Odom carries Lakers on his aching back Lamar won't be blamed this time as Lakers win. http://tinyurl.com/pohy4d He has been criticized everywhere, particularly here, where even today, in a column praising him, we’ll start by noting that Lamar Odom ruined a perfectly tired sports cliché. Lamar Odom過去不論在哪都是受到批評，尤其是在這裡，但今天這個專欄要對他讚揚，就從 他打破這些媒體的陳腔濫調開始。 You know the one about a team responding when its back is against the wall? Odom just responded when his back was against the all. 當球隊被逼到牆角的時候，會有一個人跳出來。今天跳出來的就是Odom。 Everything – from the fate of his team to the state of his game to the health of his body – confronted Odom on Wednesday, and he responded by knocking the Nuggets onto their backs. Odom今日扛下所有的事，球隊的命運、比賽的狀況、身體的傷痛，他擊倒了金塊隊。 The Lakers won the latest biggest game of their postseason – 103-94, taking a critical 3-2 lead over Denver – because of a hearty effort by their hurting forward. 湖人隊贏下近來最重要的一場比賽，以103-94擊倒金塊，取得重要的3-2領先，這都是由於 他們帶傷前鋒的精彩表現所致。 “I know his back has been killing him even if he might be saying otherwise to you guys,” teammate Luke Walton said. “He really muscled through it tonight. He ended up being huge for us.” Luke Walton說"雖然或許他不是這樣對你們說的，但我知道他的背傷仍然是要了他的命。他 今晚真的打得非常強硬。他最後的表現對我們是非常巨大的。" Here’s just how huge… 來看看到底有多巨大... They needed his strength. No one finished with more rebounds than Odom’s 14 in a game in which the Lakers, outrebounded by Denver by 18 (58-40) in Game 4, stayed nearly even this time (43-42). 他們需要他的強硬。沒有人籃板抓的比Odom還多，他的14個籃板讓湖人在Game 4以18個落後 對方(40-58)後，終於在這場可以跟對手幾乎扯平了(42-43)。 They needed his offense. Odom scored eight points in the deciding fourth quarter, you know, normally Kobe time, on a night when Bryant didn’t make a fourth-quarter field goal. 他們需要他的進攻。Odom在具有決定性的第四節拿下8分，而這通常是Kobe time上演的時候 ，但本場Kobe在第四節一個FG都沒有投進。 They needed his passion. Odom blocked four shots, had four offensive rebounds and capped a fourth-quarter slam dunk over Chris Andersen by unleashing a growl that came straight from his New York roots. 他們需要他的熱情。Odom送出4記火鍋，抓下4個進攻籃板，還有在第四節時一記在Chris Andersen頭上的灌籃，然後忘情的大吼。 “In that time, in that moment, you’re caught up in the game,” Odom explained. “Sometimes aggression just comes out, and it came out with a scream after that dunk.” He did all this – and so much more (just read on) – with a bruised lower back that already has required one injection this postseason just so he could play. Odom解釋"在那個時刻、那個當下，你整個融入比賽了。有時侵略性就是這樣展現出來，隨 著灌籃後的狂吼展現出來。" 他用受傷的背部做到了這些事，這個甚至一度要打針才能讓他 上場比賽的背傷。 Odom is out there wearing padding, sometimes limping and often grimacing after contact. Odom必須穿著護墊，有時會一跛一跛的，而且常常在身體接觸後露出痛苦的表情。 Yet, he continues to dismiss questions about his health, refusing to hide behind a reason so legitimate that it could be more explanation than excuse. 但是他不斷把跟他健康有關的問題打發掉，他拒絕躲在可以順理成章的把藉口變成合理解釋 的理由後面。 “He’s got a big lump on his back,” Walton said. “I don’t know how bad he feels, but when there’s a big lump on your back that’s not supposed to be there, it can’t feel too good.” Walton說"他的背後腫了一大塊，我不知道他到底有多痛，但當你的背後腫了一塊不該腫起 來的東西，那絕對不會好受到哪去。" Odom’s spectacular night didn’t start that way. He missed four of his five first-quarter shots and nearly was forced to inhale what was supposed to be a dunk, his dunk. Late in the opening quarter, Odom drove, leapt and encountered Andersen. Odom的完美演出並不是一開始就很順利。