What rivals have learned from the Celtics' instant turnaround(迅速大翻身)
Leave it to the league's most decorated franchise(特权, 特许权) to discover a new path to the top: Last spring the Celtics became the first team to earn a title immediately after overhauling(1.赶上,超过 2.大修,检修,解体拆修) its roster(花名册). One law of hoops(篮圈) history指篮球历史 held that teams had to take their lumps(take your lumps忍辱负重 to experience and accept difficulties as part of doing something. When unemployment increased, the Midwest took its lumps earlier than the East, but recovered faster.Etymology: based on the idea of a fighter being able to take lumps (= accept swelling in parts of the body) (bring or get) a lump in your throat如鲠在喉 a strong feeling of emotion that makes speaking difficult. He still couldn't watch the video without getting a lump in his throat, and he wasn't the only one.) before ascending the podium; think of Isiah Thomas' Pistons, who endured忍受,忍耐 five years of playoff frustration before winning rings in 1989 and '90. But Boston leapfrogged蛙跳 from the back of the Eastern Conference(NBA东部联盟)
line all the way to the front of the league, becoming the first
champion with two newcomers (power forward Kevin Garnett and shooting
guard Ray Allen) among its top three scorers得分手
-- while also incorporating an untested point guard in 22-year-old
Rajon Rondo, a revamped(修订,重换,改组改建) bench and a new defensive system.
The Celtics' 17th banner stands as dramatic proof that in this era of the luxury tax(奢侈品税 A luxury tax is a tax on luxury goods -- products not considered essential. A luxury tax may be modeled after a sales tax销售税,营业税 or VAT增值税,
charged as a percentage on all items of particular classes, except that
it mainly affects the wealthy because the wealthy are the most likely
to buy luxuries such as expensive cars, jewelry, etc.) and immature lottery picks, the poor can get rich quick快速致富, provided只要 they're shrewd in remaking their rosters. Newly emboldened(使大胆,使勇敢) teams have already begun to follow Boston's example, though thus far in less extreme fashion. Here is what they learned from the reigning(本届的,统治的,在位的 in the reign of在...的统治下) champs.
• Use draft picks as bargaining chips谈判筹码,
not cornerstones. Championship cores used to be built through the
draft. (See: the Pistons of Thomas and Joe Dumars, the Bulls of Michael
Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the Spurs of David Robinson and Tim Duncan.)
But that approach has grown harder to re-create because today's lottery
picks, increasingly younger, can take years to turn the corner(转危为安,形势转好 to improve after going through something difficult. I wonder if the country has really turned the corner in this crisis. Certainly, the company's been through difficult times but I think we can safely say that we have now turned the corner.) -- as the modern-day Bulls have learned while waiting for the maturation成熟 of everyone from Tyson Chandler to Tyrus Thomas. Rather than hoping for incremental improvements, the Celtics sold some of their young talent high to acquire Allen and Garnett, keeping just the right parts, such as Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins, to fill out coach Doc Rivers' rotation.
The Lakers (in acquiring 7-foot Pau Gasol) and the Mavericks (point guard Jason Kidd) employed this tactic运用了这种策略 midway through last season, with varying degrees of success. During the summer the Bucks' new general manager, John Hammond, did likewise in picking up Richard Jefferson from the Nets.
• Don't bet the house on过于依赖 free agents(自由无约的职业队员). Giving stars big money is the NBA's most misguided method of building a contender: In two decades of unrestricted free agency, the only major signee to eventually lead his new team to a title
was Shaquille O'Neal with the Lakers, and that took four seasons (and
the maturation of Kobe Bryant). LeBron James may have a similar impact
should he leave Cleveland in 2010, but otherwise franchises are best
served developing and dealing young talent as Celtics executive director
of basketball operations Danny Ainge did, rather than clearing salary-cap space for a difference-maker who most likely will never come.
