The Way of the Center

How to enable Anjie to effectively defend Nowitzki is undoubtedly an urgent problem for the Thunder.

Whenever An Jie was about to entangle the Germans, Eric Dampier would take the initiative to stick to An Jie first, so that An Jie could not leave him for half a step.

Nowitzki held the ball in the middle distance, and Dampier contained Anjie in the low post. If Anjie raised it rashly, it would be equivalent to giving up the entire basket to Dampier.

There was no other way, Anjie could only guard against this "second center in the league" and watched Nowitzki and Krstic play singles again.

Seeing that Anjie couldn't get rid of the entanglement, Nowitzki was relieved to fight in with Kostic's back.

After advancing two steps, Nowitzki suddenly turned around, retreated, took off, shot, and the ball scored.

"Golden Rooster stepped back independently, and Nowitzki performed his signature move on Krstic's head! It's really beautiful, and it's more enjoyable than Angie's step-back shot." Even the Thunder team The ccTV commentator also had to applaud Nowitzki's beautiful goal.

Four minutes into the game, this was the second time Lowitzki scored easily.

Jeff Van Gundy's pre-match transposition defense was not successfully implemented. Even on the offensive end, Dampier was as close to Anjie as he was defensively. Kostic was half a beat every time and could not complete the position change, resulting in no chance for Andreen and Nowitzki to play against each other.

Anjie himself often plays the role of restraining the opponent's inside defensive pillar and allowing his teammates to get opportunities. I just didn't expect that Dampier, who claims to be the "second center in the league", is as difficult as himself! This guy Dampier is indeed arrogant, but he is not incapable at all. The Mavericks are willing to give him a 7-year contract of 73 million, and they are looking at his ability to entangle himself.

Although Nowitzki succeeded again on the offensive end, Westbrook showed a stronger performance than Nowitzki.

"Jason Kidd is 35 years old, and he has nothing to do with Westbrook!"

Although Kidd is more than one level higher than Westbrook in terms of experience, but physical confrontation can't keep up, and no amount of experience will work.

At the age of 35, he can still rely on his mind to secure the main position in an NBA team, which is already remarkable. Although Kidd's statistics in each game are not good-looking, it is precisely because of him that the Mavericks can play an orderly and efficient offense.

It's just on the defensive end, Kidd is no longer as sharp as he was back then.

The Mavericks' revenge battle was not as easy as imagined. The Thunder's offensive talent really made everyone feel scared.

After two or three years, how far can the Thunder guys play? Even Claire not only took a short errand to think about this issue.

"Maybe I'm going to have to ask Cuban to get the idea of ​​these guys." If one of this group of people can use it for themselves, it's a completely different situation. …

Thoughts returned to the court, Westbrook made another effortless breakthrough and made a layup.

Dampier really wanted to go over to fill the seat, but Anjie entangled him with the same personal treatment, making it difficult for him to move.

In addition to Westbrook, Kyle Weaver, who replaced Wilkins, was also active. It wasn't just Wilkins who wanted to impress the coach with his performance. It took Weaver more than half a season to get a chance to play steadily. Naturally, he wouldn't let his playing time be taken away easily. Performance is undoubtedly the most important factor in consolidating one's position.

Under Anjie's well-timed high pick-and-roll, Weaver frequently bypassed the Mavericks shooting guard Antoine White with his own explosive power. Weaver's float shot was very effective today, and he made two of his four shots.

And what about An Jie who just won the Rookie of the Month Award? His shadow is always indispensable on the offensive end. He passes the ball, he screens, and he pins down opponents. But what is surprising is that under the strong attack of Westbrook and Weaver, Anjie only made one shot, and he still failed to score that hook.

"Is this a new arrangement by Coach Jeff Van Gundy? Ann, who scored the highest score of the team in the previous two games, did not get any decent offensive opportunities in this game. But anyway, Weaver and Weiss Tebrook's offense is indeed very good." Kenny Smith didn't understand Van Gundy's strategy.

An Jie is of course an indispensable part of the Thunder's offensive end, but when An Jie saw his two teammates feeling hot, he voluntarily gave up the right to fire. Screening and passing can also help the team on the offensive end.

