费根搜狐专栏：嘲讽火箭的人消失姚明需做更多-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。

　　下面是火箭晋级第二轮的感受。

　　它是令人愉快的。那些围绕火箭的首轮魔咒而恶毒地嘲讽的人们消失了。火箭很久没有走这么远了，他们以前总是留在那些遭人嘲讽的首轮队伍中。

　　还有更好的，这是成功球队的一项标志，一个球队晋级第二轮会对自己和整个赛季感觉满意。

　　还会有球迷和支持者们加入进来享受晋级的乐趣。这就像一场所有人都知道歌词和音符的音乐会，感觉自然很好。

　　如果火箭早知道这种感觉是多么美妙，他们可能早就过首轮了。

　　然而，还是有一个不利消息的。

　　火箭第二轮不可避免地要和有足够实力赢得总冠军的湖人碰面，这支球队足以赢下火箭，而且可以击败其他任何球队。

　　所以火箭最终为自己重塑了身份，打破了那支人们所说的这支球队可以杀入季后赛却无法更进一步的尴尬局面，同时也有一些人及时提醒他们，湖人正等着他们。你晋级次轮且面对的不是勉强杀入季后赛或整个赛季都有球员受伤病困扰的对手。

　　湖人本赛季开始就是人们期盼的总冠军竞争者之一。他们也宣称总冠军是他们的唯一目标，然后在西部一骑绝尘。全联盟也只有骑士比他们战绩更好，但作为竞争总冠军的对手，湖人常规赛和骑士的两次交锋横扫骑士。

　　火箭则是自1997年后第一次突破首轮，但他们坚持不会因此而满足。他们经常说他们不会只瞄准球队历史上连续多少年没有突破首轮，所以打破首轮魔咒不是他们的唯一目标。

　　取而代之的是，在五月仍留在季后赛能以具有几分挑战力的球队同湖人交锋。

　　罗恩-阿泰斯特说：“我并不满足只是突破首轮，那不是我们的目标，也不是湖人的目标，不是凯尔特人的目标，也不是骑士的。他们应该不会就第二轮而满足，让我们也继续前进去赢得更多的东西吧。”

　　湖人拥有很多火箭缺乏的品质。他们有科比这样一个比赛最后阶段的进攻终结者，而火箭自从麦迪受伤病困扰后一直没有找到这样一个人。湖人在大个子球员上更有深度，有两个7尺大汉——拜纳姆和加索尔，板凳上还有6英尺10的奥多姆。他们有充足的季后赛经验，科比和费舍尔都有总冠军的经历，而菲尔-杰克逊的9枚总冠军戒指已让他进入篮球名人堂。

　　“人们站在湖人一边是合情合理的，他们拥有西部最好的战绩，他们有主场优势，”阿德尔曼说，“但那不意味着我们不能赢他们，我们必须拿下第一场比赛，然后看看会发生什么。”

　　本赛季，当火箭看起来遭遇了最糟的事情时他们却在整个赛季都打出了他们最好的篮球。他们在最令人受打击的失败后紧接着是最重大的胜利，最近一次令人失望的是常规赛收官战负于小牛，然后他们在波特兰的首战中对开拓者完成大屠杀，在第五战输给开拓者之后第六战将他们淘汰。

　　在麦迪打完了他本赛季的最后一场比赛之后——那场在密尔沃基糟糕的失败后，火箭的回应是赛季最长的六连胜。在麦迪脱离他们的阵营后，他们以22胜8负的战绩结束这个赛季，并且紧接着打破了首轮魔咒。

　　“尽管一年来历经伤病、交易或其他的事情，但我们还是做到了。他们刚做出过回应。我们正在打最好的团队篮球，这应该是最大的回应。湖人显然是讨人喜欢的，但我们全年都在迎接挑战，现在和湖人的比赛是我们遇到的最大的挑战。”阿德尔曼说。

