2015-07-27

【Aiden in English】

        Day one was difficult, but day two gets harder, and the challenges grow daily at the 76ers Overnight Camp. Although every day I spend here at the camp means that I get better, others also increase at the same time. So if I want to up my game, I’d better get working on my weakness really quick. 

        To improve your skill, you gotta know what you are not as good at or, rather in my case, suck at. In the beginning, I was the softest guy in the camp. A fly could push me aside, not to mention other big-bad-sixth-graders. I was sort of taller than most of the players somehow, and so I had to work on boxing out. The definition of boxing out was said by my PSC coach a week ago was, quote: “stick your butt into the other person’s waist, and then push him back.” During our first league game of the day, I had no points, which I was okay with. But what I liked was the number of rebounds I grabbed. Although it wasn’t out of this worldly, I still got some decent rebounds that I felt good about. It’s just a nice feeling of the solid “smack!” of ball meeting with two hands of an outstretched defender. The first game started with Georgia Tech down five points to USC (South Carolina), and we were being tossed around on defense. There was a point guard who drove and drew fouls every time, and we couldn’t stop him. He was too fast for me, but in the meanwhile, too tall for our fast guys. My team was a little interesting. Georgia Tech had me and two others, big and tall, while the remaining seven were small and quick. That usually left us to pair up by height, not skill. When it came to people like the USC’s star, we sort of scratched our heads. However, the game flipped in an instant, and we scored 14 straight points. The other team seemed like a switch that was flipped or something else. Bad passes and terrible shots were put up. The star then subbed out, which added more fuel to the already raging blaze. At half time, we were up by 11, 21 to 10.

        Not all games go your way though, and the second of the day didn’t. The game started out bad enough, a 10-point lead given to our opponents, UNC. They got to the rack with ease, and on free throws went around the defenders like a linebacker going for a sack. The other side was even worse. The game for us on offense was turnover after turnover. Our coach counted at least 15 for the game. Just as things seemed over, however, the tables turned in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. An enormous 10-point lead slowly became four points, then two, and then one. Finally, with 3 seconds left, we had two free throws. This may not be the championships, but the pressure was on. As for the kid taking free throws, he was a bit, ah, shaky. 

        Basketball, up close, has many more skills than I thought. Although I suck at most, I can improve upon them (I hope). As for the free throw, well, they both missed. That’s another skill for basketball. Not to give up, even over losses. 

【紅霞譯文】

        費城七六人隊籃球寄宿營的第一天令人辛苦不堪，而第二天過得更加艱難，新的挑戰一個接着一個。每天我都凱旋而歸，想必其他隊友同樣收穫連連。在這種環境裡，若想提高比賽水平，我得不遺餘力儘早糾正弱點。

        為了提高技藝，人人需要找出欠缺所在，對我而言即軟肋致命的地方。開始的時候，我恐怕算作夏令營里性格最溫和的球員，難怪蒼蠅都敢跟我較勁，更不要說某些身高馬大六年級野小子們。論個頭，我的確有點鶴立雞群，正因如此，我必須學會卡位搶籃板技巧，套用一周前我在費城運動中心夏令營打球時教練的原話，所謂卡位無非就是“用屁股擠兌對方的腰部，讓他無法得手”。這不，在當天首場比賽上我一分未得，自己倒是看得很開，不過咱籃板球搶得不錯，儘管沒有直接得分，但能漂亮地截住幾個籃板還是挺讓人開心的，“啪”！雙手攔住對方後衛準備接應的籃板球，心中感覺非常奇妙。第一節比賽我所在的喬治亞理工學院隊比南卡大學隊落後五分，防守反覆出現漏洞。對方控球後衛帶球造成我們犯規，大家拿他一點輒兒也沒有。他於我節奏太快，而於其他跑動敏捷的隊友又塊頭過大。說來有點滑稽，喬治亞理工學院隊除了我和另外兩位又壯又高的隊員之外，剩下的七位全部小巧玲瓏，比賽時我們只好按高矮搭配，無法依水平優劣派兵上場，一旦遇到像南卡大學隊這號球星，大家頓時垂頭喪氣。俗話說得好：“天有不測風雲，人有福禍旦夕”，比賽場上形勢瞬息萬變。轉眼之間，我們一口氣連續拿下十四分，而對方則像關閉按鈕似的，傳球失誤，投球不中，球星又被換下場去，簡直就是火上澆油。半場結束時，我們以21比10領先十一分。

        並非每場比賽都盡人意，今天第二場便是最佳例證。一開局我們出師不利，白白送給對手北卡大學隊十分，他們輕鬆地帶球上籃，罰球時後衛又能避開防守補球入框。前場陣腳更亂，我們進攻受挫，頻繁出現失誤，教練統計了一下，整個比賽至少有十五次拱手讓對方得球。然而好事多磨，到了第四節最後幾分鐘，局勢急轉直下，原本十分的差距逐漸變成四分、兩分、一分，離終場結束僅剩下三秒鐘，我們得到兩次罰球機會，該場球賽雖然趕不上錦標賽水平，但壓力同樣不小，瞧投籃的球手，哇塞，他真有點哆嗦。

        近觀籃球，不難讓我發現許多超越想象的球技打法。本人雖然水平有限，但卻希望永葆進步。接着說完上面的罰球，沒錯，兩次先後失誤，無形之中又給籃球平添另外一門課題──堅持到底，即使失敗也不輕言放棄。