Crazy Uncle Perk Posted on January 1, 2013 by AlexR44 http://www.thundergazette.com/2013/01/01/crazy-uncle-perk/ We, as fans, sometimes view players as objects of entertainment. We look to them as visual and emotional toys that we unwrap every October, and hope to play with through June. When they no longer entertain us or completely frustrate us, they become highly expendable in our minds. We get on blogs and forums and completely blame that player for everything that is wrong with the team. It doesn’t matter whether the team is the best in the league or the worst in the league, there’s always that one player that catches the ire of most of the fanbase. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget that they are humans too. There has developed a sort of love-hate relationship between Thunder fans and center Kendrick Perkins in the last couple of weeks. None of it is due to anything personal. For all intents and purposes, Perkins seems like an affable guy who is completely devoted to his family. A big extended family that includes his nuclear family and his Thunder fam. Some players talk about their team being a family, when, in reality, family just means people that they have to deal with for 6-9 months out of the year. Some players, though, really do live by the “team is family” creed, inviting teammates to their house and generally, trying to bond with them throughout the season, and sometimes, even after the season. As a team, the Oklahoma City Thunder are very family oriented. The leaders on the team adhere to this concept as does the organization as a whole. The foundational culture of the team is rooted in family. And included in that family, is the entire fan base. We, as fans, are all invested in the same cause, but at different ends of the spectrum. The players are the performers and the fans are the audience. But sometimes, it’s easy to forget that the family concept is a two way street. We, as fans, expect for the team to acknowledge us, either through charity work, through team interviews, or through slogans, such as “Team is One”. We expect players to sign autographs for us at all hours of the day, wherever we see them. But, the sad truth is that fans do a bad job of picking players up when they aren’t providing what we expect of them. Family means different things to different people. To me, family is the group of people you are born/raised into and the people you accept into your circle. It’s a set of people whom you accept and can depend on through the good and the bad. And as a sports family, we’ve accepted the Oklahoma City Thunder into our family. They are interwoven into our fabric from October through June. We have Thunder watch parties, talk about the team around the dinner table, and talk about the people in the organization like they reciprocate talking about us at their dinner tables. Family dynamics are a difficult part of co-existing as a family. Not everyone is going to get along the same all the time. But if a family is to co-exist, they have to accept the good and the bad of a member and go with it. For example, every family has that one family member. You know, the black sheep that’s kind of an outcast and rough around the edges. Its usually an uncle. They may have either served some time in jail or have a short