來源: http://0rz.tw/5b3Jm Forget popular vote; Kobe's my MVP Bryant has moved ahead of Garnett with Lakers streaking toward playoffs March 2, 2008 Not long ago, one candidate appeared to be the inevitable winner and was practically anointed by the media. But now, that candidate is struggling to stay in the race as another has made a stunning push to become the new front-runner. 在不很久很久的以前, 有位候選人似乎是肯定會當選而且媒體幾乎都快把聲明發 出來了. 但是現在, 那位候選人因為另外那匹黑馬的出現連被人當成候選人的感 覺都沒了. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama contending for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party? 說的是Hillary跟Obama爭奪黨內總統提名人的事? No, I'm talking about the race for the NBA's most valuable player award, where Kobe Bryant has made a late charge to overtake Kevin Garnett. 當然不是, 我說的是NBA的MVP爭奪戰. Kobe在最近拼命衝刺, KG可能落馬事件. Actually, Bryant has been the league's best player the last few seasons but hasn't won the award because many media members have turned the vote into a popularity contest. They don't like Bryant, so they found reasons to vote for other candidates. 雖然Kobe在過去的這幾個球季裡幾乎已經是公認的最佳球員了, 但是到現在還是 沒有拿過MVP. 為什麼? 因為某些媒體似乎把這投票搞成了人緣比賽. 他們對Kobe 沒有愛, 所以想盡了辦法找該投給別人的原因. That's going to be more difficult this season. Bryant is having another fabulous season and led the Los Angeles Lakers to 10 consecutive wins to take over the top spot in the rugged Western Conference heading into Friday night's game at Portland. 不過這季大概很難這樣做了. Kobe在禮拜五對上拓荒者前, 領著湖人10連勝, 讓 他們在超難打的西區暫居龍頭. During training camp back in October, such a run by the Lakers seemed more unlikely than an Obama surge to the Democratic nomination. 在10月的訓練營時期, 湖人的這成果幾乎比Obama突然崛起更不可能. Remember, Bryant hadn't rescinded his summer trade request and the Lakers' young roster appeared to be a few years away from winning. But then when the regular season began, everything changed. Kobe還沒有收回他暑假要求被交易的聲明, 湖人小將也似乎離贏球還很遠. 不過, 當球季正式開始之後, 一切都不一樣了. ''We saw the potential of this team at the start early in the year when they kind of grabbed it and went with it,'' coach Phil Jackson said. ''And then Kobe made a commitment to play with the team and leave behind the other stuff that had kind of caused us some distraction in the preseason. Right away he committed with his heart and soul into this effort.'' 禪師說:"在今年剛剛開始的時候, 當球隊好像有點打起氣勢來的時候, 我們看到了 這隊伍的可能性. 然後Kobe決定融入球隊, 把球季前其他雜七雜八的事情都擺在旁 邊. 在他做了這個決定之後, 他立刻就全心的投入." Although Bryant was second in the league in scoring with an average of 27.8 points before Friday, he has sacrificed some of his offensive numbers for the good of the team. He did it early in the season to get center Andrew Bynum going, and he has done it recently to make Pau Gasol's adjustment smoother after his acquisition from the Grizzlies a month ago. 雖然Kobe在聯盟得分只是以27.8分居於第二. 可是那是他為了球隊的未來而犧牲 了部分自己的進攻數字. 球季一開始是為了讓霸男打起來, 現在則是為了讓耶穌 上個月從灰熊交易來的磨合容易點. Then, too, Bryant has played the last few weeks with a torn ligament in his right pinkie that needs surgery. He has opted to keep playing and deal with the pain -- and still is playing at an MVP level. 當然還有因為過去幾個禮拜Kobe都抱著那個韌帶斷掉應該手術的小指頭打球的原因啦. 他決定忍著痛繼續打下去, 而且還能以MVP的身手繼續打. As for Garnett, his campaign has lost a bit of momentum in the second half. The Celtics no longer are playing at a 70-win pace and his numbers -- 18.5 points and 9.7 rebounds before Friday -- aren't overwhelming. The team also continued to win when he missed about three weeks with an abdominal strain recently. 至於KG, 他的競爭力在球季後半慢慢減少. 在超賽不再以70勝的步伐前進之後, 他的帳面數字也並不嚇人, 平均18.5分9.7個籃板. 而且在他拉傷腹部休息3個 禮拜那段時間, 超賽也還是可以贏球. The other leading candidate is LeBron James, who had a league-leading 30.3 average before Friday. The Cavaliers wouldn't be a playoff team without James, but it's not enough to move him past Bryant. 另一個有機會的球員當然就是LBJ了. 本季平均30.3分是得分王. 如果騎士沒有了 LBJ, 就不可能進季後賽了, 可是這些就要讓他超越Kobe是不夠的. Big loss The Rockets wrapped up a perfect February (14-0) on Friday night against the Grizzlies at home, but the focus in Houston is on the season-ending foot injury to center Yao Ming. 雖然火箭在禮拜五晚上在家打贏灰熊之後二月全勝(14-0), 不過大家關心的焦點 還是在姚明那個整季報銷的腳傷. ''There's a lot of season, a lot of basketball to be played,'' Rockets guard Rafer Alston said. ''We've still got a top-10 player in Tracy McGrady on this team. We've been down this road before.'' 