2017-03-17

【Aiden in English】

        Semifinal time. By now, teams are all capable of playing basketball. What I mean is that the teams remaining are all somewhat competitive. Unlike the 0-10 team we played in the last quarterfinal, the survivors all have winning records. Facing the fourth seed, we felt pretty confident going into this semi.

        We had no idea who we were going up against.

        So, okay, the dark green team had beat us once before. Then again, we beat them too. The only thing to worry about was the rumored star 6-foot monster who played on a high school varsity team.

        At school, the team who played them in the first round were chattering about a guy who pulled up from half-court, threw accurate behind-the-back passes, and dribbled in between defenders’ legs. I’m not sure how that’s even possible, so, therefore, I somewhat disregarded their warnings.

        Unfortunately, most of what they said was true. When game time arrived, I saw an unfamiliar tall player on the opposite team. During warm-ups, he seemed to be able to dribble awfully well. But as the game started, he sat for the first few minutes.

        And that possibly led to the best start we’ve had all season. Off the tip, we got an easy lay-up. Following the first points, our press forced tons of travels and bad passes, which resulted in more easy lay-ups. Within the first two minutes, the score was 9-0, and we felt really good.

        Then, when the second quarter came around, we were the ones who were pressed, and the lead was gone. The 6-foot guy actually played point guard, which felt weird since he was everywhere at once. And unfortunately, he was probably the best player in the league. Not only did he dribble and penetrate our zone like a knife through butter, but he also found tons of openings along the baseline to pass to. Simple plays like that really killed our defense. However, we hung in the game for a long time. Up until the fourth quarter, we had been trading the lead back and forth. I think this was a great game, as neither team showed signs of weakness.

        Like I said, it was close until the fourth quarter. Their point guard began to rain threes from distances unimaginable. We turned the ball over and over again.

        And somehow, after getting destroyed on defense, we were within seven points. Our press kept giving us second chances which fed hope to us. But then, the tall guy was subbed in again, and that was the end of our season.

        I think that this season taught me so much about basketball, more than I ever would’ve learned by myself. It was a great experience, and I think now, I finally understand this sport. Just going to say it, football is a great sport to watch, but basketball is one for me to play, and that’s why I’m probably am going to do the summer league as well.

【紅霞譯文】

        半決賽來了。到目前為止，所有球隊打得不賴，我指的是依然活躍在球場上的球隊都有點爭強好勝，不像首輪四分之一決賽我們的對手竟是常規賽中禿頭隊，晉級者全部戰績赫赫。今天相遇的是四號種子隊，我們蠻有信心打好這場半決賽。

        大夥對勁敵底細毫不知情。

        哦，不是冤家不聚頭。之前深綠色球隊曾給我隊下馬威，而我隊則以牙還牙回擊過他們，唯一值得憂慮地，據說對方有一位身高6英尺／1.83米的殺手，他是高中校隊現任球員。

        在學校，凡是第一輪常規賽中與他交手過的哥兒們都說這傢伙不僅能從半場投籃入筐，而且背後換手傳球到位，在防守隊員胯下運球自如，我對如此邪乎的傳言置若罔聞，內心並未引起足夠重視。

        真是曹操遇蔣干，多數流言蜚語並非空穴來風。剛到比賽現場，我一眼認出對方那位陌生高大的球員。做準備活動期間，他運球好像特別嫻熟，不過開賽幾分鐘，他一直坐在場外當板凳隊員。

        這才有可能讓我隊先聲奪人，打出本賽季以來開局最佳水平。雙方爭球後，我隊輕鬆上籃，接着緊逼防守迫使對方走步傳球失誤，這樣得分的機會更多。沒過兩分鐘，我們先以9比0領先，心裡樂開了花。

        第二節拉開序幕，我隊反被對方緊逼動彈不得，逐漸失去領先優勢。儘管這位6英尺／1.83米巨人出任控球後衛，但他滿場飛奔無處不在。今兒算倒了八輩子邪霉，全俱樂部最佳球員竟然被我們撞個正着，他不僅運球老道突破聯防能力高強，而且想方設法從底線找到缺口，他的出現完全打亂我隊防守，不過大家頑強抵抗堅持了好一陣子，直到第四節我隊頻繁調換主力，正因出戰雙方互不示弱，使得這場比賽精彩激烈。

        如前面提到的那樣，本次交鋒直到第四節才見分曉，對方控衛遠距離三分球命中率奇高，我隊亂了陣腳接連失誤。

        不知怎的，在防守失利的情況下，我隊始終把比分差保持在七分之內，全場緊逼又帶來第二次機會。天有不測風雲，那位人高馬大的傢伙重新披甲上陣，可我隊回天乏力，只好告別球場打道回府。

        我認為本季籃賽教我很多東西，比個人自修收穫更大，這種經歷極其寶貴，現在我終於對這項運動有所感悟，對我而言，美式橄欖球刺激好看，是一項觀賞性運動；籃球愜意好玩，是一項娛樂性運動，這正是為什麼我有可能參加夏季聯賽的原因。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2011: 胚胎發育學(Embryology)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

2017 Twp Rec B-ball Quarterfinal(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球四分之一賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-10(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球隊第十場比賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-9(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球隊第九場比賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-8(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球隊第八場比賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-5(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球隊第五場比賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-3(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球第三場比賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-2(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球隊第二場比賽)

2017 Twp Rec Basketball Game-1(2017年鄉村娛樂籃球隊第一場比賽)