The way of the center

Chapter 310 Team Leader
"Am I right? The current Trail Blazers team is more terrifying than when Oden and Roy were there. Russell, have you forgotten how terrible his defensive skills are after he has only been gone for a few days? At the beginning of the second half of the game, I want you to temporarily reduce the number of breakthrough offenses, score more and create more kills. The defense of the Trail Blazers, especially the inside defense, is definitely completely different from that of the past.” The Thunder changed clothes at halftime Indoors, Van Gundy is setting tasks for Westbrook, who has a poor shooting percentage.

Before the start of this season, even if he killed Van Gundy, he would never have imagined that he would actually arrange tactics against Anjie in this familiar locker room.But now, he has to do this. Restricting Anjie is the key to the Thunder's victory over the Trail Blazers.

During Anjie's injury, Van Gundy also had brief contact with Ricard.Although this is their first match, Van Gundy knows that Ricard is a very good head coach.Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to train guys like An Jie and Morris.This game is not only a competition of players on the field, but also a game between Van Gundy and Ricard.

"In the second half, we continued to take advantage of the opponent's relatively shrinking lineup and look for opportunities on the outside. Batum, Durant, Bledsoe, take shots when you have a chance, don't hesitate!" Van Gundy knew Anjie, so he didn't want to Let the Thunder hit the guns.Even if the impact of Westbrook and Bledsoe is one of the best in this league, even if Durant has been the scoring leader for two consecutive seasons.But Van Gundy still didn't intend to let them go head-to-head with Anjie, he knew that doing so would be in Ricard's arms.

After the start of the second half of the game, the Thunder did as Van Gundy arranged, and the number of outside shots increased significantly.

The Thunder can run out of all tactics, and the timing of everyone's shots is not a big problem in Van Gundy's view.But the only difference from the assumption is that the players of the Thunder team began to miss the goal.

"Durant's [-]-pointer! Hit the iron again. The ball bounced a little far, but Angie moved quickly and controlled the rebound. The Blazers' counterattack, Jamal Crawford's advance speed is very fast! Beautiful !Walking away Morris for a layup with a reverse dribble, only Crawford would use it in an actual game.”

"Bledsoe received a pass from Ibaka and made a mid-range and long-range jump shot, but still nothing! Raymond Felton's defense is very good. Although the Blazers' lineup shrinks to the basket, Phil The consciousness to follow out is very good."

"Westbrook wanted to make a foul! No, the referee didn't call, the ball was exchanged again, and now it's the Blazers' offensive round!"

With the new Thunder's three consecutive offensive failures, the Trail Blazers also took advantage of this to hit a 7-0 spurt and overtake the score in one fell swoop.

In the first half, the Thunder players had no problems with their shooting percentages, and Van Gundy couldn't even calculate it. The situation will change suddenly in the second half.

In fact, it's not that the players of the Thunder team feel bad, but that Ricard changed his defensive strategy according to the situation on the field.

The three outside players do not shrink, and execute a one-to-one defense.But Aldridge and Anjie have to shrink and are ready to defend the penalty area at any time.The disadvantage of this is that there may be a crack in the middle distance, but the Thunder players did not see this.They still choose to shoot from the mid-to-long distance or inside, but few people are willing to try the real mid-range shot.

In this small ball era, the status of CIC is getting lower and lower.Either choose a three-pointer with a higher score, or choose an inside line with a higher shooting percentage.There are fewer and fewer players and teams who really rely on CIC to play games.The Thunder are obviously included.

Can't make a three-pointer, and the inside line can't get around Anjie's pass.The Thunder's offensive firepower suddenly stagnated, but the Trail Blazers continued to advance.

In the second half, An Jie obviously felt a lot of pressure from behind. In order to prevent him, Van Gundy did not hesitate to double-team An Jie.If you want to put it on the Thunder, when you want to put it next to Anjie and Durant and Westbrook, absolutely no one would dare to do this.They would rather let An Jie fight alone than let the three thunderbolts fight with all of them.

But right now, the Trail Blazers don't have a Durant or Westbrook in that role.Therefore, as long as Ibaka is allowed to stare at Aldridge, and then use Morris and Durant to double-team Anjie, the Trail Blazers' offensive efficiency is bound to drop a lot.

The fact is also true, "Elvis" Gerald Wallace felt very, very bad today, even if Durant frequently gave him big gifts in order to double-team Anjie, Gerald Wallace was not sure Live the opportunity.

Van Gundy didn't take Durant to double-team Anjie for granted. He decided which point to let go after research and consideration.Judging from the current situation, Gerald Wallace really did not disappoint Van Gundy.

An Jie knew that going on like this was not an option. He could single-handedly challenge Morris and Ibaka, but he admitted that he could not do this under the double interference of Durant and Morris. .

Not to mention whether the level is sufficient, how can the pair of legs that have not fully recovered stand out from the encirclement between the two?
At this time, Anjie had to pass the ball.But it can no longer be passed to Gerald Wallace, who has repeatedly shot and ironed. Angie has to find a new target.

"Everyone ran up and actively got rid of the defense. Let's intersperse and run!" An Jie shouted at his teammates while returning to defense.It doesn't matter if anyone hears it, or if anyone wants to listen to him.But Anjie decided to remind his teammates that this is what he should do.

