The Way of the Center

After a day of hard training, Catherine walked into the apartment arranged for her by Img Company exhaustedly. She threw down her handbag and threw herself on the bed. ??

She was so hungry that she screamed. Catherine was different from other girls. She used to live with a chef father every day. She was very greedy and very good at eating.

But since she came to New York, she hasn't eaten a full day. In order to lose the small amount of fat on her stomach, the nutritious meal arranged by the company for her is so tasteless, and the most important thing is that the portion is small.

If Big Beard and An Jie knew that she didn't even have enough to eat here, they would definitely urge her to go back. But Catherine was unwilling to compromise. She couldn't say how much she liked the profession of modeling, but she didn't want to let herself live in the hotbed that men built for her all her life.

The harder a girl is when she is lonely, the more she needs someone to accompany her. And the only thing that can make Anjie accompany Catherine is the TV.

Catherine lay on the bed casually, and turned on the TV with the remote control. At this moment, she didn't have the temperament of a model at all.

She flipped the remote control skillfully and switched the TV channel to the TV station. On the screen, the second half of the game has just started, and the camera happened to show An Jie with a serious face.

Catherine smiled at the TV screen, seeing An Jie's face on TV was enough for her.

This is how she dated Anjie...

An Jie on the court naturally didn't know that there was a pair of deep blue eyes watching him. Now he only had basketball in his mind, only the Spurs, and only the man dubbed the "No. 1 Rookie".

During the intermission, Van Gundy really released the players five minutes earlier. Durant, Westbrook and other outside players took the time to start shooting, hoping to find the touch.

In addition to the small man, insiders such as Ibaka and Kostic are also practicing seriously. Because Van Gundy said during the intermission that in the third quarter, Anjie will continue to dig inside, but the purpose is to attract defense.

They must seize the opportunity of open shots before they can turn the situation around!

Van Gundy can't guarantee that this tactic will be successful. After all, the Thunder's shooting percentage in the first half was too horrible. But after Duncan came back, the Spurs' tight interior defense would not let Anjie continue to do whatever he wanted inside.

Space and shooting, the Thunder must grasp these two things!

After the start of the second half of the game,

Everyone was surprised to find that Van Gundy had changed again!

Krstic was at the fourth position in the first quarter, and Morris became the fourth position in the second quarter. In the second half, the fourth position became Congolese Serge Ibaka.

Ibaka's shooting range is the furthest among all the insiders of the Thunder. In order to implement the offensive tactics, Van Gundy only mentioned him to the front.

**Vich naturally won't worry too much about a first-year rookie, and his Spurs will continue to play in the established way. Focus on defending Anjie and cut off the Thunder's only stable offensive point, then the Spurs will be sure to win the game!

At the beginning, the Spurs became the first to strike the iron. Keith Bogans' shot from outside the three-point line deviated from the target, and the Thunder soon got a chance to practice tactics!

Westbrook didn't advance quickly this time, and he gestured calmly, signaling his teammates to quickly fall into position.

According to the tactical arrangement, Ibaka rushed to the outside of the three-point line to provide cover for Westbrook, while Anjie and Duncan fought hand-to-hand near the three-second zone.

"Do you want to continue to play in the paint?" **Vichitch folded his hands and observed from the sidelines. It was not Anjie but Ibaka who screened and rolled Westbrook. And Anjie was not in a high position but was fighting directly near the penalty area. Location. All the circumstances are conveying a message to **Vichick: The Thunder still want Anjie to play singles!

But the strange thing is that they actually want to perform singles, so why didn't the rest of the Thunder team give Angela a break? **Vich touched his chin, what exactly is Jeff Van Gundy planning! ?

Sure enough, Westbrook had just broken through halfway through the pick-and-roll, and then used a solid ground-hitting pass, allowing Anjie and Duncan to form a low-post one-on-one singles situation!

