[轉錄][討論] Francis eyeing bounce-back year

看板SteveFrancis作者hermfrancis時間17年前 (2007/08/15 22:45)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

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※ [本文轉錄自 Rockets 看板] 作者: SMALLZCH (嗯嗯嗯) 看板: Rockets 標題: [討論] Francis eyeing bounce-back year 時間: Wed Aug 15 21:04:56 2007 轉自hoopchina Steve Francis, shown here in 2000, chose to return to the Rockets over offers from the Heat, Clippers and Mavericks. Steve Francis拒絕了熱火、快艇和小牛的邀請回到休士頓，他第一次來到這裡是2000年。 Steve Francis had a good reason for delaying an interview. 他完全有充分的理由叫記者們再等一會。 "Can you hold on a minute, man?" Francis asked politely. "I need to get in this hot tub. My whole body is killing me." “請再等等，”Francis客氣的說，“我要洗個熱水澡，難受死了。” Since signing a one-year, $2.4 million contract (with a player option for a second season) last month to return to Houston, the 30-year-old Francis has tortured his body at Tulane University with one clear, concise goal in mind: to reclaim his status as one of the league's premier point guards. 上個月他回到休士頓，和火箭簽下一年240萬的年薪（第二年球員選項），從那以後，30歲的Francis就一直在杜蘭大學進行艱苦的訓練，他的目的很清楚，很明確他要重溫往日聯盟最佳控衛的夢想。 "I was never 100 percent last season," said Francis, who suffered from knee and ankle injuries and played only 44 games with the Knicks. "There was no significant damage, but there was a lot of wear and tear." “上賽季我打得並非百分之百的好，”他說。受困於膝傷和踝傷，他只打了44場比賽。“ 受傷並不嚴重，但很折磨人。” Francis rises at 8 a.m., five mornings a week, for 2? hours of rehab on his left leg. At 10:30, he moves into conditioning drills, and at 2 p.m., he finally starts his basketball workout. "It's a grind," Francis said. On weekends he flies back to Houston, where he visits with his wife and daughter in the house that he built shortly after signing his first NBA contract. Francis早上8點開始訓練，每周5天，上午進行2.5小時左腿恢復性訓練，10:30開始體能訓練，下午2點開始籃球訓練。“很艱苦，”他說。周末回休士頓和妻女團聚。簽下第一份 NBA合同後，他就在休士頓買下了現在的豪宅。 For Francis, a return to Houston can't be considered a homecoming, because to him, he never really left after playing there from 1999 to 2004. He spends offseasons in Texas and returns for visits during regular-season breaks. When it came time to rehab his injured knee last season, Francis returned to Houston and worked with another player trying to come back from injury: Rockets center Yao Ming. 對他來說，重回休士頓並不意味著回家。2004年離開火箭后，家並沒有搬走。每到球季結束或球季中的假日，他都會回Texas。上賽季他在休士頓恢復膝傷，和火箭中鋒姚明在一起，他也在養傷。 Yao's presence played a significant role in Francis' decision to return to Texas. Even after his divorce from the Rockets, Francis remained in contact with Yao, his teammate for two seasons. Before he rejoined Houston, Francis spoke at length with Yao as well as Tracy McGrady. Francis的回歸姚明特別重要。在他被火箭送走後，姚明和他保持了2個賽季的密切關係。重回火箭之前，他和姚明、T-mac進行了深切的溝通。 "I wanted to know where they stood," said Francis, who earned the nickname "Stevie Franchise" during his first stint in Houston. "Yao and I talk all the time, but I wanted to talk to both of them about joining what they had started." “我想知道他們的想法，”他說。當年在火箭的時候，他的外號是“Stevie Franchise” 。“姚明和我一直有交流，但現在我想告訴他們，他們開創的局面我要加入進來。” Suffice it to say, the Rockets' All-Stars were on board. "Both guys wanted Steve," general manager Daryl Morey said. "I try to keep them updated on every major move, and the reaction from them was, 'We didn't think we had a chance at Steve.' But once they did, they both wanted to get him here." 完全可以這樣說，現在火箭隊的全明星都已經上路了。“他們倆都想Steve回來，”Morey 說。“簽約的每一步我都及時告訴他們，但他們的反應是：‘Morey可能不會回來。’但一旦知道Morey真的會回來，他們都伸出了歡迎的雙手。” Francis, a three-time All-Star, has seen his career slowly decline since his stormy departure from the Rockets in June 2004, when he was dealt to Orlando for McGrady after a season spent clashing with coach Jeff Van Gundy. Though Francis initially welcomed the trade, the relief he felt quickly turned to anger when the Magic shipped Cuttino Mobley, Francis's best friend and backcourt mate in Houston, to Sacramento in January 2005. When word of the trade came down, a distraught Francis wept openly in the visiting locker room in Boston. Francis曾3次入選全明星，但自從2004年鬧得不可開交而被交易之後，狀態就開始慢慢下滑。在火箭他和小范矛盾不合，結果被送到奧蘭多換T-mac。一開始Francis也歡迎這筆交易，但沒等多久，高興就變成了憤怒，因為2005年魔術把他的好友Mobley送去了國王， Mobley在休士頓是後衛線上 Francis的搭檔。