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http://tinyurl.com/z9yqzjx
After a year in San Antonio, LaMarcus Aldridge finds his comfort zone

SAN ANTONIO -- One 3-pointer careened off the side of the rim. Another missed
its destination totally, crashing to the wood at the San Antonio Spurs'
practice facility with the tenacity of a medicine ball.

Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge understands the team wants him to
incorporate more 3-point shooting into the arsenal for 2016-17, but these
latest hiccups at practice seem like utopia compared to his early experience
last season as the most coveted free-agent acquisition of 2015 joining a
squad already chockful of established stars in Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard,
Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
AGG了解馬刺要他在新的球季射更多的三分。雖然在三分練習遇到了些小麻煩，
但跟上季相比卻像是在天堂


"Sixty-seven games," Aldridge said, letting out a laugh.
"67場比賽"AGG笑著說

That's how long it took for Aldridge last season to find even the slightest
hint of a comfort zone.
這表示AGG花了這麼久的時間才找一丁點通往舒適圈的線索


"I don't know that he struggled," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "I
would guess there are very few mid-career changes where you walk in and it's
an instantaneous transition; especially in a group that had played together
for a long time. I don't know that any of us felt like he struggled to begin
with. It took time for us to understand how he fits best, and for him to
learn how to best impact our club. I think he was very respectful of the
group that was here. He had no intention of coming in and impacting our group
in a way the team wasn't comfortable with."
馬刺經理說："我不知道他在掙扎""我不知道有任何人覺得他一開始很掙扎，我們
花了一段時間去了解如果讓他適應我們、影響我們。我們他對我們很尊重，他不想要
介入並以不舒服的方式改變這個隊伍"


Deference no longer stands in Aldridge's way, as he and Leonard now take the
mantle of ushering the Spurs into their latest evolution sans-Duncan. Leonard
still views San Antonio as a championship-caliber team, and "it starts with
me and LA [Aldridge], first," he said. "If we win a championship, it's going
to be up to us to lead the group."
尊重不再困擾著AGG，因為他和可愛成為後Duncan時代的當家

That last statement represents a major shift in where Aldridge stood at this
point last season.


Think about it: Oct. 20, 2015, seems like a lifetime ago. But on that night,
coming off a 104-84 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the preseason,
Aldridge hit the court 20 minutes after the buzzer sounded at 9:44 p.m. For
more than an hour, Aldridge took pass after pass from Spurs assistant Ime
Udoka, firing countless jump shots from multiple angles, followed by a
succession of free throws on one basket with him repeating the entire process
again on the opposite end of the court.

In that game, Aldridge shot 4-of-10 for nine points in 28 minutes, and up to
that point, in two outings at the AT&T Center, he had connected on 8 of 24
shots.

That's why a tired and sweaty Aldridge walked back out on the court in
practice gear to get in more work, as workers scrambled to pull up the floor
off and get the ice ready for an upcoming San Antonio Rampage hockey game.
Aldridge didn't leave the court until 11:14 p.m. that night.

"I don't really know these rims like that," Aldridge said at the time.
"Everything is still new to me."

Not anymore.

"I'm a lot more confident, for sure," Aldridge said. "Comfortable, confident
and looking forward to it, whereas last year was kind of a mystery, my first
year leaving a team I had been with for so long. This year was a lot easier,
for sure. I know what's going on most of the time, where I was lost all the
time [last season]. I think I'm doing more teaching this training camp as far
as the younger guys, and trying to instill the principles, whereas last year,
I was just learning everything for the first time."
"我現在更有自信"AGG說："舒適、自信且充滿期待。然而去年有點迷失，我第一次
離開了一個待了很久的隊伍。今年容易多了。我現在大部分時間都在狀況內，但去年
我都在狀況外。今年在訓練營我是個老師，而去年我則是一直在學習"

Aldridge started 74 games during the regular season in 2015-16, and averaged
18 points, a team-high 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.09 blocks in an
average of 30.6 minutes on the floor. Aldridge said he didn't start to find a
comfort zone until after the All-Star break. But even that feeling proved
fleeting when on April 8, Aldridge dislocated his right pinkie finger
attempting a reverse layup against Golden State, which was blocked by Andrew
Bogut.
AGG說他直到全明星後才開始找到舒適圈，但是那個感覺很短暫，4月8日AGG右指就受傷

Still, Aldridge found a way to crank up the production even more in the
postseason, averaging 21.9 points to go with 8.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and an
assist in 33.7 minutes, while nailing .521 from the field. In fact, Aldridge
became the first Spur to score 20 points or more in the first five games of a
playoff series (against Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals)
since Tim Duncan accomplished the feat in 2007 against the Phoenix Suns.