After An Jie took the ball, he leaned back with all his strength. Duncan, who didn't expect An Jie to be so strong, took a big step back!

An Jie's usual back blows are all false and real, one light and one heavy. It's really not An Jie's style to attack with brute force like just now.

"Are you really going to force the inside? Come on." Duncan remained expressionless, he was not afraid of any attacker's challenge.

Seeing this situation, the Spurs players relaxed a lot of their vigilance towards others. Anyway, when they did this in the first half, nothing went wrong.

An Jie leaned on Duncan to turn around forcefully, and Duncan also slammed hard to prevent An Jie from facing the basket successfully.

Just when An Jie had just turned halfway, he suddenly shot the ball! Tony Parker was taken aback when he saw the basketball flying towards him, and then he yelled "No!"

Westbrook has unknowingly ran outside the three-point line to respond!

Parker quickly returned to defense, and just as soon as he mentioned it, he found that he had hit a wall.

Serge Ibaka's off-ball pick-and-roll was already in place, and the Thunder never planned to let Anjie attack from the very beginning!

After getting an open opportunity, Westbrook did not make a hasty shot. He adjusted his breathing, took off slowly, and made all his movements as stretched as possible and standard.

By the time Parker gets out of the pick-and-roll to block, the basketball has already been thrown.

Duncan's reaction was also quick, and he immediately turned around and stuck Anjie behind him, but this time the Thunder's basketball shot did not hit the basket again. This three-pointer hit the net hollow!

Westbrook immediately raised his hands and showed three fingers. finally! The damn ball was finally thrown by him!

"The Thunder team's cooperation is very beautiful! Just now, I also thought that Coach Van Gundy's tactics were to let Anjie play singles. I didn't expect that other players' off-ball pick-and-rolls and subtle running positions had already begun to be implemented."

"Hmph, small tricks." **Vichitch snorted disapprovingly. This kind of tactic in the form of smoke bombs is only enough for his Thunder team to use once.

The second time, Anjie still held the ball in the low post and confronted Duncan head-on. At the same time, Ibaka and Westbrook's running positions are exactly the same as before.

Of course, the tactical training of the Spurs players needless to say, and they don't need to be reminded by **, they can also see that the Thunder team is using exactly the same tactical coordination as last round!

Tony Parker paid great attention to his position this time to avoid being caught off guard again. And Duncan also adjusted his stance, and no longer continued to consume with An Jie, who was feinting.

This time, after An Jie came up, he took the lead in pushing back with all his strength, which strengthened the defensive strategy chosen by the Spurs players.

Unexpectedly, on the second hit, An Jie didn't have the sustain power, and he didn't pass the ball with his first hand. Instead, he made a cross step and quickly turned around in the three-second zone!

Duncan thought that Anjie would pass the ball, but Anjie's sudden start made Duncan unable to react in time. However, Duncan has always been an old ball ruffian who has been in the league for 12 years. His lateral movement like a conditioned reflex completely blocked Anjie's route after turning around.

Unexpectedly, An Jie was only half-turned. Seeing that he couldn't break through, he immediately adjusted his footsteps and turned in the opposite direction, preparing to shake out the space and shoot.

This time Duncan was not deceived, after all, An Jie had used this trick many times before. He shifted his center of gravity, seeing Anjie holding the ball with both hands, Duncan jumped up immediately, ready to block the shot.

Just when Tony Parker was about to catch the basketball that was bound to be blocked, An Jie's turning and shooting movement stopped, and he moved his feet again and turned back to the original direction.

"Three and a half turns in a row! Ann shook Duncan up, pleasing low footsteps!" Kenny Smith couldn't believe that Duncan would be deceived by a guy who just turned 20 years old!

The coherent and quick three and a half turns made Anjie empty in front of him. He stretched out his long arms and passed the ball into the basket, and scored another layup with no pressure.

After being passed by Anjie, Duncan stared at Parker who was about to block the ball with a blank expression. How about repeating the old trick? The entire Spurs team was tricked by An Jie!

