The Way of the Center

♂,

When Jerry Sloan saw the red light on the backboard, he immediately smashed the tactical board in his hand into two pieces. ?? Facing the Cavaliers who are rested by James, his team actually performed so poorly.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, he heard the assistant coach say that the Thunder had an 11-point lead over the Suns. For the Suns, who have already lost hope of the playoffs, they will certainly not cause too much obstruction to the Thunder. In Oklahoma City, that group of youngsters should already be celebrating their victory.

"Boss!" Unexpectedly, the assistant coach sitting next to Sloan suddenly turned his head and stared at the score on the phone screen.

"What's wrong?" Jerry Sloan glanced at the mobile phone held by the assistant, but the font was too small for him and Ben to see what was written on it. Could it be...

"The Suns won the away game! We...we are the eighth in the West!" The assistant coach shouted excitedly, and the players who had just left the field didn't know what happened.

Jerry Sloan snatched the mobile phone from the assistant coach's hand, 99 to 98, the Suns did not give up resistance, they counterattacked in the fourth quarter, and defeated the young Thunder team.

"Phew." Jerry Sloan let out a sigh of relief. The team performed so poorly and even entered the playoffs, which is really ironic. Even God gave him and Jazz a chance, so he will take it and cherish it!

"You played so unsightly!" Putting down his phone, Jerry Sloan began to reprimand his players beside the bench.

"Thunder and Sun, their performance is more qualified to play in the playoffs! Now God has given you a chance of redemption, I hope you can grasp it well!" No joy, no excitement. After scolding people, Jerry Sloan walked straight towards the player tunnel. Only the players of the Jazz were left, and they didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"The game is over! Ann failed to seize the opportunity! The Thunder fell to the gate of the playoffs!" Kenny Smith regretted that the Thunder and the Suns had contributed a wonderful game to the audience and commentators.

"This is the Western Kenny, this is the fucking Western." Even Charles Barkley was serious for a rare time. The Suns, the Thunder, and the Jazz. Let these three very good teams compete with each other for a place in the playoffs. It is indeed too bloody.

"In any case, these two teams deserve our respect. They deserve everyone's applause." After speaking, Reggie Miller was the first to applaud. The hard work of a rookie, the unwillingness of a veteran. In this game, everyone saw a lot of different things.

After An Jie saw the basketball knocked out of the frame,

Suddenly fell to the ground. He stared blankly at the orange ball bouncing on the ground, because of him, the Thunder team's efforts for a season were in vain.

"Get up, act like a man!" A wide palm appeared in front of An Jie, and An Jie looked up, it was O'Neill.

An Jie held O'Neill's outstretched hand, and the big shark pulled it hard. An Jie only gave a little force to his legs and stood up.

"Why, this makes me want to cry!? This is your first season! You're just a rookie! What you have to do is to keep fighting instead of crying like a boy. You still have a long way to go!" O'Neill didn't know himself Why do you say this to this Chinese boy, as the winner, he should be happy. But watching this excellent guy in the same position as himself being rejected from the playoffs, he always felt that he should do something.

"It's okay, boy, neither of us made the playoffs this season. Next season, we will have a big fight in the playoffs, and no one is allowed to miss. A season is not a boy, let alone you This season has been quite successful." O'Neill and Anjie embraced, whispering in Anjie's ear a whisper that only the two of them could understand. In the twilight period of this center, it is very rare to meet a worthy opponent.

The photographers surrounded the two giants one by one, frantically shooting all the pictures. Wu Hua was no exception, squeezed into the crowd with a camera. But what he was more about was trying to figure out the inner emotions of the two big guys.

"Shaq, you won't be able to beat me again in the days to come." An Jie punched O'Neill's strong chest.

This guy is indeed more interesting than Yao! O'Neill also smirked and punched in response. At the end of his career, he unexpectedly met another Chinese who could compete with him. O'Neill's curiosity about China is getting bigger and bigger.

Westbrook and Durant, with their hips akimbo, await the return of their big brother. They don't blame Anjie. Without Anjie's hard work for a season, the Thunder would not have made it this far.

Missing the last ball can happen to everyone. It is already very remarkable that An Jie dared to take on this responsibility.

18 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks and 6 assists, can you expect a rookie center to do better? Anjie played such data against O'Neal and Stoudemire, which is good enough.

"Hey guys, I failed." An Jie scratched his head embarrassingly, and missed the game-winning shot, which made him not know how to face his teammates.

"We failed, Ann, us. We all have a share in the loss." Durant and Westbrook greeted each other, and the three rookies put each other's shoulders on each other and walked off the court.

"It's okay boys! You are the best players in the entire nba!"

"Spend your vacation well, we will be even better next season!"

"We're no different than winners!"

