The Way of the Center

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"Ann is finally on the field! Coach Van Gundy has never used a man like this in previous games. We hope that Anjie's sacrifices made early in the third quarter will be rewarded!" Kenny Smith knew that Van Gundy would not refrigerate Anjie for no reason. , There is only one reason why Anjie has only played until now, that is, he must bring a tight defense for the Thunder in the final 15 minutes!

It is impossible for Durant and Westbrook to stay alive for 48 minutes, and it is impossible for Anjie to be tireless after playing for 48 minutes. Jerry Sloan's Jazz has the depth of the bench that keeps the team from falling off the chain for 48 minutes.

In order to solve this problem, Van Gundy had to separate the team's defensive pillar and offensive core. Now that the two offensive cores have completed their tasks, it's time to test Anjie's defensive pillar.

Paul Millsap can be said to have played the best performance of his career this season. During Carlos Boozer's injury, he perfectly filled the vacancy.

Now that Boozer is back, Sloan still chooses to let Millsap continue to play on the bench. This way, the offensive ability of the Jazz's second team will be greatly improved.

The Jazz substitute point guard, Blevin Knight, who was only 1.78 meters tall, took the ball forward. Atkins opened his arms and did not dare to underestimate this "little boy". A person of this height who can play in the NBA must be unique!

Knight's dribble is very fancy, and he can avoid being tackled by matchups with a low focus. However, in Atkins's view, Knight's dribble is simply a flashy juggling!

Suddenly, Atkins reached out and blocked it. Knight was frightened into a cold sweat. Fortunately, Atkins' arms were so short that the basketball was passed out without danger.

"AK47" Andrei Kirilenko received the ball. Because of injury and age, AK47 has gradually changed from the core of the Jazz to a substitute. Although the current ability cannot be compared with the past, it does not mean that it used to be omnipotent. The AK47 will disappear completely.

Seeing Kirilenko receiving the ball, Malik Rose hurriedly followed. The seemingly weak Kirilenko used to have a great ability to break through in addition to his range. But now his range is gradually shortening, and the ability to forcibly break through is directly gone. Seeing that Malik Rose did not give a chance, Kirilenko hit the ground and then passed, allowing the young Paul Millsap to receive the basketball.

Millsap received the ball and Van Gundy immediately got up from his seat. This guy is why he sent Anjie to the court!

Millsap turned to face the frame after receiving the ball, and offensive back to the basket is not his specialty. And Anjie is still sticking to it, he would rather force Millsap to break through than let this guy get a little shooting space.

The inside players of the Jazz seem to have good shooting ability.

An Jie blocked Millsap's vision with one hand, and raised one hand high, ready to interfere with his shot. Millsap made a few probing steps, and then suddenly moved forward!

"Millsap intends to break through!" Kenny Smith immediately made the correct explanation.

An Jie hurried back when he saw Millsap rushing in. Unexpectedly, the big man with excellent basketball consciousness suddenly stopped and stopped his jump shot!

Millsap has a high shooting point, and he can hardly miss a shot that is close at hand. Of course, the premise is that he can throw the ball.

"Pop!" Millsap thought that the emergency stop had thrown away An Jie, but when he had just pushed the ball out, An Jie abruptly took the basketball he shot back.

The official height is 2.03 meters, but the actual height is only 2.01 meters. As a pocket-sized power forward, Millsap has good skills, but Anjie's defensive sense and height wingspan advantage are also in front of Millsap. Anjie was indeed cheated by Millsap's emergency stop, but he adjusted his defensive stance in a very short time.

Before the Jazz players had time to react, Kyle Weaver picked up the basketball blocked by Angel, drove straight in, rushed into the court, and made a quick break dunk. His outstanding athleticism was considered by Van Gundy as "Westbrook on the bench."

On the first goal, Anjie proved how correct Van Gundy's decision was! Bringing An Jie up is for this!

After that, the Jazz substitute Kyle Korver missed a three-pointer and Millsap had a very good sense of position, so he usually grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds in the game.

However, Anjie's prediction of the rebounding position is no worse than Millsap. And Anjie's card position technology is also not possessed by Millsap.

Millsap and Anjie reached the position to compete at the same time, but Anjie's solid card squeezed Millsap outside.

