2015-07-29

【Aiden in English】

        You can never predict a game’s result. That’s my newest philosophy. A game is something you can never gamble with. The outcome may seem fixed, but the power of probability isn’t as dominant as many think.

        At present, Georgia-Tech’s record was 1-3 solidly plopping us down in the fourth, and the last seed of the ACC. And the team kept digging a hole that trapped itself with no escape. Everyone was angry, blaming others for being bad shooters, for being by rebounders. 

        We have to move on as time goes by. 

        Today the first game we played was against UVA, the number two seed. It wasn’t exactly a blowout but it was a close one. After the first half, it was UVA up by 17. We came back a bit in the late run, and it was just too late. The game ended with UVA 34, and GA-Tech 25. Now we were the lone team in the last seed, two games away from the third seed, Duke. And at the top of the ladder, the king of the hill sat UNC on an all-mighty throw of safety and confidence. There you had GA-Tech going through the trash in order to find treasure. 

        To make us even more depressed, we were facing UNC for the third time of the week. The organizer probably messed up or something, because we played them half of the time in the season. Tough luck is really all it is, I guess. So coming into the game, every kid watching went like: “Good luck out there!” “Try your best!” “It’s okay if you lose.” I wasn’t taking any of it, but my teammates were looking affected, which made me scared. As you know, I was a defenseman. All I did on offense was set screens and pass, trying to help others, not score. However, all our guards were looking unsure of themselves. Right away, the players of UNC took a four-zip lead. I subbed in two minutes later, UNC still on top. Last game we played against the team, it was one kid that crossed up everyone. This time I was put on him, which wasn’t exactly a smart idea. Somehow, I absolutely shut him down. He got only one bucket for the entire first half, which was exponentially tiny compared to the last game. As for the bullies of the point, for some reason, we just were way more physical today. I guarded two people: the crossover kid and the crazy kid. During the game, when we were on offense, I sort of ran around under the net, waiting for a rebound. It came, and the crazy kid was all over me, but I boxed him out. You see, off the court, I liked him. On the court, I didn’t. So I grabbed the rebounds and got fouled on the way back up. Everyone was on fire too, shooting over 60% in the second half. Finally, the game ended with GA-Tech 50, and UNC 33. It was a blowout.

        The number one seed, undefeated, sure team wasn’t going to feed so undefeated or sure anymore. Hey, looking at our team, the probability to winning was slim. But now looking at us again, we became a confident team going into the playoffs. Everyone else, for once, was scared of us, not UNC.

【红霞译文】

        你永远无法预测比赛结果，这是我新近得出的理念，也就是说，决不要赌竞技之类的游戏，比赛结果看似单一，但主观意识很难掌控它的随机性。

        时下我们乔治亚理工学院队一胜三负被狠狠地被甩到第四名的位置上，成为大西洋沿岸联盟中垫底的一支队伍，队员们自掘坟墓，到了一发不可收拾的地步，每个人都窝了一肚子火，抢篮板的张三指责进攻的李四投篮不准，内讧四起。

        随着时间推移，我们必须振作起来。

        今天首场比赛本队迎战的是联盟第二号种子弗吉尼亚大学队，两队实力悬殊不大，比分相当接近。前半场弗吉尼亚大学队领先十七分，终场前我们打出了一个小高潮，可惜为时过晚，结果34比25弗吉尼亚大学队胜乔治亚理工学院队。现在我们是名符其实倒数第一，比第三名杜克大学队要差出两场比赛。在象牙塔上，北卡大学队以胜利者稳健自信的姿态高高盘踞顶端，而我们正忙着拾荒度日。

        最令人郁闷的是，接下来我们还要跟北卡大学队较量，这将是本周以来第三次交锋。组委会大概忙昏了头，生生让两队血拼了半个赛季，真可谓“不是冤家不聚首”。难怪我们登场的时候，旁边助兴的观众不无同情：“祝你们走运！”“好好打！”“输了没关系。”我一点都不在意，但队友们听罢有点挂不住脸，这倒令我担心起来。如你所知，我是防守型球员，一旦打起进攻，顶多充当掩护、传球、助攻，实在胜任不了投篮得分的美差。正当所有后卫不知所措的瞬间，北卡大学队一口气连得四分。两分钟后我换上场，对方仍然领先。记得上次交手时，他们有一球员把我们涮得够呛。本次比赛我被派上场人盯人，就是要专门盯住他不放，这可不是什么明智的举措，可想不到我竟然把他看得动弹不了，整个上半场只投进一个球，与上次比赛相比，简直微不足道。值得强调的还有，不知什么原因，今天这场球大家打得虎虎生威，我紧逼防守，让胯下运球和疯狂投篮的两位队手减少威胁；只要本队进攻，我即刻跑到篮下做好抢篮板球的准备，害得那个疯狂投篮的对手围着我团团转，其实场下我挺喜欢这小子，但在场上没法跟他友好。我毫不客气抓住篮板球，回传的时候引他犯规。队里其他队员也表现出色，投篮命中率达到百分之六十以上。比赛结束时，乔治亚理工学院队终以50比33战胜北卡大学队，爆出了大冷门。

        曾经冠上头号种子、战无不胜、名不虚传的球队不再保持所向披靡坚不可摧的神话战绩，嘿，别看我们这支队伍过去赢球的几率小之又小，而今却朝气自信，早已做好决赛的准备。风水轮流转，乔治亚理工学院队总算有一天让其它球队刮目相看。