[外電] The newest old Rocket

看板Rockets作者royshine (理想現實)時間17年前 (2007/07/22 00:31)推噓12(12推 0噓 9→)

留言21則, 11人參與討論串1/1

原文:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4987189.html The newest old Rockets Perhaps Steve Francis knew all along. He must have known what was waiting for him when he left the Rockets. That his career would spiral downward, going from hot, young talent to unwanted veteran three times over. 可能SF3早已洞察一切.他肯定知道當時离開火箭后等待他的會是什么,職業生涯走下坡路,狀態不在,從才華橫溢變成可有可無的球場老兵. The player known as "The Franchise" never wanted to leave Houston in those weeks when his trade to the Orlando Magic was nearly done. As a result, the Magic brought him to Orlando to earn his confidence. "His emotion (is) about leaving Houston," former Magic general manager John Weisbrod said in the days before the completion of the trade. "He doesn't have any aversion to coming to Orlando, from what I understand. He has an aversion to leaving Houston." 這位火箭曾經的老大,從來沒想過要离開火箭."他從來沒說過厭惡來魔術",前魔術主管J.Weisbrod說,"他只是討厭會离開火箭" Even then, Francis seemed to know. The Magic were happy to rebuild around him and confident they had a star. Francis would soon agree to the trade during the summer of 2004, but nothing has been the same since. 魔術很樂意圍繞SF3重建.因此2004年夏天也有了那樁交易,雖然后來遠不是想像的那樣. Once one of the NBA's rising stars, Francis agreed to a two-year contract Thur to return to the Rockets as a 30-year-old point guard, a veteran of eight seasons , hoping to recapture the magic of those All-Star seasons in Houston. SF3本周四接受了火箭兩年的合同.這位30歲的PG,8年NBA經歷的球員,希望能在火箭重拾往日輝煌. Almost forgotten was that Francis and the Magic were thrilled with each other at first. In those early weeks of the 2004-05 season, he and Cuttino Mobley, whom the Rockets traded along with Francis and Kelvin Cato to acquire Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines, praised life in Orlando. They were happy playing together and for coach Johnny Davis. They whipped the Rockets in a preseason game that McGrady sat out in Orlando. Francis' star was intact. By the New Year of 2005, the Magic were 15-15, but Francis was still delighted with how his career was going. He said getting traded to Houston after he refused to play in Vancouver and the trade to Orlando were the best things that happened in his career. There was, however, growing dissatisfaction in Orlando that Francis was often dribbling too deep into the shot clock and looking for Mobley to the exclusion of teammates and running plays. The Magic were last in the NBA in points allowed. 我們差點忘了,SF3和魔術隊當時對彼此都滿怀希望.在2004-05賽季初始,SF3和老貓很高興能在一起為魔術,為教練J.Davis效力.到了2005年新年,魔術戰績是15胜15負,但SF3 仍然對自己的前途充滿信心.他覺得拒絕去灰熊報到并來到火箭,然后又被交易到魔術,都是他職業生涯中美好的事情. 只可惜,SF3黏球的過多和"我的眼里沒有其他隊友只有傳給老貓"的打法,讓魔術隊對他日益度爛.當時魔術是NBA中限制對手得分最差的球隊. Unhappy without Mobley Less than two weeks later, Mobley was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Doug Christie. Francis' career with the Magic immediately began to descend. "Playing with a guy, living with a guy, just knowing that every day when I wake up, that's something I can count on, that I'm going to be in practice or in a game with Cuttino," Francis said. "Him not being here is going to be tough for me. I don't know what I'm going to wake up for." 令SF3想不到的是,老貓在兩周后被交易到了國王隊.SF3在魔術的日子一下子down 到了低谷."一起訓練,一起生活,每天我醒過來的時候都知道有人能与我扛過這些日子", SF3說,"現在老貓不在了,我不知道我怎么能适應過來" Francis was fined for skipping the first practice after the All-Star break, which coincidentally fell on his 28th birthday. He was suspended three games for kicking a courtside photographer. And he ranked third in the NBA in technical fouls that season with 21. 因為在全明星賽后逃避球隊第一堂訓練課,SF3被罰款,那天也是他28歲的生日. 隨后他又因為踢了場邊一位攝影師被停賽3場.那個賽季他吃了21個T,聯盟第三?! "We started the season off well," said Magic general manager Otis Smith, then the assistant GM. "Our team was moving right along pretty good. I've played it over in my head so many times. I think it really stemmed from the Mobley trade to Sacramento."He was rolling right along. Who knew trading Cuttino to Sacramento would have that kind of effect? I think it had an adverse affect on him. I don't know why his approach changed. Losing Cuttino changed the way he played. "Maybe they fed off each other so much. We tried to fill those voids. We put him with DeShawn Stevenson, Grant (Hill), (Hedo) Turkoglu on the floor. But they were six-year teammates." "我們在賽季初做得很好",魔術隊GM O.Smith說，那時我們正向著正确的方向走 ,打的很好。后來我在頭腦中回想了很多次,事情變糟的根源的确是把老貓換到國王那筆交易." "從那以后他(SF3)就變得懶散.誰知道把Cuttino換到國王會產生那樣的問題？我認為交易對他產生了非常負面的影響。我不知道他的球風為何都改變了。失去Cuttino甚至改變了他打球的方式." "也許他們互相依賴太多了.我們試著把DeShawn Stevenson， Grant（Hill），（Hedo）Turkoglu和他一起放在場上。