The way of the center

Chapter 345 Butcher's Knife
"This game has completely turned into a duel between Westbrook and Ann. It has been a while since we have seen Love play. A mere 2-3 zone defense, Kevin Love is watched dead by the Cyclones dead."

"I'm really disappointed. I thought this would be the ultimate showdown between the big guys. But in the end, UCLA still had to rely on the smaller guys to make an impact."

Kevin Love will never forget these two commentary words in his life. At that time, it was the NCAA March 16 matchup, and Iowa State University played against UCLA, which was invincible and aimed at the championship.The commentary booth for the two commentators is right next to the UCLA bench.Although the scene was very noisy, Le Fu, who was resting below, could still hear all this clearly.

Indeed, the reason why UCLA was able to win that game was not because of Kevin Love.It's because of Westbrook's impact that Anjie has suffered a lot, and the strength of other UCLA players is far above the Cyclones.Since then, everyone has agreed that Kevin Love, the best player, may not be as powerful as a rookie, An Jie.

Until now, even though Love has proved himself with scary data again and again, people's thinking has never changed.

The team's poor record is an ironclad fact.Look at Anjie after leaving the Thunder. He became the core and allowed the Blazers to stay in the top five in the Western Conference.Look at Love again, even if you score 40+20 ten times, others may not necessarily think you are so good.Because your team can't even make the playoffs.

It is for this reason that Le Fu works extra hard every time he faces An Jie.He just wanted to prove that he was no worse than this Chinese!From college to now, no!

"Kevin! Are you listening to me!?" Adelman's shout brought Love's thoughts back to the scene. Now, the entire Rose Garden is cheering for Anjie's outstanding performance. There is no doubt that it greatly stimulated Love's nerves.

"I'm listening, boss, increase your shots and avoid Anjie, I'm listening." Love simply repeated Adelman's arrangement.

"Good, remember Kevin. This isn't your fight alone, I know you'd love to take points off Ann, but I'm telling you, avoid him as much as you can! Winning is more important than anything else. Convincing! I believe in you, Kevin, and perform well when you play later!" It's not that Adelman doesn't know what Love is thinking. If An Jie really angered Love and asked him to fight him to the death, then Even if the Timberwolves are really finished.

Adelman will not allow such a thing to happen, he must maximize Love's role, and the first step is to let him avoid Anjie's defense!
Anjie's defense has knocked down countless stars. Even a tank like LeBron James cannot easily break through Anjie's wall.Adelman will not want Love to try again, it is meaningless to do so.

Anjie didn't play in the second quarter, because Ricard waited for Love to go up, and then replaced Anjie to confront him.

During the period when both teams lacked star players, the Trail Blazers could be said to have the upper hand.Without Anjie, the Blazers still have an All-Star player Aldridge, but what about the Timberwolves?They have nothing.

Ricky Rubio has tried to carry the scoring load himself, but it's clear the guy's offense is still a mess.With no shots from outside and no confrontation inside, Rubio still has a long way to go if he wants to score stably in the NBA.

Ricard was not in a hurry at all. Adelman asked Kevin Love to rest for one more minute, and the gap on the field would be widened.Since the Trail Blazers can maintain the lead in this situation, why should he let Anjie play?

"Let me go boss, I've had enough rest." Seeing that the point difference on the court was getting bigger and bigger, Love took the initiative to challenge Adelman.During this period, the scoring problem of the Timberwolves can only be solved by Luke Ridnour and Michael Beasley, but these two guys are not the main scorers at all.

Adelman glanced at Love, did not speak.But in the heart of this white-haired man, he was already thinking crazily.

Maybe by the end, Love will be exhausted.But at least for now, he has to stabilize the score first!

So taking advantage of Jamal Crawford's foul on Luke Ridnor, Adelman waved his hand and replaced Kevin Love in advance.At the same time, Adelman also saw that Anjie was taking off his training clothes, ready to play!

Both Le Fu and An Jie walked to the technical stage to prepare. They looked at each other for a second, and then quickly separated.In fact, An Jie admires Le Fu very much in his heart, but it is a pity that the two of them have been on opposite sides since college!
Luke Ridnor made two free throws steadily, which allowed the point difference to stay in single digits.And Love's task now is to fill in the last gap.

But before Love was ready to show his strength, Anjie gave the Timberwolves who wanted to equalize the score a disarm.

Facing the exhausted Nikola Pekovic, Anjie directly asked for the ball from a deep position, hooked it directly after receiving the ball, and easily scored two points.

The only insiders that the Timberwolves can play now are Pekovic and Love.At other times, they can only play a big and a small lineup, let Michael Beasley or Derek Williams top the fourth position.

