The way of the center

Chapter 315
Aldridge's sudden outburst caught Popovich's Spurs by surprise. They thought that the Trail Blazers' offensive momentum would stagnate after restricting Anjie, but Aldridge put the Spurs in crisis again.

In the end, should Duncan continue to mark Anjie, or let him return to the fourth position to fight Aldridge.This became a question that plagued Popovich.In the end, Popovich decided to use Duncan to fight Anjie. No matter how good Aldridge is, he still relies on shooting for food.Once the heat starts to drop, his scoring efficiency will no longer be so scary.But Anjie is a comprehensive offensive player, he can score in countless ways, and only Duncan can minimize Anjie's scoring methods.

Seeing that Popovich was still standing still, Ricard became a little worried.But after Aldridge scored two goals in a row, the worried person became Popovich.

Splitter's height is similar to that of Aldridge, but the only difference between the two is that of height.Aldridge wants to score points on Splitter's head, it's easy.

Splitter is not afraid of confrontation, so Popovich originally had confidence in him.Who knows that Aldridge, who has always been elegant in his playing style, is uncharacteristically today. He is very active in looking for physical contact, which makes Splitter very embarrassed.

When Ricard relieved Aldridge and Angie replaced, the Spurs were still six points behind the Trail Blazers.

"Go Jamal, what you need to do is to stabilize the situation." Rickard patted Crawford on the shoulder. In the first quarter, Rickard had already found the weakness of the Spurs. Next, let's see How did he take advantage of his weakness.

Jamal Crawford performed very well in the first few games, but today he played abnormally again.Why can this guy only be a sixth man?Unstable performance is the biggest reason.

Ricard originally had high hopes for him, but as a result, the second team led by Crawford not only failed to stabilize the score, but also allowed the Spurs to tie the score.For Anjie, the Trail Blazers sent Craig Smith and Nicolas Batum, which greatly reduced the strength of the Trail Blazers' second team.Crawford couldn't even play, and the rest of the Trail Blazers' second team couldn't open the situation.

24 to 24, the advantages that Anjie and Aldridge finally established were defeated by the team's second team.But at this time, they will not blame each other. They are a team. If there is a problem, everyone must find a way to solve it.

"Ann, you continue to play against Duncan in the second quarter. I need you to help Aldridge liberate." After seeing Aldridge's performance in the first quarter, Ricard decided to temporarily change the focus of attack.

"No problem, don't worry LaMarcus, I'll keep that dude Duncan away from you." Anjie made an "OK" gesture to Rickard and Aldridge, who used to fight against Duncan. It's what he should do.

"LaMarcus, keep playing like you did in the first quarter! Get tough, the closer to the basket the better!" Rickard knew that Aldridge's touch could not be so hot throughout the game, but if he shot Close enough to the rim that this won't be a problem for Aldridge.

After arranging everything, both the Blazers and the Spurs played again.Compared with Popovich, who has also made many adjustments, it is completely unknown whether the cooperation between Aldridge and Anjie will be so smooth.

On the Spurs' first offense, Duncan leaned on Aldridge.When defending, Duncan will choose to match up with Anjie, but on the offensive end, no player, even if he is as strong as Duncan, will not take the initiative to lean on Anjie like his brain is flooded.

But when Duncan exerted his strength for the first time, he found that he seemed to have underestimated Aldridge's confrontation ability.

Aldridge was indeed struggling very hard. It can be said that if he wants to hold Duncan, it is already his limit.But today, Aldridge is ready to play to its full potential.Don't forget, it is because of Duncan that Aldridge will work so hard.Now Duncan took the initiative to confront Aldridge, but it was exactly what Aldridge wanted.

On the offensive end, for the sake of the team, Aldridge must give up the idea of ​​​​playing against idols.But on the defensive end, Aldridge will not waste opportunities!
Duncan leaned against it twice, but found that the distance he had advanced was very small.In desperation, Duncan had no choice but to hook the frame from a relatively long distance, and Aldridge's legs caught up with clockwork. The moment Duncan made a shot, he also jumped high and almost touched it. Duncan's hook shot.

