The Way of the Center

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The Turkish center Okur, who is 2.11 meters tall and weighs 119 kilograms, is a guy that Chinese fans are familiar with. The matchups between him and Yao Ming in the playoffs have made him well-known in China.

In the past, people thought that Okur was a typical big shooter with a softer style and poor defense. But in the playoffs of the past few seasons, Okur had a good performance against Yao Ming and Duncan.

Under his tough defense, Yao Ming was forced to average 4.7 turnovers per game in the series. A player such as Duncan also made a rare single game with seven turnovers under his defense. It can be said that under Jerry Sloan's training, Okur's single-defense ability has been fully developed.

In this game, Jerry Sloan naturally handed An Jie to Okur. Strangling the Thunder No. 16 will be the key to this game!

After both sides jumped the ball, the winner was still An Jie, who had advantages in bounce and height. After Westbrook got the ball, he immediately wanted to launch an attack, but was stopped midway by the equally strong Deron Williams.

After Westbrook was forced to stop, the Jazz players quickly stood in position, and a very strong defensive system was deployed in front of the Thunder.

Anjie did not run inside, but gave Westbrook a pick-and-roll in the high post.

Westbrook started, Deron Williams quickly bypassed the screen and was not thrown too far.

After Westbrook broke through, Carlos Boozer's quick replenishment in front, and Deron Williams' non-stop interference in the back. The attacking rhythm of the zero guard was completely disrupted. He quickly looked at the running position of his teammates and prepared to split the ball.

An Jie immediately followed Westbrook after seeing Westbrook's breakthrough, but the Turk Mehmet Okur has been sticking to him all the time, giving An Jie no room to catch the ball.

In this way, Kevin Durant seems to be the only option for Westbrook to pass the ball.

And the person defending Durant is Ronnie Brewer, a powerful forward swingman for the Jazz.

Brewer is often used by Sloan to defend the opposing top perimeter players. Rich experience, strong body, quick feet and hands make him a good perimeter defensive gate.

Seeing that Westbrook was about to collide with Boozer, Durant hurriedly got rid of it, for fear that the pass would be broken by Ronnie Brewer.

When Boozer completely shrank to the basket, a man who had not been taken seriously offensively got a chance.

Westbrook hit the ground with a pass, Durant quickly changed his center of gravity for catching the ball, how can such a pass be in this position! ?

But when Durant bent down, he found that the basketball did not fly towards him, but was acquired by the team's power forward Nenad Kostic.

Kostic was at a zero-degree angle. As Boozer helped defend to the basket, he was completely released. The reason why Kostic can play, his excellent mid-range shot is Van Gundy's most fancy point.

"In the Thunder’s first offense, the ball actually came to Krstic. The mid-range shot was shot and scored! The Jazz very well restricted the Thunder to three minors, but now the Thunder has a stable lineup. There are a lot of people who score!" After more than half of the season's non-stop attempts, Van Gundy finally put the three minors as the core and arranged a relatively balanced starting lineup.

The shooting ability of Kostic and Sefrosa will help the three young masters to draw more space. This is something that Wilkins and Joe Smith, who used to play starters, could not do.

"It's okay! We continue to defend like this!" Although the Thunder scored, Jerry Sloan disagreed. He would rather let the Serbian big man let go of his shot, rather than give the Thunder a little space.

When the Jazz was defensive, it was Okur who faced An Jie. But when the Jazz attacked, Angel's matchup turned into Carlos Boozer.

Although the members of this dream team are only 2.06 meters tall, their weight of 120 kilograms is undoubtedly much stronger than Anjie. As with Yao Ming, Jerry Sloan believes that Boozer is not at a disadvantage when facing Anjie on the offensive end. And Jeff Van Gundy won't let An Jie follow the kite-flying Okur, and keep An Jie inside, so that the Thunder's basket will be safer.

Therefore, this dislocation was formed naturally under the "tacit understanding" between Sloan and Van Gundy.

Boozer pulled behind the free throw line first, and this time Anjie had to follow it out. It is precisely because the shooting of the two insiders of the Jazz is full of threats, so now the three-second zone of the Thunder can be said to be completely empty.

Anjie didn't dare to go back to make up for it, otherwise Boozer would definitely use CIC to educate himself.

In this way, looking at the empty penalty area of ​​the Thunder, Deron Williams began to change the rhythm!

Shaking, accelerating, braking suddenly, changing direction, bypassing the pick-and-roll, and accelerating at full speed.

After this set of actions, Westbrook was completely thrown away and Deron Williams went straight to Huanglong. Naturally, An Jie couldn't watch Williams over the basket. He immediately followed up and defended, Boozer? Leave it to Westbrook!

Deron Williams took the ball with both hands, and An Jie hurriedly jumped up. He stretched out his long arm and tried to block the shot. But when Anjie jumped up, Williams fell to the ground again.

"Jump! Deron Williams' beautiful jump disrupted Ann's defense!"

Just fight this time difference! Seeing An Jie was still in the air, Deron immediately took off again and easily fooled An Jie into making a layup.

Using only the changing rhythm, Deron Williams has continuously broken through the defenses of Westbrook and An Jie. In front of the two immature rookies, his rhythm is simply beyond their comprehension.

In one round, the Thunder and the Jazz are equal. Perhaps anxiety will become the main tone of this entire game.