Giardina originally wanted to rush to the court to talk to An Jie after the defeat, but seeing the current situation, she had better not bother An Jie. This moment belongs only to this group of men who are gloriously defeated.

The road back to the locker room was not smooth, and the three young men who shouldered each other along the way were blocked by reporters.

Although they had just experienced the biggest loss of the season, the three young people unexpectedly smiled and chatted casually with each other.

"I want to go to China this summer, how about you Kevin?" Westbrook turned his head to Durant.

"If the three of us are together, that's fine." Durant made an ok gesture.

"I'm worried that after you eat the dishes my mother cooks, you will become fat and out of shape. At that time, neither Van Gundy nor Mr. Presti will spare me." Under O'Neill's words, Anjie is also Try to be optimistic about yourself.

Shark is right, this is just the first step in his long career. Although the performance of him and his teammates this season is not perfect, they have a clear conscience. Now, it's time to let their tense nerves relax a little.

Pushing open the locker room door, the reporters had to give up shooting and wait outside the door. After all, the player locker room is not a place where you can enter at any time.

Van Gundy sat tiredly in front of the whiteboard. When he took over the "mess" of the Thunder, he never thought about making the playoffs. But the performance of his players made him ashamed of his initial idea.

"Okay, guys, sit down." Van Gundy waved his palm, motioning the players to be quiet.

"Thank you for enriching my coaching career. It is a great honor for me to cooperate with you this season." Jeff Van Gundy stood up and bowed to the players. When he was about to give up the job of head coach, it was this group of young men who got him back on track.

"We also have to thank you, boss. Without you, we wouldn't be able to get to this point." An Jie stood up and said these words, which won the approval of all his teammates.

Jeff Van Gundy's protection and concern for his subordinates, the players naturally saw it in their eyes and kept it in their hearts. No matter how busy you are, when you are injured, you can always see Van Gundy in the hospital.

No matter how early, when you come to the training ground, Van Gundy must have been working here for a long time.

Action is the best way to conquer others. Even the head coach is no exception.

"Okay guys, I have to go to the goddamn press conference, which of you wants to go?"

As soon as Van Gundy finished speaking, the Thunder Thunder three young masters stood up at the same time. Van Gundy will bring the three of them to attend 80% of the press conferences this season. And these three people also made it a habit to attend the press conference after the game.

"Let's go, the reporters must be getting impatient."

...................................

"Ann's last shot was against the defense of two people, did it break your arrangement!"

"Would the team be in playoff range if Ann made a last-minute pass?"

"How was the strategy for the last shot arranged at the beginning?"

The reporters all pointed their fingers at Anjie, because he missed the last shot, which led to the team's failure. Only An Jie, who was on the field at the time, knew that shooting was the only choice.

"Ann's choice is not a problem, we just lacked some luck." Van Gundy did not fall into the trap of the reporters at all.

"What is the team's goal for next season?" The English with this accent is not American at first glance. Sure enough, the person who raised his hand and stood up was Wu Hua.

"Next season? People think we should be bad. After all, our reconstruction work has just begun. But next season, our goal is still the playoffs!" Van Gundy is full of confidence, as long as the three young people around him do not problem, then the Thunder have no problem!

"Ann, if the full score is 10, how would you rate your performance in your rookie season?" The ESPN reporter asked this cliché, but always eye-catching question.

"Seven points. Many times my performance is based on the support of my teammates. Without them, I would not perform so well."

"What about Russell? How would you rate him?" The reporter smiled badly.

"7.5 points. If his pants can have fewer holes, I will give him 8 points." An Jie also joked about Westbrook's unique dressing taste. Westbrook was not embarrassed, but Also laughed. Today, he is wearing a pair of black jeans full of holes.

It depends on the person to make a joke. If it's An Jie and him, then there's no problem at all.

Chesapeake Energy Arena is not as sad and regretful as people think, on the contrary, the atmosphere here is cheerful and lively.

It's not that the Thunder team doesn't know how to make progress, but because they and outsiders know that the Thunder team is really full of hope. This season is just a foreshadowing before their success.

An Jie's first NBA season has finally come to an end, and in the long career after that, even greater difficulties will be waiting for him to overcome with his own hands.

On April 15, 2009, the nBa regular season of the o8-o9 season officially ended. Vs24, the yellow-green battle, the Spurs' counterattack, the focus of everyone's discussion is on the playoffs.

The Oklahoma City Thunder quickly disappeared into the climax of the playoffs. However, the threat of those three young people to the alliance is gradually increasing.

(Recently, I have been busy, and I can only stabilize two updates. It may take a while to add updates for everyone. In the new January, I will continue to ask for monthly tickets, recommendations, subscriptions, and give me more motivation to add updates. In addition If you have any suggestions for the next season, please leave a message to add, or join the book friend group 426o42887 for discussion) (To be continued.)