他第一節的前5投有4球都沒進，而且還被沒收了一 個灌籃。在第一節的最後，Odom切入，跳起來並對抗Andersen。 The Birdman, who has been so everywhere in this series that he has appeared to be The Birdmen, couldn’t have more completely blocked Odom’s dunk had he used a tennis racquet. 而在這個系列賽無所不在的鳥人，非常乾淨的Odom的灌籃給蓋了下來，就好像他手中有拿網 球拍一樣。 At halftime, Odom was only 3 of 9 from the floor, and him starring in the second half seemed about as likely as the teams coming back out and playing pants and skins. But in the final four minutes of the third quarter, Odom hit a three-pointer that evened the score 73-73, and his late-game surge was underway. 在中場，Odom只有投9中3的表現，而第三節一開始的表現也只是讓球隊打出普通水準而已。 但到了第三節剩四分鐘的時候，Odom投進了把比數扳平成73-73的三分球，而這也開啟了他 接下來的高檔演出。 A short time later, he fought for position down low and scored again. Then he grabbed a defensive rebound on Denver’s next possession. Then he grabbed another defensive rebound, this one leading to a Shannon Brown three-pointer. 沒過多久，他積極的在低位要位並且再次得分。然後他在金塊隊的下一波進攻抓下了防守籃 板。然後他又抓下另一個防守籃板，而這一次讓Shannon Brown打出了一個三分打。 Before it was over, Odom would block a Kenyon Martin drive, convert a three-point play to kill the Nuggets’ final, fading hopes and punctuate everything with that angry dunk over Andersen. 在最後階段，Odom賞了Kenyon Martin一記火鍋，然後用那記在Andersen面前憤怒灌籃的三 分打把金塊最後的反攻氣燄給澆熄了。 “I think I gave him a big head butt after that one,” Walton said. “The Birdman got him a couple times. He paid him back with that one.” Walton說"我想在那球之後我用頭頂了他一下。鳥人之前有好幾次都佔了優勢。但他靠著那 球把這些都討了回來。" And Odom paid back the Lakers and Coach Phil Jackson for their patience and trust during his uneven time here. 而Odom也對湖人隊還有Phil Jackson對他的信任、耐心並給他更多的上場時間有了回報。 When the Lakers are labeled as soft, the face on that label belongs to Odom. When they’re ripped as inconsistent, the image of that inconsistency belongs to Odom. When they’re mocked for lacking heart, the missing beat belongs to Odom. 當湖人隊被貼上娘砲的標籤時，上面的圖案會是Odom的臉。當他們被批評不穩定時，人們浮 現不穩定的印象又會是Odom。當他們被嘲諷缺乏熱情時，大家認為偷懶的人仍然會是Odom。 “I had to suck it up,” he said of the latest dark wave that followed his one-field goal performance in Game 4. “Couldn’t pick up the paper. Didn’t want to answer the phone. Couldn’t watch ESPN. I took it like a man. 在遭到Game 4投4中1表現隨之而來的批評後，他說"我必須要承受這些。沒辦法撿起紙張， 不想接電話，無法看ESPN。我要像個男人一樣承擔這些。" “I just had to. This is my 10th season. Game 6. I haven’t been playing well. Put my focus cap on. Came out and just went after it." "我就是必須這樣。這是我第10個球季了。Game 6要來了。我還是打得不夠好。我要把專注 力拿出來並挺身而出。" OK, so this actually was Game 5, but Odom’s head probably was still spinning from the previous four quarters of almost must-win basketball. 沒錯，這就是他Game 5的表現，但Odom很可能還在為之前四節幾乎應該要贏下來的球賽而頭 痛。 He could be in his final days with this franchise, Odom eligible to be a free agent after the season and the Lakers more likely to pay big money to the younger Trevor Ariza. If that’s the case, he still has a chance to leave the most positive final impression – an NBA championship. And if he keeps playing like this, no one will accuse him of backing into it. 這可能是他在這裡的最後一段日子，Odom本季後將會成為自由球員，而湖人隊似乎比較可能 把大錢花在較年輕的Trevor Ariza身上。如果情況是照這樣進行，他仍然有機會留下正面的 最終印象-NBA總冠軍。而如果他能一直保持這樣的表現的話，就不會再有人批評他了。 --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 61.227.173.204 ※ 編輯: PygmalionXXX 來自: 61.227.173.204 (05/29 01:04)