但是他們曾經做了六年的隊友. (那种感覺完全不一樣) Francis became the fourth player in NBA history, joining Oscar Robertson, Ma gic Johnson and Grant Hill, to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of his first six seasons. But the Magic were 18-14 before the trade and 18-32 afterward. SF3成為繼大0,魔術師和Hill之后,在NBA歷史上第四個職業生涯前6年都拿到15分, 5籃板,5助攻的球員.但是魔術隊在交易前后的戰績分別為18胜14負和18胜32負. Falling out of favor By the 2005-06 season, Weisbrod was gone, and Brian Hill replaced Davis as Magic coach. The Magic's future was clearly about young center Dwight Howard, and the team played better with Jameer Nelson at the point. With trade rumors beginning to swirl, Nelson played the fourth quarter of a rout of Minnesota, and Francis no longer showed the fire that had marked his career. In the next six games, he averaged 11.5 points and took an average of just 9.3 shots. He had been averaging 17.9 points prior to that. When he refused to re-enter a game in Seattle with the Magic trailing 103-87 with 3:22 remaining, he and Hill exchanged words on the court and in the locker room. He was suspended for three games. Francis apologized to the team and was given assurances he was not being shopped. He was traded to the New York Knicks 17 games later on Feb. 22, 2006. By moving Francis' contract, the Magic had the cap room this summer to sign Rashard Lewis. "When he brought energy, he was a good guy on floor, and the effort he brought I thought was 100 percent," Smith said. "I think our young guys started to grow , and we wanted an opportunity for the young guys to continue to grow. "I don't know when the light switched, when it changed. We expected a lot out of him." 05-06賽季,Brian Hill取代了Davis成為魔術的主教練.球隊的未來肯定是寄托在 DH12身上.而交易SF3的傳言日囂塵上,他的表現越來越差(得分從17.9分降至11.5分),拒絕上場,和主教練吵架被停賽.SF3道歉了但最后還是被交換到了紐約.那天是2006年2月22日. 魔術GM Otis Smith這么說:"當他充滿能量時他是個好球員,努力程度我認為是百分之百. 但我認為我們需要為年輕球員的成長創造更多机會. 我不知道到底發生了什么,我們曾對他寄予厚望". Lost in New York To many, the move to the Knicks seemed doomed from the start. In Stephon Mar bury, the Knicks had a player with a similar style, strengths and weaknesses , and a backcourt already was crowded with Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson Jalen Rose, Ime Udoka and Nate Robinson. Francis became a symbol for the Knicks' dissolving relationship with then-coach Larry Brown, who wanted Francis. But within weeks, Brown had decided he had no use for him. Francis played in 24 games with the Knicks that season, starting 15, averaging just 10.8 points in 27.5 minutes. He was in and out of the lineup with toe and back problems. When the Knicks played the Magic, Francis played just 12 minutes, missing the four shots he took and finishing the loss with one point. "It's hard, man," Francis said at the time. "It's definitely hard being a veteran going from last week playing 44 minutes to this week playing two minutes." Heading into his second season in New York, Francis insisted he was where he wanted to be. Isiah Thomas, who had taken over as coach, said it was his goal to make Francis an All-Star-caliber player again. 來到紐約,后場狂擠的紐約,Francis被送到紐約的交易從開始就是個災難. 尼克与當時的總教頭Larry Brown的關系正在破滅，而SF3成了這种災難的一個象征. Brown想要換來Francis，但是僅僅几周之后，他又認定Francis百無一用. "很難," Francis那時說,"上個星期還是出場44分鐘的老將，這個星期就只能打兩分鐘, 這當然很難适應." Shipped to Portland Francis had one of the worst seasons of his career, averaging a career-low 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. Hampered by an ankle sprain and knee tendinitis, he played in just 44 games, spending much of the season rehabilitating in Houston. By the end of the season, he was more valuable to the Knicks for what his contract could bring. He was dealt to Portland for Zach Randolph. The Trail Blazers, who never intended to keep him, agreed to a $30 million buyout of the last two seasons of the max contract Francis had signed with the Rockets. "I think Steve can be a very effective player in this league," Smith said. " He comes with a lot of energy and effort. You've got to coach Steve Francis every day. If you do that, you can have a special player." In a way, Francis is back to where he started in more ways than one. As if h e knew what was waiting for him if he left Houston, he fought it then and ce lebrated his arrival as he did the first time, when he was traded to the Rockets to start his career. "I feel so relieved," he said then, "and so at peace." In that sense, little has changed. Francis遭遇了他生涯中最糟糕的一個賽季，他僅出場了44場比賽，整個大部分時間都在休斯頓做复健治療.他唯一有价值的似乎就只有合同的交易价值.隨后就是大家看到的与藍道夫的交換以及合同被買斷.以及現在回到了火箭. 某种意義上來說，Francis又回到了他出發的地方。仿佛他了解一旦离開休斯頓前方路上等著他的是什么一樣，他离開時掙扎抗爭過，現在又歡慶他的歸來.這歡慶，就像他當時被交換到火箭隊時那樣. "我覺得被救贖了"，他說，"心里好平和". 從這個角度來說，一切，都一如從前. -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 58.210.30.11 ※ 編輯: royshine 來自: 58.210.30.11 (07/22 00:34)

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