This offseason
only three significant free agents changed teams: Power forward Elton
Brand signed with the Sixers (who still aren't a top three team in the
East), point guard Baron Davis with the Clippers and swingman Corey
Maggette with the Warriors. Several other players either re-signed with
their clubs or didn't bother to exercise opt-out(opt out To choose not to participate in something: "give individual schools the right to opt out of the local educational authority" Newsweek.) clauses, perhaps sensing that the market had tightened in this luxury-tax era.
• Look for bargains好买卖 from franchises looking to start over. Allen and Garnett were on the block(待售for sale. The radio station has been on the block for a year, but no one seems to want to buy it. Etymology: based on the auction block (= the surface from which a public sale of goods or property to the person willing to pay the most happens))
because they had become too expensive for their teams, which were going
nowhere. Boston didn't invent this trend of raiding the needy -- the
Pistons won the 2004 championship after acquiring Rasheed Wallace in
midseason from the Hawks for four backups and two first-round picks --
but Ainge was bold enough to double-dip(领双份薪水The
practice of drawing two incomes from the government, usually by holding
a government job and receiving a pension, as for prior military service). For a pair of future Hall of Famers,
Ainge gave up one potential All-Star in power forward Al Jefferson,
three first-round picks and six role players (four of whom were
subsequently moved again). Bargains, indeed. Financial reasons have
compelled other deals, including the trade of Gasol last year. Last
summer the Rockets took Ron Artest off the hands of the rebuilding Kings
for rookie forward Donté Greene, backup guard Bobby Jackson, a
first-round pick and $1 million. And the Clippers stole 2007 Defensive
Player of the Year Marcus Camby from the Nuggets for the right to swap
second-round picks, a luxury-tax move that a rival G.M. calls "the
quintessential dump of all time."
More contenders will no doubt
benefit from such discount shopping this season: The expiring salaries
of Nuggets guard Allen Iverson ($20.9 million) and Hawks guard Mike
Bibby ($15 million) may be available at the February trade deadline, as
could the heftier contract of Nets guard Vince Carter ($67 million over
four years).
• Don't be afraid of players supposedly on the downside of their careers.
The Celtics became the first champion in league history with its three
leading scorers 30 or older. The Mavericks (Kidd) and the Suns
(Shaquille O'Neal) bet the house on thirtysomethings in trades last season, and the Raptors did the same over the summer in acquiring big man Jermaine O'Neal, who turned 30满30岁 on Oct. 13. The urgency to win a championship infused new energy in Boston's old stars. "What they did tells you that if you get everybody committed and on the same page(戮力同心, 劲往一处使 thinking in a similar way. Louisa said she called the meeting to make sure everybody's on the same page. Usage notes: usually said about efforts made to solve a problem Related vocabulary: on the same wavelength in agreement. Writing the screenplay was easy because Bill and I were on the same wavelength.),
you can focus on the team things," says Phoenix coach Terry Porter, who
in Shaq, Grant Hill and Steve Nash has three players 34 or older. "Doc
did a tremendous job, but more important, the players took some
ownership and policed themselves. They stayed on each other and stayed
focused on the task at hand."
• Instill a defensive attitude. Who
thought Allen and Pierce could become high-effort defenders overnight?
Apart from Garnett and since-departed sixth man James Posey (whom the
Hornets signed this summer with an eye toward shoring up their D), there
wasn't one member of Rivers's early-season rotation who was known as a
stopper -- yet together they constituted the league's top defensive team构成了联盟的最强防守阵容.
"The biggest trick, which the Celtics did, is to get their best players
to buy in," says Bucks coach Scott Skiles, who plans to invoke Boston's
example to change the culture of his offense-first franchise.
"That's going to be one of the challenges from the beginning, to
convince some of the guys that if we really want to do something, we've
got to build off our defense. And I think we will." The old saw that
defense wins championships is still true.
