來源: San Antonio Express News 網址: http://tinyurl.com/y7vmn5fo For Spurs’ Derrick White, the fairy tale is just beginning 馬刺新秀Derrick White的新人生 Let’s get one thing straight from the top. Derrick White was never really interested in going to cooking school. 先講重點，Derrick White從來就沒有想去廚藝學院。 He can barely boil an egg. The only chef he feels comfortable emulating is Boyardee. 他連煎個蛋都不太行。 White is perfectly capable of toasting opponents on the basketball court. But bread in the kitchen? Not so much. 他最會的是在球場上火烤對手，至於廚房的火烤嘛，只能ㄏㄏ了。 “It’s not my thing,” said White, the high-scoring guard from Colorado the Spurs selected No. 29 in Thursday’s NBA draft. “Not. At. All.” 「那真的不是我的專門，真-的-不-是」White說。馬刺今年在第29順位選上這個來自 Colorado得分能力很強的後衛。 Yet when White graduated from Legends High School in Parker, Colorado, in 2012, his first plan was to enroll at Johnson & Wales University in Denver. 當他2012高中畢業時，他原本是想去丹佛的強森-威爾斯大學。 The NAIA school is renowned mostly for its culinary arts program, but at least they would let him play basketball there. 這所學校主要是因為他的廚藝課程而著名，但是至少他們願意讓White在那邊打籃球。 Johnson & Wales was one of the few institutions of higher learning that would. White’s only other offer at the time was from a junior college in Wyoming. 強森-威爾斯大學是願意給White念書的兩個大學的其中之一，另外一所是在懷俄明州。 “I just loved basketball and wanted to continue,” White said. “I didn’t want it to be over.” 「我真的好想打籃球~~」White說。 The White who will arrive in San Antonio this week to begin his NBA career is not the same guy once nearly forced to begin his college career at cooking school. He is taller now, having sprouted from 6-foot-1 as a high school senior to 6-5. He is bigger, having packed a solid 200 pounds onto that frame. White這周來到馬刺開始他的NBA生涯。現在的他跟當初差點要去廚藝學院的他已經完全不 同，身高從6呎1吋長到6呎5吋，體重也達到200磅。 He is also no longer invisible to NBA scouts, having finished his lone DivisionI season at Colorado a first-team All-Pac 12 selection, averaging 18.1 points and 4.4 assists for the Buffaloes. 他也開始被NBA的球探注意到，平均得18.1分及4.4個助攻，入選Pac-12第一隊。 “He’s just a good basketball player,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. “He’s not really a point guard. He’s not really an off-guard. He’s a guard.” 「他是個好球員，」馬刺總管Buford說到White，「他不算是控衛，也不算是得分後衛， 他就是個後衛。」 Said assistant general manager Brian Wright: “The things he does well — dribble, shoot, pass, make good decisions — that’s something every team can use.”Once upon a time, the player every team can use was a player no team in America wanted. 馬刺總管助理說：「他能運球，得分，傳球，場上能做正確的決定，這些都是球隊需要 的。」不過，White當初並沒有球隊要他。 His path from Parker to the NBA has been at once painstaking and dizzying. He has had more doors slammed in his face than a Jehovah’s Witness on Saturday morning. White往NBA的道路並不順遂，甩他的球隊大門可能比周末推銷信教被甩門的還要更多。 Now White is set to become a grizzled NBA rookie at the ripe age of 23. He is likely the only player drafted Thursday who will use his first contract to pay off student loans. “It’s quite a story,” said Jeff Culver, the coach who recruited White to Johnson & Wales. White現在23歲，比起其他今年進NBA的菜鳥，算是比較老的了，而且他可能是唯一一個在 今年選秀球員中要拿簽約金去付學貸的了。「他的故事很感人。」招募他進去強森-威爾斯 大學的教練Jeff Culver說。 White grew up in Parker, a tight-knit town of nearly 50,000 about 30 miles southeast of Denver. Almost from the beginning, he harbored a love for basketball his slow-developing body stubbornly refused to match. White began his prep career as a 5-4 freshman, baby-faced and raw-boned. By his senior season, he had sprouted to a shade over 6-foot, but still without much meat to him. White在一個只有五萬人的小鎮長大，距離丹佛約30哩遠。很早他就愛上籃球，但是他的身 材始終沒有很好。