[外電] Close losses spun Wolves into big deal
※ 引述《jerod (KG4MVP)》之銘言：
: http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/13744459.htm
: The Timberwolves' first half of the season fell well short of their goals.
: The most striking admission of that mediocrity came when they traded Wally
: Szczerbiak, a longtime fan favorite who was having a career season, to the
: Boston Celtics on Thursday.
灰狼隊在上半球季並未順利達成他們的眾多目標。他們也做出了令人震驚的交易：
將整個生涯都在灰狼陣中並長期受到球迷歡迎的Szczerbiak在星期四送到了波士頓。
: As they prepare to face Szczerbiak and the Celtics tonight at Target Center,
: the Wolves are desperate to fix their season, plagued by inconsistency and
: the inability to win close games. With the team struggling at 19-21 at the
: time of the trade, Szczerbiak became the casualty.
同時他們即將在主場面對擁有Wally的塞爾提克，灰狼隊本季在關鍵時刻的糟糕表現使得
球隊以些微差距輸了好幾場比賽，同時也陷入了19勝21負的窘境中，這也讓Wally成為了
交易標的。
: "If we had won a number of those close games, we probably wouldn't have
: thought about doing the trade," owner Glen Taylor said. "Looking at the
: results, which were below our expectations, we felt we had to do something.
: Wally was a player other teams wanted."
灰狼隊老闆Glen Taylor說到："如果我們能夠贏得一些低分差的比賽的話，我們很可能
不會做出這個交易，光就結果來說，這樣的表現是不夠讓人滿意的，我想我們必須做些
交易，而Wally就是那個其他隊會想要的球員。
: The Wolves hope the trade will improve their team. Many areas need an upgrade,
: as the first half of the season revealed.
: The Wolves might have had unrealistic expectations entering the season. Many
: experts had the team pegged for a record hovering around .500 and a finish
: in the middle of the pack in the Northwest Division.
按照上半季球隊的表現來看，灰狼隊會希望這個交易能夠在許多方面都使球隊獲得改善
，球隊似乎在球季開打前仍然抱持著不切實際的預期。許多球評都預測灰狼本季大約會
以五成左右的勝率排在西北組中間的位置。
: But from the day the Wolves hired coach Dwane Casey on June 17, Taylor and
: Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale said they
: believed this team should make the playoffs and, they hoped, make a run
: past the first round.
: Now the Wolves (20-22) are searching for answers, three games behind
: first-place Denver in the division with five of the next seven games on
: the road. If the playoffs had begun Sunday, the Wolves would have been
: sitting at home.
去年6月17日，灰狼隊聘用Dwane Casey為總教練時，老闆Taylor和籃球事務總裁McHale
都相信本季灰狼隊能夠進入季後賽，並希望可以順利突破第一輪。但是現在，灰狼隊仍
然以三場勝差落後給西北組的龍頭金塊隊。如果季後賽在週日開始的話，灰狼隊將會回家
開始放暑假。
: Casey took over bent on reshaping the Wolves into a defensive team. He
: has succeeded in that regard.
: Teams are averaging 91.2 points against the Wolves, the fourth fewest
: in the NBA. The Wolves also rank in the top 10 in field-goal percentage
: defense (43.8).
: But numbers don't tell the full story. Their defense has been porous in
: the fourth quarter over the past 21 games, outscored by an average of five
: points (27-22) as opponents shot 49.1 percent.
: Casey's team has lost seven games when leading after three quarters, the
: most in the NBA. The Wolves are 0-6 in games decided by three or fewer points
Casey表示會把重點放在防守方面，他在某些層面的確做到了，灰狼隊平均每場讓對手
得到91.2分，在聯盟中排名第四；對手的命中率為43.8%，也排在聯盟的前十位。但是
事時並未如前面的數字表現的那麼順利，他們在第四節的防守可以說是千瘡百孔，對手
的命中率達到49.1%，灰狼的平均得分也比對手少了五分。灰狼隊已經輸了七場前三節
領先，到第四節卻被逆轉的比賽，這也是全聯盟最多。在三分差距已內的比賽，灰狼的
戰績是難看的0勝6敗。
: Casey hopes the acquisition of Ricky Davis from Boston in the Szczerbiak
: trade will improve the Wolves' mental toughness in close games.
