The Way of the Center

The Thunder is a very young team. Young teams have many advantages. For example, they can always run tirelessly. They are not afraid of anything and can do everything. But in Ricard's view, the Thunder also exposed a lot of problems while enjoying the benefits of those advantages.

Not calm enough, this may be the Thunder's outstanding performance this season, one of the few faults that can be singled out. From the overall perspective, the performance of the Thunder players is very good. But as long as you dig out the details, it is not difficult for everyone on the Thunder team except Durant to handle the ball at a critical moment.

Westbrook's powerful impact hides his erratic shooting rate. Bledsoe’s all-around performance conceals his excessive number of turnovers.

The farther back, the more intense the competition. The more intense the Thunder players, the more frivolous they will appear. Ricard was very satisfied that the Trail Blazers bit the score in the first half of the game. It is impossible for an opponent of the Thunder level to win in one step.

The Blazers have to grind and bite slowly with them. In the end, when the Thunder's young people became impatient, the Trail Blazers' opportunity came.

Durant? Yes, Durant does possess a calmness and calmness that does not match his age. In this regard, he and An Jie are very similar. But compared to the current situation, with Durant alone at the end of the game, wouldn't it be easier to defend.

"Don't worry! We must guarantee the success rate. Don't think about completely defeating the opponent with just one offense. Don't worry, at least now, the Thunder can't give us this kind of opportunity. We play in our own rhythm. , Don’t follow the Thunder blindly. I don’t want high shots and multiple rounds, success rate, this is the only thing I ask for!" Ricard did not plan to develop any tactics to let the Trail Blazers eat the Thunder. A hard bone.

Grind slowly, beat slowly. At a critical moment, the Thunder will inevitably have a gap. The only difficulty now is not whether they can open the score, but whether the Blazers can withstand the next indiscriminate bombing by the Thunder.

"Continue to hit the inside!" Jeff Van Gundy's arrangement surprised most of the Thunder's players.

"Continue to hit the inside?" Westbrook repeated Van Gundy's arrangement again.

"Yes, I know, Ann’s defensive ability is terrifying. But you also have to be clear that apart from Ann, the entire Trail Blazers don’t have a second inside defensive gate. Don’t tell me Camby and Thomas, who can’t run anymore. You can’t figure it out. Keep on attacking the inside and keep pressing me on An. Let him foul, make him tired, let him go off the court! Only let Anjie go off the court, we have a chance to gain an advantage!" Van Gundy arranged like this, it’s not. He looks down on Anjie's defense. Quite the contrary, he did it because he understood An Jie's perverted defense.

This Anjie’s enlightenment coach in the NBA is very clear that the only thing that can limit him is to keep him off the court! Looking at the performance of Anjie in the first quarter of the second quarter, this kind of guy cannot be restricted by tactics. Even if the Thunder have Morris and Ibaka, Van Gundy does not guarantee that Anjie will be misfired.

He is now going to use the more abundant firepower of the Thunder to bring down An Jie. At that time, even if An Jie does not play, he will perform poorly because he is too tired.

Westbrook swallowed, he is the best breakthrough player of the entire Thunder team. Although Van Gundy didn't name and let him go against Anjie alone, Westbrook knew that he would be the guy who played against Anjie the most.

When he was still in college a few years ago, Westbrook’s uc defeated Iowa State University led by An Jie. It is precisely because of Westbrook’s guarding performance that An Jie was eliminated. March Madness Championship. But today, the situation is not as simple as it was then. Can you win again? Westbrook had no bottom in his heart.

But for Jeff Van Gundy, everyone in the Thunder is fully trusted. Without even this basic condition, the Thunder will not be able to make it to the Western Conference Finals.

So in the third quarter, An Jie realized that it was so difficult for him to adjust his breathing.

"Westbrook broke through with the ball again. This is the fourth attempt he has made since the third quarter! The first three times, Westbrook has gained a lot, although once he was successfully defended by Ann. .But two of them, one caused Ann’s foul and the other tough to score the ball. We don’t know why the Thunder chose to attack the most solid part of the Trail Blazers, but coach Jeff Van Gundy arranged this for sure. There is his reason." While Mike Blin spoke, Westbrook threw himself into the air again desperately. Most guards in this league throw themselves up first, and then think about what to do next.

The abnormally physical Westbrook is naturally one of them. Seeing that his former teammate is preparing to attack the frame, An Jie also forced his calf to force again, blocking the jump.

Just when the basketball in Westbrook's hands was about to be covered by Angel, this guy suddenly used a hook in the air to divide the ball into the hands of Sefrosa who was ambushing at the bottom corner. Severosa's defender Wesley Matthews has long been attracted by Westbrook's breakthrough, he easily made a three-pointer, and the basketball is not surprisingly hollow.

"Very few people can make a layup or pass under Ann's cover, but Westbrook did it. Moreover, he did a good job!"