• Find players who are willing to put their egos aside. Star-powered teams don't necessarily mesh well啮合融合地好,
and often coaches don't find that out until after the pieces are put in
place. The Rockets, with Artest joining All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy
McGrady, will be an early case study. "Ron has had some volatility in
the past," says Houston GM Daryl Morey, "but given the rest of our team
[being] in their prime,
we felt it was a good risk." In this respect, the Celtics were
exceedingly fortunate. "I had a group of guys who were very willing to
be coached and weren't stuck on who they were," says Rivers. "I hear
guys say they want to win it, but I think what they're really saying is,
I want to win it as long as I can keep doing what I do. I had three
stars who said they wanted to win and they would change to do it. I
don't think you get that a lot." Indeed you don't. But that hasn't
stopped teams from looking.
Make Oral Se%x Easy For Her
Going down is generally not a woman’s favorite part of sex, but it is often what a guy wants most. Your girl probably has plenty of excuses to avoid giving you head, most of them valid. So how can you make it easier and more pleasurable for her to give you a little oral action?
Mr. Clean
The most important thing you can do to make her more comfortable exploring your nether regions(nether adj. 下面的 the nether region地狱, 阴间, 黄泉 one's nether lip下唇) with her tongue is to clean yourself up. You may have had a shower in the morning, but by the time the evening rolls around you’ve likely used the bathroom a few times and perspired出汗 a bit, so it probably doesn’t smell or taste very good down there. For a longer and more enthusiastic oral se1x session, make a point of重视 washing up right before it begins. To avoid spoiling the mood破坏气氛, you could incorporate a mutual bath or shower into your foreplay. Don’t forget to keep yourself neat and trimmed down修剪好 below. She doesn’t want to have to hack through a jungle of hair to get to the goods.
Get comfyThe
location and position you place yourself in can make a huge difference
in both your level of enjoyment and her comfort. You may like the idea
of standing while she kneels in front of you, but eventually your knees
are going to get wobbly and hers will start to hurt from being on the
hard surface of the floor. So if you want the act to last longer and if
you want to make oral s2ex easy for her, make sure you’re both relaxed
and comfortable; the best position would probably be to have you on your
back in bed while she kneels or lies beside you.
Prepare the taste
The
majority of women prefer not to swallow semen, but your girlfriend may
be persuaded if you make an effort to make your spunk taste better. A
vegetarian diet is the best way to make your taste milder. If you’re not ready to go meatless, try eating foods like kiwi猕猴桃, watermelon, pineapple, and celery to lighten the taste.
Make your semen taste sweeter by incorporating plums, blueberries and
cranberries into your diet. Beer and coffee will make you taste bitter
and dairy products can produce putrid tastes腐臭味.
Sweeten the situation
If she still can’t take the taste, try covering it up! Use sweet and sexy foods as part your sex play. Any girl with a sweet tooth(嗜好甜味 if you have a sweet tooth, you like eating food with sugar in it. It's things like chocolate and cake that I can't resist - I've got a real sweet tooth. ) will enjoy licking chocolate sauce, whipped cream生奶油 or other decadent foods off any and all parts of your body.
Don’t force itDon’t push her head down to your crotch
to indicate that you want oral s4ex. If she’s not going down there on
her own, try telling her how much you’d like to feel her tongue on you.
If she still doesn’t get the hint领会暗示,
just ask for what you want. Let her take control of the situation and
keep your hands off her head, both of which will make oral se6x easy for
her. Forcing her into deep-throating or gagging塞口 her on purpose
are tacky porn-star moves (unless you’re playing a dom/sub role-playing
game in which the rules are well established beforehand).
Feedback and fair warningPositive
feedback is always welcome, and will help make oral sex easy for her.
Your body language and the sounds you make will give her indications of
how it feels to you, but if you want something specific changed, added
or avoided, you’ll have to speak up. Make sure to phrase your suggestions properly,
since almost everyone is sensitive when it comes to their sexual
skills. Start by pointing out what she’s doing right and then tactfully
share what you want. When you’re ready to climax, give her fair warning.
Let her know just before it happens, at least until she gets to know
your particular responses and can guess for herself.
