The way of the center

Chapter 68 The First Appearance

The wonderful goal made Durant stand up from the bench in excitement. He frantically waved the towel in his hand. Last season, he never saw anyone who could stabilize the situation when he was off the field. Now It seems that these two guys who are as big as him are indeed very powerful.

After Angie scored the goal, the Thunder officially announced that they had come out of the quagmire of not scoring.With 4 minutes left in the first quarter, the Thunder tied the score at 12.

The head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, Scott Skiles, knew that the Thunder, a young team, had already picked up momentum, so he hurriedly called a timeout. In addition to arranging some tactics, the more important thing was not to let the Thunder The momentum of the group of young people continued.

After Anjie and Westbrook came off the court, all the teammates gathered around to give them high fives. These two young people have already won a place in the Thunder with their performance.

"It's beautifully buttoned." Durant even touched An Jie's head. This big boy who usually doesn't talk much in the bottom line also showed his rare passion today.

While Skiles expressed strong dissatisfaction with all members of the Bucks, Thunder coach PJ Carlesimo did not make any constructive changes.He just told his players to pay attention to defense over and over again, and he didn't say a word other than that.

After the timeout ended, Kevin Durant, who just had a bad feeling, returned to the court again. This was the first time that the Thunder's three top cards appeared at the same time today.

Wu Hua raised his camera in the press area and took a photo of three young people waiting to play on the sidelines. Later, when this photo was used in a column, the caption below the photo read "The present and future of the Thunder" .

The timeout ended, and Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Angie walked onto the court at the same time.At this moment, they are completely unafraid of Michael Reed, Richard Jefferson and Andrew Bogut, who are ridiculed by the media as the "poor man's Big Three".

Similar configurations, similar strengths, whether the old soldier is immortal or the green one, the battle between the Thunder and the Bucks continues to escalate!
Michael Reid was quite concerned about the missed shot just now.Obviously the previous work was done perfectly, but the last blow failed to end.How can one make up for a failure?The best way, of course, is to make up for it with another perfect offense.

Ridnor handed the ball to Reid as soon as halftime passed. When Westbrook tensed up and waited for it, Reed, who had a strong desire to attack just now, passed the ball again.

After Richard Jefferson got the ball, he went directly into the restricted area, which also allowed Thunder power forward Wilcox to stay in the restricted area for a while.Subconsciously, he felt he had to stay and cover.

This time Durant did not lose his position. Jefferson suddenly passed the ball halfway through. Wilcox raised his hands to interfere, but unexpectedly the ball was passed outside the free throw line.

Villanueva!Another chance to score!He withdrew immediately after Jefferson's breakthrough.One is to make room for his teammates, and the other is to give himself the opportunity to pull out and shoot.

Angie, who was entangled with Bogut, had no way to go up to defend, and could only watch as Villanueva easily made a mid-range shot from behind the free throw line.

Today is not the first time Wilcox missed someone, not to mention that his opponent Villanueva is still an insider with a huge attack range.On the defensive end, Wilcox is simply a big black hole.

The Thunder fans were very helpless, but a second later they immediately became excited again, because the three rookies of the Thunder were about to start attacking at the same time!

Westbrook has obviously taken possession of the ball into his own hands. He carefully observes the running positions of his teammates, but in fact the first choice in his mind is to break through by himself!
However, Michael Reed did not let Westbrook get what he wanted this time. His defense has not wavered, and Westbrook hit a wall several times when he tried to break through.

Seeing that this little brother was unable to make a difference, Durant raised his hand to ask for the ball. He has not scored a point so far in the game, and he has long been unable to hold back off the court.

After the third breakthrough failed, Westbrick still gave up his plan to attack and obediently handed the ball to Durant who couldn't wait.

Durant received the ball, and Anjie wanted to come up to pick and roll, but Durant waved his hand, he wanted to play singles!
In the Cyclones, there will never be such a situation.Because Ricard had a very clear arrangement, and everyone in the Cyclone team faithfully carried out Ricard's orders.

But everything is very different in the Thunder. PJ Carlesimo's tactics are very unclear, and he relies more on the players' on-the-spot decisions to play.

Seeing that Durant didn't need a pick-and-roll, Anjie had no choice but to pull out of the penalty area, but he still trusted this teammate who had proven himself.

As a result, something that surprised everyone happened. Durant's forced breakthrough layup actually deviated from the target under the interference of veteran Richard Jefferson.And the ball is not fouled yet!
Seeing that the ball missed Bogut's position, An Jie also felt for the first time how difficult it is to match up with a champion-level player.

Amidst the cheers of anticipation from the Thunder fans, the first collaboration between these three young people ended in such a hasty way.

"It seems that Durant is really out of shape today. He failed to score three consecutive attacks. Durant has not scored a goal until the game!" Even the commentator couldn't believe his eyes. For the old Jefferson Durant, who is no longer at his peak, he still didn't seize the opportunity.

There was a problem with the Thunder, but the Bucks had just adjusted from the timeout. Michael Reed finally made up for it in the next attack. After breaking through Westbrook, he made an emergency stop and made a mid-range jumper.