"I would say I felt my best in the playoffs," Aldridge said. "That's when I
really felt like I could be myself and do the things I do."
"我在季後賽感覺最棒"AGG說"這是我第一次覺得我可以做自己好自在"

Added Buford: "The continued production you saw [from Aldridge] was us all
learning to play together."

Still, Aldridge admitted to feeling frustration leading up to that point.

"Of course there's going to be frustration because I felt I wasn't helping
the team as much as I could," he said. "I wasn't bringing the value I felt
like I could. But I stayed patient with it. The coaching staff was great,
talking to me every day and keeping me positive."
"當然挫折還是有，因我覺得我沒有盡全力的幫助球隊"他說"我沒有為這個球隊帶來
我覺得我可以給的價值，但是我保持耐心。教練團每天跟我談話讓我保持正面"

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich led the charge in that arena. During most early
afternoon shootarounds in advance of night games, Popovich could often be
seen alone with Aldridge leaning against the scorer's table away from the
rest of the team counseling the power forward.

On multiple occasions, Popovich admitted last season that Aldridge was
deferring to his new teammates, "just trying to fit in."
在很多的情況下，Popo承認上一季AGG在順從他的新隊友來試著融入他們。

Now, Popovich "absolutely" envisions Aldridge taking on more of a leadership
role with the Spurs in the absence of Duncan.
現在，Popo肯定的預見AGG會接下更多領導的責任

"LaMarcus and Kawhi are the main scorers on the team so to speak," Popovich
said. "So it'll be interesting to see how [their] leadership develops."

Aldridge welcomes the challenge.
AGG歡迎挑戰

"Sure, I know that he and I have to take on bigger roles, especially [with]
Tim being gone," Aldridge said. "We're going to try and be more vocal
leaders; try to do more on the floor and in practice. It's just a mutual
understanding that things are starting to shift here, and it's just more on
him and me."
"當然，我知道可愛和我的角色會變得更重，在duncan退休的情況下"AGG說"我們會
出更多的聲音來領導這個隊伍，試著在場上以及練習的時候做更多"

Along the way, Aldridge needs to further advance his 3-point shooting acumen,
while learning to co-exist with another new big in Pau Gasol, who joined the
Spurs back in July after playing the past two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
AGG需要更加強他的三分，同時學著與姊姊共存。

Despite shooting 51.3 percent from the field last season, Aldridge attempted
a total of 16 shots from long range and none of them fell. That statistic
fell in stark contrast to Aldridge's production from 3-point range in his
final season with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2014-15, when the five-time
All-Star connected on a career-high 37 of 105 from 3-point range.
雖然有51.3的命中率，AGG從三分線打了16個鐵。而他在拓荒者的最後一季，三分
是105投37中

Popovich talked to Aldridge during the offseason about incorporating that
element back into his game.
Popo告訴AGG把他的三分技巧找回來

"Pop after last season told me to get back with it," Aldridge said. "So I'll
start taking that shot more this year."
AGG說：今年我會投更多的三分


As for Gasol, Aldridge expects the two to develop chemistry quickly.
AGG預期跟姊姊會有很快的化學效應

"He's a very skilled player. We've had some high-low action together,"
Aldridge said. "I feel like we've kind of learned how to play off each other
in the post; so far, so good. The players who have played versus him, we all
feel like he's a pretty smart player. I don't see him having issues picking
up the offense. He played the triangle in L.A., and we have a lot of elbow
stuff. I don't see him having any issues with that."


The pairing with Aldridge only reinforces Gasol's belief that despite recent
changes to the game, a strong interior presence makes a difference.

"The game has changed, no question about it," Gasol said. "The teams that
have won championships have won going small and playing at a faster pace. So
you have to be aware of it, adjust to it. But you don't get away from your
strength. I'm a big believer in playing to the strengths of you weapons and
you have to utilize them. We're all here to win. That's the main thing. The
team is always gonna be first. So whatever it takes."


That's Aldridge's mentality, too, which is why day after day he stands in the
corner letting 3-pointers fly at practice in an attempt to add yet another
wrinkle as he preps to play Year 2 with the Spurs now totally in his comfort
zone.

Aldridge didn't travel with the team Monday for its 91-86 loss to the Phoenix
Suns in the exhibition opener.

"People are a lot better than Year 1 [in Year 2] as far as being
comfortable," he said. "I feel like I adjusted as time went on. Now, it
should be easy for me."
"人們在第二年總是遠比第一年還有舒適"他說："我感覺到我隨著時間做調整，
現在，這容易多了"


心得：
看看KD，就知道明星和超級巨星的差別
人家第一年一開始就舒適成這樣

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