The Way of the Center

LeBron James, this guy An Jie often saw on TV before, never thought that he could compete with such a person. 【】But at the same time, James' strength is more terrifying than what he saw on TV. Only after confronting him personally will you understand how powerful that guy is.

He scored 38 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 43 minutes of playing. Even after playing for a long time, his shooting percentage is still as high as 58%! This is the strength of the much-hyped No. 1 player in the future league. If it wasn't because he was young and hadn't won a championship, the prefix "future" might have been removed.

Anjie, as the Thunder's number one offensive point in this campaign, scored 23 points and 10 rebounds, but only had 5 assists. The first is because Anjie is attacking more independently, so the passing of the ball is naturally less. The second is because Durant wasted too many opportunities, and several wonderful passes failed to turn into assists.

But 5 assists, from the perspective of the center position, is not too small.

Like Yao Ming, James originally planned to invite An Jie to dinner the next day, but due to the intensive NBA schedule, An Jie had no choice but to reject James' offer.

After the game against the Cavaliers on the 21st, all members of the Thunder will fly to Atlanta non-stop the next day to prepare for the game against the Eagles on the 23rd the day after tomorrow.

After confronting James, the Thunder's three young men felt physically and mentally exhausted. They were physically tired at first, but they felt even more exhausted when they thought about the long-distance raid on the second day, and then continued to play the game on the third day.

This is the life of a professional player. Behind those glamorous stories, there are more training, flying, playing games, training, flying, playing games... and so on again and again, insisting on a full 82 games. If you are "fortunate" to enter the playoffs, then congratulations, when others have already started to enjoy the holidays, you still have to give everything for the championship, and there is a high chance that such efforts will not be rewarded.

The next day, the Thunder set off from Oklahoma after regular practice, so it was already eight o'clock in the evening when they arrived in Atlanta.

As soon as he got off the plane and set foot on the land of Atlanta, An Jie felt that he couldn't even breathe. No way, after all, Atlanta is located on the Appalachian Mountains at an altitude of 350 meters. As one of the three major alpine cities in the United States, Anjie has not recovered from the thin air here.

After completing all the formalities, the Thunder team bus passed through downtown Atlanta in a low-key manner. When all the players checked into the allocated hotel rooms, it was already ten o'clock in the evening.

An Jie lay down on the bed directly, he really didn't understand where the energy of those players who went out to have fun after the game came from.

Even though Anjie is coming to Atlanta for the first time,

Even though the night view of Atlanta outside the hotel is very charming, the tired Anjie has no desire to go out at all.

"Damn, it made me bring several sets of clothes, and I didn't have time to wear them to go out at all." Westbrook, who lived in the same room as An Jie, struggled to pack his luggage. Her dressing taste is very unique and avant-garde, and she is often the focus of reporters' cameras.

"Go to bed, Russell, do you really think that the boss brought us to Atlanta for tourism?" An Jie was different. Two pieces of clothes and some daily necessities were almost all his luggage.

If Westbrook's teammates were guys like Michael Beasley at this time, maybe he couldn't resist the temptation to go out and fool around with Beasley. But fortunately, Westbrook has a flamboyant personality, while Anjie is relatively restrained, which makes them form a good complement and mutual restraint. Seeing that An Jie had fallen asleep, Westbrook had no choice but to stay in the hotel obediently.

But even so, the tired Thunder still couldn't find their status in the next day's game.

Maybe it really took too much energy from the Thunder's three juniors to fight against the Cavaliers. Now on the court, the Thunder players feel that they can't take a step. Due to Ricard's devil training, Anjie's physical strength in the NCAA is considered top-notch. However, in front of the dense NBA schedule, An Jie realized how happy Ricard was with the intensity of his previous physical training.

Although it was a home game, the Eagles, who played back-to-back games, were not much better. The offensive efficiency of the two teams was extremely low, and the number of low-level mistakes increased. It was hard to believe that this was an NBA-level confrontation.

The two teams are not competing who can do better, but who can avoid being the worst one. In the end, the young Thunder still "won" the competition for being the worst.

There were 12 turnovers in the game. This data directly reflects the Thunder's performance in this game. Jeff Van Gundy was so angry that he smashed a brand new tactical board off the court. Watching himself sleepless all night, the strategy he came up with was not cracked by the opponent, but was so ruined by Z's own players. Which coach can bear it?

In the end, the Thunder lost their last road trip before Christmas 98-88, the first time the Thunder have suffered a losing streak since Jeff Van Gundy took over.

"The team has changed from a five-game winning streak to a two-game losing streak. What do you think caused this situation?" In the press conference after the game, the reporters naturally would not spare the Thunder general.

"My boys and I don't know how to write the word rest anymore. If the league can shorten the regular season schedule, then our state will definitely be much better." Jeff Van Gundy used the media as a weapon, once again Tucao the league's extremely unscientific schedule.

"You mean, as long as the Thunder team is strong enough, you can win against the Eagles?" There will be one or two picky reporters in every press conference.

"I never said such a thing, you said it." Faced with such a reporter, Jeff Van Gundy's way of dealing with him is to treat him with indifference.

"Ann, you only scored 13 points and 7 rebounds in this game. Do you think your body can't keep up with the rhythm of the NBA schedule?"

"I just don't feel good. The NBA schedule is not difficult for me." Even if he is lying, he cannot admit that he is exhausted now.

No matter what everyone in the Thunder team said, the next day's newspapers still inevitably questioned them. The nature of the weak team is fully exposed, and the four-game winning streak plus five-game winning streak is just a flashback. All kinds of headlines, all kinds of brain holes, the players and coaches of the Thunder also threw these newspapers into various trash cans.

Although they lost the game, all members of the Thunder team knew that as long as they could get a chance to breathe a sigh of relief, they would definitely be able to show their true level in the next game. Let the outside world say what they want to say. The Thunder's favorite thing to do is to surprise everyone.

On the second day after the game, Christmas Eve came as scheduled. The NBA did not arrange any games on this day, and all members of the Thunder team got a rare two-day holiday on Christmas Eve and Christmas.

But today, the outside of the Chesapeake Energy arena has been covered with snow, the team is all on vacation, and even Van Gundy has temporarily put down work and returned to his family, but Anjie is still sweating in only a jersey in the training ground .

Do not stop practicing on rest days, this is a habit that An Jie has developed since he was in college. Christmas tomorrow, under his arrangement, this year's Christmas should be much more lively than last year, so there is really no time for training tomorrow, An Jie can only finish tomorrow's work on Christmas Eve.

From noon wearing a down jacket and driving his car into the arena until now at eight o'clock in the evening, An Jie has never left the training ground. In this cold winter, Anjie soaked all four jerseys with his own sweat.

An Jie is too tired to speak now, the Chesapeake Energy Arena has security guards around the clock, so An Jie doesn't have to worry about leaving too late.

He was lying on the physical therapy bed in the locker room, but of course, the physical therapist had already left work, and An Jie stared blankly at the white ceiling in the locker room, full of anticipation for tomorrow's Christmas Eve.

"Father and mother should be on the plane now, right? Let them spend a few more days in the United States this time, so as not to be exhausted in a hurry. Of course, there is also the girl... the two places are separated It's been so long, and we can finally see each other again tomorrow." Thinking of this, the tired An Jie smiled happily at the ceiling.

(Thank you for your support such as rewards and monthly tickets. I am really grateful. I have been working hard to save the manuscript these days, and I will strive to provide you with updates in the next few days.) (To be continued.)