老樹新花

Apart from a single photo from each of their four championship seasons， there are few reminders of the San Antonio Spurs’rich history near their locker room at the ATT Center. Down a long white hallway where action shots of each of San Antonio’s active players are displayed， the title photos -- those uncomfortable team portraits with everyone from the equipment manager to team owner --hang above metal boxes into which television stations plug their equipment. Cameras， microphones and small monitors are often left sitting on the floor under these team photos as people go about their business before the game. It is the messy part of an empty wing， far from a cherished section designed to immortalize Spurs teams reaching the ultimate achievement.

在ATT中心球館的更衣室里，除了四張奪得總冠軍陣容的全家福外，沒有太多紀(jì)念品能讓你想起圣安東尼奧馬刺隊悠久的隊史。白色長廊的盡頭擺的是現(xiàn)役每一名馬刺球員的照片，在這些照片旁邊，掛的就是總冠軍陣容的全家?！@些全家福包括了從器材經(jīng)理到球隊老板的每個人，但不是每個人笑得都很自然。這些全家福掛在了一些金屬盒子的上方，而轉(zhuǎn)播方經(jīng)常把自己的器材和這些金屬盒子連在一起。每到賽前，當(dāng)所有人開始忙碌自己的工作時，相機、麥克風(fēng)甚至小監(jiān)視器都會被放在這些照片下方的地面上。這不過是場館里一個亂糟糟的角落，這里和人們想象中紀(jì)念馬刺取得最終勝利的榮譽室，相差甚遠(yuǎn)。

In the players’ lockers hang jerseys with accents that are oh， so familiar. Like it has for years， white trim outlines the black for the numbers 21， 20 and 9 and black lettering for the names “Duncan，” “Ginobili” and“Parker.” But these days they sometimes sit atop a camouflage pattern， a tribute to San Antonio’s large military community， or a silver alternate with a large single spur on the front.

球員更衣室里掛著的那些隊服，怎么說呢，給人一種特別熟悉的感覺。多年如一，白色底色配上黑色細(xì)邊，上面還有黑色的21、20和9號，以及“鄧肯”、“吉諾比利”和“帕克”的名字。不過最近這些日子里，配合著這些名字的底色變成了迷彩色，這是為了向圣安東尼奧廣大的軍人社區(qū)致敬。有時候還會是一套純銀色隊服，只在胸前有一個馬刺隊標(biāo)。

The Spurs have won at least 50 games in 14 straight seasons， an NBA record. They’ve had the same coach for 18 seasons， the same star player for 16 seasons and the same “Big Three” for about a decade. It’s a franchise steeped in history.

連續(xù)14個賽季，馬刺在常規(guī)賽都取得了至少50勝的成績，這是NBA的歷史紀(jì)錄。過去18年，他們用的是同一個主教練。過去16年，他們有著同一個明星球員，而距離“三巨頭”的組建，也過去差不多十年時光。這是一支根植于歷史的球隊。

But amid all the consistency， this franchise is constantly evolving. San Antonio was one of the early adopters of the SportVU① camera tracking system. Last season， the Spurs became the first team in NBA history to go textfree when they debuted their gray alternate jerseys， declining to put a city or nickname on the front of the jersey and simply featuring that spur on the chest. There is now an in-house DJ for home games and， to my knowledge， Gregg Popovich has yet to order his execution. Tim Duncan （37 years old） and Manu Ginobili （36） will be retired soon enough， but the maturation of Kawhi Leonard （22） has the team optimistic about its future.

但在這種穩(wěn)定和持久當(dāng)中，這支球隊也是在不斷進化的。馬刺是聯(lián)盟中最早使用球員追蹤系統(tǒng)的球隊之一。上賽季，當(dāng)馬刺第一次展示自己黑色的新隊服時，他們成為NBA歷史上第一支不在隊服上留下任何文字標(biāo)注的球隊，馬刺放棄將城市或者球隊綽號寫在隊服的正面，而僅一個馬刺的圖案代替。如今馬刺的主場比賽時會有一個駐場DJ，據(jù)我所知，格雷格·波波維奇尚未有退休打算。37歲的蒂姆·鄧肯和36歲的馬努·吉諾比利很快就會退役，但22歲的卡瓦伊·萊納德的不斷成熟，讓球隊對自己的未來充滿樂觀。

There are changes to this roster， but on the floor the product has been maintained， and that continuity is paramount. Twelve players return from a team that finished an excruciating 28 seconds away from an NBA title last season. Ten of those players were on San Antonio’s roster the previous year， when the Spurs squandered a 2-0 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.