temper. And they usually have drama with a wife, ex-wife, girlfriend, or baby momma (or a combination of all four) that spills over into family events. And when something goes down involving a bar, a fight, and a woman, you know Uncle was involved. But here’s the thing about Uncle, though. He’s full of wisdom and has a great ear for listening. And, he’s great at some sort of handy work, usually mechanics or carpentry. And when you need him, he’s always there, no questions asked. Well, that Uncle is Kendrick Perkins. He’s a little rough around the edges with the scowl and the intimidation. He’s probably on the naughty list of most of his opponents. And, he’s had some injury issues in the past. But when we need him to guard a Dwight Howard or a Marc Gasol, he’s there with his hard hat on, no questions asked. When we needed him to play through a torn groin and a wrist that needed to be surgically repaired, he gutted it out and performed beautifully. When his young teammates need an ear to vent to, he’s there to listen with some Southern drawl wisdom to accompany it. Whenever we need Perk, he’s there. And yet, when he is used incorrectly, or he doesn’t perform to our standards, we chastise him and await his presence with a pink slip in our hands. If comparing Perkins to a family member doesn’t help you see his value, let me give you some tangible evidence versus some of the top centers in the game: Before Perkins 2009-10 – including playoffs vs. Bynum (LAL), Howard (Orl), Perkins (Bos), Duncan (SA), M.Gasol (Mem), and Nene (Den) – 9-16 2010 thru Feb 23, 2011 – vs. Duncan (SA), Bynum (LAL), M.Gasol (Mem), and Nene (Den) – 2-6 With Perkins March 14, 2011 – end of season (including playoff) vs. Bynum (LAL), Jefferson (UTA), Nene (Den), and D. Jordan (LAC) – 13 – 6 2011 – 2012 – 66 game season including playoffs vs. Bynum (LAL), Howard (Orl), M.Gasol (Mem), Duncan (SA), Jefferson (Uta), and D. Jordan (LAC) – 19 – 11 2012 – through the New Year 2013 – vs. Howard (LAL), M.Gasol (Mem), Duncan (SA), D.Jordan (LAC), and Jefferson (Uta) – 4 – 2 Excluding the first season the Thunder were in Oklahoma City, the team went 11 – 22 against top tier centers in the league before the arrival of Perkins. That’s a .333 winning percentage. After the arrival of Perkins, the team has gone 36 – 19 against top tier centers. That’s a .655 winning percentage. Looking at the raw data, Perkins has nearly doubled the chances of the Thunder winning versus a team with a top tier center. Understandably, the correlation is not one to one. The players around Perkins have gotten better as they have aged. But the Thunder doesn’t improve as quickly as it has without that rock in the middle. And there is no way the Thunder make it to the Finals last season without Perkins manning the middle. The defensive job he did on Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bynum, and Tim Duncan was a big reason the Thunder were Western Conference Champions. While his performance against the Heat in the Finals exposed his flaws, it wasn’t like he was put in a position to succeed by Coach Scott Brooks, either. Brooks needs to understand that against smaller, quicker teams, Perkins’s strengths will be negated. Conversely, Perkins needs to understand that against these teams, he may have to sit more time than usual. But that’s the thing about those crazy uncles. They are usually stubborn as a mule. 