The way of the center

chapter 613
Jeff Hornacek shook his head helplessly. Marcus Morris just missed his third consecutive shot.

Robin Lopez, a lunatic, is more motivated than Hornacek imagined. Although Anjie left the field early, the Suns still didn't take advantage of the interior.

After that, the two sides gradually took over the game with the second team.Rickard dominated the rebounds with a Meyers Leonard-Robin Lopez double-center lineup.

The Suns began to increase the number of outside shots as Hornacek arranged, but as long as they failed to make the ball, they would definitely not get a second chance to attack.

In contrast to the Blazers, Robin, a big man with an afro, is completely different from his brother.Brook is an offensive insider, and Robin is an out-and-out defensive gate and rebounding machine.

His desire for offensive rebounds allowed Batum and Courtney Lee to take bold shots with confidence, and the Suns played the entire first quarter in such an unfavorable situation.

16 to 30, the Blazers ended their first quarter with a 14-point difference even though Ricard gave Anjie a full rest.

Bledsoe walked to the bench in frustration, and the "blood cloth" who wanted to do a big job after being alone, suffered a major blow in the first quarter of his new season.

"Good job Robin." An Jie and his teammates who were off the court clapped hands one by one, and Robin Lopez was the most enthusiastic among them.

This picture was sent to all over the world by the photographers on the sidelines.In this regard, the remarks about the impossible coexistence of An Jie and Robin are not self-defeating.

"You guys played well in the first quarter. Hornacek wanted to play against us, so we decided to increase our defensive strength! When the Suns can't even do a good job in offense, they have nothing to do. Ann! Come up to me as soon as the second quarter begins, I want you to link up with your teammates on the offensive end and defensive end, and let the Suns know what despair is!" Ricard's loud shout and Hornacek's anxiety on the other side formed sharp contrast.

Hornacek was yelling, too, but he was in disarray.If a team can't even calm down its head coach, how can the players calm down?
After the start of the second quarter, Bledsoe immediately launched a mad attack.

He received the ball directly from the bottom line and advanced. Facing Andre Miller, who only relied on experience to defend, Bledsoe's breakthrough was still easy.

No pick and roll, no screens.Bledsoe, like James, attacked the basket in the most brutal and direct way.

The Suns' backup center, this year's No. 5 rookie, Alex Len, immediately moved to the mid-range.The Ukrainian center is different from Plumlee in that he has a softer touch and is quite threatening at mid-range.

An Jie was a little hesitant, after all, he didn't know the shooting ability of this rookie center.

On the other side, Meyers Leonard's opponent Marcus Morris is also a good shooter.Anjie couldn't expect Leonard to bear the impact for him. He decided to block the basket first and let Alex Ryan, a rookie in the first year, be short.

Although Bledsoe is not a playmaker, he still can't even see such a big gap.Seeing that Anjie moved to the basket, Bledsoe hit the ground pass during the march, and Alex Lane got the chance to score the first point in the NBA!

Ryan naturally knows how terrifying Anjie's defensive ability is. Last season, the scene of him catching James head-on was watched countless times by Ryan.

So Ryan didn't dare to slack off, he made a hasty shot, for fear that his shot would be slapped away by An Jie.

An Jie also immediately changed his focus and rushed towards Ryan, but Ryan was still one step ahead of An Jie and successfully threw the basketball to the basket.

Ryan's hasty shot did allow him to avoid An Jie's palm, but also, this anxious shot also made Ryan, who was not stable enough to shoot, miss the chance to score.

The basketball hit the outside of the basket and bounced straight out.Aldridge jumped high and protected the rebound for Anjie.

"Ryan has actually got a very good opportunity, but unfortunately, he is a little too nervous." Kenny Smith shook his head. It seems that Ryan wants to score points in the NBA, and he has to wait a little longer.

"Of course, after all, there are several rookies who are not nervous when facing Anjie?" O'Neill smiled proudly. Even Plumlee, who was in the second grade, was led by the nose by Anjie. Naturally, Ryan couldn't calmly face this terrifying ruler of the restricted area.

Both the players of the Suns and the coach Hornacek have great potential, but their potential will take a longer time to be realized.Obviously, at least this game is not the time for the Suns to reap the results.

Anjie's first defense at the beginning of the second quarter made Ricard quite satisfied.If Bledsoe continues his obsessive breakthrough, he will only sink the Suns deeper and deeper.

