原文:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4987189.html The newest old Rockets Perhaps Steve Francis knew all along. He must have known what was waiting for him when he left the Rockets. That his career would spiral downward, going from hot, young talent to unwanted veteran three times over. 可能SF3早已洞察一切.他肯定知道当时离开火箭后等待他的会是什么,职业生涯 走下坡路,状态不在,从才华横溢变成可有可无的球场老兵. The player known as "The Franchise" never wanted to leave Houston in those weeks when his trade to the Orlando Magic was nearly done. As a result, the Magic brought him to Orlando to earn his confidence. "His emotion (is) about leaving Houston," former Magic general manager John Weisbrod said in the days before the completion of the trade. "He doesn't have any aversion to coming to Orlando, from what I understand. He has an aversion to leaving Houston." 这位火箭曾经的老大,从来没想过要离开火箭."他从来没说过厌恶来魔术",前魔术 主管J.Weisbrod说,"他只是讨厌会离开火箭" Even then, Francis seemed to know. The Magic were happy to rebuild around him and confident they had a star. Francis would soon agree to the trade during the summer of 2004, but nothing has been the same since. 魔术很乐意围绕SF3重建.因此2004年夏天也有了那桩交易,虽然后来远不是想像 的那样. Once one of the NBA's rising stars, Francis agreed to a two-year contract Thur to return to the Rockets as a 30-year-old point guard, a veteran of eight seasons , hoping to recapture the magic of those All-Star seasons in Houston. SF3本周四接受了火箭两年的合同.这位30岁的PG,8年NBA经历的球员,希望能在火箭 重拾往日辉煌. Almost forgotten was that Francis and the Magic were thrilled with each other at first. In those early weeks of the 2004-05 season, he and Cuttino Mobley, whom the Rockets traded along with Francis and Kelvin Cato to acquire Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines, praised life in Orlando. They were happy playing together and for coach Johnny Davis. They whipped the Rockets in a preseason game that McGrady sat out in Orlando. Francis' star was intact. By the New Year of 2005, the Magic were 15-15, but Francis was still delighted with how his career was going. He said getting traded to Houston after he refused to play in Vancouver and the trade to Orlando were the best things that happened in his career. There was, however, growing dissatisfaction in Orlando that Francis was often dribbling too deep into the shot clock and looking for Mobley to the exclusion of teammates and running plays. The Magic were last in the NBA in points allowed. 我们差点忘了,SF3和魔术队当时对彼此都满怀希望.在2004-05赛季初始,SF3和老猫 很高兴能在一起为魔术,为教练J.Davis效力.到了2005年新年,魔术战绩是15胜15负,但SF3 仍然对自己的前途充满信心.他觉得拒绝去灰熊报到并来到火箭,然后又被交易到魔术,都是 他职业生涯中美好的事情. 只可惜,SF3黏球的过多和"我的眼里没有其他队友只有传给老猫"的打法,让魔术队 对他日益度烂.当时魔术是NBA中限制对手得分最差的球队. Unhappy without Mobley Less than two weeks later, Mobley was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Doug Christie. Francis' career with the Magic immediately began to descend. "Playing with a guy, living with a guy, just knowing that every day when I wake up, that's something I can count on, that I'm going to be in practice or in a game with Cuttino," Francis said. "Him not being here is going to be tough for me. I don't know what I'm going to wake up for." 令SF3想不到的是,老猫在两周后被交易到了国王队.SF3在魔术的日子一下子down 到了低谷."一起训练,一起生活,每天我醒过来的时候都知道有人能与我扛过这些日子", SF3说,"现在老猫不在了,我不知道我怎么能适应过来" Francis was fined for skipping the first practice after the All-Star break, which coincidentally fell on his 28th birthday. He was suspended three games for kicking a courtside photographer. And he ranked third in the NBA in technical fouls that season with 21. 因为在全明星赛后逃避球队第一堂训练课,SF3被罚款,那天也是他28岁的生日. 随后他又因为踢了场边一位摄影师被停赛3场.那个赛季他吃了21个T,联盟第三?! "We started the season off well," said Magic general manager Otis Smith, then the assistant GM. "Our team was moving right along pretty good. I've played it over in my head so many times. I think it really stemmed from the Mobley trade to Sacramento."He was rolling right along. Who knew trading Cuttino to Sacramento would have that kind of effect? I think it had an adverse affect on him. I don't know why his approach changed. Losing Cuttino changed the way he played. "Maybe they fed off each other so much. We tried to fill those voids. We put him with DeShawn Stevenson, Grant (Hill), (Hedo) Turkoglu on the floor. But they were six-year teammates." "我们在赛季初做得很好",魔术队GM O.Smith说，那时我们正向着正确的方向走 ,打的很好。后来我在头脑中回想了很多次,事情变糟的根源的确是把老猫换到国王那笔交 易." "从那以后他(SF3)就变得懒散.谁知道把Cuttino换到国王会产生那样的问题？我认 为交易对他产生了非常负面的影响。我不知道他的球风为何都改变了。失去Cuttino甚至 改变了他打球的方式." "也许他们互相依赖太多了.我们试着把DeShawn Stevenson， Grant（Hill），（Hedo）Turkoglu和他一起放在场上。