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原標題：Inside Jordan Poole's ascension with the Golden State Warriors
        (Jordan Poole 在金州勇士隊崛起的幕後)

來源：https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33839330/

作者：Kendra Andrews


原文＋翻譯：

第一部分

THERE'S A PAGE on Golden State Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco's Notes
app dedicated to one of the breakout stars of the 2021-22 regular season --
and one of the most important players on the team's roster.



Jordan Poole.

他就是 Jordan Poole。

It's been there since 2019. On it, you'll see guiding principles for the
22-year-old's development; you'll see plans on how Poole and DeMarco want to
work together; and you'll see questions.

自二零一九年開始，就放著到現在了。從該頁面可見，引領著這位二十二歲球員發展的原
則、Poole 與 DeMarco 一起合作的計畫，最終會看到一些對自己疑問。

During Poole's rookie season in 2019-20, his primary question was: How do I
get on the floor?

在 Poole 的 2019-20 菜鳥賽季中，主要問題是：我該如何爭取上場機會？

Last season, it was: How do I stay on the floor?

上（2020-21）賽季時，變成是：我該怎樣守住先發機會？

This season? How do I impact the playoffs?

本（2021-22）賽季則是：我該如何在季後賽發揮影響力？

So far, Poole has answered all of these questions with aplomb.

至目前為止，Poole 以非常漂亮的表現，回應了該些問題。

Not that it was easy.

一切來得不容易。

Poole averaged 8.8 points in 22.4 minutes on 33.3% shooting from the field,
including 27.9% from beyond the 3-point line, as a rookie. Drafted as a
first-round pick and a guard who was supposed to enhance the Warriors'
offense, Poole struggled to score. And he heard about it.



"Everything they were saying -- he takes bad shots or he can't pass, he can't
dribble -- I wasn't worried about that," Poole said. "Because I knew what I
was capable of. It would just be a matter of how I would be able to
incorporate my game into the team's. It will take some time, and I knew that."

Poole 說：



After completing a season in which he improved his statistical output in
nearly every category -- and became part of the Warriors' new death lineup --
those external conversations have been silenced. Through six games in the
playoffs, Poole is averaging 22.7 points on 56.1% shooting -- including 48.8%
from beyond the arc -- and playing a career-high 33 minutes per game.



Sunday's win over the Memphis Grizzlies to open the Western Conference
semifinals was his best yet. He played a team-high 38 minutes off the bench
and led the Warriors in points (31), rebounds (8) and assists (9).

在星期日贏下灰熊隊的西部準決賽比賽中，他拿出了最好的表現。他以替補的姿態上陣了
三十八分鐘，並以三十一分的得分、八個籃板及九次助攻的表現領航全隊。

"I've always made people eat their words," Poole said. "I never went to the
media and said anything about anybody else. I just shut up, take it all in
and let my game do the talking. It feels a lot better. Oh, my god, it feels
so good."

Poole 說：



第二部分


TWO WEEKS AFTER COVID-19 shut down the NBA in March 2020, the league
announced health and safety protocols that allowed players to get back into
the gym, but with just one other person. Poole immediately picked up his
phone to call DeMarco.



"I just knew that if I was able to get in there every single day for however
long the pandemic was," Poole said, "I knew I would improve in some way or
fashion."

Poole 表示：

「我只知道，不管疫情大流行持續多久，只要能夠進入施設訓練，我會儘一切努力，改進
  自己。」

The two worked out in the Warriors' facilities. No one else was allowed to be
in there with them, they could only use one ball and they had to wear masks
the entire time.

兩人在勇士隊的施設裡進行訓練。沒有其他人被允許和他們一起進入，他們只能使用一個
球，且在訓練期間要全程佩戴口罩。

They worked on Poole's defense. They drilled his shooting nearly every day,
focusing on getting a quicker release, speeding up his footwork and being
able to not only make catch-and-shoot jumpers but also those on the move.
They emphasized his handles, his finishing at the rim -- and being able to do
it with both hands -- and his midrange shot.



"It's going to be frustrating," DeMarco told Poole. "There are going to be
days where it's not going in, but you need to be able to sharpen those tools."

DeMarco 告訴 Poole：

「這會使人氣餒。有時可能會沒辦法命中，但你要準備好應付這一切。」

There was a stretch during that summer when Poole experienced precisely what
his coach had warned him would happen. Poole lost his shot -- and struggled
for weeks to find it. With just the two of them, every clank off the rim,
every squeak of his practice-only shoes, echoed in those lonely, cavernous
gyms across the San Francisco Bay. One day, after missing eight straight
shots, he'd had enough.



He started kicking balls into the empty stands, letting an F-bomb fly with
each ball.