"This guy, why is it different from the previous games?" Giardina's seat was behind the basketball hoop, and Anjie had performed strongly in the previous games, frequently scoring in the paint and attacking opponents. Giardina still remembers Angie yelling after the dunk. But today, An Jie's performance is obviously much "gentle".

It's not that there's anything wrong with Anjie's state, but he knows that the way to lead the team to victory is not just scoring.

Why Rudy Gay and others score a lot in every game, but they can't lead the team to win. Because they have no second way to help the team besides scoring. A core not only needs to score, he must have other means to cooperate with his teammates to make his teammates outstanding. There is no doubt that Angie does this very well.

Isn't Jason Kidd, who is now on the opposite side of Anjie, also this type of player.

Kidd has never averaged 20 points per game in any season in his career, but he used to be the well-deserved core of the Suns and Nets.

"Jordan, O'Neal, and Duncan can turn a top team into a championship team, but only Kidd can turn a bad team into a top team." This is ESPN's evaluation of Kidd, and it can be seen from this However, scoring is not a criterion to measure whether a player can play the core role.

Westbrook advanced the ball unhurriedly, with only 26 seconds left before the end of the first quarter, and he wanted to play the full time of the final attack.

Jason Kidd opened his arms, two steps away from Westbrook near the halfway line. He didn't want the young Westbrook to pass him in one step. The defensive distance of two steps was not too far for a person like Westbrook who had a terrifying first step.

With fifteen seconds left, Kostic came up for a pick-and-roll. Westbrook began to change the dribbler left and right, changing the rhythm of the dribble.

"Here we come!" Kidd's pupils dilated, and Westbrook rushed to his eyes in an instant. Bypass the pick and roll! This was the first reaction in Kidd's mind.

However, to Kidd's surprise, Westbrook's ball did not break through to Scotic's side, but changed direction, heading towards the side without the pick-and-roll.

Kidd forcibly changed his center of gravity, staggered, but managed not to fall. Putting his hand on the ground, he immediately stuck it up again.

"It's over!" Kidd secretly shouted in his heart. Although he was embarrassed, the defense was successful this time.

Just when Kidd had just relaxed a little bit, he slammed into a wall as Westbrook moved.

"Angie's stealthy pick-and-roll! Even the experienced Kidd didn't notice it!" Kenny Smith praised Anjie's perfect pick-and-roll.

It was already very difficult to keep up, but now being blocked by An Jie, Kidd completely lost his defensive position. Westbrook used this double pick-and-roll cooperation of tandem, one back, one true and one false, to pass Kidd cleanly!

With 2 seconds left, Dirk Nowitzki left Kostic to block it. But Westbrook, who played in the first quarter, will not be frightened by time and the Germans.

"Beep!"

"brush!"

Lights on, hand up, ball down, into the net.

"Westbrook scored two points at the buzzer! Beautiful! He scored 12 points in a single quarter on 6 of 8 shots. Westbrook was fully fired!" Reggie Miller, who commented on the game, appreciated Westbrook's determination. and guts.

"No, Westbrook wasn't the best performer in the first quarter. I would say that Angie, who didn't score, was the key to the Thunder's first quarter." Kenny Smith put Anjie's efforts without statistics, They all saw it.

"Come on Kenny, Ann is not in good shape, there is nothing to quibble about. A few simple pick-and-rolls, who can't do it." Barkley couldn't stay idle. He wasn't targeting An Jie. Bo Renyan is playing the role of the naysayer.

Two rebounds, three assists and one block but no points, this is all the data of Anjie in the first quarter. Some fans may still be worried about Anjie's condition, but Jeff Van Gundy can naturally see that Anjie is in good condition!

If it weren't for his active support and cover, Westbrook and Weaver would not have gotten so many opportunities. The problem Van Gundy needs to solve now is not how to let Anjie score, but how to let Anjie defend Nowitzki.

Scoring 6 points on 3 of 6 shots, Lowitzki has not yet reached the state of full firepower. Now, Van Gundy must come up with a way to limit the Germans. Otherwise, it will be too late until Nowitzki really turns on the scoring mode.

Angie didn't score? Don't worry, there are still three quarters left in the game. 36 minutes, which is enough time for Anjie to flex his muscles.

As the core, not scoring does not mean that Anjie cannot score. Mavericks fans who underestimated Angie, get ready. (To be continued.) 8