The second attack of the trio, this time they did not fight alone again, the ball first passed the hands of Westbrook and An Jie, and when An Jie was about to advance into the penalty area, he handed the ball again To Durant.

Facing Jefferson's two-step-late defense, Durant resolutely chose to shoot.

"Bang!" But the result has not changed, Durant's cold touch is still the same!
An Jie was going to jump with all his strength to get an offensive rebound, but Bogut held An Jie so that he couldn't even jump, and the Thunder returned without success again!

What happened to Durant?This is the only question in the hearts of Thunder fans.You must know that in the last regular season match between the Sonics and the Warriors last season, Durant scored 42 points and shot 72% from the field!It was in that last game that Durant announced in a high-profile manner that he would definitely make a comeback.

The results of it?The first quarter of the new season is almost over, and Durant's score is still zero!

Michael Reed would not wait for Durant to recover before exerting his strength. He and Richard Jefferson played left and right. In addition, Wilcox frequently gave Villanueva gifts, and the score quickly It was pulled apart again!

When the first quarter ended, the originally flat score became 14 to 24, and the [-]-point gap once again fell heavily on the young Thunder.After returning from that timeout, the Thunder only scored two points with a breakthrough from Westbrook, and Anjie didn't take a single shot on the court.After shining with Westbrook in the first half of the first quarter, he was obviously much bleak in the second half.

"An Jie doesn't seem to be too used to the team's rhythm, right?" The commentators in the mainland analyzed the reason why the Thunder failed so badly in the first quarter, and they inevitably talked about An Jie.

"I think the problem is not adapting or not, but the team simply doesn't have a clear idea of ​​attack. Anyone who has the ball can play, and sometimes people who really have a chance can't get the ball." PJ Carlesimo His coaching level was also questioned at this time.

"Kevin, it's okay, don't be affected by the cold feeling in the first quarter, you continue to shoot in the second half, you have to have confidence in yourself!" During the rest of the first quarter, after PJ Carlesimo made this decision, Anjie And Westbrook's face is full of black lines, is this Thunder team only Durant can attack?But as rookies, they are not qualified to question the coach's decision.

As a result, as soon as the second quarter came up, Durant hit the iron twice in a row. Now, without his teammates talking, Durant also knew that he should give up the right to fire.

Earl Watson strictly implemented PJ Carlesimo's arrangement. He threw the ball directly regardless of whether Durant had a chance. Anyway, that guy has the ability to create opportunities by himself.

When Durant faced the basket again with the ball, he knew that he could no longer play in his own way. He looked at Anjie and Westbrook. This Thunder team is very different from the past. So he can no longer play like before.

"What will Durant do this time? It's Durant who threw the ball into the penalty area!" After Anjie didn't get a chance, the emotions of the commentators and fans in China have cooled down for a long time. Now, the scene that made them excited finally appeared.

Ainge was a bit underprepared for Durant's sudden pass, so he wasn't in a good offensive position when he got the ball.But even his teammates have given away the ball, so An Jie doesn't have to be humble anymore.

"Post-up singles! In the previous two attacks, Anjie scored with Westbrick in sports battles, and this is the first time Anjie has a post-up singles opportunity in this game! At Anjie University At times, post-ups are his most efficient means of scoring!"

Facing Bogut, An Jie knew that he could not win by strength alone.The rough Australian kept grabbing Anjie's jersey. Sure enough, as Divac said, there is no good in the NBA!

An Jie turned around quickly with his footsteps and slipped towards the bottom line, but Bogut's tenacious resistance made it very difficult for An Jie to take every step.

"This is not the place for you! You should continue to be your big star in college!" During the confrontation, Bogut also yelled in Anjie's ear in order to interfere with the offensive rhythm and put pressure on the opponent. .

An Jie turned a deaf ear to it. The trash talk that Morris spewed in his ears before was much worse than Bogut's.

After hitting directly under the basket, An Jie raised his hand and raised the ball, ready to complete the hook directly under the basket.Bogut knew that he couldn't interfere with Anjie just by standing, so he jumped up, spotted Anjie's ball holder, and prepared to fly the ball cleanly to end the confrontation.

But just as An Jie was about to make a shot, he suddenly took back the basketball he was holding high, and then he quickly turned around in the opposite direction at the bottom of the basket, and completed the hook from the other side of the basket.

"Hoho! The dexterous footsteps of the Chinese are impressive!" The ESPN commentator laughed when he saw it. Anjie's movements were completed very smoothly and without sloppiness. He hadn't seen such a wonderful inside confrontation for a long time. .

"Next time you want to stop me, you have to be smarter. After all, I deliberately slowed down when I shook you just now." Bogut never expected that this damn Chinese rookie would dare to humiliate him back!

The rough confrontation with Bogut made Anjie release his own wildness. Divac said that Anjie had the blood of the devil flowing in his body. He was never a good man!
It was the first time for An Jie to get a post-up singles opportunity in the Thunder. I wonder if his performance can conquer two teammates with the same talent?
(End of this chapter)