他開始將球踢向空蕩蕩的觀眾席，每一次都伴隨著Ｆ字頭的髒話。

"That was the only way I could get my frustration out at the time," Poole
said. "It was like, I was so invested and I wanted it so bad. I couldn't do
anything else but kick the ball.

Poole 說：

「那是我當時能夠發洩自身挫敗感的唯一方法。就像說我是如此地投入、我如此想要它。
  除了將球踢開，我想不到其他辦法。」

"I had felt like I had worked so hard. I worked hard enough to not miss eight
in a row. And I don't know, it really got under my skin, especially in
workouts. Workouts, no one is guarding me. Why am I missing?"

「我感覺到自己已經非常盡力了。我已經努力地避免連續八次丟球了。我不知道，這真的
  讓我很難受，尤其是在訓練期間。訓練時，根本沒有人守著我。為什麼我會這樣？」

He kept working.

他持續地努力。

"It ended up being like that for nine months, something like that, that's
crazy," Poole said. "Usually you just get two months for the offseason.
That's an extra seven months."

Poole 說：

「類似這樣的事情，最後持續了九個月長，這很瘋狂。平常你只有兩個月的休賽季，而如
  今還有額外七個月的休假。」

＊編按：在 2019-20 例行賽賽季中，勇士隊因在西部聯盟墊底，所以無緣跟隨其他球隊
  前往奧蘭多的泡泡區參與八月至十月的復賽。

Poole and DeMarco took a two-week break heading into the 2020-21 season, and
then it was back to team training camp.

Poole 和 DeMarco 在進入 2020-21 賽季後，休息了兩個星期，接著再回到了球團的訓練
營。

The work paid off: Poole bumped his season numbers to 12 points on 43.2%
field goal shooting, including 35.1% from 3.

一切努力沒有白費：Poole 在例行賽的數據有所長進，場均得到十二分、百分之四十三點
二的命中率和百分之三十五點一的三分球命中率。

The Warriors sent Poole to the G League bubble in February 2021 so he could
find some more minutes.

勇士隊在二零二一年二月將 Poole 下放至Ｇ聯盟泡泡（聖塔克魯茲勇士），讓他能爭取
更多上場時間。

Poole returned on March 4, 2021. Three weeks later, the Warriors traded Brad
Wanamaker at the deadline. Kelly Oubre Jr. suffered a season-ending wrist
injury the following month, giving Poole the opportunity he'd been waiting
for.



The way Poole performed in the final 36 games of the season -- averaging 14.7
points on 43.3% shooting from the field, 35.4% from deep (including one
38-point outburst) -- sparked new questions for him, and the Warriors, coming
into the 2021-22 campaign.



"We thought about maybe bringing him off the bench," Warriors coach Steve
Kerr said, "but when we saw what kind of camp he was having, we said no, this
guy needs as many minutes as possible. He had a great camp, the very first
exhibition game he lit it up and it was obvious right away: We've got to get
this guy on the court."

勇士隊主教練 Steve Kerr 說：



Kerr informed Poole of the decision to have him begin the campaign at the
starting shooting guard spot about one week before the season opener.

Kerr 在開季前一個星期告知了 Poole 本身的決定，讓他在得分後衛的位置上先發。

"All the work over the pandemic," Poole said, "I couldn't have done anything
else to put me in a better position if the opportunity came."

Poole 說：

「這是在大流行期間所做的一切。如果機會到了，我會盡一切努力，讓自己處於一個更好
  的位置。」


第三部分

SIDELINED WITH A left foot injury, Stephen Curry felt like he was watching
himself from the bench.

由於左腳受傷而無法上場，Stephen Curry 感覺到自己像是在板凳上自我目視。

During the third quarter of the March 22 game against the Orlando Magic,
Poole brought the ball up the floor. As he began to drive to the paint, he
drew four defenders, so he passed it back out to Draymond Green, who was
standing outside the 3-point line. As soon as he got rid of the ball, Poole
relocated behind Green, who dished the ball back to him on the dribble
handoff, and Poole knocked down the 3-pointer.

在三月廿二日對陣奧蘭多魔術隊的第三節比賽中，Poole 把球帶到了場上。當他開始衝向
禁區時，引來的是四名後衛，所以他把球回傳給站在三分線外的嘴綠。在後者擺脫球的當
下，Poole 就轉移到了嘴綠身後，嘴綠在運球時將球回傳給他，普爾拿下了一個三分球。

Poole said he has studied Curry's game closely. Same with Thompson's. DeMarco
had Poole watch film on his teammates, as well as other NBA players such as
Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard. When it comes to Curry's game,
and learning from it, Poole's main focus was how the two-time MVP moves off
the ball.