As the basketball fell, Anjie did not take off, but continued to put pressure on his back, making Millsap unable to jump. The task of grabbing rebounds seems simple, but in the NBA where springers are flooded, if you want to get more than 10 rebounds like An Jie, the doorway is still very deep.

After disrupting Millsap's rhythm, Anjie only made a light leap to protect the rebound and let the Thunder launch an offensive again.

In addition to defense, Anjie's other task is to revitalize the Thunder's second team offense. As a center, this task seems much more difficult than making him defend.

Because when playing with the first team, Durant and Westbrook have outstanding personal abilities. As long as the distribution of the ball is not wrong, Anjie will be able to score easily.

But these players in the second team obviously need Anjie to spend more energy to give them a better chance.

With the ball in the middle distance, the four players start to move. After a season, fans and commentators and opponents will not be surprised that the Thunder let a center to organize the offense. With an average of 7 assists and only 1.1 turnovers per game, Anjie's passing skills and basketball IQ will no longer be questioned.

An Jie began to play back, Kyle Weaver quickly cut inward, this move undoubtedly attracted the attention of most of the Jazz players. Unexpectedly, on the weak side, Atkins borrowed Marrick Rose's off-the-ball pick-and-roll to run beyond the three-point line. An Jie didn't look at that direction, but made a precise pass, and an open opportunity appeared. Passing is not by the eyes, but by the brain and hands.

"Another one who doesn't watch people pass the ball. Can you believe that Ann is a center? How many centers in this league can do this?"

The off-ball pick-and-roll cooperation between the two veterans is very tacit. Although Atkins is seriously degraded in all aspects, he still has the ability to shoot open three-pointers.

Just catch the ball and shoot without making any adjustments. This is Atkins' shooting rhythm.

The basketball didn't go into the net hollow, but hit the neck of the basket. Anjie immediately squeezed into the penalty area, but Paul Millsap also desperately put Anjieka out of the competition area.

Just when An Jie yelled badly in his heart, the basketball hitting the basket's neck began to fall. The ball did not fall out, but fell into the net.

"Chucky~~~ Atkins! Three points!" The live DJ immediately shouted into the microphone, and the Chesapeake Energy Arena fans also gave out the warmest cheers.

In the last three minutes of the third quarter, the Thunder changed their slump. The Jazz, who had the advantage of the second team's hard power, lost their power because of An Jie's presence.

Jerry Sloan shook the gray-haired head helplessly. Jeff Van Gundy's employment made him have no choice. Although the Chinese center only scored two points in the third quarter, he led other teammates. Such a player is definitely a practical tactical performer.

70 to 77, the Jazz's second team only scored 6 points under Anjie's defense. And in these 6 points, there is no contribution from Millsap. After all, Korver and Kirilenko's outside shots, Anjie can't help it.

"How is it!? Do you need time to rest in the fourth quarter?" After Anjie came off the scene, Van Gundy greeted him with concern.

"No, I only played for three minutes in the third quarter, and then I can stick to a whole quarter!" An Jie replied decisively. I held back for so long in the third quarter, isn't it just for the last moment to exert strength.

"Very good! In the second half you just do what you usually do! Remember to hit the success rate! The Jazz is not the kind of team that will lose in chaos!" Van Gundy's only worry now is Durant and West. Brooke's erratic shooting percentage.

"If you never get a chance, let Ann singles out!" As the Thunder's third choice, Angel enjoys singles privileges that neither Westbrook nor Durant have.

Because of his high efficiency, Van Gundy is most assured. It's just that Durant and Westbrook have more offensive methods, so they can rank in front of Anjie. After all, three-pointers and making kills are a good way to open the score quickly.

Boozer, who went crazy in the third quarter, attacked An Jie as soon as the fourth quarter came up. He can evenly match Yao Ming in the playoffs. Is this first-year rookie better than Yao Ming? With such thoughts, Boozer began to **** himself off, and started **** off with An Jie who was defending him.

An Jie is indeed no better than Yao Ming, but the huge difference between the two is why Boozer is not dominant now. Boozer's technical characteristics may just be able to restrain Yao Ming, but in Anjie's case, it doesn't work.