我们这些球迷呢，经常会把球员视作娱乐和吐槽的对象。每年十月，球员们就像一个个被 剥去包装的玩具，他们充满情感，又栩栩如生。我们，希望他们能一直走到来年的六月。 然而，无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来。当他们人老珠黄、风韵不再，甚至让人感到厌 烦不已的时候，在我们心中，他的存在也就变得完全无关紧要了。我们登陆自己球队的 blog和论坛，絮絮叨叨的诉说着球员对球队带来的所有负面影响。 然而这种风气跟球队战绩似乎没有什麽关系，无论你喜欢的球队是联盟第一或者是倒数第 一，队内似乎总会有一名队员不可避免的背上最重的黑锅。令人遗憾的是，我们有时候会 忘记，他们也是有感情的人。 过去几周，在雷霆球迷和球队中锋Perkin之间，产生了一种剪不断理还乱的爱恨情仇。而 这些纠葛仅仅跟球员在球场上的表现有关。事实上，Perkins是一位和蔼可亲且富有爱心 的男人，他 全心全意爱自己的“家”，这个家不只包括有自己的小家，而且包括雷霆整 支 球队这个大家。 有些球员总是说球队就像一个大家庭。殊不知，在这些球员眼里，家庭这个词只是意味着 跟队友每年在一起耗掉6 到9 个月的时间而已。而有些球员，会真正信奉“球队一家亲” 这个信条。 整个赛季中，他们经常请队友到自己的家里来玩，渐渐的试着与队友建立更加亲密的关系 ，甚至有时候这也会发生在休赛期。 作为一支NBA 球队，俄克拉荷马雷霆，是真正的亲如一家。球队的领袖一直坚持拥护“球 队是一个整体”。而且球队的文化正是牢牢地紮根於家庭这一概念。在这个大家庭中，我 们所有可爱的雷霆球迷也是其中的一大部分。 球迷们喜爱球队，就像对待事业一样执着，只不过我们在选择退出时，身处在不同基调或 不同区段罢了。球员们是表演者，而我们就是观众。但是有时候，我们很容易忘记，你在 为家庭做贡献时，家庭也会回报你。 作为球迷，我们会期待球队能够用各种方式取悦我们；慈善活动也好，球队采访也好，甚 至口号也罢（例如去年雷霆的季後赛标语：Team is One—— 球队是一家）。无论我们在 哪儿碰到自己球队的队员，我们都希望他们能时时刻刻笑脸迎人，并耐心地为我们签名合 影。 然而，令人伤感的事实是：当球员们没能提供我们希望他做到的一切时，我们便不会像以 前那样继续支持他们了。 不同的人对於“家庭”有不同的理解。对我来说，家庭就是包括陪你从小长大的那群亲人 ，以及你愿意并接受进入你自己圈子的人。无论你贫穷或富有，无论你疾病还是健康，这 些人都是你生命的重要组成，也是你生命的依靠。 而作为一个体育家庭，我们都已经爱上了雷霆这支球队，我们也愿意让他成为我们生命中 的一部分。每个10 月到6 月的轮回，他都会和我们的生活交织在一起，情意绵绵。我们 参加雷霆的派对聚会，茶余饭後谈论着球队的点滴，我们私下八卦球队球员和管理层，似 乎就像他们也会做同样的事情八卦我们一样。 一个家庭，他的家庭内在动力是存在於人际关系中很难产生的一个部分。因为并不是家庭 里的每个人在任何时候都会和睦相处。但是如果一个家庭想要长久温馨的发展下去，那麽 他就必须接受每个成员好的一面和坏的一面。 举个例子吧，每个家庭都会有那麽一个成员，扮演着类似於害群之马的角色，就像一个不 受欢迎的流浪汉，不修边幅，放荡不羁。而这个人通常会是你的某一个叔叔；他或许蹲过 一段时间牢房，又或许脾气暴躁性情乖张；他与他的妻子、前妻和女友的事情都是那麽的 复杂凌乱；甚至他会在年少轻狂之时不小心搞一个孩子出来；这些事情让整个家庭头疼不 已。 当与酒吧、暴力、女人这样的词有关的事情发生之时，你不用猜也会知道这个叔叔牵涉其 中。不过呢，这个叔叔也是有好多优点的。他很聪明很能干，耳聪目明。而且非常擅长机 械类或者木匠类的手艺活儿。当你有什麽事情需要他帮忙的时候，无论如何，他总会及时 出现，并且任劳任怨。 好吧，我想说的是，这个让人又爱又恨的叔叔，就是Perkins。那张每天都愁眉不展且阴 云密布的面孔，让他看上去有些不好相处。他的名字很有可能出现在最不受对手欢迎球员 榜单上的前列。而且他有一些伤病隐患缠身。 但是，当你需要他去防守Howard或者小Gasol，他会义无反顾的带上他那张顽固的扑克脸 只身向前，没有抱怨。当你需要他带着伤病（撕裂的腹股沟和需要手术的手腕）上场完成 任务的时候，他总会强硬的坚持到底并打出不错的表现。 当球队的年轻球员需要有一个人去侧耳倾听他们的怨言，他会用南部郊区特有的慢吞吞的 语言智慧陪伴他们度过漫漫长夜。无论什麽时刻，只要你需要Perkins，他就在那里，不 离不弃。 然而，当他没有在场上找到自己位置的时候，当他没有打出符合球队水平表现的时候，我 们总是责骂他，总是期待着他下次出现的时候手里握着一份解雇通知书。 如果把Perkins比作自己家庭的一员还是不能帮助你理解他的价值，那麽让我列出一些雷 霆面对顶级中锋的实打实的数据来吧。 Perkins加盟之前: 2009-2010 整个赛季（包括季後赛），当面对Bynum（湖人）、Howard（魔术）、Perkins （赛尔提克）、Duncan（马刺）、M.Gasol（灰熊）、Nene（金块）时，球队9 胜16 负。 2010 年10 月到2011 年2 月23 日，当面对Duncan（马刺）、Bynum（湖人）、M.Gasol（ 灰熊）、Nene（金块）时，球队2 胜6 负。 Perkins加盟之後: 2011 年3 月14 日到赛季结束( 包括季後赛) ，当面对Bynum（湖人）、Nene（丹佛） 、Jefferson（爵士）、D.Jordan（快艇）时，球队13 胜6 负。 2011 年到2012 赛季( 包括季後赛) ，当面对Bynum（湖人）、Howard（魔术）、 Duncan（马刺）、M.Gasol（灰熊）、Jefferson（爵士）、D.Jordan（快艇）时，球队 19 胜11 负。 2012 年10 月到2013 年新年。当面对Howard（湖人）、Duncan（马刺）、M.Gasol（ 灰熊）、Jefferson（爵士）、D.Jordan（快艇）时，球队4 胜2 负。 以上这些数据还不包括雷霆迁到俄克拉荷马的第一个赛季。 当雷霆队在面对顶级中锋的时候，没有Perkins，雷霆总共11 胜22 负，胜率只有33% 。 Perkins到来之後，面对顶级中锋时雷霆队已经36 胜19 负了，胜率为65.5% 。 看看这鲜活的数据，Perkins几乎让球队面对顶级内线时的胜率提高了一倍。 当然，可以理解的是，这两者（Perkins到来和球队胜率）之间的关系绝对不是一对一这 麽简单。毕竟历经时间的积累，Perkins的队友也变得越来越好，越来越成熟。 但是，如果没有这样一个坚硬的磐石坐镇内线，那雷霆不会提升的如此迅速。此外，如果 上个赛季没有Perkins在内线奉献力量，那麽雷霆也绝对进入不了总决赛。 看看Perkins对Dirk、Bynum、Duncan的防守吧，这也是雷霆成为上赛季西区冠军的重要原 因。 尽管他在总决赛对阵热的表现暴露了他的缺点，但是更多的原因在於Brooks教练没有把 Perkins放入正确的位置；或者说，Brooks应该了解，在面对小个且快速的对手时， Perkins的强项会被抑制，弱点会被放大。 换个角度想，Perkins也应该知道，当面对小个阵容时，他也应该在板凳上坐比平时更多 的时间。 但是呢，这就是坏叔叔的特点：他总是顽固的像一头拉不回来的驴。 翻译:http://bbs.hupu.com/4881895.html --

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