選Greg Oden,按一次喇叭;選Kevin Durant就按兩次。上面這張照片,據說是波特蘭某公路上的告示牌。
再過幾個小時,2007 NBA選秀就要展開。Greg Oden和Kevin Durant究竟誰會成為狀元,由於近來拓荒者總經理Kevin Pritchard大放煙霧彈,原本極為肯定的答案,反而變得模糊起來。拓荒者官網首頁,就是Oden or Durant的投票,到目前為止Oden獲得67%選票,Durant則拿到1/3。這證明絕大多數的球迷,依然同意長人主宰性較強的說法。
下面這篇CBS Sportsline作家Gregg Doyel的文章說得好,雖然Pritchard大打迷糊仗,雖然Durant的天份毫無疑問,但如果他真的跳過Oden而選了Durant,他絕對是NBA現役最笨的總經理。
Honk once for Oden, twice if you're dumb enough to pass him up理由很簡單,儘管NBA裡有再多飛簷走壁式的神人,但在長人領導下奪得冠軍的比例,還是高一點,遠的就不提了,近代的案例就有O'Neal、David Robinson、Hakeem Olajuwon,所以拓荒者選擇Oden是再簡單不過的決定。
Kevin Durant will be a great pro. That's pretty much a given. He's generally described as a taller Tracy McGrady or a shorter Kevin Garnett, and if his career arc lands anywhere on that dart board he will be an All-Star within two years.
But if the Trail Blazers are thinking of drafting Durant, even maybe, then Kevin Pritchard should be tested for a chronic case of stupid.
Kevin Durant is no Greg Oden. Hell, Patrick Ewing is no Greg Oden. And Patrick Ewing was a pretty good pro, no? Almost 25,000 career points. More than 11,000 rebounds. Eleven All-Star Games. Hall of Fame. Ewing was one of the best centers ever.話雖如此,Pritchard還說不定真有這麼笨,數小時之後即可分曉。
Oden's better. Or he will be better. Oden and Ewing put up almost identical numbers in their final year of college, but Ewing was a senior. Oden was a freshman with one good wrist. That was their starting point. We know what Ewing became. What will Oden become? Something greater than Ewing, like David Robinson or Hakeem Olajuwon or maybe even Shaquille O'Neal -- great centers who, unlike Ewing, won NBA titles.
How many championships have Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett won, again?
Pritchard has to take Oden. Simply has to. The NBA is full of long athletes who can score from all over: McGrady, LeBron, Nowitzki, Vince, Paul Pierce, Garnett, Carmelo, Kobe, Bosh, Rashard Lewis, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson. Durant's going to be better than some of those guys, but to count the number of Durant-like players in the NBA, guys who can score 30 any given night, you'd need every finger you've got, plus a few toes.
今年的選秀被喻為deep draft,有不少的好人才。但是照選前新聞看起來,屆時未選先賣或是先選後賣的交易可能又是滿天飛。
Kevin Garnett是否真如傳聞,會被轉手至太陽隊,而太陽前鋒Amare Stoudemire則轉至老鷹隊,也頗為令人玩味。新任太陽GM Steve Kerr如果真的完成這筆交易,會是一項正確的抉擇。首先,他必須快速證明自己的能力,快速提昇太陽戰力,這一切都只為了掌握時機,因為Steve Nash的好光景大概也沒幾年了;何況,NBA球隊突圍的時機往往有如曇花一現,一兩年打不出頭,機會之窗隨即關閉。
只要看看小牛隊,就是很好的例子。