Regardless of whether Boozer wants to cast or jump, Anjie can keep up with the rhythm. After three shots, Boozer only hit one of the goals, and the ball that hit Anjie's defense is still in place, not because Boozer found space.

Seeing Boozer's performance, Jerry Sloan immediately paused and stopped Boozer's endless inside attack.

"One of the two evil Jazz, today was completely frozen by Ann's defense. If Durant and Westbrook are Van Gundy's spears, then Ann is Van Gundy's shield!" This analogy of Kenny Smith is very vivid, only At different times, An Jie's shield was equally powerful in attacking.

After Westbrook missed four consecutive shots, for the fifth time, he finally decided to surrender the right to fire.

Anjie motioned to Westbrook to suppress the rhythm and waited for him to reach the position before passing.

Westbrook suddenly passed a pass after a few crotch dribbling fans confused Deron. The basketball flew over Deron's head, but he had no time to react.

As soon as An Jie held the ball on the right side of the basket, the rest of the Thunder team tried their best to pull to the left. The strong side only left Durant alone to catch it.

"This is a singles tactic! It seems that An Jie's core for half a month was not in vain. This tactic is not something that any player can enjoy!" The TV commentator laughed from ear to ear.

Okur was very afraid of Kostic’s shots. The Serbian center had already made 4 of 5 shots today, so Okur did not dare to leave half a step. This time the defense really only depends on Boozer.

An Jie relied on his strength to hit the offensive range and turned around to make a jumper, slightly leaning back. Boozer's outstretched palm can only cover Anjie's face.

Anjie couldn't see the basket, but he had already aimed. I can't see it now, and I can't interfere with his shot.

"Boozer defended the ball very well! He did not choose to block the basketball, but chose to block the line of sight!"

As soon as Kenny Smith's voice fell, Anjie scored.

"Carlos of Coring, today he was completely suppressed by the first-year rookie Ann on both offensive and defensive ends!"

Westbrook didn't feel good, and An Jie stepped forward, which was nothing.

But when Kevin Durant finally fired and was able to make a hit, Jerry Sloan realized that his roar was no longer useful.

Seven points behind, two points behind, tied, three points ahead, six points ahead...

The strong Thunder III used a wave of 8 to 0 and a wave of 7 to 0 two minors to completely pick out the Iron-Blooded Sir.

Deron Williams is the only strong point of this team that is not restricted, but this alone is not enough for the Jazz to take away the victory in Oklahoma City.

Durant’s firepower in the fourth quarter is still fierce. Now the Thunder have three rookies with full potential. An Jie did a very good job in the half-month when Durant was absent. So who is the real core of the Thunder. The discussion has never stopped.

But the low-key Durant can always use his powerful scoring ability to tell everyone the answer, at least for now, the Oklahoma City Thunder still belongs to Durant.

At the last minute, the Jazz were still struggling. No matter how good Deron Williams is, it is impossible to stage a comeback alone in front of the Thunder, which is good at defensively.

And what really frustrated him was that although he was doing well, he would definitely be scolded by Jerry Sloan like everyone else in the locker room later. Although Sloan is a great coach, Deron really doesn't like playing under him.

An Jie grabbed his 10th rebound, and the whistle at the end of the game sounded in the next second.

Jerry Sloan drew his face and shook hands with Jeff Van Gundy~www.NovelMTL.com~ The use of Anjie's strategy by this bald coach was a key to changing the direction of the game.

"You played a beautiful game, coach." Jerry Sloan said from the heart.

"You just lack a little luck." Van Gundy's happy smile was completely different from Sloan's.

After shaking his hands, coach Sloan refused all media interviews and went straight to the player channel. The Jazz players also closed their lips one by one, and in the locker room, there must be a burst of roar from Jerry Sloan.

94 to 101, the Thunder overcame the Jazz at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, and won a certain amount of initiative for themselves in the fight for playoff tickets.

Durant scored 24 points and Westbrook scored 22 points with a poor touch at the end. An Jie was forced to score only 16 points due to fewer shots, but he grabbed 10 rebounds, sent 8 assists and 3 blocks, and again won a double-double.

What kind of storm can the biggest spoiler of the Western Conference cause in the remaining month of the regular season? (To be continued.)