The way of the center

Chapter 73 Height Advantage
After experiencing a good performance against the Bucks in the last game, Chinese fans are still looking forward to An Jie's entry into the starting lineup, so that they can start a duel with Yao Ming from the first second.But before the start of the game, Nick Collison was still standing in the center circle and preparing to fight for the ball with Yao Ming. Westbrook had started for the second consecutive game, but Anjie was still placed by Carlesimo. on the bench.

"We saw that the Chinese player An Jie is sitting on the bench at this time. He will definitely observe Yao Ming's every move carefully off the court, because this is a very meaningful opponent for him!" The commentator of CCTV obviously He put all the focus of the commentary on these two Chinese players. The game is about to start, and the atmosphere continues to heat up.

Under the continuous cheers of the fans at the Toyota Center, the referee finally threw the basketball into the air.Yao Ming easily won the ball for the Rockets. The height of 2 meters is not within the reach of Collison who is 26 meters.

The Rockets point guard "Streetball King" Ralph Alston is steadily controlling the rhythm. In addition to the Yao-Mike combination familiar to the audience, the Rockets also have the tough Ron Artes Special and the Argentine genius Luis Scola.Carl Landry, Sean Battier and Aaron Brooks are also sitting on the bench.Such a lineup is not insignificant, so people have high hopes for the Rockets this season. As long as their lineup is healthy, the Rockets are even considered to be one of the strong contenders for the championship.

Therefore, when facing a rebuilding team like the Thunder, the powerful Rockets played with ease.Alston relied on Westbrook's false pass, allowing Yao Ming in the penalty area to receive the basketball for the first time.

"Yao Ming has the ball, and he shouldn't have too much pressure in the face of Collison's defense." The CCTV commentator is very confident in Yao Ming.

Sure enough, Collison, who couldn't even stand up to Anjie, couldn't withstand the impact of Yao Ming's huge tonnage.With just two hits, Collison was completely knocked out of his defensive position by Yao Ming.

Yao Ming held the ball, turned around, and made a small hook so easily that no one could interfere with him.Yao Ming seemed to be doing warm-up training. He defeated Collison like cutting melons and vegetables and ushered in a good start.

"This kind of inside defense will not be difficult for Yao Ming. At that time, the head coach of the Thunder will definitely send An Jie up to try!" Yao Ming has already shown his performance, and now everyone is looking forward to the second Chinese. 's debut.

In addition to Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady felt hot today.Facing Desmond Mason's weak defense, McGrady also continuously demonstrated his super high pull-up shooting ability.

However, facing the strong team's perfect defensive system and Yao Ming's absolute control of the interior, Westbrook also frequently hit a wall on the offensive end today.He can easily break through Alston's defense with his strong body, but when he breaks through the penalty area and faces Yao Ming, Westbrook's impact is obviously useless.

Fortunately, Kevin Durant, who performed poorly in the last game, recovered his form in time today. After Westbrook joined the Thunder and controlled the ball, Durant also discovered and showed his high level off-the-ball ability.In the face of Artest's tough defense, Durant is not afraid, one three-pointer and one mid-range shot. Durant's excellent performance ensures that the Thunder will not be pulled too far.

However, as the saying goes, one punch is hard to beat with four hands. Durant performed well alone, but he couldn't hide the fact that the rest of the Thunder team was completely suppressed.Especially Yao Ming's easy scoring in the paint again and again made Durant very helpless.He can't do anything. If he double-teams rashly, Artest will definitely make him, a second-year rookie, regret it.

PJ Carlesimo also knew he had to make some changes in the center position. During a dead ball, he looked at the bench. Anjie also happened to make eye contact with Carlesimo. He was ready to take off. Take off your jacket and go into battle.

"Petro! You go! No matter what method you use, you will tie Yao tightly!" Contrary to everyone's expectations, Carlesimo did not send Anjie, but activated the The French center, Johan Petro.

"Ah!?" Petro himself couldn't believe Carlesimo's words. He thought that the head coach would definitely call Anjie to play.After Anjie joined the Thunder, Petro knew he would become the third center after Anjie and Collison.Although this Frenchman is tall and powerful, he is still very self-aware. His role is just a blue-collar center forward, which is incomparable to Anjie with comprehensive skills.

"Are you stupid, Johan!? Come on!" Carlesimo couldn't help being furious when he saw the Frenchman staring blankly at him.

"The Thunder made a substitution, and we saw that Collison was about to leave. Eh!? Collison was replaced by French center Johan Petro. Coach Carlesimo didn't send An Jie?" The fans held their breath and couldn't wait to see Anjie play. Unexpectedly, Carlesimo frustrated the group's hopes.

In Carlesimo's view, now that Durant feels hot, Durant should continue to maintain his momentum on the offensive end.Anjie's strange style of play after he played will only make Durant lose his rhythm, and Anjie will also take up some of Durant's shots.That's why he decided to replace Collison with the strong and tough Petro, and he also hoped that the Frenchman would be able to defend against Yao Ming's impact.