在他的大學先修課程的時候，他只有5呎4吋，只是個瘦皮猴，還是個娃 娃臉。到大學先修的最後一年，他長到了六呎，但是還是瘦巴巴一隻。 He was good enough to earn all-state honorable mention honors as a senior. Not good enough to attract the eyes of college scouts. “I had good numbers,” White said. “They just looked at it like I was too small. I had Division-II schools telling me I wasn’t even good enough to play at that level. It was frustrating.” 他的球技讓他拿到全州優秀高中球員獎，但是這沒有讓他得到球探的青睞。White說： 「他們覺得我太小隻，有的大學甚至覺得我的球技不夠資格在他們的層級打球，那真的很 令人沮喪。」 After a futile recruitment period, White had to fight the inclination to give in to the critics. In the months after graduation, his father Richard began sending highlight films to small schools across the country, hoping for a nibble. 在招募期過了之後，White還在跟球探給的評論奮鬥。在他高中畢業後數月之後，他的爸爸 幫他剪了一些高光影片寄去一些小學校，希望能得到一些回音。 Such national powers as New Mexico Highlands and Missouri Western said no thanks. Midway through the summer of 2012, White still had no place to play. He was considering enrolling at Colorado State as a student and surrendering his basketball dream for good. 一些籃球強權學校是直接打槍的。直到2012年夏天，White還是沒學校念，他一度考慮就乾 脆放棄他的籃球夢好了。 “They’d been trying to get him recruited, trying to get his tape out,” Culver said. “They were hitting a lot of dead-end roads.”Culver had seen White play at a Thanksgiving tournament early in his senior season, and liked him enough to keep tabs. 「他們很努力在找學校招募White，」White的大學教練Culver說，「只是他們一直碰到死 胡同。」Culver有一次看到White打球的影片，非常喜歡，喜歡到趕快筆記下來。 As the coach at Johnson & Wales, Culver couldn’t afford to be as persnickety about the talent he recruited. “Other programs want guys who are job-ready right away,” Culver said. “I always tried to project two or three years down the road.” Culver是強森-威爾斯的教練，不是籃球強權，所以他挑球員也不能太高標準。 「其他學校可以要馬上可以上場的，」Culver說，「我總是看兩三年後可能的發展。」 Culver invited White to play at Johnson & Wales. There would be no scholarship — some NAIA programs do not offer them — but at least cooking classes would be optional. To White, the proposition already sounded like salvation. Then the deal got even better. Culver邀請White到強森-威爾斯打球，沒有獎學金，不過至少廚藝課程是選修的。這對 White來說已經是一個好到流口水的機會了。不過，好戲還在後頭。 Just before White was set to enroll at Johnson & Wales, Culver accepted a job as head coach at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, an NCAA Division II school. The new gig was a promotion for Culver. It turned out to be a life-changer for White. “If he doesn’t get that job,” White said, “I don’t get a D-II offer.” 當White決定要去強森-威爾斯念書的時候，Culver得到了一個在科羅拉多大學科羅拉多泉 分校的教練一職，那是NCAA二級的學校。對Culver來說，那算是升遷，對White來說，那是 人生的轉捩點。 「如果教練沒拿到那份工作，」White說，「我不可能去的了二級學校打球。」 White became Culver’s first recruit at UCCS, eagerly agreeing to follow the coach south in exchange for a $3,000 housing voucher. The initial idea was for White to redshirt as a freshman. That plan soon was soon scuttled as White began tearing up practices, almost daring Culver to play him as a freshman. White是Culver教練新工作招募的第一個球員，他也很興奮，因為有個3000鎂的房屋補 助。一開始本來是想讓White,用轉學理由從大一新鮮人開始打，但是他在球隊練習的時候 就展現了摧枯拉朽的實力，讓Culver不敢把White放在轉學大一的層級。 When one of the team’s older guards was injured in an early-season game, Culver had no choice but to unleash White. “He probably could have used a redshirt year to get stronger,” Culver said. “But we also realized we really needed him. We couldn’t redshirt him. He was consistently making plays.” 當球隊上的一個年長的後衛受傷的時候，Culver決定讓White上場了。 「我當然可以繼續把White放在轉學大一位置，讓他變得更強後再上場，」Culver教練 說，「但是我們需要他為球隊打球，所以不能繼續放在轉學大一層級。」 