The Way of the Center

♂,

The Turkish center Okur, who is 2.11 meters tall and weighs 119 kilograms, is a guy that Chinese fans are all too familiar with. He played against Yao Ming again and again in the playoffs, which made him well-known in China.

In the past, people thought Okur was a typical big shooter with a soft style of play and poor defense. But in the playoffs of previous seasons, Okur played well against Yao Ming and Duncan.

Under his tough defense, Yao Ming was forced to average as high as 4.7 turnovers per game in the series. A player as stable as Duncan also made seven turnovers in a single game, which is rare under his defense. It can be said that under the training of Jerry Sloan, Okur's single defense ability has been fully developed.

For this match, Jerry Sloan naturally handed Anjie to Okur. Strangling this Thunder's No. 16 will be the key to this game!

After the two sides jumped the ball, the winner was still An Jie, who had an advantage in jumping and height. Westbrook wanted to launch an attack immediately after getting the ball, but was blocked by the equally strong Deron Williams.

After Westbrook was forced to stop, the Jazz players quickly stood up, and a very strong overall defensive system was launched in front of the Thunder's three young men.

Anjie didn't run inside, but gave Westbrook a pick-and-roll in the high post.

Westbrook starts, Deron. Williams quickly around the screen, and was not thrown too far.

After Westbrook's breakthrough, Carlos Boozer's quick defense in front and Deron Williams' non-stop interference in the back. The No. 0 defender's offensive rhythm was completely disrupted. He quickly looked at the running positions of his teammates and prepared to distribute the ball.

Seeing Westbrook's breakthrough, Anjie immediately followed him, but the Turk Mehmet Okur kept sticking close to him, giving Anjie no room to catch the ball.

In this way, Kevin Durant seems to be the only option for Westbrook to pass the ball.

And the person who defends Durant is the powerful swingman of the Jazz, Ronnie Brewer.

Brewer is often used by Sloan to defend the opponent's top perimeter players. His rich experience, strong body, quick feet and hands make him a good perimeter defensive gate.

Seeing that Westbrook was about to collide with Boozer, Durant hurriedly got rid of it, fearing that the pass would be cut off by Ronnie Brewer.

When Boozer fully retracted to the basket,

A man who has been underappreciated on the offensive end, but got a chance.

Westbrook made a pass, and Durant quickly changed his focus on catching the ball. How can such a pass be made in this position! ?

But when Durant bent down, he found that the basketball did not fly towards him, but was taken by the team's power forward Nenad Krstic.

Krstic is at the zero angle and is completely released as Boozer helps him to the rim. The reason why Krstic can play is that his excellent mid-range shot is what Van Gundy likes the most.

"In the Thunder's first attack, the ball actually came to Krstic. A mid-range shot was taken and scored! The Jazz did a good job of limiting the Thunder's three players to death, but now that the Thunder has a stable lineup, they can There are a lot of people who score!" After trying for half a season, Van Gundy finally formed a relatively balanced offensive and defensive starting lineup with the three players as the core.

The shooting ability of Krstic and Sefoloza will help San Shao create more space. This is what neither Wilkins nor Joe Smith, who played the starters before, could do.

"It's okay! Let's continue to defend like this!" Although the Thunder scored a goal, Jerry Sloan didn't take it seriously. He would rather let the Serbian big man let go of his shot than give the Thunder three less space.

When the Jazz were defending, Okur was playing against Anjie. But when the Jazz were on offense, Ainger's matchup was Carlos Boozer.

Although this dream team member is only 2.06 meters tall, but with a weight of 120 kilograms, he is undoubtedly much stronger than Anjie. The same way as dealing with Yao Ming, Jerry Sloan believes that Boozer is not at a disadvantage against Anjie on the offensive end. And Jeff Van Gundy will not let Anjie run around with Okur who is flying a kite. If he keeps Anjie inside, the Thunder's basket will be safer.

Therefore, this dislocation was formed naturally under the "tacit understanding" between Sloan and Van Gundy.

Boozer first pulled behind the free throw line, and this time Anjie had to follow. It is precisely because the shots of the Jazz's two inside players are full of threats, so now the Thunder's three-second zone can be said to be completely empty.

An Jie didn't dare to rush back to defend, otherwise Boozer would definitely use CIC to educate himself well.

In this way, looking at the Thunder's empty penalty area, Deron Williams began to change the rhythm!

Shake, accelerate, brake suddenly, change direction, go around the pick-and-roll, accelerate with all your might.

After this set of moves, Westbrook was completely thrown away, and Deron Williams went straight to Huanglong. Naturally, Anjie couldn't just watch Williams make an empty basket. He immediately followed up and defended, Boozer? Leave it to Westbrook!

Deron Williams took off with the ball in both hands, and Anjie jumped up quickly. He stretched his long arms and tried his best to block the shot. But when Anjie jumped up, Williams fell to the ground again.

"Jump! Deron Williams' beautiful jump disrupted Ann's defense!"

It's just the time difference! Seeing that An Jie was still in the air, Deron immediately took off again and easily tricked An Jie into a layup.

Just using the changing rhythm, Deron Williams continuously broke through the defense of Westbrook and Anjie. In front of the two immature rookies, his rhythm is simply beyond their comprehension.

After one round, the Thunder and the Jazz were evenly matched. Perhaps anxiety will become the main tone of this entire game.