In the subsequent offense, An Jie used the method of turning over and jumping after hitting the back to severely educate Ryan, a rookie.A center's shooting should be as calm and confident as he is.Fear and haste can get you out of the block, but it still won't get you to score for your team.

"This is the obvious gap between Ann and others. Ryan is considered a good center forward. But compared with Ann, he is still far behind."

In the second attack of the Suns, Bledsoe, who was out of breath, continued to choose to break through.Andre Miller, like Lillard, can't do anything about this tank-like drive.

This time, Bledsoe did not choose to continue confronting Anjie head-on.Instead, he suddenly stopped suddenly, jumped up high, and was about to shoot a jump shot!

At this time, the advantages of Miller's "old fritters" are reflected.Seeing Bledsoe shoot directly, Miller secretly made some small moves on Bledsoe.Bledsoe, who was pushed on the waist, was very uncomfortable, but the referee's whistle did not sound as expected.

No way, Bledsoe had no choice but to bite the bullet and make a move.There is no doubt that this shot only brought An Jie a rebound in the end.

Hornacek immediately complained to the referee, he clearly saw that Miller's hands were not clean.But this is of no avail. It is impossible for an old slicker like Miller to be caught by the referee.

It's not a derogatory term to say that Miller is defending with experience.

After Anjie protected the rebound, he signaled the old Miller to slowly push the position. Miller used his changing rhythm to make Bledsoe lose his way.

Miller's footsteps are definitely the top of the guard. The most terrifying thing is that this guy's passing skills and vision are not inferior to those when he was younger.

He used Anjie's pick-and-roll to confuse the Suns who are not good at defense. After that, he just passed lightly, and people discovered that Anjie was already in the empty position.

"What!?" Ryan did not expect that the cooperation between Anjie and Miller would be so tacit. In fact, this is the first time that Anjie has cooperated with Miller in an official game, and their tacit understanding can only be regarded as ordinary .It can only be said that Ryan's current tactical training is still far behind that of NBA-level players.

Hornacek held his forehead, knowing that taking over the rebuilding Suns would be a challenge.It's just that he didn't expect that this challenge would push him into a corner so quickly.

Only a few rounds into the second quarter, "Death Light Gun" called a timeout again.

"It was stopped again, maybe Coach Hornacek still can't grasp the timing of calling a timeout."

"No, if Hornacek doesn't call a timeout, I'm afraid the point difference will be widened. This is a team that defeated the Heat's Big Three. The Suns want to win, and what they are doing now is far from enough. "

Off the court, Hornacek did not continue to comfort his players.Especially Bledsoe, this guy's restless breakthrough has caused the Suns to miss too many opportunities.

"Golan, you will go on the court to control the ball later. Integrity, our offense needs to be integrated! Look at the offense of the Trail Blazers, even the defending champions, they always put sharing the ball first! At this point, we haven't done enough!" Hornacek named Dragic to control the ball, and Bledsoe naturally lost the right to continue to ask for the ball.

Although Hornacek didn't say it clearly, Bledsoe knew that he had begun to lose points in the head coach's mind.

"Also, Eric." Just when Bledsoe was disheartened, Hornacek suddenly called his name.

"Yes!" Bledsoe straightened up suddenly.

"You play a lot on the offensive end, run a lot. Space your teammates and yourself, and believe me, you're intimidating enough to open up the team. As long as you are open, I also believe that Golan will Put the ball in your hands in time." Hornacek patted Bledsoe on the shoulder, and this simple action revived Bledsoe, who had been lost.I have to admit that this old schoolmate of An Jie is really a psychological master.

"I know we are still ahead by a lot, but guys, the game is not over, and the opponent has not given up! Don't take it lightly, keep working hard, let's keep the advantage until the end of halftime!" Ricard knew that the Suns today are not You will be slaughtered by others, you can see it from the eyes of those people.

Ricard withdrew the half-starter and half-substitute lineup, and faced off with a complete starting five.On the Suns side, Hornacek also replaced all the starters.

It is impossible that every time a Suns player faces a setback, Hornacek can solve the problem with a little encouragement.

Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.The Suns players have already suffered too many setbacks in this quarter and a half of the game. If they are hit again this time with full confidence, I am afraid that their morale will really dry up.

Hornacek knows this, Ricard knows this, and An Jie, who has been in the NBA for more than five years, also knows this.

"Guys!" An Jie shouted after entering the stage. "Break them down!"

(End of this chapter)