The Way of the Center

After Anjie lore beat the Lakers, he became famous. Whether it is China or the United States or other places in the world, you can always see reports about An Jie.

The exposure of the two old centers, Divac and Olajuwon, has also increased a lot. There is only one reason why they suddenly became popular again, and that is Anjie.

"From the first time I saw him play in the NCAA, I knew he was a good candidate for a traditional center. Of course, there are other characteristics in him besides this that I really appreciate. Oh, just ask Star You know what Anjie's "other characteristics" refer to Demire." Facing the sudden interview with sports reporters, Divac replied with a smile.

"I have been watching him for more than half the season. Before the All-Star Game last season, I occasionally saw the Thunder game. At that time, I was still wondering who the yellow-skinned No. 16 player was. After paying attention to him, I became more and more The more surprised I am, if such a guy is not worth carving, then the centers may really be completely reduced to blue-collar workers." When it comes to Anjie, Olajuwon is also full of praise.

"Ann and Morris are my two most proud players. I miss the season I worked with them very much. If possible, I really hope to coach them two again and strive for honor." Even preparing for the new season NCAA regular Riccard, who played in the competition, was also rounded up by reporters because of An Jie's outstanding performance.

Except for An Jie, everyone related to him also had the opportunity to appear in public. Even Asakin, his former Cyclones teammate and now an office worker, was not spared.

There is another person, that must not be ignored. When the reporters tried their best to find Anjie's girlfriend Catherine, they found that they couldn't find the girl after searching the whole city of Ames.

No one knows her whereabouts except Beard, Anjie and Catherine herself.

Catherine has asked for leave from school, and went to the branch of IMG Model Agency in New York alone under the bearded Qian Ding Ling Wan's instructions. There, she will contact IMG executives to decide whether Catherine has the opportunity to be a model.

An Jie was also very worried during Catherine's trip, after all, it was not easy for a little girl to go out of town alone. But worry is nothing to worry about, Anjie can't ask the Thunder team for leave like Catherine did. The regular season is still going on, as Kobe said, what Anjie and the others won was just one game.

Two days after the game with the Lakers, Anjie came to Houston with the team, the city where he stayed for a month this summer.

In the past, Toyota Center was the only place that Anjie could name in Houston, but after the temporary residence in July, Anjie is quite familiar with Houston.

Along the way, Anjie was telling his teammates what he met in Houston,

Having won four consecutive victories since the beginning of the season, the players of the Thunder seem to be too relaxed.

Indeed, the current Houston Rockets are completely different from the Rockets that tied the Lakers last season. Yao Ming was reimbursed for the season and Artest left. The Rockets this season are an out-and-out civilian team. There are no superstars and no arrows in the team. The Thunder should be able to easily win this game.

It's a pity... the arrogance of young people caused the Thunder to suffer a lot at this time.

3 of 15, 0 of 4 three-pointers, 20% shooting, only scored 6 points. This is not the data of Hayes, who was forced miserably by Anjie, but the data of Westbrook, who has performed calmly in the first four games.

At the Toyota Center, Westbrook's inconsistency once again put the Thunder in crisis. Of course, An Jie, who has always had a very stable shooting rate, almost made his shooting rate below 50% in this game.

Facing Hayes, who is only 1.98 meters tall, Anjie obviously underestimated the enemy too much. After achieving great success and progress, Anjie also seemed to be dazzled by the small victories and outstanding performances ahead.

He played singles with the ball many times, but he ignored the rationality that he usually pays most attention to. The continuous consumption of Scola, Landry, Hayes and David Anderson caused the shooting rate of Anjie, who insisted on singles, to drop significantly.

Scored 27 points and 9 rebounds on 11 of 22 shots, but Anjie only had 3 assists today. On the surface, Anjie's statistics seem to be pretty good, but the 11 shots he missed are indeed a bit too much for a center Anjie.

On the other hand, the Rockets played very well without their stars. Five of the team scored in double figures, and two scored in 20. The 26 assists in the game were 11 more than the Thunder.

In addition to Durant's 33 points and Anjie's 27 points, Nick Collison's 9 points is already the third in the Thunder. Ibaka and Morris, who have received much attention, only scored 7 points together, which is embarrassing.

The Thunder ushered in their first loss of the season in Houston, 94-105. At the same time, they once again fell into the vicious circle of being unable to achieve five consecutive victories.

After this game, the Thunder players stayed in the visiting team's locker room for a long time before boarding the bus and leaving. The reason was that Jeff Van Gundy, who has always been relatively mild, had a rare rage in the locker room!

"Don't forget your own position! We are not strong enough to lose at will! Maybe the Spurs can lose a few games in the form of rotation, maybe the Lakers can let Kobe play singles regardless of winning or losing, but we must strive for every A victory in one game! Have you forgotten how cruel the competition in the Western Conference is!? A gap of one goal is enough for one team to enter the playoffs while the other team takes an early vacation!" Van Gundy was furious, and the locker room The floor was full of A4 papers that he was still lying on the ground in a fit of anger. These scattered papers are the detailed tactics and reports of the Rockets made by Van Gundy who worked tirelessly all night. It's a pity that the players under him made all his efforts in vain.

It's not that Van Gundy can't accept failure, it's just that he can't accept the Thunder's failure. Even Anjie became more casual in handling the ball on the field, let alone other people.

The Thunder players below all lowered their heads and remained silent. They are sorry for their ambitions before the game. They know that they have to show their performance quickly.

