The other side of Kevin Durant http://ppt.cc/rOqq Originally Published: January 4, 2013 By J.A. Adande | ESPN.com You know what I call Kevin Durant's six technical fouls this season? A good start. "Everybody wanted me to be mean and wanted me to have an attitude, so you can't get mad at me for having a few techs," Durant said. He said it lightheartedly. He went on to say that he knows kids are watching and he needs to set a good example. Then he adopted a puppy from the local animal shelter. Okay, so he didn't adopt a dog Friday. That's what the old Durant would have done. The new Durant stomped on the pathetic pooch that is the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers, dropping 42 points, eight rebounds and five assists, as the Oklahoma City Thunder pushed the Lakers a step closer to the brink with a 116-101 victory. So cold, yet so good to see from him. It's part of the edgier Durant, the one accompanied by a Nike campaign that insists he is "not nice." He picked up the first ejection of his career on Jan. 2, when he yelled at official Dan Crawford, who quickly dismissed him with two technical fouls. Four days later, I happened to be watching the Thunder play the Toronto Raptors when Durant was T'd by responding to a charge call against him with "That's f---ing bulls---." "It's something new for all of us," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "I never thought I would have to answer a question about Kevin's technicals." All for the better. Not that there was much to dislike about Durant before. A two-time scoring champion by the age of 23, looked up to by youngsters, respected by the old heads. Only it wasn't quite enough. Not enough to get him a most valuable player award, not enough to win a championship. Michael Jordan wouldn't be Michael Jordan without the petty, vindictive side of him we saw in his Hall of Fame induction speech. Kobe Bryant doesn't do soft and cuddly. They probably have more championship rings than close friends, and they're fine with that. There are certain truisms in the NBA. You need multiple superstars to win a championship. And one of those stars better have a mean disposition, or at least be able to summon one on demand, as LeBron James did against Boston in Game 6 last season. You know what's making it harder on Durant? That we're not being harder on him. Because he's so likeable he didn't face a barrage of criticism for losing in the NBA Finals. That meant he had to generate the outrage from within. Granted, you need an electron microscope to find the flaws with Durant. His scoring and field goal percentage increased in every stage of the playoffs, going from 26.5 points per game on 46 percent shooting in the first-round sweep of Dallas to 30.6 points on 55 percent shooting against Miami in the Finals. His issues were emotional, not statistical. Did anything Durant did during the Finals resonate with you? Did he make any of the games in late June feel like they belonged to him? Even teammate Russell Westbrook made a bigger impression, going for 43 points in Game 4. Friday night was far from an NBA Finals matchup. The Lakers had lost five consecutive games and are slipping out of the playoff picture. Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol are still out indefinitely, and the Lakers learned during the game that Jordan Hill will miss the rest of the season with a hip injury. So much for the one advantage the Lakers had: size. The tricky thing is, if the Lakers managed to get into the playoffs, no one would want to face them. The one thing Jim Buss said that made any sense during his radio appearance on ESPN LA 710 Thursday was that if the Lakers make the playoffs, it means they will have gotten hot in the second half of the season. The playoffs typically feature slower paces and more time to rest, which would play to the Lakers. They'd be a tough out. It felt like Durant killed all of those thoughts Friday night. Five games out of the final Western Conference playoff spot with 46 games remaining, the Lakers aren't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. But they are realistically. As Mike D'Antoni said, "we cannot make any false steps." This team lacks the resolve and defensive prowess to withstand three months of must-wins. Durant usually doesn't strike first. He likes to get his teammates involved before he starts casting shots. Midway through the first quarter, the Lakers' Robert Sacre, who started in Howard's absence, had outscored Durant, 4-2. Then it happened. Durant scored seven points in less than two and a half minutes. The Thunder were up by 11 and it was obvious to whom this one belonged. Durant scored nine points in the first quarter, 16 in the second and 15 in the third. "Kevin took control most of the game," Westbrook said. Durant had an answer for every defender the Lakers threw at him. He posted up Bryant. He shot over Metta World Peace. He drove past Earl Clark for a dunk, adding a rim-hang and glare for emphasis. "With Kevin, he's an emotional guy," Brooks said. "But you don't really see it in a way that some players display it. He keeps a lot of it inside, but he's competitive as anybody we have on this team." He unleashed everything on the Lakers Friday night. He pumped his fist after forcing a turnover against World Peace. He glared at official Eric Dalen when a call didn't go his way. He somersaulted in celebration after draining a 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer. He's starting to understand the process. Scowl first, smile later. KD 本赛季已经领到6个技术犯规了，你觉得我会怎麽看这事？ 嘿嘿，这是个很不错的开始。 “每个人都希望我变得刻薄些，希望我的态度更强硬些，所以你可不能抱怨我吃了几个T 。”KD说道。 他这麽说的时候很轻松。他还说他应该做一个好榜样，因为孩子们在看他的球。 不过周五他可没这麽好心去同情对手，那是以前的KD做的事。现在的KD刚刚狠狠蹂躏了本 赛季的湖人，他 暴砍42分8板5助攻，把湖人向悬崖边又推了一把。 太冷血了。不过能从他身上看到这些实在是太好了。 这些都是一个更锋锐的KD的一部分，现在最新的Nike广告也在宣扬KD“恶人”的一面。 在1月2号的比赛中，KD职业生涯中第一次被驱逐出场，当时他冲着裁判Crawford怒吼，後 者则乾脆利落地给了他两个T。四天之後，我在雷霆对暴龙的比赛中正好看到以下一幕： KD在被吹进攻犯规後怒吼：“Fxxking bullsh**！”当然啦，这让他又吃了个T。 “对所有人来说，这都是个新鲜事儿。”Brooks教练谈到这个时说。“我以前从未想到我 会要回答关於KD吃T的问题。” 这都是为了让他变得更好。当然了，以前的KD也没啥令人不喜欢的地方。这位三届得分王 23岁时就已经成为了无数人仰慕的对象。只不过这样并不够，不够让他成为MVP，也不够 让他拿到总冠军。 如果没有我们在名人堂入会演讲上见到的他争强好胜，MJ不可能达到他现在的高度。Kobe 也从来不会软弱或暧昧地行事。他们的戒指很可能比好朋友的数量还多，而且他们没觉得 这样有啥不妥。 NBA里有些真理：球队需要有几位超级巨星才能赢得总冠军，而其中最好有一位有着刻薄 的人格。就算本身不是这样，至少也能在必要时变成刻薄的人。就像LBJ在上季东区决赛 第六场时那样。 你知道为什麽这对於KD来说这麽难吗？因为我们都对他太和善了。他实在是个让人喜欢的 人，以至於即使他没拿到总冠军我们也不会批得他狗血淋头。因此，他必须从自己内心深 处去产生那种愤怒。 当然了，你恐怕要有个电子显微镜才能看到KD的缺点。他的得分和命中率随着季後赛的进 行而提升。从首轮对小牛的26.5分+46%变成总决赛对热火的30.6分+55%。从数据上来说， 他毫无瑕疵，问题出在他的情绪上。 KD在总决赛里有什麽表现让你记忆犹新吗？他有让其中的某一场看起来像是属於他的吗？ 答案是没有。而他的队友Westbrook都让大家的印象更深刻，因为他在G4里43分的疯狂表 演（译者：本该是Russ的封神战变成了联盟第一人的come-back show，当时我郁闷了好久 ）。 而周五的比赛远远比不上总决赛。湖人已经连败5场，离季後赛越来越远。DH和Gasol休战 ，而比赛进行中时传来了Hill赛季报销的消息。这让湖人唯一的优势——身高也变成了浮 云。 但很微妙的是，如果湖人能进季後赛，没有一支球队想面对它。在ESPN的访谈中，Buss至 少说对了一件事，那就是如果湖人真的能进季後赛，就说明它的後半程打的非常好。 季後赛往往会有更慢的节奏和更多的休息时间，这对湖人是个利多。他们会是个很难击败 的对手。 看起来KD的表现让以上这些感觉烟消云散了。在还剩46场比赛时离西区第八差5个胜场， 湖人也仅仅是在理论上还有进军季後赛的希D'Antoni 说：“现在我们不能踏错任何一步 。”可是湖人根本没有足够的决心和防守强度来维持3个月的强势状态。 KD一般都不会一上来就全力打，而是先让队友们发挥。第一节进行到中段时，甚至是湖人 的吉祥物Sacre都在得分上以4-2领先KD。 然後，就没有然後了。 KD在不到两分半的时间里连得7分。雷霆领先了11分，这场比赛的胜负已经很明显了。KD 首节得到9分，第二节16分，第三节15分。 “KD基本上控制了比赛。”好友Westbrook评价道。 KD搞定了湖人的每一个防守者。他低位硬吃Kobe，在MWP投篮，突破Clark来个暴扣，最後 再挂在框上睥睨全场傲视着一群手下败将。 “KD是个情绪化的人。”Brooks说：“只不过他不像很多其他人一样让你看到。他把自己 的情绪都藏在心里。但是他是个很好胜的人，我们队里不会有人比他更想赢。” 他把所有的一切都发泄在了湖人身上。在逼迫MWP失误後，他重重地把拳头砸向手心。当 一个判罚不利於他时，他愤怒地瞪着裁判 Dalen。在中场前命中压哨3分时，他还来了个 後滚翻来庆祝。 KD 已经开始理解这样的过程：先黑脸，再微笑。 翻译:http://bbs.hupu.com/4964310.html --

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