![[好文推薦] 你知道為什麼當世無對的天勾絕學會絕跡江湖嗎？](https://i.dongtw.com/2017/03/OxyhgmIt.jpeg)
（文：Chris Mannix / 2017年3月7日）
天勾到底去哪了？Kareem Abdul-Jabbar可不知道。他和所有人一樣迷糊：為什麼這個幫助他砍下NBA最高的38387分的絕技就這樣消失了呢？
Where has the skyhook gone? Don’t ask Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The master of the move is as befuddled as anybody as to why the weapon he used to score a large chunk of his NBA-best 38,387 points has disappeared.
「這和當今時代籃球的比賽教學方式有關，」Jabbar說，「他們不再教球員們怎麼去背身進攻，每個人都想投三分，他們認為這應該是每個大個子比賽中的一部分。我覺得不應該這樣。」
「I think it has to do with the way they are teaching the game,」 Abdul-Jabbar told The Vertical. 「They are not teaching kids how to post up. Everyone wants to shoot 3-pointers. It should be part of every [big man’s] game. It’s not.」
天勾到底去哪了？NBA教練們也不知道，他們也不理解為何它會消失。對五六個教練的採訪都得到了同樣的答案——如今的時代變了。鵜鶘教練Alvin Gentry說：「球隊們就是不再去（頻繁地）把球給到低位了。」雷霆助教Mark Bryant補充道：「天勾也不能幫助球員們拿到廣告，只有Jabbar靠天勾拿到了廣告。」
Where has the skyhook gone? Don’t ask NBA coaches. They don’t understand its disappearance, either. Interviews with a half-dozen coaches revealed many of the same answers. The game has changed. It’s a tough shot to learn. It’s not cool. 「Teams just don’t walk it up and drop it in the post anymore,」 said Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry. Added Thunder assistant coach Mark Bryant: 「You aren’t going to get any commercials shooting the skyhook. Only [Kareem] got commercials shooting the skyhook.」
天勾到底去哪了？球員們還是不知道。Marc Gasol以他擁有全面的進攻技巧而自豪。他無論站著還是跑動中都能命中勾手。那麼老派的Jabbar式天勾呢？「我不敢在比賽中嘗試，」Gasol笑著說道，「我不知道球會飛到哪去」。Anthony有6尺11高，有著能自如運用天勾的很好的身型。他說：「我從來沒有嘗試過，甚至從來沒有考慮過它。」
Marc Gasol prides himself on a diverse offensive repertoire. He shoots standing hooks and running hooks. An old-school, Kareem-style skyhook? 「Not in a real game,」 Gasol said, laughing. 「I don’t know where the ball might go.」 Anthony Davis has the long, 6-foot-11 frame ideal for the shot. 「I’ve never tried it,」 Davis said. 「Never thought about it, either.」 Where has the skyhook gone? Players shrug, too. Grizzlies center Marc Gasol prides himself on a diverse offensive repertoire. He shoots standing hooks and running hooks. An old-school, Kareem-style skyhook? 「Not in a real game,」 Gasol said, laughing. 「I don’t know where the ball might go.」 Anthony Davis has the long, 6-foot-11 frame ideal for the shot. 「I’ve never tried it,」 Davis said. 「Never thought about it, either.」
這很奇怪，不是嗎？NBA是一個超愛模仿的聯盟。教練們從其他教練那裡偷來戰術，球員們模仿其他球員的動作，聖安東尼奧馬刺的崛起讓大家追捧無私的團隊進攻，而Mike D’Antoni太陽時代那樣的跑轟戰術也在被球隊爭相模仿。
Strange, isn’t it? The NBA is the ultimate copycat league. Coaches steal plays from other coaches. Players hijack moves from other players. The rise of San Antonio gave way to more teams preaching unselfish offense; the imprint of Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams is everywhere.
所以，NBA歷史上最無解的進攻手段…消失了，它太難學會了。Jabbar沒有老師教他。他是通過Mikan訓練法——一套以名人堂中鋒George Mikan的名字命名的，用來訓練內線腳步的節奏和協調性的方法，和模仿另一位名人堂球員克里夫-哈根來練會勾手的。在Jabbar念小學的時候，他經常在球場上和比他更高更壯的孩子對抗，他發現只有天勾是可以經常出手而不吃帽的。
Yet the most unstoppable move in NBA history is just … gone. Granted, it’s difficult to learn. Abdul-Jabbar didn’t have a teacher. He learned hooks by practicing the Mikan drill — a rhythm and timing drill for big men, named after Hall of Fame center George Mikan — and watching another Hall of Famer, Cliff Hagan, flip up a few. In elementary school, Abdul-Jabbar regularly went up against taller kids; the skyhook was the only shot he knew he could regularly get off.
