费根搜狐专栏：火箭变身豪强？仍需过客场考验-搜狐体育

搜狐体育讯导读：乔纳森-费根，是休斯顿惟一一家日报《休斯顿纪事报》的首席篮球记者，也是整个赛季跑满全部比赛的惟一一位记者。在国内许多做NBA的媒体中，费根的名字恐怕是最耳熟能详的了，因为他的稿件的翻译版本充斥在各大网站和报纸上，是绝对的火箭专家。近日乔纳森-费根已经签约搜狐体育，搜狐也是目前国内惟一一家获权使用费根专栏文章的媒体。在以后的日子里费根将通过搜狐专栏与广大中国网友一起进行交流。

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　　火箭是一支遇难的球队，不止是惨败给一个失败的球队，他们还尴尬地被扯掉了最后一块遮羞布。

　　比输给联盟垫底的那些球队更糟糕的是，他们被雄鹿轻易击败，而且这支球队没有里德、没有里德诺、没有博格特，他们均因伤没有上场。麦迪的一次扣篮遭遇篮圈的封盖，从这个标志性的时刻开始，火箭也随之崩盘。即便最后时刻雄鹿有所放松，火箭仍让他们得到的分数（124分）高出本赛季任一场让对手得到的分数9分以上。

视频：麦迪职业生涯恐终结火箭开启无麦新时代

　　那些看起来已是很久以前的事情了，现在的火箭看起来像是一个不同的赛季里焕然一新的球队。

　　当然不是。尽管他们已然复兴，但这些火箭的球员们仍要背负着像那样的失败前行，那些是他们过去的一部分，他们尤其需要展现出他们能在客场赢球，确实已经复兴。不过，他们看起来是已经改变了。

　　这就是为什么一支球队永远不应以某一特写镜头来判断的原因，只有同时看到他们主场的甜蜜和之前的客场三连败才是正确的。

　　麦迪因决定膝盖微创手术而赛季报销，其健康和能力不确定能否帮助球队的情况也随之结束。他无法很好地移动去防守，也不能在进攻端有足够的得分去弥补防守端的不足。他无法正常出场作战已拖了火箭的后腿，而且在其决定手术之前，火箭因没有确定他的伤情仍在给他机会。火箭老板亚历山大称麦蒂是“一个超级巨星”，相对于他的膝伤而言，麦迪更无法克服的是他的自我怀疑。

　　本赛季的火箭在没有麦迪的时候仍是一支更好的能统治球场的球队，当然，即使麦迪还像一年前那样能为球队所用，火箭仍是一支很好的球队。但火箭从孤立麦迪到与麦迪不再相干确实进步很大。

　　甚至随后的交易，将阿尔斯通送到魔术为布鲁克斯腾出机会，并获得洛瑞都不是火箭转变的关键。

　　尽管一些流行的交易猜测蜚声漫天，一些有代表的典型猜测并在交易前一周被巴克利不断重复，火箭本赛季也确实从心底想要更换自己的控卫。麦迪不再能担当后场进攻重任，火箭认为必须把目光转向更有动力和投射更好的布鲁克斯。阿尔斯通能带给球队老将的机智和灵活，精力旺盛的防守，但对于已经改变打法的火箭其进攻上太不可靠。一旦火箭决定把控球权给布鲁克斯，也就认为这种改变与阿尔斯通不相匹配。面对得到洛瑞的机会，这个自从2006年NBA选秀时就一直觊觎却没能得到的家伙，火箭做了一个大胆的交易，他们认为这样可以帮助球队变成他们想要的样子。

　　然而，那些都还不够，火箭并没有做出更基本和实质的改变。

　　一年前，他们曾以自己是一支勇于竞争，擅长防守的球队而骄傲。那些品质，不只是姚明和麦迪进攻天赋，帮助他们在上赛季那进入2008年后能量充沛，一路狂飙，包括22场连胜。但是这个赛季，他们身负很高的期望，看起来也赢得了一部分必须赢得的比赛，而且有时确实也打出了那些品质，他们没能一场一场地持续下去，有时甚至无法一节一节地持续下去，好像以顽强的方式去赢得比赛对火箭来说太难了。

　　在接连客场受挫之后，他们改变了。火箭开始将那些品质付诸实践并真正到场上发挥他们的统治力，不再是流于空谈。

　　连续六个主场，火箭让对手场均只得到83.7分，投篮命中率只有39.95%。本赛季火箭场均让对手得分上排在联盟第七，而在对手命中率和3分命中率的控制上排在第五。

　　这是火箭自从1971年迁入休斯敦后取得的最长的主场连胜，他们击败了几支这个赛季折磨过他们的差队，也搞定了几支优秀的球队——小牛、开拓者和骑士，并在丰田中心让 “小皇帝”詹姆斯和他的骑士彻底崩溃，让他们遭遇了本赛季最大的惨败。

　　火箭本赛季需要证明的仍有很多，他们仍必须证明他们能结束客场的悲哀。

　　“我们一直在讨论我们必须怎么打，怎么才能打得更顽强，打得更积极，”前锋斯科拉说，“我们谈过回到主场赢下这些比赛有多么重要，我们最终完成这样的连胜多么重要。现在，我们还有一件事情要应付，就是我们怎样在客场赢球。在客场我们是一支相当普通的球队。我认为我们在客场胜率不足50%是我们必须解决的迫在眉睫的事情。所以我们随后的两个客场比赛，必须拿下，全部拿下。”

