The Way of the Center

　　 The performance of the Spurs this season will never satisfy the fans, including Duncan and Popovich himself, who are very disappointed with this season.

The Spurs are showing their old age this season, and they rarely see fresh blood in their formation. The only commendable Spurs rookie may be the rookie guard George Hill who is at the same level as Anjie. But apart from Hill, the Spurs are still taking their roots and playing on GDP.

Perhaps it was no problem to do this a year or two ago, but now, Duncan is 33 years old, and Popovich has to strictly control his playing time. Ginobili is 32 years old and has gradually lost the edge of the year. GDP must stand up for some helpers, but it is a pity that the Spurs this season lacks such a role.

More and more young people began to challenge the authority of this great combination. The Spurs, which was not a strong lineup and were full of wounded soldiers, were indeed defeated by most young people.

Oklahoma City's Thunder three minors, this season has been the GDP pick down. Duncan still remembers the block that determines the outcome of the game, and the round of offense and defense that made him have to face the years.

Because of this, the Spurs' results this season are not good. So far, the Spurs are only ranked seventh in the West, and their winning percentage this season is the lowest since the 96-97 season.

But this group of old guys will never accept the old and will never accept defeat. They once again played with the Thunder to the last four seconds. In the last four seconds, the old guys still led the young Thunder by one point.

"I hate the Spurs!" Anjie kept thinking about it, maybe fans like watching this exciting key moment, but as a player, what they hate the most is this kind of one-goal match. .

After a few consecutive games, he was punched off work in three quarters, which has made the Thunder players more and more accustomed to the feeling of a hearty victory. But today, in their ten-game winning streak, the Spurs gave the young Thunder a blow.

"In this league, you can't help you do whatever you want." The Spurs' tough resistance undoubtedly conveyed such a message to the Thunder, which has been too smooth recently.

"The timeout is over. Every time I look forward to seeing how the Thunder will perform the final blow. Because most teams have only one final blow. For example, the Lakers only have Kobe and the Blazers only have Roy. But the Thunder. Except for Morris, who served the sideline, everyone else has the potential to become the end point." Kenny Smith focused. Every game between the Spurs and the Thunder was a boring process and a nervous ending.

Although the person with the highest shooting percentage of the Thunder today is Angel, Westbrook and Durant are not without the possibility of performing the final blow. So Popovich couldn't guess who would be Van Gundy's last dagger.

But Popovich still told Duncan to stick to Anjie without leaving any step. Duncan did, and An Jie was already wrestling with "Stone Buddha" before the sideline ball was sent.

Morris got the ball passed to him by the referee. Although it was only a sideline kick, he was still very nervous. The last time it was because he made a mistake on the sideline, which almost caused Duncan to complete the lore and win the game.

This time Westbrook got rid of much faster, and Anjie hadn't gotten the pick and roll in place, so he got rid of Tony Parker on his own and received a sideline kick from Morris.

After receiving the ball, the game time that had been stopped also started to move. Parker and Ginobili both sealed up to contain Westbrook, and Durant had no chance under Roger Mason's follow-up.

Westbrook looked at the inside line again, Anjie was still near the free throw line, and Duncan also posted very deadly.

After some observation, there is not much time left. Westbrook forced his limbs and arms to shoot from the three-point line.

"Not good!" Looking at the arc of the ball, An Jie knew that this could only be a three-pointed non-stick! He hurriedly pushed Duncan, and then quickly ran towards the basket.

Sooner or later, An Jie arrived with his horse and received the air ball thrown by Westbrook.

As soon as he got the basketball, An Jie immediately jumped and put the ball into the hoop. At the same time, the red light on the backboard sounded again.

"Won! Ann once again won!" Chesapeake Energy Arena fans jumped up, their inside Dinghai Shenzhen once again brought victory to the team.

But the Spurs players don't think so, especially Duncan, who saw Anjie complete the lore and walked to the bench with no expression. Because he can guarantee that An Jie's ball must be overtime!

"The Chesapeake Energy Arena fans have started cheering, but the score on the big screen has not changed at all. Whether the Thunder can win the game or not has to be judged by playback." The scene where Anjie scored a goal. It was too fast. The light turned on as soon as he hit the ball, and he was totally unable to judge whether the goal was valid with his naked eyes.

Several referees gathered around the technical stage. Duncan and his teammates clapped each other to celebrate the victory, while An Jie stared at the big screen nervously, hoping to see the result of the game as soon as possible.

But just for the first replay, the Thunder's illusion of victory was wiped out. It can be clearly seen on the big screen that the red light on the backboard is already on before An Jie takes the ball.

"Oh, how could this be!"

"Russell shouldn't have taken a defensive shot in the last ball!"

"Why doesn't Ann take the shot faster? He can use faster technical actions, such as throwing."

In an instant, the fans who had cheered began to complain. The Spurs did not celebrate the victory. They quietly walked towards the player channel under the leadership of Popovich. It was really not easy for these old guys to retreat in Oklahoma City.