The removal of White’s redshirt set the fuse on a rocket-ship ride for White that is still racing upward. He was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 2012-13. Midway through his sophomore season at UCCS, he was attracting D-I looks, mostly from mid-major programs. 讓White脫離轉學大一的身分像是點燃了一枚火箭般，White當年就拿下落磯山脈運動聯盟 年度大一新生球員。在他的大二生涯，開始有一級學校注意到他。 By the time White completed his junior season, he had become one of the top D-II players in the country. In his second-to-last game at UCCS, White logged 50 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks against Colorado School of Mines. By then, it was clear D-II couldn’t hold him anymore. 在White的大三球季，他已經是在二級學校比賽中的頂尖球員。在他為Culver打的倒數第 二場比賽，他拿下50分，14個籃板，8個助攻，跟3個火鍋。很明顯的，二級學校層級的比 賽已經不是讓White可以打得了。 The decision to move up a level was a no-brainer if White planned to pursue an NBA career. The last D-II player selected in the NBA draft was Ronald Murray, a second-round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2002. Even so, White struggled with the notion of leaving UCCS. “He came in after spring break to tell me, and you could tell he was pretty broken up about it,” Culver said. “There had been D-I overtures during his freshman and sophomore years. When CU came calling, it was too shiny to turn down.” 如果White將來想要打NBA，轉往一級學校打球是不用大腦想就知道的選擇。最近一個在二 級學校打球被NBA選秀選上的是在2002年，密爾瓦基公鹿選的Ronald Murray。即使如此， 對於離開科羅拉多泉分校，White還是很掙扎。 「White在春假後來找我，我可以看得出來他很慘。」Culver教練說，「在大一大二的時候 有一級學校來找他。當科羅拉多大學打來的時候，這個機會已經是好到不能再拒絕的 了。」 Colorado coach Tad Boyle had come across White long before the guard blossomed into a D-II star. As a high school senior, White had attended Colorado’s team camp. “That was the good news,” Boyle said. “The bad news was, he was 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds. He didn’t hit our radar.” 科羅拉多大學教練Boyle其實在打電話之前其實有跟White交集過。在高中最後一年的時 候，White有參加過科羅拉多大的籃球營。 「那是好事，」Boyle教練說，「壞事是那時候White才6呎1，150磅，我們壓根沒注意到 他。」 Like most every other coach in the country, Boyle didn’t think much of White as a college prospect coming out of high school. By the time he was preparing to leave UCCS, however, White’s potential was undeniable. Boyle offered his former camper a full scholarship, and White packed his bags for Boulder. 在籃球營那時候，Boyle教練跟其他教練一樣認為White沒有打大學籃球的實力。不過，到 離開Culver教練的時候，他的天賦已經是無可懷疑的。科大給White全額獎學金，讓他來科 大打球。 After sitting out the 2015-16 season under NCAA transfer rules, White spent his lone campaign at Colorado torching a talent-laden Pac-12 conference. A combo guard adept playing either on or off the ball, White starred in a league that produced the top two picks in Thursday’s draft — Washington’s Markelle Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. 在坐完NCAA轉學規定的一年球季監後，White在天賦洋溢Pac-12聯盟發光發熱。他可以打持 球也可以不持球的後衛，成為跟今年NBA選秀的前兩名-華盛頓大學的富家子跟UCLA的鮑 爾-同一區的明星球員。 “He did everything for us,” Boyle said. “He was our best shooter. He was our best ball-handler. He was our best defender. He was our best decision-maker. He did it all.” When Buford called inquiring about White, Boyle told him the same. The two go way back. Boyle was a senior guard at Kansas in 1985 when Buford was a graduate assistant on coach Larry Brown’s staff. 「White為我們球隊做到所有事情，」教練Boyle說。「他是我們最好的射手，他是我們最 好的持球員，他是球場上最好的決策者。」 這番話也是教練Boyle跟馬刺總管Buford說的話。 Typically, players ticketed for the first round of the NBA draft have been scouted and vetted and nitpicked since they were teenagers. With a late bloomer like White, intel can be sketchy. Boyle became a credible voice helping the Spurs fill in the gaps. “Knowing Tad and trusting Tad had a big impact on our feelings,” Buford said. “He was really confident this guy belongs.” 