這支球隊對自己的陣容做出過調(diào)整，但球場上的戰(zhàn)績卻始終能夠得到保持，這種持續(xù)性也至關(guān)重要。上賽季的馬刺距離總冠軍只差28秒，這段極為痛苦的經(jīng)歷過后，有12名球員再次回到了球隊。其中有10名球員之前一年也是在馬刺效力，那一年，馬刺曾在西部決賽中以2比0領(lǐng)先俄克拉何馬雷霆，但雷霆最終反敗為勝。

After San Antonio dispatched the Grizzlies in a four-game sweep in last season’s Western Conference finals， the message resonating from San Antonio was about how happy the team was to get Duncan back to the NBA Finals. “We really want to do it for him，”Tony Parker said at the time， pleased he was able to make good on a promise he made to Duncan. The team sounded like a happy family relieved to get one more time together before life took each their separate ways. Some wondered if Duncan would retire after the season.

當(dāng)馬刺在上賽季西部決賽里4比0輕松戰(zhàn)勝灰熊后，全隊上下傳遞著一個統(tǒng)一的信息，他們很高興能讓鄧肯重新站在總決賽的舞臺上。“我們真的想為他做這件事。”托尼·帕克那時這樣說道，他很高興，自己實現(xiàn)了曾對鄧肯許下的諾言。馬刺隊內(nèi)的氣氛就像一個快樂的大家庭，在生活迫使他們分開前，他們很高興能再得到一次機會。還有人猜測，鄧肯是否會在賽季結(jié)束后退役。

It was an understandable feeling. Duncan， Parker， Ginobili and Popovich know more than anyone how difficult the road to the Finals is， how many things have to fall into place in order to play into June. The Spurs were as healthy as they had ever been last season. Duncan has battled a deteriorating left knee over the second half of his career， but played 69 regularseason games and produced his best per-game averages in three years. Even Ginobili， who is usually good for one catastrophic injury per season， only dealt with small injuries of the soft tissue variety and played 60 games during the regular season.

這種感受不難理解。鄧肯、帕克、吉諾比利和波波維奇比任何人都明白打進總決賽到底有多艱難，為了能拼到六月，不能出現(xiàn)太多差錯。上賽季，馬刺保持了最好的健康狀態(tài)。職業(yè)生涯后半段左膝狀態(tài)的惡化一直困擾著鄧肯，但他卻打完了69場常規(guī)賽，而且打出了近三年來最好的數(shù)據(jù)。連吉諾比利這個幾乎每賽季都會出現(xiàn)重大傷病的球員，也只出現(xiàn)了輕微拉傷這種小傷，在常規(guī)賽中出場了60場比賽。

Now after 103 games in 2012-13 and a summer full of international play for some of the team， including Parker， this Spurs team is going to play another 100 games and make it back to the Finals？

經(jīng)歷過2012-13賽季的103場比賽，加上諸如帕克這種在夏天打過國際比賽的球員，如今這支馬刺還能再打100多場比賽，并且重回總決賽嗎？

Yet a quick survey of the Western Conference suggests there’s no reason San Antonio can’t do just that. Every other West contender -- the Thunder， Clippers， Rockets and Warriors -- has a fatal flaw greater than San Antonio. And unlike the Spurs， they’re all figuring it out on the fly.

一個針對西部聯(lián)盟的快速調(diào)查顯示，馬刺沒理由不繼續(xù)自己的良好表現(xiàn)。西部其他任何一個總冠軍競爭者——雷霆、快船、火箭和勇士——相比馬刺都存在各自的致命缺陷。和馬刺不同的是，他們都必須在短期內(nèi)解決自己的問題。

Questions persist about the mental and emotional toll Game 6 of last season’s Finals had on the team， when the Spurs couldn’t secure a defensive rebound to clinch the series and ended up losing in overtime. “I think about Game 6 every day，” Popovich concedes. Other Spurs have similar stories， and who can blame them？ San Antonio was seconds from being crowned champion， only to watch it disappear in a tangle of gold ropes on the AmericanAirlines Arena court in Miami. Two days later， in Game 7， the Spurs fell again.