In the second round of defense, the Jazz still strictly followed the old Sloan's arrangement, and stuck the Thunder's three players to death. This time, Westbrook's pass found Anjie. Anjie was holding the ball in the low post. Okur immediately tensed up all his muscles. He knew that this seemingly thin guy was extremely powerful!

An Jie pretended to lean twice, taking advantage of Okur's messy footsteps, An Jie suddenly turned around, ready to break through with the ball.

But just as An Jie leaned on Okur and turned to face the frame, he almost bumped into Carlos Boozer. Sloan did not hesitate to double-team Anjie, and Boozer also executed the tactics very well.

Both Westbrook and Durant are looking for opportunities under the desperate entanglement of their respective positions. Sloan is not afraid of Anjie's pass at all, because he has already passed Westbrook and Durant who can score after receiving the ball. They both restrained each other.

Boozer didn't even think about it, he quickly started, ready to cut the ball. Durant and Westbrook really have no chance, and Sefolosha is too far away from Anjie, and it is not safe to pass the ball at this distance. Angie looks like he's being cornered, but since there's a double-team, there must be room.

One of the most important tactical roles of Krstic is that when Anjie encounters a double-team, he can shoot and score in the open. Jerry Sloan didn't take Kostic seriously, and that's the price he paid.

Anjie passed the ball out of the crowded paint before Okur and Boozer completed the circle. .J. Miles tried his best to interfere with the jump, but it didn't work for the 2.13-meter Krstic at all.

"Krstic scored four points in a row! The Jazz's defensive strategy was cracked at the very beginning! Coach Van Gundy's double-center lineup is very effective. In front of Krstic, who is feeling hot, there must be someone who can stop him !"

Seeing this, Jerry Sloan touched his chin.

"Let's see." He said to himself in his heart, still not reconciled to just because of a Krstic let the Thunder's third young master get rid of the pressure.

Boozer found that this guy, who was also of yellow race and also of outstanding height, was very different from Yao Ming. In the previous few matches, he was absent due to injury, so he couldn't match up with An Jie. Today, when he was going to use the method he used against Yao Ming to deal with An Jie, he found that it didn't work at all!

Yao Ming's defensive range is limited to the basket, and Yao Ming can't raise it when he pulls out to shoot. If Yao Ming goes up, then Boozer can use his speed to break through easily. This is why Yao Ming played very hard against Boozer and Okur.

Boozer held the ball in the middle distance. When he saw Anjie go up without hesitation, Boozer immediately started, hoping to slip past the tower.

But unlike Yao Ming, An Jie didn't lose his position, he still stuck to Boozer tightly, and the strong Boozer also found that this kid's confrontation ability was completely beyond his expectation.

An Jie has already gained a little from the time spent in the weight room.

There was no way, Boozer forced a layup, but under the interference of Anjie's physical contact, Boozer directly hit a "bridge". To put it bluntly, it is the three non-sticks on the side.

On the offensive end, Okur always floats outside, so even though he is 2.11 meters tall, he rarely grabs offensive rebounds.

Durant rushed to protect the rebound before Okur and Williams, and Boozer was ruthlessly obliterated by Anjie on the first attack.

"Damn it! Do you think everyone is Yao!? They come from the same country, but they are completely different!" Jerry Sloan yelled at Boozer from the sidelines. Even Karl Malone is subdued by him, so why should a mere Boozer be scolded?

Durant and Westbrook tried a few shots in the next few offenses, but both of them had unsatisfactory shooting percentages when they were restricted to death. As for An Jie, when there is no chance, he rarely makes a shot, but if he doesn't make a shot, it means he won't score. Looking at this situation, Jeff Van Gundy is not worried, at least that point has not been seen as dead until now.

Jerry Sloan had to call a timeout to change the team's defensive strategy when Krstic broke the Jazz's defense with a shot for the third time. He doesn't want this game to be a Krstic explosion.

"Let's not double-team Anjie in the following games, and let Mehmet defend him alone, just like we did when we played against the Spurs!" In the end, Jerry Sloan also had to compromise, "Don't use double-teams on Anjie "The curse seems to be hanging over the Jazz. There is no way, Krstic is really hot to the touch today.

"Carlos, I want you to do more pick-and-rolls and less singles. You have already missed three shots. I don't want you to continue wasting opportunities on that No. 16." Facing the serious-looking Sloan, the fierce-looking Boozer Er could only nod obediently.

On the other side, Van Gundy also changed the team's strategy according to the situation on the court.

"A lot of breakthroughs! Ann, you don't go to the low post anymore. Mehmet's low post defense is different from the past. But his ability to defend against breakthroughs has not improved! Except for Kevin, Russell and Sabo, I want You are also standing in the middle distance to increase the number of breakthroughs!"

"Robert, you come up later, I want you to stick to Carlos Boozer and create space for your teammates to break through." Van Gundy tapped the tactical board and gave the long-haired white center A chance to make an appearance.

"Don't worry, boss, I'm good at this." From the last hope to the blue-collar who specializes in dirty work, Swift has no gap in his heart. On the contrary, he still likes this role very much despite being rebellious.

After an opening trial, the two resourceful coaches both discovered their own problems and each other's weaknesses.

After all, can this adjustment between the two change the direction of the game?

Although it is only a regular season, for the Thunder and Jazz, this is a game that absolutely does not allow half-step mistakes!

The scene is ugly? No, all they care about is victory! (To be continued.)