Fortunately, Duncan's shots have always been high, but this man who was as calm as a stone was still disrupted by Aldridge's timely interference.

Under Aldridge's excellent defense, Duncan's shot hit the neck of the basket and bounced back.

Splitter wanted to squeeze into the penalty area and fight for rebounds, but Angie stuck him tightly behind him.Aldridge only needs to jump lightly in this no man's land created by Anjie to protect the rebound.

"This is the fourth time Duncan has missed consecutive shots in this game. This situation is very rare in Duncan's entire career."

"Because an inside combination like Anjie and Aldridge is also very rare in this league!"

Duncan failed again on the offensive end, and Duncan on the defensive end would not allow himself to make another mistake even if he was killed.He defended Anjie very hard, even if Anjie hadn't received the ball and was far from the three-second zone.But Duncan has been trying his best to push Anjie out, hoping to push the biggest weapon of the Trail Blazers out of the killing area.

Anjie wrestled with Duncan very cooperatively, and kept his big hand open, ready to catch the ball.Seeing this situation, Duncan didn't dare to slack off.

However, on the other side of the penalty area, Aldridge once again used his more flexible feet to run out of the open space.Raymond Felton made a precise pass, and Aldridge caught the ball and shot it. He has fully played with confidence.

"Damn it!" Popovich cursed unwillingly, and even he began to envy the Blazers' dynamic inside lineup.

In the subsequent games, Duncan's defense was still working hard, and Anjie did not score a point.But this is not because he can't score, but because after Anjie restrained Duncan, all the opportunities were assigned to other players.

Especially Aldridge, without the entanglement of strong defenders, his offense is like a fish in water.Originally, Aldridge was a power forward who was more offensive than defensive, but now he is completely liberated.

In the past, people would guard against Aldridge, but now, Anjie has attracted all the firepower for Aldridge.His scoring is easier and more lethal than before.

Popovich's head is about to explode. Duncan and Parker are not good on the offensive end today, and Ginobili is injured again.Even he, the coach, has no idea who to rely on to support the game.

Now, Duncan can only do multiple things alone.At first he contained Angie, and now Popovich needs him to contain Aldridge at the same time.

"Tim, you have to work harder in this game. Aldridge and Ann, these two guys need you to bother." When Popovich said this, Split and DeJuan . Blair buried his head deeply.If it weren't for their lack of ability, the Spurs would not be in trouble.

Duncan nodded silently. On this man's face, you couldn't see any other expressions or emotions except fortitude.

When the Thunder came back from the timeout and once again rushed to the hinterland of the Spurs, it was obvious that the Spurs' defensive strategy had changed.

Before, the Spurs were resolutely executing man-to-man defense.Indeed, the result of this is that the Trail Blazers have a lot less assists, they can't pass the ball easily, and they can't get easy scoring opportunities.

It's just that Popovich didn't expect that Aldridge's singles would reach this unreasonable level.

So when Aldridge was holding the ball again, he found that Duncan had abandoned Anjie and rushed towards him, while the Spurs' backup small forward Kawhi Leonard was in front of Anjie.

Don't look at Leonard as a small forward, but his physical condition is better than Blair's insider.Wingspan, shoulder width, height, Leonard is not bad.

Seeing this situation, Aldridge passed the ball to Anjie without thinking.An Jie also felt that the Spurs really had no choice but to use a rookie small forward to guard him.As a result, just as An Jie was about to catch the ball, a big hand stretched out and intercepted the ball.

Suddenly, a black lightning flashed before An Jie's eyes.This is a fast break?

"The opportunity for the Spurs to switch offense! My God, this is the first fast break for the Spurs in this game." Kenny Smith believes that many people have almost fallen asleep, but the rookie striker of the Spurs returned to the game. ignited the enthusiasm of the fans.

