原文：http://0rz.tw/7b5k1 Bayless thrilled that his long wait is finally over Jerryd Bayless says he doesn't have a girlfriend. "I treat basketball like the love of my life," the Trail Blazers rookie said. But in the months leading up to his breakout performance on Thursday, when he led the Blazers with a career-high 23 points in a 105-99 win at New Jersey, basketball did a cruel thing to Bayless: It betrayed him. And only now is that relationship back on the mend. This summer, he was certain he would be a top-five pick in the NBA draft, but instead he slipped to 11th, where Indiana picked him and sent him with Ike Diogu to the Blazers for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts and No.13 pick Brandon Rush. "That stung. It more than stung," Bayless said of his draft-night freefall. "It hurt pretty bad." Then, after being named the Las Vegas summer league Most Valuable Player, he couldn't even sniff the court for the first two months of the Blazers' season ,lost amid experienced players like Brandon Roy, Steve Blake and Sergio Rodriguez. And just for a little salt-in-the-wound effect, the players he performed so well against in college and AAU games -- fellow rookies O.J. Mayo in Memphis, Derrick Rose in Chicago and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City -- were putting up big statistics and getting all the playing time they wanted. "That messed with my mind, too," Bayless said. "Not playing? I didn't know how to handle it." So while Portland was abuzz and popping with a feel-good team of young stars, Bayless on a daily basis felt like screaming. But he said he didn't want to gripe or sulk or even show his frustration. "I've been on teams where there's a guy like that, and it messes up the whole chemistry," Bayless said. So, he internalized his feelings. His anger over not playing mounted. Doubts lingered. And his hurt cut so deep that he unknowingly formed a callous demeanor that carried a steely stare and furrowed brow. "I was (irate), and I mean (irate)," Bayless said. "Not at coach, more at myself. Just thinking maybe there was something I didn't do. Maybe I wasn't working out as much as I could have been. That's why I kept taking it harder and harder." Ten days into the season, he nearly snapped. "I remember after the Houston game, I was so mad driving in my car," Bayless said. "When I got home, I went directly to the practice facility and worked out until 1:30 in the morning." "I listened" Throughout the early season, coach Nate McMillan would always counsel Bayless with the same message: At some point this season, his opportunity to play would come. "I didn't know when, where or how," McMillan said. "But I believed in him, and I thought he could do it. But I couldn't tell him when it was going to happen." The chance came this week, when Blake, the starting point guard who is having a career year, separated his right shoulder in Philadelphia, sidelining him for seven to 10 days. Bayless was going to get his chance. But was his mind, tangled with thoughts, frustrations and anxieties, ready? When Bayless arrived at New Jersey's Izod Center for Thursday's game against the Nets, he happened to check his phone. There was a message from family friend Eddie Johnson, the Phoenix Suns television broadcaster who played 17 seasons in the NBA. Johnson, whose son Justin grew up with Bayless, left a voice message telling Bayless to stop pressing. "I got the message right before the game," Bayless said. "He told me that it's going to come, that I just have to relax and play the game like I know how to play it. "I listened to him." Against the Nets, Bayless fearlessly drove the lane, making six of nine attempts -- all layups or dunks. He made all 11 free throw attempts. He scored 23 points, shattering his previous career high of eight. Moments later, he set another career high: one postgame smile. "I think it was kind of a mental thing," Bayless said in the locker room. "Now, I can just play and be free." "He wants a chance" On Friday in Charlotte, there was no evidence Bayless had changed as the Blazers (24-15) practiced in preparation for today's game against the Bobcats (15-24), where Bayless will once again come off the bench behind Rodriguez. As the rest of the team left the gym to lift weights, Bayless stayed after with assistant Joe Prunty as McMillan watched off to the side. They worked on pull-up jumpers. Three-pointers. Dribbling. It's the same thing he has been doing all season. "I know he wants to play. I can see it. It's written all over him," McMillan said. "Look at him now ..." Bayless was under the basket, talking with Prunty, gesturing with his hands and dribbling the basketball. "You just know he wants to play, that he wants a chance," McMillan said. "We talk a lot here about earning opportunities, and one of the first places to earn that is in practice. And in practice he goes hard." After his shooting sessions with Prunty were over, Bayless embarked on dribbling drills, weaving the ball between his legs as he strode up the court. Later, he would pound the ball with his left hand and toss it to assistant Kaleb Canales, then repeat the dribble with greater intensity. The gym, as it so often is with Bayless, was empty, except for coaches changing their shoes and McMillan sitting on a chair at the other end. As his sneakers squeak in the barren gym and the net swishes, Bayless has on what he calls his "in-game face." It mirrors the frustrated and angry look he carried off the court for much of the season. "That's the Jerryd we all know -- very competitive," McMillan said. "But that's a kid you want to work with. He's the type that if you show him something, he will work to figure it out." Bayless' newest discovery has been his most rewarding. He says he is a strong believer things happen for a reason, and he thinks his early-season struggles were merely an exercise to make him appreciate success when it arrives. "There was anger. There was hurt," Bayless said. "But it just made me want it that much more." -- 鬥魂加超級練球狂啊.. Blake你在電視前顫抖了嗎 --

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