But now with Anjie, it is impossible for Adelman to do so.Otherwise, there is no difference between the Timberwolves' inside line and taking the initiative to give in.

It's a pity that Pekovic, who played for too long, couldn't keep up with An Jie.Perhaps this Montenegrin native has the potential to become a top center forward, but now that he doesn't even have the strength, no matter how strong his ability is, he can't play it out.

Kevin Love must withstand the pressure and bite the score in the next offensive round.

Love, who is determined, has indeed done so. Aldridge is very, very bad at defending outside the three-point line. To be exact, there are few insiders in this league who are good at defending outside the three-point line.It is really difficult for him to follow Love's mature interspersed movement like a defender.

Love's hard work was not in vain. With ten seconds left in the shot clock, he finally got an open shot from outside the three-point line.

At this time, Aldridge was completely blocked by the crowd, and it was impossible for Anjie to jump out to defend. In this way, Pekovic on the inside would be cleared.He can only pray in his heart that Love will miss this goal.Originally, even if there is an open space, the three-pointer is not just a goal.

However, Love's shooting percentage today is indeed very high, although it is not as good as Anjie's traditional insider who mainly scores at the basket.But for a player whose main scoring method is shooting, Love's shooting rate of close to 60% is already very, very high.

"Swipe!" Anjie and Pekovic started a fierce competition at the basket, but in the end, both of them were just doing useless work.Love's three-pointer was very deadly, hollow into the net.Adelman seems to have seen a glimmer of hope, and he now puts all his attention on Love.

If Love brought Adelman hope, then Anjie has been pushing Adelman to despair.This guy is definitely more intimidating than Yao Ming back then.

"It's too stable. Ann's scoring efficiency at the basket is too stable! Since the second quarter, have you ever seen him miss the ball!? There are only a handful of them! If you continue to play like this, the game will collapse sooner or later !” Adelman dare not double-team Anjie now, because Jamal Crawford and Courtney Lee's three-pointers have caused the Timberwolves to suffer.

But if you don't double-team An Jie, the end will not be much better.Although he can only score two points at a time, Anjie can guarantee that he can bring two points to the team in most rounds.As the game continued, Pekovic's defense became weaker and weaker, and Adelman had no choice but to replace him.

On the offensive end, Love can still avoid Anjie, but on the defensive end, as the only inside player on the Timberwolves field, he can't dodge it no matter what.

To deal with Love, An Jie's offensive method has also become simple and rough.Cut back!As soon as he came up, An Jie tortured Love's nerves with a powerful back blow!
An Jie used to be very thin, and it was difficult to find an advantage in physical confrontation.But now, he is a perfect combination of technology flow and strength flow.Can be soft or hard, this is also An Jie's scariest place.

Love was forced to retreat by An Jie's skillful back-up push. Before the five-second time for back-ups was up, An Jie easily arched to the basket.At the basket, An Jie, who has a huge advantage in height and wingspan, is simply not something Love can guard against.

"Small hook, easy, Love can't reach the ball at all."

"Short-range jumper, go in, or hit the board."

"The turnaround jump shot after shaking the shoulders! No, it's just a fake move. An Jie used his footsteps to trick Love, who was taking off, and succeeded in picking the basket."

During this period, Love's shooting was as accurate as ever.But no matter how accurate it is, it is not as easy as An Jie's scoring at the basket.What's more, to defend An Jie, Love has already made double efforts.It is impossible for his shooting percentage to remain at this percentage all the time.

Seeing that the score was pulled away by Angel a little bit, Adelman really felt weak all over.Love's performance in this game is good enough, but unfortunately, who made him meet the pervert An Jie?

55 to 43, at the end of the half, the Blazers took a 12-point lead in the Rose Garden.

During the intermission, the reporter in front of T.NT called Adelman, hoping to hear his opinion on the game.But Adelman refused the interview in front of fans all over the United States, leaving the reporter alone in embarrassment.

This coach's strong heart was about to be completely destroyed by An Jie, so there was no time for any damn interviews.

With 18 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block, Anjie's data in half a game has already made him a top insider in the league.

However, for the next 24 minutes, God knows what else this ruthless butcher will do.

The frustration of losing to the Heat was really completely vented by An Jie.Kevin Love and Adelman just happened to hit the muzzle.If you want to blame, blame James for stealing the victory in the Rose Garden.

Today, An Jie will keep the victory in the City of Tear no matter what!Even if the only way to do so is to tear the opponent apart!

Scoring another 40 points doesn't seem impossible.
(End of this chapter)