Not to mention Petro and Anjie, even Durant looked at his head coach in disbelief.If Anjie plays, then his pressure on the offensive end will be much less, and with Anjie's high position support, Durant can score more easily.What is going on now?The head coach actually sent the Petro who didn't appear in the first game?
An Jie lowered his head in disappointment, and clenched his hands into fists at the same time.In addition to unwillingness, there is also anger in his heart! PJ Carlesimo is obviously doing special treatment!Just because An Jie wasn't the kind of center forward he had in mind.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Anjie's strength is higher than that of Petro, no, it can be said that Anjie's strength is even higher than the team's starting center Nick Collison.As a rookie, it is understandable for Carlesimo not to let him start, but now he is not even given a chance to come off the bench, which is somewhat unreasonable.

However, the head coach's decision has already been made, and no matter how many people question it, that cannot change the fact that Anjie is still unable to play.

Although Johan Petro was indeed stronger than Collison, and also much tougher than Collison.But in the face of Yao Ming, this level of improvement is far from enough.

Yao Ming leaned on Petro and directly punched him on the back. Petro thought that Yao Ming was going to dig in and immediately changed his center of gravity.Unexpectedly, after Yao Ming finished the back shot, he immediately caught one, turned around, and took off to shoot at close range. This kind of shooting is very sure for Yao Ming.

After Petro was cheated, he was completely unable to interfere with Yao Ming, and the basketball thrown by Yao Ming fell into the net accurately.In the first attack, Yao Ming told Carlesimo with practical actions that your substitution is meaningless.

A few minutes later, Durant's offensive prowess came to a complete halt after Westbrook was also replaced.Durant, who lacks support now, has to hold the ball and confront the villain Artest head-on, but this is exactly what Artest is eager to see.

After a strong start with [-] of [-] shots in the front, Durant, who lacked help, held the ball and faced Artest's defense and missed two consecutive shots.When there were only two minutes left in the first quarter, all the starting players from both sides left the field one after another. It was at this time that An Jie got his first chance to play.

"We saw An Jie finally play, but at this time Yao Ming was also resting under the bench. If we want to see An Jie and Yao Ming face off directly, I think we have to wait a little longer."

Yao Ming saw An Jie play, and he also focused all his attention on him.What level is this kid at?
After Anjie played, he faced Chuck Hayes, an alternative center of the Rockets who was only 1 meters tall.An Jie is glad that the current Rockets lineup is not completely healthy, otherwise the person in front of him might be the "African Mountain".

Facing Hayes, everyone in the Thunder team also saw that Anjie had the advantage in the paint.Therefore, Anjie also became the main attacking point of the Thunder on the field for a rare time.

Although Hayes is dexterous, smart and has strong lower body strength, when faced with such a huge height disadvantage, Hayes' shortcomings of insufficient hardware are also fully exposed.

An Jie found that it was a bit difficult for him to push this short center forward, but An Jie was not Howard, and his offensive methods were not just as simple as hitting the basket hard.

Like Yao Ming, An Jie's turnaround and step-back short-range jumper is also a must. I believe many people still remember the scene when An Jie used this trick to kill Stanford University.

He can do so well against Brook Lopez-Ange, let alone Hayes, who is 21 centimeters shorter than him.

After easily scoring points on Hayes' head, the Chinese fans also cheered.Today Yao Ming's Rockets are no longer the home team in the hearts of Chinese fans, and everyone has become a neutral fan at this moment.

"Basic skills are pretty good." Yao Ming smiled after seeing An Jie's goal, so let's show off any other tricks.

After catching the ball again, An Jie shook his shoulders and then made a small hook. The basketball hit the front of the basket, but finally bounced into it.

On the third ball, Anjie gave teammate Earl Watson a pick-and-roll and quickly went down.Watson lobbed the ball over Lowry's head, and Anjie took the ball and jumped up to complete the Thunder's final attack of the first half with a dunk.

Before Anjie played, the Thunder had fallen behind by nine points, but after Anjie played, his consecutive three-goal hit made the Rockets' advantage less obvious.

"An Jie's performance in the first quarter was very good. He succeeded in three offenses and scored six points in a row. I wonder if it was because Yao Ming was on the sidelines that aroused this young man's fighting spirit?" The commentator of CCTV was overjoyed. The two Chinese players have played very well in this game so far.

Yao Ming didn't worry when he saw that the Rockets' lead fell to three points in an instant. On the contrary, he was a little happy in his heart. He vaguely felt that Chinese basketball would have another excellent player.

And An Jie's performance can be regarded as a big slap in the face of Carlesimo. If he still asked An Jie to guard the drinking fountain when An Jie performed so well, then not only An Jie himself, but also Russia The fans of Krahoma City will not agree.

17 to 20, the Thunder narrowed the point difference to only three points under Anjie's last-minute efforts.But An Jie was not complacent. He knew that what he was facing just now was only the third team of the Rockets. His real opponent, Yao Ming, had never faced him yet.

Whether Anjie can perform well in the face of Yao Ming, whether Anjie's offensive efficiency can impress Carlesimo, until the last moment, no one knows the result.

(End of this chapter)