The way of the center

Chapter 177 We want champions!
While Anjie was sweating in the Asian Championships to maintain his competitive state, Thunder rookie Andrew Morris was warming up in the Drew League.

Although the Drew League is only an amateur league, its level is not low.Every summer, several NBA stars go to the Drew League to exercise themselves in order to maintain their competitive state and muscle strength.

The day before, Presti officially announced that he had signed Congolese Serge Ibaka, who was drafted by the Thunder last year. Although the Thunder had Anjie in the team last year, the abilities of the other three white insiders were indeed unsatisfactory.

In terms of outside players, the combination of Durant and Westbrook looks very good, and Sefoloza's defense and shooting can provide assistance to him to a certain extent, so this summer Presti focuses on The focus is on finding an inside partner for Anjie. As for the outside, a more mature combination of Durant and Westbrook is enough.

Because of this, both Morris and Ibaka were recruited by Presti.

Although Serge Ibaka has a much lower pick than Morris, he has some experience playing in professional leagues.If Morris wants to prove himself, he must seize the opportunity of the summer league.

How to improve the competitive state before the summer league, Moslav recommended the Drew League to Morris.

The United States is a land of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. In this amateur league, Morris has seen too many folk masters.If you want to survive in the Drew League, you have to show some real skills.

"I won't lose, Ann!" Morris just finished blocking the landing, he wiped his sweat, his eyes focused.The Thunder's inside competition this year will be very fierce. He, Morris, did not come to the NBA to waste time!

At the same time, the quarter-finals between the Chinese team and the Chinese Taipei team has gone on for two quarters.Unexpectedly, the Chinese team did not have a clear advantage in the first half.An Jie is a center forward and really lacks the support of his teammates.Liu Wei and other guards had difficulty even dribbling the ball across half court under the tight defense.

And the offense they organized was even more chaotic, with frequent mistakes.

"As soon as An Jie and Ah Lian are in position, pass them in, reduce dribbling and your own breakthroughs, and put the ball inside!" Guo Shiqiang looked anxious off the court, but the lack of players is not enough tactics.What he can do is to increase the holding time of Anjie and Yi Jianlian.

The big problem is that the outside line of the Chinese team, especially the back line, has always been criticized.The Chinese who are obviously better at technical work, but most of the outstanding basketball talents are insiders. I really don't understand what caused this situation.

Regardless of whether these "big brothers" are willing or not, in the second half, they can only become a machine feeding An Jie and Yi Jianlian.

As long as the dribble passes halftime, as soon as An Jie or Yi Jianlian wants to get in position, they will pass the ball immediately.Although this tactic lacks variety, it doesn't have much ornamental value.But the effect is indeed obvious.

An Jie's first-hand support can give Yi Jianlian a chance, and his low-post skills that he has just practiced for a long time can also allow him to attack the frame and score.Whether it is double-teamed or not, Anjie is an unrestricted existence in the Asian arena.

In the Asian Championships, Anjie's dunks were much more than when he played in the NBA. Anjie, who was thin in the NBA, rarely encountered opponents who could compete with him in the Asian arena.Turning around and dunking after rolling backs repeatedly has become An Jie's signature offensive move.

In the third quarter, An Jie ravaged the rim four times in total, completely polishing the spirit of the Chinese Taipei team.Except for An Jie, no one on the court has completed even one dunk, not even Yi Jianlian.

Under the full command of An Jie, the Chinese team finally played at the level, 32 to 16, and won the Chinese Taipei team by 16 points in a single quarter.

In the fourth quarter, An Jie, who had already exploded, was out of control and led the Chinese team to pursue the victory, completely breaking the Chinese Taipei team's fantasy of winning.

In addition, Wang Zhizhi felt hot in the second half, scored three three-pointers, and even sealed his throat with a sword, overwhelming the Taipei team.

101 to 73, a difference of 22 points, although not an exaggeration, but it is definitely not a lot.An Jie scored 35 points and 14 rebounds. He showed vitality on the court that Yao Ming never had.And 35 points is the first time An Jie has broken through the 30 mark since he became a professional player.

"No way, An Jie's level is not at the same level as the others here. I have tried many methods, but I still can't prevent him." After the game, Taipei coach Xu Jinzhe said this helplessly in an interview. fact.

Chinese fans are cheering for they have a new inside pillar. You must know that An Jie is only 20 years old, and he will only have his 11st birthday in November this year.How far such a young guy can lead Chinese basketball in the future is indeed very exciting.

In a good situation, the Chinese team advanced to the semi-finals.Their opponent is the equally strong Lebanese team.

Lebanon, a powerhouse in West Asia, reached the finals in both 01 and 05. This year, they naturalized the American player Jackson Froman, and their local striker Frejay also performed well.This also allowed the Lebanese team to successfully reach the semi-finals, once again wrestling with the Chinese team that lacked Yao Ming.

Speaking of the naturalized player Jackson Froman, Anjie has some connections with him.Froman was selected by the Bulls with the first pick in the second round in 2004. However, before that, Froman was a member of the Iowa State University Cyclones.

It's just that Froman's own strength is limited, and he wandered around in the NBA and European leagues, but he didn't make a name for himself.Now, he unexpectedly finds that he can play so easily in the Asian arena, scoring 20+10 frequently.So Froman set his next goal in China's CBA league.

