. He had just completed a 33-day investigation into which player best fit the Blazers for the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft -- Greg Oden or Kevin Durant -- and the process had taken its toll. 带着疲倦的双眼，苍白的脸颊，Prtichard 张开双手让大家好好看看他。 『看看我现在这是什麽样子』Pritchard 对自己衣冠不整、满脸疲惫的模样开着玩笑。 他刚刚完成了为期33天的调查，决定 Oden 或 Durant 才是最适合拓荒者的状元，这个 大调查把他整惨了。 Even though Pritchard and the Blazers on Thursday chose the player most fans and experts believed was the logical choice all along -- the 7-foot Oden -- the decision was far from easy. It was a process filled with tantalizing trade offers that included future Hall of Famers, often leaving Pritchard and his staff awake until 3 a.m. Along the way, the game film of both players created heated exchanges of debate within the Blazers' staff, and at times, the shear magnitude of the decision created moments of paralysis through analysis. It started May 22, when despite just a 5.3 percent chance to win the NBA's draft lottery, the Blazers won the draft lottery when a combination of four numbers on Ping-Pong balls produced one the biggest moments in franchise history. The Blazers knew May 22 that winning the top pick was big. Less than 24 hours later, Pritchard said, the team fielded its first trade offer, which confirmed that the pick was coveted around the NBA. And by June 1, the Blazers and Pritchard knew the pick was special, perhaps bigger than he and the rest of Blazers management ever imagined. 就算最後拓荒者的选择和大部分球迷和专家都一样，这个决定可来得不轻松。 这过程中还出现不少诱人的交易提案－包括未来将近名人堂的球星－让 Pritchard 和制服组的成员们开会到半夜三点。 两人的比赛影片让制服组的人们激烈的争论着，有时候庞大的压力让大家几乎都 对这件事情感到麻木了。 这一切都从 5/22 那天开始，拓荒者以 5.3% 的机率抽中了状元签，那四颗乒乓球 蹦出来的那一瞬间成为队史上最重要的一刻之一。 球团知道抽中状元是件大事。抽中後不到24小时就接到了第一个交易提案，间接证实 了 NBA 各队有多麽垂涎这个状元签。 到了六月一日那天，Pritchard 和球团才了解到这个签有多屌，屌到超乎他们想像 的程度。 As he drove to Eugene to watch a play with his daughter on May 23, less than 24 hours after winning the lottery, Pritchard took a call from an Eastern Conference general manager, with whom he had past dealings. The executive made an offer that was moderate in shock value: A five-time All-Star and this year's lottery pick in exchange for the No. 1 pick and the Blazers' 2008 first-round pick. As enticing as the offer was -- the Blazers in years past had made a run at the All-Star player -- Pritchard declined on the spot. It would be the start of an exhaustive process of taking phone calls from general managers who wanted to lure the No. 1 pick from Portland. But the onslaught of initial calls and offers -- most of them so lopsided in favor of the opponent that Pritchard would characterize them as "baloney" -- would do nothing to prepare Pritchard for the upcoming week at the NBA's weeklong predraft camp in Orlando, Fla. （译按：好玩的八卦来了！） 5/23 那天，离抽中状元不到24小时，在 Pritchard 开车载着他女儿去 Eugene 市 看表演的路上，他接到一通电话，来自一位之前和他做过交易的东区球队总管。 该位总管的提议－惊人的程度大概是中等－包括了一个五度入选明星赛的球员，加上 他们的乐透签来换我们的状元签以及明年的首轮选秀权。 （译按：这提示太明显了，美国乡民很快的知道这是 Paul Pierce + 5th pick） 即使这是个诱人的提案－毕竟当年拓荒者也曾经对该位球员有兴趣－Pritchard 马上 拒绝了这提案。 这只个开端而已，接下来 Pritchard 接各队总管的电话接到手软，他们都想要状元 签，但是大部分的提案都是抢劫抢到被 Pritchard 归类成『来乱的』。而这些都对 Pritchard 为选前训练营的准备一点帮助都没有。 The best players in the draft rarely work out at the camp. Still, the weeklong event attracts representatives from every NBA team, who use the opportunity to mingle and flirt with their peers in search of franchise-changing trades. And no league executive was more popular that week than Pritchard. Some proposed trades involving Zach Randolph, the Blazers' star forward. Pritchard had known he eventually would trade Randolph since a prominent player on the team requested at the end of the season that the high-scoring but troubled forward be dealt. But most discussions focused on the No. 1 pick. The talks got intriguing Thursday, the day before he would leave. A team within the Blazers division proposed a trade involving a future Hall of Famer and a standout rookie for the Blazers' No. 1 pick. As Pritchard described it, he stayed up until 3 a.m. in his hotel room with his staff considering the offer. "We banged our heads together all night," Pritchard said the next morning. Ultimately, Pritchard and his staff came to a conclusion: They would not make the deal, determining the No. 1 pick was so valuable, that only a trade involving Cleveland star LeBron James would be considered. 