Now, he has Curry seeing double.

如今，他讓 Curry 像是看到了分身。

"It's the essence of it in terms of movement without the ball," Curry said.
"I could tell by his reaction that he realized and recognized that those
patterns are stuff we do, me and Draymond. He realized how easy it could be
if he built that chemistry."

Curry 說：



Because of injuries to Curry and Thompson, Poole has played with Green the
longest among Warriors players. When did the 2017 NBA Defensive Player of the
Year realize Jordan Poole could be Jordan Poole?

因為Curry 和Ｋ湯遭遇傷勢，Poole 在勇士隊所有球員中，和嘴綠一起上場最久的時間。
這位二零一七年最佳防守球員在什麼時候意識到，這位Jordan Poole 已經今非昔比？

March 10, vs. the Denver Nuggets: Eleven of Poole's 21 points that night game
in the fourth quarter -- six of which were scored on two wide-open 3-pointers
to seal the win for the Warriors.

三月十日對陣金塊隊：到了第四節時，Poole 拿下二十一分以上的第十一場比賽——其中
六個還是靠三分球拿下的——這讓勇士隊在該比賽中獲勝。

"Backs against the wall, needed to get the win, someone needs to step up in
that moment and gets us over the finish," Green said. "Steph and Klay was on
the floor, but who took on the role? Jordan took on the role. In doing that,
what that did was it allowed everyone else to gain confidence in him. I don't
just have to go look for Steph. I don't have to look for Klay. Let's go to
Jordan. That's a very, very, very powerful tool to have."

嘴綠說：

「在背對著牆、亟需獲得勝利的時候，有人需要在那一刻挺身而出，讓我們越過終點。


And on March 23, vs. the Miami Heat: It was the day after the Warriors had
suffered a humiliating loss to the Magic. Curry was out with a left foot
sprain. Green and Thompson were resting.

到了三月廿三日對陣熱火隊時：這是勇士隊在對陣魔術隊、遭遇恥辱性敗仗後的隔一天。
Curry 因為左腳扭傷而無法上場，而嘴綠和Ｋ湯則在休息中。

"I said to him, here's the point of the game where you get whatever you
want," Green said of Poole. "If you decide this is what I am trying to get to
every time, you're going to get good-enough looks where ultimately it all
comes together."

提到 Poole 時，嘴綠說：

「我跟他說，『這裡是比賽的重中之重，你可以得到你想要的任何東西。如果你決定這是
  我每次都想達到的目的，你就能得到夠好的表現，到頭來一切都會實現。』」

Poole finished with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including seven 3s. He
grabbed four rebounds and had nine assists.

Poole 在該場比賽中，得到三十分，並在十八次投籃中命中十次，包括七個三分球。他也
獲得了四個籃板及九次助攻。

"For them to take me under their wing and walk me through this process ...
and giving me confidence, it's awesome," Poole said. "Coming in, that's all
you want, to have their trust. So they can go out there and they don't have
to worry about covering for Jordan. Just go out there and play your game, and
we'll play with you."

Poole 說：




第四部分

POOLE'S FIRST PLAYOFFS have served as a red-carpet introduction to the
basketball world. He became the 16th player in NBA history to score at least
25 points in each of his first three career playoff games, and his 86 total
points are second most through a player's first three postseason contests,
behind only 106 from Wilt Chamberlain.



On Sunday, his 31 points set a career best, and he added a playoff-best five
3s.

在星期日的比賽中，他創下了職業生涯最高的三十一分，並拿下了季後賽最佳的五個三分
球表現。

"We know the opportunity we have. It's special," Poole said. "You don't want
to be the player to mess that up."

Poole 說：

「我們知道所把握的機會。你不會想要變成是那位把一切搞砸的球員。」

And as for all those questions? He's asking more now.

至於先前的疑問呢？如今問得更多了。

"They used to be, 'How do the playoffs feel?' Like, 'Man, how was playing on
that stage?' No, no, no. He's passed that point," Green said.

嘴綠說：

「以前曾是『進入季後賽的感覺怎樣？』、『夥計，在季後賽場上的表現怎樣？』如今大
  可不必，他已經闖過了那個關頭。」

"He's at the point of, 'What am I going to do when this stage happens? How
should I combat that? If they do this, what should I do here?' It's a totally
different space. It's like, I understand what they are trying to do. Help me
figure out what I need to do."



Finally, for Poole and the Warriors, the answers are coming to light.

到頭來，對於 Poole 及勇士隊而言，一切問題終有其解答。


短評：

能持續進步、不斷提昇自我，未嘗不是一件好事呢……

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