通常第一輪選秀的球員，大概球探報告都會很完整，從高中就會注意到。但是像White這 種大器晚成型的，報告都不會太準，所以就會需要像教練Boyle的意見。 「我跟教練Boyle認識，我也相信他的眼光，他的意見對我們有很大影響。」總管Buford 說，「他很確定White是NBA等級球員。」 White’s fit as a basketball player is self-evident.The object of the game is to make the ball go in the basket, and White was one of the best in the nation at it last season. “You don’t find the 80-50-40 guys in college very often,” said Buford, referring to White’s free-throw, field-goal and 3-point percentages. “ Derrick has proven to be one of them.” White是極佳籃球員是毋庸懷疑的。 「你不太容易在大學球員裡找大80-50-40的球員，」總管Buford說的80-50-40指的是罰球 率，兩分球進球率跟三分球進球率，「但是White就是其中一個。」 Shooting ability isn’t all that separates White from the NBA draft pack, in Boyle’s estimation. “The best thing about Derrick White, he wasn’t one of these kids that had everyone blowing smoke up his skirt since he was in the eighth grade,” Boyle said. “He’s had to earn everything he’s gotten.” 外線並不是唯一讓White跟其他選秀不一樣的唯一原因。 「White最好的特質是，他不像那些從小就人人稱讚將來會是明星球員的那種，」馬刺總管 Buford說，「他得去拼命才能得到他想要的東西。」 It is White’s ability to raise his game with the level of competition that most intrigues the Spurs. He has spent a lifetime telling himself yes when others tell him no. “A lot of guys might be cautious or lack confidence in stepping up to those different levels,” Buford said. “He’s not only stepped up but excelled as he’s moved up the food chain. He’s got another big jump coming.” White可以把他的能力提升到甚麼等級是最讓馬刺制服組好奇的。 「很多球員當他進入到另外一個層級比賽的時候，會過於小心或是缺乏自信，」總管 Buford說，「但是White不只提升他自己的能力，而且會往頂尖邁進；他將會再往前邁進一 大步。」 White is aware of what awaits. His story has already been the stuff of fairy tales, but he hasn’t quite made it to the happily ever after part yet. A new chapter, the biggest chapter, is only now beginning. “I think I’ll fit in great (with the Spurs),” White said. “I love the style they play, with the ball movement. That’s how I like to play, too. I can’t wait to get started.” White知道前方有甚麼樣的考驗在等他。他的人生經歷目前已經像是童話故事了，但是最後 的"永遠快樂的生活著"那部分還沒到，而最重要的那個篇章，才正要開始。 「我想我會在馬刺融入的很好，」White說，「我喜歡他們打球的方式，我喜歡他們球的流 動，那也是我喜歡打得方式，我等不及要為馬刺打球了。」 Maybe this last giant leap, from Colorado to the NBA, is the one White can’t make. Maybe the stage finally grows too big for him, the competition finally becomes too tough. Maybe, at last, the naysayers will be right about him. 從科大到馬刺或許會是White的最後一個關卡，而且是White可能跨不過去的關卡，很有 可能會是這一路上看衰White的人得意的時候。 Maybe. As the coach who once nearly convinced White to attend cooking school in order to disprove his doubters, Culver wouldn’t count on it. Late last Thursday night, at the end of an evening that changed his former player’s life forever, Culver stood up among a crowd of well-wishers at White’s draft party in Parker and offered a prediction of what comes next for the soon-to-be Spur. “He spent five years being able to take out his grudges on the colleges that missed on him,” Culver said. “Now he’s got 28 NBA teams to take it out on. That’s part of his fuel and his fire.” 或許吧！ 曾經教練Culver差點說服White去念廚藝學校，他不認為這次他會跨不過去。選秀那天晚 上，教練Culver在White家鄉小鎮為White選秀祈福的聚會上，說了他對將成為馬刺球員 White的看法， 「他花了五年把那些對沒選他的大學所產生的怨氣都發出去，而且現在他有28個球隊可以 吐怨氣，那些怨氣將會是他將來的NBA生涯的燃料與力量。」 White’s career to this point has been built on handing out “I told you sos. ” The Spurs are betting he has a few more left in him. 馬刺這次賭他還有更多潛力還沒發揮。 -- 馬刺制服組也是很能挑，之前挑了一個理髮師，現在挑了一個廚師... 拭目以待吧! --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 124.155.74.173 ※ 文章網址: https://webptt.com/m.aspx?n=bbs/NBA/M.1498444694.A.875.html 感激 已更正 ※ 編輯: pneumo (126.204.196.145), 06/26/2017 11:48:40 ※ 編輯: pneumo (126.204.196.145), 06/26/2017 11:49:48