但是他们曾经做了六年的队友. (那种感觉完全不一样) Francis became the fourth player in NBA history, joining Oscar Robertson, Ma gic Johnson and Grant Hill, to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of his first six seasons. But the Magic were 18-14 before the trade and 18-32 afterward. SF3成为继大0,魔术师和Hill之后,在NBA历史上第四个职业生涯前6年都拿到15分, 5篮板,5助攻的球员.但是魔术队在交易前后的战绩分别为18胜14负和18胜32负. Falling out of favor By the 2005-06 season, Weisbrod was gone, and Brian Hill replaced Davis as Magic coach. The Magic's future was clearly about young center Dwight Howard, and the team played better with Jameer Nelson at the point. With trade rumors beginning to swirl, Nelson played the fourth quarter of a rout of Minnesota, and Francis no longer showed the fire that had marked his career. In the next six games, he averaged 11.5 points and took an average of just 9.3 shots. He had been averaging 17.9 points prior to that. When he refused to re-enter a game in Seattle with the Magic trailing 103-87 with 3:22 remaining, he and Hill exchanged words on the court and in the locker room. He was suspended for three games. Francis apologized to the team and was given assurances he was not being shopped. He was traded to the New York Knicks 17 games later on Feb. 22, 2006. By moving Francis' contract, the Magic had the cap room this summer to sign Rashard Lewis. "When he brought energy, he was a good guy on floor, and the effort he brought I thought was 100 percent," Smith said. "I think our young guys started to grow , and we wanted an opportunity for the young guys to continue to grow. "I don't know when the light switched, when it changed. We expected a lot out of him." 05-06赛季,Brian Hill取代了Davis成为魔术的主教练.球队的未来肯定是寄托在 DH12身上.而交易SF3的传言日嚣尘上,他的表现越来越差(得分从17.9分降至11.5分),拒绝 上场,和主教练吵架被停赛.SF3道歉了但最后还是被交换到了纽约.那天是2006年2月22日. 魔术GM Otis Smith这么说:"当他充满能量时他是个好球员,努力程度我认为是百分之百. 但我认为我们需要为年轻球员的成长创造更多机会. 我不知道到底发生了什么,我们曾对他寄予厚望". Lost in New York To many, the move to the Knicks seemed doomed from the start. In Stephon Mar bury, the Knicks had a player with a similar style, strengths and weaknesses , and a backcourt already was crowded with Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson Jalen Rose, Ime Udoka and Nate Robinson. Francis became a symbol for the Knicks' dissolving relationship with then-coach Larry Brown, who wanted Francis. But within weeks, Brown had decided he had no use for him. Francis played in 24 games with the Knicks that season, starting 15, averaging just 10.8 points in 27.5 minutes. He was in and out of the lineup with toe and back problems. When the Knicks played the Magic, Francis played just 12 minutes, missing the four shots he took and finishing the loss with one point. "It's hard, man," Francis said at the time. "It's definitely hard being a veteran going from last week playing 44 minutes to this week playing two minutes." Heading into his second season in New York, Francis insisted he was where he wanted to be. Isiah Thomas, who had taken over as coach, said it was his goal to make Francis an All-Star-caliber player again. 来到纽约,后场狂挤的纽约,Francis被送到纽约的交易从开始就是个灾难. 尼克与当时的总教头Larry Brown的关系正在破灭，而SF3成了这种灾难的一个象征. Brown想要换来Francis，但是仅仅几周之后，他又认定Francis百无一用. "很难," Francis那时说,"上个星期还是出场44分钟的老将，这个星期就只能打两分钟, 这当然很难适应." Shipped to Portland Francis had one of the worst seasons of his career, averaging a career-low 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. Hampered by an ankle sprain and knee tendinitis, he played in just 44 games, spending much of the season rehabilitating in Houston. By the end of the season, he was more valuable to the Knicks for what his contract could bring. He was dealt to Portland for Zach Randolph. The Trail Blazers, who never intended to keep him, agreed to a $30 million buyout of the last two seasons of the max contract Francis had signed with the Rockets. "I think Steve can be a very effective player in this league," Smith said. " He comes with a lot of energy and effort. You've got to coach Steve Francis every day. If you do that, you can have a special player." In a way, Francis is back to where he started in more ways than one. As if h e knew what was waiting for him if he left Houston, he fought it then and ce lebrated his arrival as he did the first time, when he was traded to the Rockets to start his career. "I feel so relieved," he said then, "and so at peace." In that sense, little has changed. Francis遭遇了他生涯中最糟糕的一个赛季，他仅出场了44场比赛，整个大部分时间都在 休斯顿做复健治疗.他唯一有价值的似乎就只有合同的交易价值.随后就是大家看到的与蓝 道夫的交换以及合同被买断.以及现在回到了火箭. 某种意义上来说，Francis又回到了他出发的地方。仿佛他了解一旦离开休斯顿前方 路上等着他的是什么一样，他离开时挣扎抗争过，现在又欢庆他的归来.这欢庆，就像他 当时被交换到火箭队时那样. "我觉得被救赎了"，他说，"心里好平和". 从这个角度来说，一切，都一如从前. --

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