An Jie stood on the field depressed, with his hips akimbo and his head hanging down. This game made An Jie clearly realize that they are not strong enough to be unbeatable.

Look at the opponents that the Thunder defeated in ten consecutive victories. Except for the Suns and the Jazz, none of these ten opponents can be called a strong team. They even encountered the Nets, Wizards, Knicks and other Eastern underdogs in a row.

Successive victories dazzled the young people's minds, and they didn't realize that the original game was so difficult until today when they faced the Western powers again.

It is not someone’s responsibility to fail the lore. But when the Spurs only had eight players to play, the Thunder was dragged to the end when Ginobili made ten shots without a hit. This result itself should not have occurred. If they play normally, the Thunder should end the game before the last four seconds.

The old Spurs are very serious about a new NBA team. On the contrary, this group of young people are careless when facing a traditional strong team like the Spurs.

Van Gundy gritted his teeth. He was not dissatisfied with the referee's final overtime penalty, but dissatisfied with the performance of his players.

The ten-game winning streak gave the Thunder not a better performance, but arrogance, complacency, and the resulting failure.

"Since when, you are no longer satisfied with the victory?" Van Gundy remained silent in the locker room, and he only spoke when the players were quiet.

An Jie raised his head in surprise. Ricard also said exactly the same thing back then.

"Can Kevin tell me about your statistics for this game?" Seeing no one answered, Van Gundy asked questions one by one.

"35 points and 5 rebounds, boss." Durant didn't know what Van Gundy meant, so he answered truthfully.

"Oh, 35 points, awesome Kevin! James only scored 31 points in today's game. Congratulations, and consolidating his position as the league's leading scoring leader." Van Gundy pretended to be happy in front of him, and the players were all alone. He lowered his head and dared not speak.

"But 7 turnovers, my goodness. Tony Parker had 4 turnovers today. That's because he has to organize the offense. The more passes, the higher the risk of turnovers. But you, Kevin, you belong to the team. At the end point, you almost don't have to pass the ball, but you still made 7 turnovers, and the Spurs team only had 10!" Van Gundy slapped the whiteboard in the locker room hard to vent his dissatisfaction.

"Look at your mistakes. If I remember correctly, there were two mistakes caused by you and An Jie's pick-and-roll collision, right?" Van Gundy turned and pointed at An Jie.

"I..." In the end, Anjie still didn't say anything. He admits that he is always absent-minded on the court today, always running short. Many tactical moves are very different from Van Gundy's arrangement, and collisions with teammates due to heavy running positions occur from time to time.

"Forget your girlfriend, Ann, the happy moment for both of you is over the day before yesterday! I allow you to leave the team and go out and date with your girlfriend on your own. It's fun enough! Look at the quality of your training yesterday and your performance in today's game. Forget how you got here, there are so many short-lived guys like you in the league, but you can't count them!" Van Gundy became furious, causing him to say a lot of hard things.

"What are you laughing at Russell! 9 of 24 shots, this is the change you made?" Van Gundy criticized one by one, without letting go of any players. Even Morris and Ibaka did not escape Van Gundy's scolding because they both gave the elderly McDyess 13 points.

Van Gundy slammed out the door when the fire was over. Only the dull-eyed players were left sitting motionless.

Sometimes the coach's anger can quickly wake up the players, but sometimes, it is counterproductive.

With a very good atmosphere in the Thunder team and just won ten consecutive victories, Van Gundy devalued his players as worthless, which is obviously counterproductive.

One day after losing to the Spurs, on January 15th ~www.NovelMTL.com~ the Thunder flew non-stop to Texas to face the next strong Western enemy, the Dallas Mavericks.

"Nowitzki got to the free-throw line for the seventh time, and Anjie also received his fifth foul. He was too rigid, and Ann's behavior in this game was completely arranged by Coach Van Gundy. I don’t know why, Anlian. I dared not do anything else. No, it’s easy for Nowitzki to make a foul after getting a good defensive position."

"Opportunity! Huh!? Westbrook passed again, this kind of ball can be played."

"Durant has been reluctant to pass Ann's pick-and-roll. He is also worried that he will be knocked down with Ann like the last game. Marion! Durant, who is hesitant, has been intercepted again. Marion will not wait. You adjust and defend again!"

"Westbrook's last chance to attack! Why is it still a pass! This kind of ball shouldn't be passed! Look! The game was over when the ball was in Durant's hands, and the Thunder didn't even make the final attempt!"

"98 to 99, the Thunder lost two games in a row. Today their performance is unsightly. If it weren't for the Mavericks' Josh Howard, the Thunder wouldn't even have a chance to attack!"

"Damn it." Van Gundy hugged his head with his hands in disappointment. It seems that his anger this time is restricting the players too tightly. To get this group of lads on the right track, something else has to be done.

The Thunder's three youngsters looked at the cheering Mavericks fans in confusion. For a moment, they forgot how to win. (To be continued.) mz