: "I think Ricky Davis' offensive aggressiveness will help that a lot,"
: Casey said.
: Davis averaged 19.7 points a game in Boston. He is a slasher who can attack
: the basket and go one on one against defenders, not unlike former Wolf Latrell
: Sprewell.
: "He reminds me a lot of Gary Payton as far as that type of grittiness and
: toughness," Casey said. "That's what you need, night in and night out, to
: be successful."
: Davis also can quickly switch on defense to provide help.
: "Athleticism is always a good thing," Wolves all-star Kevin Garnett said.
: "And we have a lot of it, so it helps in both offensive and defensive
: situations."
Casey期望從波士頓交易過來的Ricky Davis可以改善灰狼在低分差比賽時所展現的心理
素質。他說："我想他的進攻企圖心能對球隊產生很大的幫助"。Davis本季在塞爾提克有
19.7分的PPG，他是個可以進行一對一作戰的球員，類似之前的Latrel Sprewell。Casey
表示："他那股不服輸的毅力和強悍總讓我聯想到Gary Payton，想要能夠在每場比賽中
獲勝的話，那會是你所需要的東西"。Davis也可以很快在防守端提供貢獻，KG表示："熱
愛比賽絕對是件好事，現在我們有足夠的鬥志，相信很快就能在攻守兩方面產生幫助"。
: In the seven-player trade, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks and Justin Reed also
: came to Minnesota, and Michael Olowokandi was traded to Boston along with
: rookie Dwayne Jones.
: Minnesota's reserves have provided little production, and that's where
: Blount can help. Friday's 96-92 victory at Houston ended a streak of 15
: consecutive games in which opponents' reserves had outscored Minnesota's.
: Casey said Blount would have an opportunity to compete for the starting
: center role. But even if he comes off the bench, he can be effective, as
: he showed with 18 points during Saturday's 102-88 loss at San Antonio.
: Blount made midrange jump shots and looked like much more of a threat on
: offense than Olowokandi. Blount, a 7-footer, averaged 12.4 points a game
: this season for Boston. The Wolves are hungry for more scoring to complement
: Garnett.
在這筆交易當中，灰狼同時得到了Mark Blount、Marcus Banks和Justin Reed三名球員
；而一併送走了Michael Olowokandi和新秀Dwayne Jones。
灰狼隊目前的板凳深度不足，這也是Blount能夠貢獻的地方。在星期五擊敗火箭的比賽
當中，球隊也中止了連續15場比賽板凳球員得分低於對手的慘況。Casey表示Blount有機
會出任球隊的先發中鋒，不過即使如此他還是能做出不少貢獻。就像星期六出戰馬刺的
那場比賽中，Blount得到18分，他展現了中距離跳投能力和勝過Olowokandi非常多的鬥志
。身高七呎的Blount，本季在波士頓每場平均得分是12.4分，他將會是灰狼隊熱切期盼的
那位Garnett的禁區夥伴。
: The trade gives this team a chance to reverse the close losses.
: "All in all, yeah, it's like a fresh start," Garnett said. "You've got whole
: new players, new atmosphere."
: Said Casey: "I'm optimistic once we jell together and get some more time
: together that we'll be fighting, hopefully, for playoff position. But we
: have to get it together pretty quick."
這筆交易讓灰狼有機會大幅減少以低比分差距輸球的比賽場數。KG說到："那的確是一個
很大的改變，就像一個全新的開始，有了很多新球員，就連球隊氣氛也都煥然一新。"
Casey則表示："在球隊團結起來之後，我想一切都會變的樂觀，甚至是回到季後賽的行
列當中，但重點就是我們必須要加快球隊凝聚的速度。"
如果有翻譯的不好的地方，還請大家不吝指教!!!
另外關於交易的一點小心得：
我想這筆交易目前看來是相當不錯的，至少老大目前所表現出來的態度是這樣的。
光看Blount和軟糖這一部分就覺得已經成功一半了，希望還有一些後續的交易。
把人滿為患的PG拿去換一個苦力或是炮台都可以。
總之，灰狼加油!!
Go Go Go!! T-Wolves!!
--
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