顶尖的新秀很少会在奥兰多选训营公开测试，但是每队还是都会派代表来， 毕竟这是个跟别队制服组打屁装熟，顺便看看能不能谈出什麽交易的好机会。 不过那个礼拜没有人比 Prtichard 更红。 有些提案是冲着 Zach Randolph 来的，Pritchard 那时候已经知道他终究得交易掉 ZBo ，因为队上一个指标性球员在季末的时候要求 Pritchard 把 ZBo 交易出去。但是大部 分的提案还是围绕着状元签。 事情在礼拜四 Pritchard 离去的前一天突然变得有趣起来。 一个与拓荒者同分区的球队提出：未来名人堂等级的球员+优秀的新人各一枚来换。 （译按：这也很好破解－ Kevin Garnett + Randy Foye） 『整个晚上我们绞尽脑汁考虑这个提案。』Pritchard 隔天早上说。 最後制服组还是达成共识：拒绝这个交易，只有拿 LeBron James 来换的提议才值得 考虑。 It would take eight hours for Pritchard's conviction to be tested. Sitting high in the stands at the Milk House arena where the marginal prospects scrimmaged -- far from the courtside seats Pritchard so preferred -- Pritchard that morning was approached by a general manager of a Western Conference power. With bright lights illuminating the court below, Pritchard sat in a darkened corner with the general manager. The general manager wanted the Blazers' No. 1 pick. And he was willing to offer a player that will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Within the span of 24 hours, the Blazers had offers for two certain Hall of Famers in exchange for the No. 1 pick. The Blazers had visions that winning the No. 1 pick could change their franchise. But when Pritchard boarded his flight leaving Orlando, he knew every other team felt the same way about the pick. 没想到八小时之後他们的共识就再度遭到挑战。 当时 Pritchard 坐在球场观众席的高处，看着几个球员开始练习，一位来自西区强队 的总管向他走上去。 阳光透进来照亮着球场，Pritchard 和那位总管坐在阴暗的角落里面，他提出了一位 『将来第一次票选就可以进名人堂』的球员要来换状元签。 （译按：这就难了，以他还特别强调 "first-ballot" 来看，比较有可能的大概是 Dirk, Kobe, Nash 吧） 等於说在 24 小时内 Pritchard 连续接到两个名人堂等级球员的提案。 球团本来就深信这个状元签可以改变球队的命运，但是在 Pritchard 离开奥兰多的 时候，他终於了解到每个球队也都是这麽想的。 （以下待续 明天再翻） After the long flight from Orlando, Pritchard arrived to his West Linn home feeling like his mind was leaning one way: Oden. Earlier that day in Orlando, Oden and Durant made a surprise move and participated in a series of drills with other projected lottery picks. Pritchard said he figured both prospects would bypass the workout as had so many future stars in recent years, so he booked a mid-day flight out of Orlando. He was chagrined upon hearing the two worked out, and his frustration heightened when he got the full report from assistant general manager Tom Penn and director of NBA scouting Michael Born, two members of his staff who saw the workouts. Oden, Penn and Born reported, was amazing. He showed the sprinting speed of a guard and the dribbling capabilities of a skilled forward. And he showed such explosion and ferocity when attacking the rim that one Blazers executive predicted that Oden one day would cause a backboard to collapse in a game. Durant, on the other hand, looked less interested in the exercises, doing little to impress beyond his length and fluidity. After getting the full report from Penn and Born, Pritchard was awed. "He's amazing," Pritchard said from his home, late that night on June 1. "You just feel he's got to be the guy." All the while, Pritchard couldn't help but remember a conversation he had earlier that week with Gregg Popovich. Pritchard said the Spurs coach told him he was in a position to experience a twin-towers tandem unlike any other in NBA history. Sure, Popovich had David Robinson and Tim Duncan, who combined to win two championships. But Robinson, Popovich reminded Pritchard, retired five years after Duncan joined the Spurs. Pritchard, meanwhile, could pair LaMarcus Aldridge, his budding big man who had just been named to the All-Rookie team, with Oden. The tandem could blossom and play together for 10 years -- and unlike Robinson and Duncan -- Aldridge and Oden could play together when both were in their prime. "Aldridge and Oden," Pritchard said that night. "Could you