　　和湖人的比赛，火箭将需要姚明扛起更多的进攻重任。杰克逊在过去几个赛季遇到火箭都会对姚明包夹，但他很少像开拓者那样用双塔做“三明治”防守。姚明将会比和开拓者的系列赛中更难以避免失误，但他也将得到更多的触球和投篮机会。

　　火箭将需要阿泰提供更稳定的进攻。湖人的协防不会让射手轻易有空位出手的机会，他们身处联盟防守3分最好的球队之列，因为他们不会去用两人全力去阻止某一个球员。巴蒂尔对湖人还可以期待有空位出手的机会，但阿泰将必须像和开拓者的第六战那样果断地突破。如果他停止运球慢慢找机会，将会发现会身陷湖人如林的长人包围之中，可做的选择极少。

　　布鲁克斯必须继续保持攻击性。他必须让内线更多地得到球，但他也必须是一个不断得分的控卫。

　　费舍尔拥有的大赛经验是布鲁克斯难以匹配的。费舍尔在比赛的重要关头投关键球或造对方进攻犯规的能力可以被期待，但布鲁克斯的速度将会给他造成麻烦。当布鲁克斯保持攻击的时候，火箭的进攻会更好。

　　湖人也擅长得分。他们有太多的进攻点很多时候的表现能和上世纪80年代的湖人相媲美。火箭将必须加强得分以足够和湖人分庭抗礼。他们必须让姚明回到惯常的那样场均有20分或更多的贡献，他们必须将球移动起来，必须外线和板凳球员提供持续稳定的火力。

　　然而他们却没有必要让人一定信服他们。

　　“我们将带着我们能投进球，打出自己的节奏的心态去洛杉矶，让我们去防守并以此为乐吧，”巴蒂尔说，“现在我们没有备受期待的重负。我们有对自己的期望值，这才是我们在乎的。”

　　即便以现在突破了首轮的身份出现，还是有太多人怀疑火箭能有赢下湖人的机会。

　　火箭看起来并不介意那些，球队早已习惯了各种各样的怀疑。总之，他们已不可避免要和湖人对阵时，他们能众志成城地团结在一起。

　　“我们感觉休斯敦的球迷希望我们能赢，同样一些其他的球迷希望他们的主队能赢，”阿泰说，“我们将会以击败开拓者那样打得努力而聪明的方式打第二轮。我们只是感觉必须互相信赖。”

　　那些便是一支球队打破多年宿命晋级第二轮的感受。第二轮是一个非常美好的位置，好到以致火箭现在可能会想，西部决赛肯定会是真正特别的事情。（搜狐体育风华）

　　以下是费根专供搜狐的原文。

　　By Jonathan Feigen

So this is what the second-round looks like.

It’s nice. There are none of those nasty reminders of past first-round failures hanging around to tease and annoy. They don’t get to go this far. They are left behind to taunt teams that lose in the first round.

Even better, there is membership in the club of success. A team gets here and it gets to feel good about itself and its season.

It’s crowded, too, but in a good way, with fans and supporters rushing to join in the fun. It’s like at a concert, when everyone knows the words and signs along. It feels good.

If the Rockets had known how nice it is around here, they might have gotten this far sooner.

There is, however, one drawback.

Teams in the second round cannot avoid an opponent good enough to win the NBA championship. The teams good enough to win here, can win anywhere.

So the Rockets finally moved on past the status of a team good enough to get to the playoffs but no farther, and in an immediate reminder of the sort of company they now keep, they find the Lakers waiting.

You get this far and you don’t get to play teams that barely slipped into the post-season or are limping along with rosters left injured by the long season.

The Lakers began the season as one of the teams expected to play for the NBA championship. They proclaimed the title to be their only goal and then ran away with the Western Conference. Only Cleveland had a better record, but the Lakers beat the Cavaliers twice to stand ahead of the pack as the team to beat for the championship.

The Rockets advanced past the first round for the first time since 1997, but insist they are not satisfied with that. They always said that they were not haunted by the franchise’s first-round losing streak and so breaking it now cannot suffice as their only goal.

Instead, they viewed playing the Lakers as the sort of challenge that comes to teams still standing in May.