The running positions of Westbrook and Ibaka are just confusing. This time, the Thunder really want Anjie to perform singles!

Jeff Van Gundy couldn't help applauding Anjie's beautiful moves. These tactics seem simple, but if you want to execute them, you can't do them without a certain level of skill.

When the Thunder came to the Spurs half court again, they really didn't know how the Thunder would score this time.

If Duncan tries his best to fight Anjie, then Anjie's pass will be very easy. If Duncan guards against Anjie's pass, then Anjie can seize the gap and score in the penalty area.

While all members of the Spurs in a dilemma were still thinking, Westbrook once again sent the ball into Angie's arms.

If An Jie is usually in a high position, it proves that his main task is organization, and his secondary task is offense. The opposite is true if he's in the post. Many teams have thoroughly studied this point, and it is also convenient for them to make countermeasures according to Anjie's position.

But today, although Anjie holds the ball in the low post, you can't say whether Anjie's task is to attack or organize. If you can't guess the opponent's offensive strategy, how can you be clear about the defensive strategy?

This time, An Jie did not use brute force to back-hit Duncan, and he resumed the soft and hard rhythm in the past.

At this moment, Westbrook raised his hand to ask for the ball, and Anjie quickly handed the ball away without thinking about it.

Tony Parker immediately bypassed the pick-and-roll Ibaka and returned to Westbrook's side. Spurs power forward Judean Blair also immediately turned around, ready to protect the rebound with Duncan.

But what Parker didn't expect was that Westbrook didn't receive the basketball. The ball was not passed to Westbrook. When everyone in the Spurs thought Ibaka was there just for the pick-and-roll, he received the basketball from Angie.

"Blair!"

Hearing Vicky shouting his name from the sidelines, Blair quickly turned his head and found that Ibaka had already started shooting.

Blair made it in front of Ibaka with a long stride, but the ball was already in the air.

Once again, the running positions of the Thunder generals once again deceived the veteran Spurs!

"brush."

"Ibaka's soft touch makes it hard for you to imagine that he is a brutal defender. The Spurs lost consecutive points, and they only have a 2-point advantage!"

This is the effect of "spreading shots" that Jeff Van Gundy wants. It's not as simple as letting different people shoot the ball like in the first half, it's called even shooting.

Tactically, everyone must also provide cover for each other.

After that, the offensive end is no longer the performance of the trio of Angie, Westbrook and Ibaka. Durant and Sefolosha also gradually joined in. The most important thing is that once the Thunder changed their icy shooting touch in the first half, after getting a chance, the Thunder can convert it into a score.

The situation of the Spurs was similar to that of the Thunder in the first half, outside players frequently missed under the tight defense. Although the Spurs still shot 47% in the third quarter, this is by no means a low normal shooting percentage.

It's a pity that the extremely efficient Thunder hits as high as 62%! Under the Thunder's unpredictable running position, everyone is the focus, and everyone is the bait. Durant scored 6 points on 3 of 6 shots. Westbrook scored 9 points on 4 of 6 shots. Ibaka even made all 4 shots, 8 points in a single quarter, so Vicky reprimanded Blair for a while.

Although Anjie only scored 5 points in this quarter, he sent 6 assists. All the Thunder's assists in the third quarter were handled by An Jie.

The Spurs, who originally had the advantage, lost 11 points in the third quarter against the Thunder's overall tactics! **Vitch also made adjustments to Van Gundy's tactics, but it's a pity that the Thunder rebounded too quickly in the third quarter. The more they hit, the smoother they are, and the more accurate they are.

32, the Thunder in the third quarter completely reversed the situation. The total score was 74 to 78, and the Thunder scored 4 points.

Just as everyone imagined, every time the Thunder and the Spurs meet, the winner will always be decided at the last moment.

Maybe the tense fourth quarter will make the game look better? (To be continued.) 8