當交易的消息傳來時， Francis簡直發瘋了，他在更衣室裡面隊眾多記者前面大哭。 The following season, Francis began to rebel. In a game against Seattle, he refused Magic coach Brian Hill's request to re-enter the game with time winding down and Orlando trailing by 16 points. His defiance earned him a three-game suspension, and although he would later apologize, the damage had already been done. Seventeen games later, Francis was traded to the Knicks. 接下來的球季， Francis開始和球隊交惡。在打超音速時，他甚至拒絕教練Brian Hill的要求上場比賽，僅管當時比賽時間已非常緊迫，結果魔術輸了16分。這一鬧讓他吃了3場禁賽，雖然後來道歉，但這對他的傷害已不可避免。17場比賽後，他被送到了尼克。 Things didn't improve in the bright lights of Manhattan, where Francis paired with Stephon Marbury to form a backcourt tandem of players with similar games. Despite being billed as coach Larry Brown's hand-selected pick, Francis finished the 2005-06 season averaging only 10.8 points in 24 games with the Knicks and quickly found himself entrenched in Brown's doghouse. Then came the injury-plagued '06-07 season, in which Francis averaged a career-low 11.3 points. 在曼哈頓明媚的陽光下，事情並沒有好轉。他和Marbury搭檔一前一後組成後衛線，這是他習慣的打法。僅管被名教練Larry Brown親手挑中的人物，但05－06球季Francis在尼克只拿下平均10.8分的成績，打了24場球，很快他發現自己並不適合布朗的戰術。06－07球季的受傷使他創下11.3分的生涯新低。 "You know, besides the injuries, I think the timing was bad in New York," Francis said. "There was no bickering between myself and players and coaches. I was just never totally comfortable in the offense. Stephon and I, we probably tried to defer to each other too much. We never played our games." “你知道，除了受傷，我去的時機似乎也不好。”Francis說。“我和隊友，教練之間並沒有矛盾，但不知道為什麼進攻總是很彆扭。Stephon和我，也許我們互相都太讓了。讓來讓去結果誰也沒有打出氣勢來。” Francis chooses his words carefully when discussing his Knicks tenure, likely because he prefers to look at his time away as a sabbatical in the career of a lifelong Rocket. When the Knicks dealt him to Portland for Zach Randolph on draft night, Francis immediately began thinking of a possible return to Houston. 談起尼克的日子，Francis的口氣明顯小心起來，好像他更願意把自己的職業生涯看作休士頓，而在外的漂流只是休息日，休息而已。選秀之夜尼克把他交易到拓荒者，交換 Randolph，Francis馬上就想到回到休士頓。 "I never wanted to play in Portland," Francis said. "I never even thought about it. Portland has a young nucleus and a lot of talent, but I wanted to be in a veteran situation." “從來就不想去波特蘭打球，”Francis說。“想都沒想過。波特蘭有一個年輕的核心和不少很有才華的球員，但我想到一支成熟的球隊打球。” When the Trail Blazers bought out the remainder of Francis' contract for $30 million, the suitors began to line up: Miami (which offered more money), the Clippers (who offered Mobley --"he must have called me 1,000 times," Francis said) and Dallas (which offered the best chance at a championship). But Francis' heart was in Houston. 當拓荒者將買斷3000萬的剩餘合約後，追求他的球隊立刻排成了長隊。邁阿密提供了更豐厚的薪金，快艇有Mobley（他至少給我打了1000通電話，Francis說），而達拉斯有最好的奪總冠軍機會，但Francis的心在休士頓。 "Sure, there were other options," Francis said. "It was a tough decision. But this is where I want to be." “當然，還有其他的選擇，”Francis說。“做這個決定很難，但休士頓是我想去的地方。” "Players have a short window to make their money," Morey said. "And after we signed Luis Scola, we didn't have much. Steve turned down a lot more money to play with us." “其實，球員賺錢的時間並不長，”Morey說。“簽下Scola後，我們薪資空間所剩無幾。但Steve放棄了大合約來和我們打球。” The Rockets are hoping Francis will play 70-80 games next season and blend seamlessly into new coach Rick Adelman's pass-and-cut offense. "The goal is to get all our guys playing together by the playoffs," Morey said. "We are really making a one-year bet on Steve. But we hope he can play in all 82. 火箭希望Francis下球季能打70－80場，能百分百地融入Adelman的傳切進攻體系。“我們的目標是，到季後賽我們能打成一個整體，”Morey說。“我們要在Steve身上賭一年，我們希望他能打82場。” "We felt there was still a bit of a gap between us and the top teams. Steve gets us closer." “本來我們覺得和頂級球隊有差距，但Steve的到來把差距縮小了。” Though he will have to learn to adjust to life as Houston's third-tier star, Francis is eager for a chance to become the missing link in the team's championship quest. "I can contribute at any position," he said. "Once training camp comes around, I'll be ready to go out there and ball." 雖然Francis需要調整心態，學習做火箭三頭馬車中的老三，但他期盼著能在火箭追逐總冠軍的征途上，補上曾經失去的那一塊拼圖。“我什麼位置都可以得分，”他說。“就等訓練營開始了，我會全力以赴的，打的痛快淋漓。” -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.165.44.180 ※ 編輯: SMALLZCH 來自: 218.165.44.180 (08/15 21:10)