"It's okay, Ann? Or I will play the fifth position?" Seeing An Jie's sweaty head, Aldridge proposed to carry the shock for An Jie.

"No, LaMarcus, you have to put more of your energy on the offensive end! Don't forget, Ibaka is very difficult to deal with!" Anjie waved his hand and took the basketball from the referee, preparing Start the next round of counterattack.

Seeing that the frequency of Anjie's chest rises gradually, Jeff Van Gundy is a little relieved. Not everyone dares to use his tactics to play against the Trail Blazers, and not everyone can bring trouble to An Jie. But the Thunder have one of the most lethal breakthrough players in the entire league! The impact of Westbrook, even Anjie, the defensive player of the year, will feel strenuous.

On the defensive end, there are Westbrook and Anjie. On the offensive end, his other good brother Andrew Morris accompanies him to sweat.

Morris is as tough as An Jie, and the toughness is even slightly better. It is not unreasonable for Anjie to ask Aldridge to keep more energy on the offensive end, because this guy knows that it is difficult for him to worry about both offense and defense at the same time in the third quarter.

If An Jie desperately spent both offensive and defensive, it would only consume himself to death in the end. He must make a choice and take care of both. And Anjie chose defense without hesitation.

So in the subsequent offense, Anjie's role changed from offensive terminator to offensive organizer. Basketball still can pass Anjie's hands, but Anjie's own attacks have been greatly reduced.

Fortunately, even though he has been a terminator for so long, An Jie's coping ability has not regressed at all. Under his guidance and command, the Trail Blazers still fought back somehow, so that the score was always clenched.

Aldridge seems to be showing signs of explosion. Ibaka has found that this big man who is completely opposite to his own playing style can always magically score the ball under various interferences.

But all of this is based on Anjie's effective organization and firepower attraction.

A few minutes later, Anjie immediately began to show his weakness. No way, when a young team is attacking you in turn, your consumption of a few minutes can be worth more than a dozen minutes of others!

Rather than letting Anjie, who was seriously exhausted, give the Thunder a needless foul on the court, Ricard felt that it would be better to replace him now for a while.

Marcus Camby and Jamal Crawford replaced Angel and Gerald Wallace. Ricard hoped to use stronger outside offensive firepower to temporarily sustain Angel’s absence.

On the Thunder side, Morris and Westbrook, who had been fighting with Anjie, were also replaced by Jeff Van Gundy. But even so, the Thunder still have Bledsoe on the court and still have scoring champion Kevin Durant. The situation of the Trail Blazers is not optimistic.

Aldridge held Ibaka with one hand and dribbled the ball skillfully with the other. Hit the ground, force, lean back! Aldridge used a tough way to push toward the basket!

"Peng!" The muffled sound of muscle collision between the two made An Jie on the bench hear clearly.

Aldridge's push forward is actually much better than most people think.

After advancing two steps, gaining the rhythm and space, Aldridge turned again to make a jumper.

Simple actions, ordinary offensive methods. However, Aldridge did it all to the extreme!

"Basketball again! LaMarcus Aldridge, his offense makes Ibaka helpless! God, if Ann dominates the second quarter, then Aldridge completely dominates the third quarter!"

Seeing Aldridge scored again, Anjie suddenly "bounced" off the bench. He waved the towel frantically, and his reaction at this moment was no different from that of an ordinary fan.

The shy Aldridge also smiled slightly at the bench. This smile can make Anjie even more Anjie to rest underneath.

Van Gundy frowned. He originally thought that after Anjie left the game, the situation would be completely controlled by the Thunder. Unexpectedly, Aldridge's strong state, so that Van Gundy received little effect.

The more comprehensive scoring range of Kevin Durant and the stronger offensive firepower of the Thunder themselves have given the Thunder a little advantage. But this advantage is far from what Van Gundy expected ~www.NovelMTL.com~.

Finally, when there were only three minutes and twenty seconds left in the third quarter, both teams replaced all their main players. The game once again turned from a fierce battle to a transitional period. As always, the Thunder's second team still dominated the Trail Blazers, but only a 7-point lead would certainly not satisfy Jeff Van Gundy.

You know, in the third quarter, Anjie rested for six minutes! Just seven points in six minutes, which is definitely not what Van Gundy wanted.

Perhaps the tactic of continuing to attack the inside has achieved a certain degree of success, otherwise the Thunder may not even be able to get this 7-point advantage.

But Aldridge's coming forward and the perseverance of others made An Jie proud to recover.

At 7 points, Van Gundy was dissatisfied with the result, but Ricard had already expected this result.

In the first three quarters, the Thunder's indiscriminate bombardment of the Trail Blazers finally came down. In the fourth quarter, it's the Blazers' turn to attack, right?

The Thunder, which has been pressing the Trail Blazers, don’t know that the danger has come quietly.