　　他们应该掌控住需要做的事情清单上下一个任务，他们还要去改写季后赛连年不利的历史，已经连续11年未破首轮了。现在，他们看起来像一支稳定的季后赛球队了，打出了季后赛级别的防守和统治力，他们还没有犯错误，让球队的季后赛潜能有所依附。

　　然而，如果他们确实要变成他们一直想要成为的那种类型的球队，他们将要以这几周的主场、连续主场的胜利和转变为指向。

　　“当我们在这个赛季结束回顾这段赛程时，”巴蒂尔说，“主场的连胜确立了我们的身份是一支作风顽强、防守出色的球队。”

　　火箭已经在遇难后重新起飞，带着永远不再那般坠落的决心。(搜狐体育风华)

以下是乔纳森-费根搜狐独家供稿原文：

　　By Jonathan Feigen

　　The Rockets were a wreck. More than beaten badly, by another losing team, they had been exposed and embarrassed.

　　Worse than even all the losses to the teams stuck in last place, the Rockets had sauntered into Milwaukee, where Michael Redd, Luke Ridnour and Andrew Bogut were all out with injuries, and were blown off the floor. Tracy McGrady stumbled into a missed dunk, unable to get the ball above the rim, to give the collapse its signature moment. The Rockets allowed nine more points than in any game this season, even with the Bucks cruising to the finish.

　　That seems so long ago now, as if a part of different team’s different season.

　　It is not, of course. These Rockets, despite their revival, still carry that loss and others like it, as part of their past, particularly until they can show that their recovery is real by winning on the road. Yet, they seemed transformed.

　　This is why a team should never be judged by a closeup snapshot, as would seem true when looking only at their homestand sweep as at the three road losses before.

　　The uncertainty of McGrady’s health and ability to help was ended with his decision to undergo season-ending microfracture surgery. He could not move well enough to defend, did not score enough to make up for his deficiencies on the other end. His inability regularly play and work had been dragging the Rockets down and while the Rockets continued to give him the benefit of the doubt – hours before he announced McGrady microfracture decision, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander called McGrady “a superstar – McGrady could no more overcome his own doubt than the pain in his knee.

　　The Rockets are a better team without the McGrady that had taken the court this season, even if they of course could use the player he was just a year ago. But their improvement was far from isolated to having McGrady removed.

　　Even the subsequent deal, sending Rafer Alston to Orlando to make room for Aaron Brooks as much as to acquire Kyle Lowry was not the key to the turnaround.

　　The Rockets did -- despite the popular assumptions made at the time and repeated in typical strenuous fashion by Charles Barkley this week – make those point guard changes with this season in mind. With McGrady no longer able to drive the offense from the backcourt, they believed they needed to move toward the more dynamic and better shooting Aaron Brooks. Alston brought veteran savvy and smart, energetic defense, but was too unreliable offensively for the way the Rockets had changed. Once they decided they would give the ball to Brooks, they also believed the change would not sit well with Alston. With a chance to get Lowry, whom they coveted since they could not land a pick to get him in the 2006 NBA Draft, they made a move they thought would help the team they have become.

　　Still, none of that would have been enough had they not made more fundamental and essential changes.

　　A year ago, they had prided themselves for being a fiercely competitive, defensive-devoted team. Those qualities, more than the offensive gifts of Yao Ming and McGrady, had fueled their run through the 2008 portion of last season, including the 22-game winning streak. But this season, amid all the lofty expectations, they seemed to assume the parts of the game that must be earned. And when they did have those qualities, they could not make them last from game-to-game, and sometimes not even from quarter to quarter, as if winning the hard way was just too difficult.

　　Humbled by the road losses, they changed. They went to work on the practice floor and made their determination more than just talk.

　　In the six-game homestand, Rockets opponents averaged 83.7 points, making 39.95 percent of their shots.The Rockets moved to seventh in points allowed per game, and fifth in opposing field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.

　　It was the longest homestand they had swept since they moved to Houston in 1971. They blew out the sort of bad teams that had tormented them all season, and took care of the good teams – Dallas, Portland and Cleveland – completing the homestand with a rout of LeBron James and the Cavs, handing Cleveland its most lopsided loss of the season.

　　There is still much to prove this season. They still must demonstrate they have conquered their road woes.

　　“We kept talking about how we had to play and play harder and how we had to be more positive,” forward Luis Scola said. “We talked about how important it was to come home and win these games. We executed finally so it was very important. Now, we have one more thing to fix and that is how we play on the road. On the road we are a pretty mediocre team. I think we are under 500 on the road so that is the last thing we need to fix. So, we have two games. We need to go for them, both of them.”

　　Should they handle that next line of their to-do list, they would still have their long post-season drought to remedy, having gone without a playoff series win for 11 seasons. For now, they look like a solid playoff team, playing the sort of defense and with the sort of determination that wins in the post-season. They also don’t have much margin for error, making their post-season potential extremely dependent on matchups.

　　If they do, however, become the sort of team they had thought they would be all along, the will point to these weeks at home, to the homestand and their transformation

　　“When we look back at this at the end of the year,” Shane Battier said, “it (the homestand) established our identity as a hard-working team and a team that plays great defense.”

　　They did that by rising from the wreckage, with a determination to never crash so badly again.