Ricard originally thought that An Jie's private and humble character made it difficult for him to become a leader, but now it seems that he was wrong.This kid, An Jie, was born to be a leader!

In the interruption of the third quarter, the offensive efficiency of both sides was much lower.Van Gundy strangled the Trail Blazers with double-teams, and Rickard used a half-shrunk lineup to make the Thunder helpless.

But after Anjie reminded, the Trail Blazers really made a change.

Gerald Wallace no longer stood still and waited for Anjie to pass the ball. Although he was not marked by Durant, he still actively ran.When Wallace ran, the others had to move with him.Once the Trail Blazers' interspersed running positions are formed, it is bound to cause the Thunder to switch defenses.

In an interspersed movement, Sefoloza, who was defending Wesley Matthews, was forced to chase Wallace back inside.

Unexpectedly, Anjie did not let Wallace, who cut inside and entered the penalty area, catch the ball, but made a large-scale transfer and hit the ball out of the outside line.

When Matthews received the ball, there were no Thunder players within two meters of him.The Blazers' interspersed running positions made the Thunder's defense messy, and Anjie's good ability to read the game and precise passing allowed the Blazers to find opportunities in this chaos.Now, it depends on whether Matthews can complete this final blow.

Matthews didn't feel good in this game, it can only be described as mediocre.But in the face of this big open space, there is no reason for him not to make a shot.

Separate your feet slightly, take off, reach the highest point, press your wrists, and move your fingers.Wesley Matthews seemed to be warming up and threw the ball comfortably.It wasn't until after his shot landed that Sefoloza rushed over to interfere.But at this time, the take-off interference was useless.

After Anjie saw Matthews throwing the basketball, he immediately turned around and prepared to get stuck on the rebound.But Morris also learned from Divac for a while back then. Although his positioning skills are not as good as Anjie, they are definitely excellent.

An Jie's card position did not succeed, but Morris took a favorable position.An Jie was at a loss. If the goal didn't go in, he wouldn't even have a chance to grab the rebound and make a second attack.

Little did he know that the basketball thrown by Matthews was as accurate as a cruise missile, falling into the net with a very high arc.

The scoring drought between the two sides was finally broken by this three-pointer, and Anjie's cry played a role.When he was in the Chinese team, Wang Zhizhi once taught An Jie.You're a center, and you see a lot of things in the paint better than others.If there is something, you shout it out loud, as the core, that is what you should do.

But after that, Anjie rarely commanded his teammates on the court.Because in the Thunder, although he is very important, the real core has always been Durant.To put it bluntly, he also exists to serve Durant.

But now in the Blazers, everything is different.Now not only the head coach supports him as the core, but even the players of the Trail Blazers have subconsciously formed this subconscious.

Anjie's command has achieved results, not only making Anjie more confident in himself, but also making the Blazers players more confident in him.

After succeeding on the offensive end, Anjie also brought this point to the defense.

He can see the situation of the entire defensive lineup under the basket, so his defensive command is always timely and accurate.

"Pay attention to Gerald behind you! Westbrook has broken through!" Following An Jie's shout, Gerald Wallace, who was originally on the flank, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and took a step back. Just for him to block Westbrook's way from 45°.

"Beep beep!" At this moment, the referee blew the whistle in his mouth and sentenced "Elvis Presley" to a blocking foul.

Although it was a foul, at least they prevented Westbrook from completing a breakthrough.Just now Wallace was still hesitating whether he should listen to An Jie and leave Durant behind to defend. The few tenths of a second of hesitation were enough for someone like Westbrook to advance far.Therefore, he was called a foul.

If Wallace had followed An Jie's reminder without hesitation from the very beginning, then the ending might have been completely different.

Next time, Gerald Wallace will definitely execute An Jie's call quickly, because he knows that An Jie's call is worthy of his trust!

In the subsequent games, Anjie received more and more support, and people were willing to use Anjie as the center point to move and respond.The double-team defense arranged by Jeff Van Gundy was also broken under the united offensive of the Trail Blazers players.

Matthews, Crawford, and Aldridge all benefited from Anjie's pass.The Thunder guarded An Jie, but failed to guard the other four.

And Durant's touch in the third quarter was surprisingly bad, and he missed four free throws in a row. This is not about the Thunder's newly introduced blue-collar center Nazr Mohammed, but about Kevin. Durant!
The defensive end was broken, but the offensive end was not played out.The Thunder fell into a trough in an instant, even if Batum and Bledsoe played, the situation did not change much.

Anjie only scored 2 points in this quarter, but sent 5 assists!At the end of the third quarter, Rickard let Aldridge play to attack again. Aldridge made all 3 shots and maintained the lead until the end of the third quarter. !
78 to 74, the Trail Blazers did not have an advantage in the first half, but because of Anjie's leadership, they overtook the Thunder by four points.

What is the core, it is not that you can score the most, you are the core.Leading the team and leading teammates to win together is the role a core should have.

The decisive battle in the fourth quarter is about to start, and the atmosphere of the Chesapeake Energy Arena has also been pushed to the highest point.Whether Anjie can continue his winning journey at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, everything will be revealed soon.

(End of this chapter)