In the second round of defense, the Jazz still strictly followed the layout of the old Sloan, and the Thunder's third minor card was very deadly. This time Westbrook's pass found An Jie, and An Jie held the ball in the low post. Okur immediately tightened the muscles of his body. He knew that this seemingly thin guy was infinitely powerful!

An Jie leaned twice, taking advantage of Okur's messy footsteps, An Jie suddenly turned around, ready to break through with the ball.

However, Anjie just leaned on Okur and turned to face the frame, and he almost collided with Carlos Boozer. Sloan did not hesitate to double-team An Jie, and Boozer also executed the tactics well.

Westbrook and Durant are both looking for opportunities under the desperate entanglement of their respective match-ups. Sloan is not afraid of An Jie's pass, because he has already put Westbrook and Durant who can score after receiving the ball. Both were restrained.

Boozer didn't even think about it, he started quickly, ready to cut the ball. Durant and Westbrook did not have a chance, and Sefolosha was too far away from Anjie, and this distance was not safe to pass. An Jie seemed to be forced into a desperate situation, but since there was a double-team, there must be a vacancy.

One of the most important tactical effects of Krstic is that when Anjie encounters a double-team, he can shoot from the open. Jerry Sloan didn't put Korstic in his eyes, and that was the price he paid.

Anjie passed the ball from the overcrowded three-second zone before Okur and Boozer completed the siege. .J. Miles tried his best to take off and interfere, but this did not affect the 2.13 meter Kstic at all.

"Kostic scored four points in a row! The Jazz's defensive strategy was cracked from the very beginning! Coach Van Gundy's double center lineup worked very well. In front of Kostic, who is feeling hot, there must be someone who can stop him. !"

Seeing this, Jerry Sloan stroked his chin.

"Look again." He muttered to himself in his heart, still not reconciled just because a Kstic let the Thunder Third Junior get rid of pressure.

Boozer discovered that this was also a yellow man, and he was also a taller guy, but he was very different from Yao Ming. He has missed the game due to injuries in the previous few matches, so he has not been able to match An Jie. Today, when he was going to use the set against Yao Ming to deal with An Jie, he found that it didn't work at all!

Yao Ming's defensive range is limited to the basket, pull out to shoot, Yao Ming can't move up. If Yao Ming goes up, then Boozer can take advantage of the speed to make a breakthrough easily. This is why Yao Ming will play very hard against Boozer and Okur.

Boozer held the ball in the middle distance. When he saw An Jie lift up without hesitation, Boozer immediately started, hoping to slip past the tower.

But unlike Yao Ming, An Jie did not lose his position. He still clung to Boozer tightly, and the strong Boozer also found that this kid's confrontation ability was completely beyond his expectations.

A lot of time spent in the power room has already given An Jie a bit of gain.

There was no way, Boozer forced a layup, but under the interference of Anjie's physical contact, Boozer went directly to the bridge. To put it bluntly, it is the three non-stick sides.

On the offensive end, Okur is always on the outside, so even if he is 2.11 meters tall, he rarely grabs offensive rebounds.

Durant rushed to protect the rebound before Okur and Williams, Boozer's first offense was ruthlessly obliterated by Anjie.

"Damn! Do you think everyone is Yao!? They come from the same country, but they are completely different!" The frustrated Jerry Sloan naturally yelled at Boozer from the sidelines. Even Karl Malone was under his control so subdued, what can a mere Boozer curse?

In the subsequent attacks, Durant and Westbrook tried several shots, but under the circumstances that they were very restricted, their shooting percentages were not ideal. And Anjie, in the absence of a chance, he rarely shoots, but if he doesn't shoot, it means he doesn't score. Seeing such a situation, Jeff Van Gundy was not worried, at least that point has not been put to death until now.

When Kostic used a shot to disrupt the Jazz defense for the third time, Jerry Sloan had to call a timeout to change the team's defensive strategy. He didn't want this game to become a big outbreak for Kostic.

"In the following games, we will not double-team Ann, let Mehmet be single-guarded, just like we did when we played the Spurs!" In the end, Jerry Sloan had to compromise, "Don't double-team Ang. "The curse seems to have been shrouded in the head of the Jazz. No way, today's Kstic feels really hot.

"Carlos, I want you to have more picks and rolls and fewer singles. You have already missed three goals, and I don't want you to continue wasting opportunities on that number 16." Facing the serious-looking Sloan, the fierce-looking Boozer You only nodded obediently.

On the other side, Van Gundy also changed the team's strategy based on the situation on the court.

"More breakthroughs! Ann~www.NovelMTL.com~ you don’t go to the low post. Mehmet’s low post defense is different from the past. However, his ability to prevent breakthroughs has not improved! Except for Kevin and Russell Apart from Saab, I want you to stand at the middle distance to increase the number of breakthroughs!"

"Robert, you will come later, I want you to stick Carlos Boozer firmly, and create room for your teammates to break through." Van Gundy knocked on the tactical board and gave the long-haired white center again. A chance to debut.

"Don't worry, I'm good at this." From the last hope to a blue-collar who specializes in dirty work, Swift has no gaps in his heart. On the contrary, he is rebellious and still likes this role very much.

The two resourceful coaches both discovered their own problems and weaknesses after the first trial.

Can this adjustment of the two change the direction of the game?

Although it is only a regular season, for the Thunder and Jazz, this is a game that absolutely must not be allowed to take a half step!

The scene is ugly? No, they only care about victory! (To be continued.)