imagine?" It was June 1, and Oden appeared to be the Blazers' pick. Even though Pritchard admitted he was leaning toward Oden on June 1, he privately chastised himself. He had preached to his staff of young evaluators that the organization would keep an open mind throughout the process, making sure Durant received equal consideration. To help, Pritchard referred to one of his favorite books: "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. "It's one of my bibles," Pritchard said. A practice in the book suggests writing goals on your bathroom mirror that you would like to accomplish in 30, 60 and 90 days. "So on my bathroom mirror I wrote 'Keep an open mind,' " Pritchard said. "And that's all I put. I took down my 60- and 90-day goals." As Pritchard would see his goal on the mirror every morning, he would try to block out what was becoming an overwhelming swell of fan support for Oden. The team conducted a poll on its Web site, which eventually produced a more than 2-to-1 ratio in favor of Oden. And the team bought space on five billboards around Portland, prompting drivers to honk once for Oden, or honk twice for Durant. "I've received a lot of 'Honk once' e-mails," Pritchard quipped on June 16. His "open mind" policy was being tested. "Did I find myself leaning one way or another at times? You better believe it," Pritchard said the day after the draft. "But every day I came in here, I had to say to my scouts, 'Keep an open mind', because if I didn't, I felt my scouts would immediately go the same way I was. I wanted there to be healthy debate." Pritchard soon would get the debate for which he was looking. On June 20, Oden worked out for the Blazers. Admittedly, Oden was subpar in the drills, missing several easy shots, in part because of his nerves and possibly because of a cold. Two days later, Durant came to Portland for his workout and put on such a display that Pritchard deemed the session the best he has ever seen. Up the road in Seattle, Oden was visiting with the Seattle SuperSonics, who owned the No. 2 overall pick. Word of Durant's workout quickly trickled north. "I was definitely worried," Oden recalled. "I didn't feel I had a good workout. And I did hear (Durant) had a good workout. Believe me, I had a couple beads of sweat coming down my face about that." Back in Portland, the Blazers' staff began the first of many serious discussions. "We questioned everything," Pritchard said. "And it made me always on the defensive. (Owner) Paul (Allen) gets into this devil's advocate thing, and I found myself doing it with our scouts all the time. Then Paul and I had a long discussion, about two hours with the scouts, and we were all playing devil's advocate. Nothing was getting done." Meanwhile, the trade offers kept coming -- some for Randolph, many for the pick. At one point, in the week of the draft, Pritchard found his Blackberry loaded with 44 messages, most of them from league executives. In the days that followed, Pritchard looked increasingly haggard. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and his usually sharp business attire was replaced with shorts and sandals. He said a good night's sleep for him in the days leading up to the draft was three hours. Often, however, it was less. He spent his nights watching, and re-watching game film of each player. "I owed it to the organization," Pritchard said. "So I watched the film, and I made sure I went through the process. Because what if everybody made up their mind one day, and then down the line we uncovered something?" The Blazers didn't finalize their decision until draft day. At about 4:37 p.m. PDT, commissioner David Stern announced that Portland "selects Greg Oden." Within two hours, the Blazers completed a deal that was more surprising to the public -- they traded Randolph to the Knicks. Pritchard had made his decisions. --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 71.117.247.57 ※ Ansel:转录至看板 NBA 07/02 19:09