上賽季總決賽第六場，馬刺沒能保護住一個后場籃板，這導(dǎo)致他們隨后在季后賽輸球，并且輸?shù)袅丝倹Q賽。這段經(jīng)歷給球隊精神和影響上到底造成了多少影響，現(xiàn)在仍是疑問?！拔颐刻於荚谙氲诹鶊龅氖?。”波波維奇承認(rèn)。其他馬刺球員也有同樣的感受，誰又能責(zé)怪他們呢？馬刺距離最后的總冠軍就差了幾秒鐘，他們眼睜睜地看著獎杯在邁阿密美航球館的黃色警戒線后漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。兩天后，在總決賽第七場，馬刺再次錯失了機會。

But the NBA season is such a long one. By the time the playoffs roll around Game 6 will seem like an eternity ago. The Spurs realize the painful memories will linger， never to go away completely， but there’s nothing they can do but play their way through it. It hasn’t gotten in their way so far： The Spurs currently sit at the top of the Western Conference with a 10-1 record， their best start through 1 1 games since 2010-1 1 when San Antonio began the season 13-1.

NBA的賽季無比漫長。等到本賽季季后賽開始時，第六場比賽就好像上輩子發(fā)生的事情一樣了。馬刺球員明白，這段痛苦的記憶會持續(xù)下去，而且永遠(yuǎn)不會徹底消失，他們能做的，只有通過自己的努力讓這段記憶成為歷史。到目前為止，這段回憶沒有成為馬刺的障礙：目前，球隊以10勝1負(fù)的成績位居西部頭名，這是2010-11賽季以來，開局前11場比賽中馬刺取得的最好成績，他們在2010-11賽季取得了13勝1負(fù)。

Aided in large part by the lack of gettingto-know-you period that so many other teams around the league are experiencing， the Spurs are second in the league in defensive efficiency behind the only other 10-1 team， the Indiana Pacers. The offense resides in the middle of the pack right now， but if San Antonio regains its rhythm and Duncan improves on his nightmarish 38 percent shooting， the offense will creep closer to elite once again.

聯(lián)盟中不少球隊正在經(jīng)歷球員之間互相熟悉這個階段，省去了這個步驟的馬刺顯然頗有獲益。馬刺的防守效率在聯(lián)盟排名第二，僅僅落后另一個取得10勝1負(fù)開局的印第安納步行者隊。馬刺目前的進攻效率排名聯(lián)盟中游，但如果馬刺重新找回節(jié)奏，如果鄧肯能從夢魘般的38%命中率中復(fù)蘇，球隊的進攻效率會再次回到聯(lián)盟頂級行列。

The Spurs built an empire upon incorporating new aspects to an aging foundation. Young players joined with older to continue a winning tradition in San Antonio， while the organization finds new ways to make this classic franchise one advancing with the times. Imitated -- not quite duplicated -- around the league， the Spurs continue chasing history. Sometimes personnel changes are required for survival， but the Spurs are confident that continuity and a healthy mental state is enough to frame one more 12-by-18 team photo on the white walls outside their locker room.

老化的核心陣容，加入補充進來的年輕新球員，馬刺以這種形式打造了自己的帝國。年輕球員，加上老將，以此保持圣安東尼奧的贏球傳統(tǒng)。而球隊也在尋找新的方式，讓自己的經(jīng)典組合總能走在時代的前列。在聯(lián)盟中，馬刺可以模仿，卻無法被復(fù)制，他們在追趕自己的歷史。有時候，陣容的變化是為了拯救死亡邊緣的球隊，但馬刺對自己卻很有信心。他們相信，穩(wěn)定和持續(xù)，再加上健康的心態(tài)，足以打造一支具有爭冠實力的球隊，足以在更衣室外的白色墻面上，再次掛上一副12寸*18寸的全家福。