Gerald Wallace thought he could easily intercept this rookie, but unexpectedly, the moment the two made physical contact, Wallace was bounced away.This guy's physical fitness has greatly exceeded Gerald Wallace's expectations!

"Bang!" He steals Anjie, pushes away Wallace, and completes the fast break with a dunk.Kawhi Leonard completed an almost impossible task, Popovich's eyes lit up, this guy might become a breakthrough!
During training, Popovich admired Leonard's defensive skills.But he didn't expect that this guy could successfully defend An Jie.

Seeing this situation, Popovich immediately gestured below.The purpose is very clear, let Duncan continue to double-team Aldridge!
Although a goal was stolen, the Trail Blazers' tactics have not changed.It was still Anjie who restrained Duncan, and the others focused on Aldridge to complete the attack.

But this time, when Aldridge caught the ball again, Duncan still boldly dropped Anjie and double-teamed Aldridge, who was feeling hot.

Anjie immediately opened his hands for the ball, but Kawhi Leonard once again circled forward to defend.This guy's terrifying wingspan might really cut off the lob passed to An Jie.

Seeing Anjie being entangled by Leonard, Aldridge didn't dare to act rashly at all.He had to hit the ball outside again and let Felton reorganize the offense.

An Jie's footwork is considered flexible among centers, but compared with Leonard, a small forward, the gap is still very obvious.It is not easy for Anjie to get rid of Leonard's defense alone.

So Anjie made a gesture to Aldridge.Aldridge was taken aback for a moment, but in the end he chose to trust An Jie.

Angie started running, but Leonard was still inseparable.He didn't know what the big man was thinking. He actually wanted to run to get rid of the defense of the perimeter players, as if his feet could be faster than the small forward.

Ricard also stood up from the bench. Anjie's running was not a tactic he arranged.

Sure enough, An Jie didn't have any chance to get rid of the defense at all.Leonard still sticks to Anjie, not giving him a chance to catch the ball at all.

At this moment, Leonard suddenly stopped in his tracks.He felt as if he was blocked by something, and when he looked up, it was Aldridge standing in front of him.

"What kind of tactic is that really? An insider does an off-the-ball pick-and-roll for an insider!?" Reggie Miller's eyes widened. Neither Anjie nor Aldridge are the kind of big men who tend to play outside.How do these two guys plan to complete the offense when they do off-the-ball pick-and-rolls?

As soon as An Jie got rid of Leonard's defense, he quickly raised his hand for the ball.Felton looked at the few attacking minutes and didn't dare to neglect. He immediately made a pass, allowing Anjie to get the ball in a small step within the three-point line.

"Is Ann going to shoot? This is not his best range. Could it be that because of a Leonard, Ann will be forced to attack outside?" Kenny Smith can't understand the cooperation between Anjie and Aldridge, if it is If An Jie and Gerald Wallace play like this, there is no problem.But An Jie, he is a center forward!What a thing it is for a center to be forced to shoot outside by a small forward!
But Anjie, who got an open spot, didn't shoot, because in that position, he didn't have much confidence.

Seeing that Leonard was blocked, Duncan immediately left Aldridge and returned to Anjie.Duncan was rushing forward beyond the three-point line, while Anjie planned to go to the basket.The centers of gravity of these two people are completely opposite, so that after An Jie made a shot fake, he easily wiped past Duncan.

"Ann's breakthrough! Split defended the past. If An hits, it must be a dribbler!"

As soon as Barkley finished speaking, An Jie stepped into the three-second zone with one foot.Split was ready to take the hit, but nothing happened.

As soon as An Jie stepped into the three-second zone, he jumped with one foot and gently threw the ball to the basket.The basketball was not blocked by anything and went hollow into the net.

"Ann's throw is simply great! He and Aldridge made an unreasonable cooperation, which made the Spurs impossible to defend!" Although this offense did not have heavy dunks and dazzling dribbles.But everyone agrees that this is undoubtedly a wonderful attack!

With a small forward, you want to see the Trail Blazers inside?Don't forget, the inside line is An Jie's domain!

(End of this chapter)