火箭後衛Alston是這樣說的, "球季還很長, 我們還有很多場要打. 不管怎麼說, 我們隊上還有T-Mac這個前10名的球員. 我們以前也不是沒經歷過這些." With Yao's injury, Dikembe Mutombo moves into the starting lineup after spending most of the season anchored to the bench as an insurance policy. Mutombo started 32 games last season when Yao was sidelined with a broken right leg, and the Rockets went 20-12. 在姚明受傷之後, 為了保險本季大部分時間留在板凳上的木桶阿伯以先發出賽. 木桶伯在去年姚明因為腿傷穿西裝的時候先發了32場, 那時候火箭的戰績是20-12. ''I had a long conversation with Yao from the hospital,'' Mutombo said recently. ''He was just trying to find somebody to talk to, and he wanted to talk to me, share with me what's going on. He's leaving all of this job to me to go and try to finish the season strong. "我在醫院的時候跟姚明談了很多," 木桶伯最近說,"他只是想找人說說話, 所以找上了我, 跟我分享了很多最近發生的事. 他把身上的擔子交給了我, 而且希望我能讓火箭優秀的打完這季." ''My response to him was, 'Just go and take care of yourself and we're going to do what we have to do as teammates and as a team so that we don't disappoint you.'' "我給他的回答是, '放的心去把自己照顧好吧, 我們會盡一切努力不讓你失望的." By the way, the last time the Rockets completed a perfect month was in November 1993 when they went 15-0. 哦, 對了, 上次火箭打出整月制霸是1993年11月的事, 那個時候是15-0. Under the radar While the Celtics have been the most celebrated team in the Eastern Conference all season, the Pistons quietly entered the weekend trailing the Celtics by three games in the standings. 雖然超賽一直是東區最受矚目的球隊, 活塞在本週末的時候已經偷頭的追到 離超賽只有3場勝差了. That's fine with the Pistons. They don't care if other teams get more attention. 對活塞來說這一點問題都沒有. 他們根本不在乎別隊是不是比他們受矚目. ''We're always going to be that way because we don't have that flamboyant individual, that guy who's averaging 25 a game,'' Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "我們大概一直都不會受到矚目吧. 我們沒有那種場場25分的愛秀球員." 活塞教頭說. ''The only guy that piques interest in anyone when we go on the road is [Rasheed Wallace].'' "我們打客場唯一能讓大家注意的大概也只有Rasheed了." Web heckling Despite the fact that the Nuggets were 34-23 entering the weekend, a Nuggets fan has started a Web site to vent -- firegeorgekarl.com. 雖然本季金塊還是有34-23的戰績, 可是已經有球迷為了發洩火氣開了個叫"辭掉George Karl.com"的網站了. ''The longer you're with a team, the more people like you and the more people dislike you,'' Karl said. ''I don't think it's valuable to pay attention to that, to de-energize me and waste my energy right now.'' "你跟球隊一起越久, 支持你和討厭你的人也會越來越多." Karl說. "我覺得對那個 認真就輸了, 看了只會讓自己心情差." The problem is the Nuggets were ninth in the West heading into the weekend and are in danger of missing the playoffs despite winning nearly 60 percent of their games. 問題是金塊目前在西區排名第九, 雖然勝率近60%也可能進不了季後賽. EX-FACTOR P.J. BROWN | Celtics F/C After sitting out the first four months hanging out at home with his family in Louisiana, the 38-year-old chose the Celtics over the Mavericks and Hornets. ''Just trying to make a dream come true,'' Brown said. ''I feel like there's one thing missing from my career, and Boston's pretty much been coming after me the whole year, and I thought the one thing that kept the door open was trying to come back and win a championship, and I feel this team has a great chance to do that.'' The Celtics have been interested in adding a veteran big man and believe Brown is a perfect fit. ''Anytime you can add character and class, you should,'' coach Doc Rivers said. 在4個月的半退休時期後, 38歲的PJ Brown選擇加入超賽而拒絕了小牛和黃蜂. "我只是想讓自己的夢成真. 我一直覺得打了這麼久還是少了點東西. 而且波士頓 整年都在跟我談, 唯一能讓我回來打球的原因就是冠軍戒指, 而我覺得我們球隊 有很大的機會." Brown說. 超賽一直在找有經驗的大個子. 而且相信Brown就是 最適合的拼圖. 而教練Doc Rivers則是說, "不管什麼時候, 如果你有機會補強 就不該放棄機會." BIG NUMBER 126 The Heat's sellout streak ended last week at 126 when the team announced a less-than-capacity crowd for a game against the Sacramento Kings at American Airlines Arena. Some Miami insiders believe the streak, which began Feb. 13, 2005, actually ended months ago but was continued with some creative accounting. 桃花源場場完售的紀錄在上禮拜對上國王的時候以126場結束了. 有些熱火的內線 認為其實那個從2005年2月15的紀錄早就結束了, 是一直靠著數字遊戲連續的. -------------------- 標題騙人阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 (翻桌 --

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