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. 

【红霞译文】

        费城七六人队篮球寄宿营的第一天令人辛苦不堪，而第二天过得更加艰难，新的挑战一个接着一个。每天我都凯旋而归，想必其他队友同样收获连连。在这种环境里，若想提高比赛水平，我得不遗余力尽早纠正弱点。

        为了提高技艺，人人需要找出欠缺所在，对我而言即软肋致命的地方。开始的时候，我恐怕算作夏令营里性格最温和的球员，难怪苍蝇都敢跟我较劲，更不要说某些身高马大六年级野小子们。论个头，我的确有点鹤立鸡群，正因如此，我必须学会卡位抢篮板技巧，套用一周前我在费城运动中心夏令营打球时教练的原话，所谓卡位无非就是“用屁股挤兑对方的腰部，让他无法得手”。这不，在当天首场比赛上我一分未得，自己倒是看得很开，不过咱篮板球抢得不错，尽管没有直接得分，但能漂亮地截住几个篮板还是挺让人开心的，“啪”！双手拦住对方后卫准备接应的篮板球，心中感觉非常奇妙。第一节比赛我所在的乔治亚理工学院队比南卡大学队落后五分，防守反复出现漏洞。对方控球后卫带球造成我们犯规，大家拿他一点辄儿也没有。他于我节奏太快，而于其他跑动敏捷的队友又块头过大。说来有点滑稽，乔治亚理工学院队除了我和另外两位又壮又高的队员之外，剩下的七位全部小巧玲珑，比赛时我们只好按高矮搭配，无法依水平优劣派兵上场，一旦遇到像南卡大学队这号球星，大家顿时垂头丧气。俗话说得好：“天有不测风云，人有福祸旦夕”，比赛场上形势瞬息万变。转眼之间，我们一口气连续拿下十四分，而对方则像关闭按钮似的，传球失误，投球不中，球星又被换下场去，简直就是火上浇油。半场结束时，我们以21比10领先十一分。

        并非每场比赛都尽人意，今天第二场便是最佳例证。一开局我们出师不利，白白送给对手北卡大学队十分，他们轻松地带球上篮，罚球时后卫又能避开防守补球入框。前场阵脚更乱，我们进攻受挫，频繁出现失误，教练统计了一下，整个比赛至少有十五次拱手让对方得球。然而好事多磨，到了第四节最后几分钟，局势急转直下，原本十分的差距逐渐变成四分、两分、一分，离终场结束仅剩下三秒钟，我们得到两次罚球机会，该场球赛虽然赶不上锦标赛水平，但压力同样不小，瞧投篮的球手，哇塞，他真有点哆嗦。

        近观篮球，不难让我发现许多超越想象的球技打法。本人虽然水平有限，但却希望永葆进步。接着说完上面的罚球，没错，两次先后失误，无形之中又给篮球平添另外一门课题──坚持到底，即使失败也不轻言放弃。