“I’m not happy just getting out of the first round,” Ron Artest said. “That’s just not how it goes here. That’s not LA’s goal, that’s not Boston’s goal, that is not Cleveland’s goal and it’s not our goal.

“They should not be happy with this. Let’s move on and want us to win more.”

The Lakers have many of the qualities the Rockets lack. Kobe Bryant gives them an elite closer to trigger the late-game offense in ways the Rockets have not since Tracy McGrady began struggling with his injury. They have a depth of great size, with two seven-footers, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, starting and 6-10 Lamar Odom coming off the bench. They have loads of post-season experience, from the championship years shared by Derek Fisher and Bryant to the nine titles Phil Jackson has collected on his way to the Hall of Fame.

“It stands to reason that they are going to pick them. They had the best record in the West by far and they’re playing at home,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t win. We just have to take the first game and see what happens.”

The Rockets, however, have spent the season playing their best when things have seemed their worst. Their most discouraging losses have been followed by their most vital wins, most recently by answering the disappointment of the loss in Dallas to end the regular season with the rout in Portland to open the post-season and by following the Game 5 breakdown against the Blazers with a Game 6 blowout to finish them off.

After McGrady played his final game, the terrible loss in Milwaukee, the Rockets responded with their longest winning streak of the season, six games. They finished the season 22-8 after McGrady left their lineup, and followed that with their solid first-round triumph.

“They’ve done it all year long, in spite of injuries, trades or whatever,” Adelman said. “They’ve just been able to respond. This would be the biggest response because we’re playing a very good team.

“They are obviously the favorites, but our team has accepted challenges all year. This is the biggest challenge we’ve had.”

Against the Lakers, they will need Yao Ming to carry more of the offense. Jackson has been double-teaming Yao in the past few seasons, but he is unlikely to send anything like the twin 7-footers to surround Yao the way Portland did. Yao will have a more difficult time avoiding turnovers than he did in the Portland series, but he will get more touches and more shots.

The Rockets will need Artest to be a more consistent force offensively. The Lakers do not leave shooters open to help elsewhere. They are among the best 3-point defensive teams in the league because they don’t twist their defense in knots to stop one player. Shane Battier typically gets open looks against the Lakers, but Artest will likely have to drive decisively the way he did in Game 6. If he probes slowly off the dribble, he will find himself surrounded by the Lakers length, and with few options.

Aaron Brooks must continue to attack. There are times he has to help get the ball inside, but he must be a scoring point guard.

Fisher has all kinds of big-game experience that it will take years for Brooks to match. Fisher can be expected to knock down a huge shot or draw a big late-game charge. But Brooks has quickness that can give Fisher trouble. And when he gets going offensively, the Rockets offense is much stronger.

The Lakers will score. They have too many offensive weapons to be stuck in the mid-80s very often, if at all. The Rockets will have to manufacture enough scoring to be in games regularly enough to win their share. As much as they need Yao to return to his usual 20 points per game scoring and possibly more, they need ball movement against a team that looks to shut down ball movement, and they need their backcourt and bench to provide consistent jolts of scoring.

They do not, however, need to be convinced that they belong.

“We’re going to LA with the mindset we can take our shots, play our game, let’s defend and live with it,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said. “There is no burden of expectations for this team right now.

“We have expectations for ourselves and those are the expectations we care about.”

There have been those, however, that have doubted the Rockets’ chances, even in a way their worthiness for their spot in the post-season now that the first round is complete.

The Rockets did not seem to mind that. Teams have traditionally used those sorts of doubts for inspiration. They can offer something to rally around, and they inevitable in a match up with the Lakers, anyway.

“We feel that the fans in Houston, they expect us to win the same way any other fans expect their home team to win,” Artest said. “We’re going out there the same way we went out to the Portland series – play basketball, play hard, play smart.

“We just feel the need to believe in each other.”

That is how it is when a team gets past the velvet ropes and beefy bouncers and into the second round. It’s a nice place, so nice that the Rockets might now be thinking that third round must be something really special.