Although he was an alumnus, although Froman performed well in previous competitions.But meeting An Jie, whom even O'Neill and Howard were very afraid of, Froman could only admit that he was unlucky.

Froman was almost useless throughout the game. In the previous games, he was the core of the Lebanese team, but today, he was defended by An Jie without any achievements.

He can't hit inside, and he doesn't feel as good as An Jie outside.Froman was completely out of alignment throughout the game, and Anjie strangled the core of the Lebanese team by himself.

Froman didn't give up, holding the ball and preparing to break through Anjie's defense.But An Jie's footsteps, how could he be as sudden as Froman said.

As soon as he took a step, An Jie quickly blocked it, blocking Froman from moving.Before he could react, An Jie took everything with his left hand and slapped the basketball from Froman's hand.

Zhu Fangyu reacted quickly, picked up the basketball and began to advance.Helplessly, the speed of the outside players of the Chinese team was too slow, and this time the counterattack failed.

Just after that ball, Froman has made four turnovers and made 10 of 2 shots.If it weren't for Fredger's still accurate shooting, the Lebanese team might have given up resistance long ago.

But how can a mere Freddie compete against the entire Chinese team. 88 to 68, the confident Lebanese team ushered in a fiasco. The CCTV commentator thought it would be a tough battle, but unexpectedly, it was turned into a contest of great disparity by An Jie.

After winning this game, the Chinese team will compete for the championship with the equally powerful Iranian team on August 8.

Due to the eye-catching performance of the Chinese team before, the situation of winning the championship is very good.

"Iran's Haddadi can't even play in the NBA, and our Anjie is the core of the Thunder team!"

"An Jie's previous performance is already at the dominant level. A mere Haddadi can't do anything to him."

Chinese fans are very confident in Anjie, which is understandable.But Haddadi is by no means an opponent that can be underestimated.

The height of 2 meters is almost the same as that of An Jie, but the weight of 18 kg is much higher than that of An Jie.Haddadi has frequently performed well in the international arena, even in the face of the world's top teams such as the United States and Brazil, Haddadi can still produce results.

The lack of playing time in the NBA does not mean that Haddadi's ability is not worth mentioning.The second center in Asia after Yao Ming, this title is not given for nothing.

When the game started on August 8, Chinese fans discovered that the game was so difficult.

"Wang Shipeng has an open three-pointer! Still not there! This is the second time that Wang Shipeng has missed a three-pointer!" Yu Jia was anxious in the studio, but the players of the Chinese team couldn't show their performance on the court.

Haddadi caught Anjie and grabbed the defensive rebound. Although Anjie's bounce was much better than Haddadi, he did not allow him to exaggerate to the point of ignoring Haddadi to get an offensive rebound.

After the Iranian team came over, Haddadi received the ball again.Haddadi hadn't succeeded in the previous two fights against Anjie.Once blocked by Anjie, once deviated from the basket under Anjie's interference.But if Haddadi can't open it, it doesn't mean that the rest of the Iranian team can't open it either.

Haddadi's coping ability is also very good.He leaned on An Jie's back and pushed in with the advantage of tonnage.But what he did was just a feint, and the purpose was to let the Chinese team relax their vigilance against their teammates.

Haddadi turned around suddenly, but his proud footsteps didn't work in front of An Jie at all.An Jie blocked Haddadi's offensive space, but Haddadi flicked his wrist and let the basketball fly into the hands of Iranian small forward Sahachian.

Seeing Haddadi turn around, Zhu Fangyu unconsciously shrunk to the inside, which gave Sahachian a chance to shoot.Unlike the cold touch of the Chinese team, Sahachian's three-pointer hit the net with precision.

16 to 8, the Chinese team was eight points behind the Iranian team!
"Hey!" Guo Shiqiang stood up again, reminding the players on the field not to miss anyone.The game has not gone well so far. Except for An Jie and Wang Zhizhi, everyone else can't find a feeling on the offensive end.

It is not as easy as imagined to step over the Iranian team to win the Asian championship.Perhaps the previous opponents, the Chinese team, easily won, so they also relaxed their vigilance against Iran.

Watching Zhu Fangyu's three-pointer miss the target again, watching the Iranian team make another mid-range shot.Guo Shiqiang had to call a timeout, and the Chinese team was already ten points behind!

"What's going on today!? Is the basket so difficult to shoot!? Reduce outside shots, Ah Lian, take a rest, Da Zhi and An Jie partner inside, you two are our main attack points!" Once again, Guo Shiqiang gave up the change and handed over the right to decide the life and death of the Chinese team to An Jie and Wang Zhizhi.

"Leave it to me, coach." Meeting a strong opponent, An Jie could only watch his teammates waste opportunities from beyond the three-point line again and again.Now with the arrangement of the head coach, he can finally get his wish and compete with Haddadi in the paint.

There are 2 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Chinese team is 10 points behind. This is a situation that all fans did not expect.However, after returning from the timeout, can the Chinese team with Anjie as the core change their decline?

Yao Ming's baton passed to An Jie unconsciously.The previous matches were all painless, but in the final, An Jie had to come up with something real.

An Jie looked down at his jersey. The team name written on his chest was no longer "Thunder", but "China", which represented the honor of the nation.

An Jie clenched his fist, the champion must be won!
The advantage of the Iranian team is about to disappear.

(End of this chapter)