於是他一直練習天勾。他在UCLA靠著這招創造了新的得分紀錄，緊接著又把它帶到了職業籃球聯賽，戲虐著對手。Jabbar曾經說，沒有一個人在一對一的時候帽過他的天勾。Wilt Chamberlain覺得他可以，然而他沒能做到。Manute Bol的臂展比他多5英吋，也碰不到球。靠著天勾，Jabbar在1984年破了Chamberlain的nba總得分紀錄，並且在1985年總決賽第六場中大放異彩。
So he practiced — a lot. He took it to UCLA and set scoring records with it. He took it to the pros and watched frustrated opponents struggle to defend it. One on one, Abdul-Jabbar said, no one ever blocked it. Wilt Chamberlain thought he could time it. He couldn’t. Manute Bol had five inches on him. He never touched it. He broke Chamberlain’s scoring record in 1984 with it and won the series-clinching Game 6 of the 』85 Finals with it.
所以，為什麼現在的球員們不再使用它了呢？有人嘗試過，但很快就有了挫敗感。「要用好天勾最關鍵的是學會如何保持平衡。」Marc Gasol說。「你需要很清楚地知道你在哪個位置，當你出手的時候，必須計算地非常精準才行。」Enes Kanter補充道，「如果在與防守者的對抗中你的下盤不穩，無法保持好平衡，那麼他只要將你往外推你的勾手就不知道往哪飛了。天勾真的很難。」
So why don’t players work on it? Some do. They just get discouraged, quickly. 「The balance is the tricky part,」 Gasol said. 「You have to understand perfectly where you are. Once you commit to that shot, especially from the set position, you have to be very precise.」 Added Thunder forward Enes Kanter, 「If you don’t stay low and you don’t stay balanced, a defender can push you and you take a crazy shot. It’s hard.」
在實戰中，勾手十分有效。雷霆的大個子助教Bryant經常讓球員們進行勾手練習。「我認為勾手是世界上最好的投籃方式，」Bryant說，「尤其是當你用肩頂住防守者的胸時，他們無論如何都沒法蓋掉你的勾手，然後你就能很舒服的把球投出去。我愛勾手。」
The hook remains a valued weapon. After practices, Bryant, the Thunder’s big-man coach, regularly works with players on hooks. 「I think the hook is the best shot in the world,」 Bryant said, 「especially when you have your shoulders squared up in the middle of a guy’s chest. There is no way in the world you can block it. So you can get real comfortable with it. I love the hook.」
那麼天勾呢？
And the skyhook?
「現在的孩子們不愛練天勾，」Bryant笑道，「歸根到底就是這個原因。」
「The kids don’t like doing it,」 Bryant said, laughing. 「It kind of boils down to that.」
不過Bryant確信：Jabbar很想要讓天勾在現在的比賽中重現。「他會教年輕人們如何使用天勾。」Bryant說。Jabbar在前幾年教過不少球員天勾，其中就包括前湖人中鋒Andrew Bynum。
Indeed, coaches agree: If the skyhook is going to return, Abdul-Jabbar is going to have to bring it back. 「Kareem would have to take a young kid, grab him from [a young age] and teach him,」 Bryant said. Abdul-Jabbar has worked with a few players over the years. Former Lakers center Andrew Bynum was one of them.
「他想要學天勾，」Jabbar說，「他表現得很好，不過他後來好像是失去了打籃球的興趣。如果他能講天勾作為他的武器，他將會有一個很棒的職業生涯。天勾不但無解，而且很有戰略意義。不過別的東西誘惑了他。」
「He wanted to learn it,」 Abdul-Jabbar said. 「He was doing pretty good, but I think he lost interest in the game. It was coming along to where he could use it as a tool and he could have a good career. If he was using that shot, it would have been a good strategic [shot]. But I guess other things beckoned him.」
時至今日，大個子們喜歡扣籃，愛投三分，不想學天勾了。小Gasol不記得他在歐洲打球的時候，有誰用過這招。Davis在高中和大學裡也沒見有人用過它。球員們還是在讚歎Jabbar無解的天勾，但沒有人想去學了，Jabbar很有可能會是唯一一個掌握它的人了。
And so it goes. Today’s big men like to dunk. They like to shoot 3』s. They don’t want to learn the skyhook. Gasol can’t think of anyone he played against in Europe utilizing the shot; Davis didn’t play against anyone in high school or college that attempted it. Players still marvel at how effective Abdul-Jabbar was with it but seem content to let him be known as the only one to master it.
「他和我完全不同。」小Gasol說，「我練過天勾，但很難很穩定地使用它，雖然我有很好的手感。天勾是無法阻擋的，但它確實是很難掌握的技術。他能夠如此穩定高效地使用天勾，只能說明他是天選之人，這其中有著只有他才能用好天勾的獨一無二的理由。」
「What he did with the fakes, that’s the complete opposite of me,」 Gasol said. 「I’ve worked on it. It’s hard to be that consistent with it. And I have good touch. It’s hard to stop, but it’s just such a hard shot. For him to be that consistent and that efficient with it, there’s a reason he’s the only guy to do it that well.」