So Van Gundy's brother, Stan Van Gundy, was out of luck. Thanks to his brother's temper in the locker room, the Thunder players performed perfectly in this game, which made his Magic play very hard.

Anjie, who was awakened by Van Gundy's scolding, did his best in this game, preventing Howard from only getting 10 shots, and let him only hit 5 of them.

And all members of the Thunder team also executed the "cut off" tactic very well, allowing Warcraft to get 17 free throw opportunities, but Warcraft only grasped 10 of them.

20 points, for a core player like Howard, allowing him to only score 20 points is considered a defensive success. In addition, Howard only scored 7 rebounds in this campaign, while Anjie used his excellent positioning skills to easily get 13, almost twice as many as Howard!

Under the serious and tight defense of the Thunder, except for Howard and backup center Marcin Gortat, the two insiders, the Magic did not shoot more than 50%. Even J.J. Redick, who has always been a stable outside shooter, made 0 of 6 three-pointers in this game, and his total shooting percentage was only 2 of 11, a mere 18%.

With a good defensive foundation, the Thunder's offense is also playing well. Durant scored a game-high 28 points on 11 of 17 shots. His scoring performance this season is very eye-catching.

Westbrook, who performed poorly in the previous game, scored a double-double in this game, with 17 points and 10 assists, and his state began to pick up.

And Anjie, who prevented Howard from losing his temper, intentionally controlled his shots in this game. He only took 12 shots, hit 8 of them, and scored 18 points. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and sent 6 shots. assists. Although the scoring data is not as good as the previous game, the efficiency is significantly higher.

Seeing that Anjie's performance in the low post has improved a lot, Howard also had the idea of ​​apprenticeship with Olajuwon this summer.

In this campaign, the Thunder's total shooting percentage was as high as 57%, and the three-point shooting percentage reached 56%. With such a performance, Stan Van Gundy could only watch his brother beat him.

74 to 102, the Thunder beat the Orlando Magic at home last season, No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. Jeff Van Gundy's temper in the locker room is not gray haired.

Now, it's another Van Gundy's turn to berate players in the locker room.

Subsequently, on November 10, the Thunder "accidentally" lost to the Kings, the rival Kings that they had beaten. Although he lost the ball, Van Gundy was still able to accept it. After all, it wasn't that the Thunder's performance was too bad in this game, but that the Kings really played at a super level.

98 to 101, the Thunder narrowly lost the Kings, but there was no problem with the operation of the team.

After that, on November 11, the Thunder rushed to Los Angeles non-stop and played back-to-back games with the Clippers.

No. 1 pick Blake Griffin was reimbursed for the season due to injury, which forced the Clippers to push back their rebuilding date.

Although the white-haired big center Chris Kaman of the Clippers captain scored 20 points, he took a full 26 shots! The inside defense of Anjie and Morris once again let the opponent's center suffer.

In this game, Durant scored 30 points, Anjie and Westbrook also scored 18 points, and Anjie's good buddy Morris sent 4 big hot pots. In the end, the Thunder beat the Clippers 83 to 79 in the away game, avoiding a losing streak. And their record of not being able to win at the Staples Center was finally broken.

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

"Recently I have been doing some training, and they said that I have great potential to be a model. It's just that the training is really hard. In order to keep in shape, I can't eat a lot of things, and I have to limit the portion of each meal. There are also walking postures, standing But, this is much more interesting than class, hehe.” Catherine has been in New York for almost a week, during which Anjie would call her every day.

It's not that Anjie has never tried the taste of nutritious meals, but the nutritious meals for maintaining body shape are more torturous than the nutritious meals for gaining muscle and weight.

"How long will the training be? If it's too hard, you can come back." Hearing that Catherine was suffering from not having enough to eat every day, An Jie was very distressed.

"How can you give up halfway? Didn't you, An, have endured a lot of hardships to get to where you are today. Don't worry, my training is much easier than yours. They didn't say how long the training was. It's just that I became a monk halfway with zero foundation. It may take It took longer than others."

"If I have a chance to go to New York, I will definitely visit you. Pay attention to your health dear." An Jie looked at the time, it was getting late, and he had to finish the remaining extra training tasks quickly.

"You too, Ann, happy birthday, hehe. Although I couldn't be by your side last year, I still bought a gift and sent it to you. It may take two days to receive it."

"You still remember, I thought only my parents remembered." Today is November 12, An Jie's 20th birthday. However, in order not to affect training and work, he did not tell anyone about it. Celebrating a birthday? Really don't have that time.

"Of course I remember, besides my father, you are the most important person in my life..."

"Thank you Catherine, I love you."

"I love you too, Ann."

Not long after hanging up the phone, An Jie's parents naturally called. Of course, there is also a birthday message from Nike to An Jie.

Since he started playing in the NCAA, Anjie basically didn't have a good birthday. After all, the intensive schedule and training will not stop for An Jie alone.

Anjie finally completed his set goal on the training ground, and did not leave early because today is a special day.

An Jie, who had worked hard all day, took off his wet vest and prepared to return to the locker room. The corridor outside the training ground was dark except for the faint white light from the emergency lights.

An Jie has long been used to such scenes. He skillfully found the locker room in the dark, pushed open the door, and prepared to end his day's work.

The huge locker room was also pitch black. An Jie found the switch and turned on the headlights in the locker room.

The whole locker room suddenly brightened up, and An Jie also stood there blankly, looking at everything in front of him in disbelief. (to be continued.).

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