The Way of the Center

During the Asian Championships this summer, Yi Jianlian's performance can only be described as quite satisfactory. ? After all, Anjie is too dazzling, his statistics will cover up many Asian players. In addition, Yi Jianlian did not perform well in the crucial battle against Iran, so people's impression of him is far less than that of Anjie.

But in this game, Yi Jianlian started very high-profile. At the beginning, the Nets chose to trade for Yi Jianlian, not to let him play as a substitute.

His tactical status is not low, especially after performing well in two consecutive games, Yi Jianlian has become Kiki Vandeweghe's main attack point today!

At the beginning of the game, the Thunder's power forward was still fake Nenad Krstic. However, Krstic's ability is actually not stronger than Yi Jianlian.

Devin Harris used Yi Jianlian's high pick-and-roll to break through. However, the end point of the pick-and-roll tactics this time is not Harris, but Yi Jianlian who is lagging behind.

Yi Jianlian's pick-and-roll was of high quality, and Westbrook completely lost his defensive position.

Seeing Harris break through and Westbrook still entangled with Yi Jianlian, Krstic naturally followed the Nets' small guard to fill in the inside.

Unexpectedly, just halfway through the breakthrough, Harris suddenly passed the basketball back, and Yi Jianlian, who followed up, was standing one step behind the free throw line. He didn't hesitate after getting the ball, he pulled it up and shot.

Westbrook took off and interfered with Yi Jianlian's shooting, but the huge height gap made Yi Jianlian almost unaffected.

"UA won the right to shoot from the very beginning! It's beautiful! The mid-range shot scored, and Harris passed the ball well." Whenever he passes the ball to a Chinese player, Yu Jia will say that the pass is good.

"Yi!" He scored a goal at the beginning of the game, and the dJ on the scene also yelled his last name after the UAE scored. Harris patted Yi on the bottom, and the unassuming big man just smiled back.

"Damn it, are all the big men in China good at shooting!?" Van Gundy said to himself on the sidelines. The shooting ability is very good.

After Yi Jianlian scored a goal, the tastes of Chinese fans were lifted. They are looking forward to the Thunder's offensive round, hoping to see how Anjie will respond.

However, Anjie let the expectations of the Chinese fans fail. He didn't even touch the ball in this attack. Westbrook made a breakthrough and assisted Durant to make a shot. The Thunder played simple and rough in the first round, completely using the personal abilities of Westbrook and Durant.

The man defending Durant is Courtney Lee,

A defender who is more offensive than defensive. Yes, he is just a defender who is less than two meters tall, but in the Nets he has to defend Durant, who is 2 meters 06 tall. Moreover, Durant said that he is only 2 meters 06, only ghosts believe it. In Courtney Lee's view, Durant is only a few centimeters shorter than Anjie.

Both sides let the guards pass the ball to the forward players to hit mid-range shots and scored. The first back and forth competition between the Thunder and the Nets was evenly matched.

The Nets' second offense was almost the same tactic. Vandeweghe seemed to want to use Yi Jianlian to hit Krstic.

Yi Jianlian is holding the ball face-to-face in the mid-range. At this time, even Brook Lopez has to help him open the inside line.

Anjie knew that Brook Lopez was good at shooting. He had learned it when he was in college. Therefore, in order not to give Lopez a chance, An Jie had to follow him out of the three-second zone.

But Yi Jianlian, who has just returned from injury, seems to have not completely let go of the burden in his heart. Even in the face of Krstic, who is not very strong, Yi Jianlian is still unwilling to have too much physical contact with the opponent.

After trying unsuccessfully to break through, Yi Jianlian returned the ball to his own point guard Devin Harris. Everything is still played according to the tactics. How the Nets should operate when Yi Jianlian is unable to attack, these are already arranged by Vandeweghe.

After that, Ah Lian once again became the role of helping teammates with off-ball pick-and-rolls. After his pick-and-roll, Courtney Lee finally ran out of an open spot. Harris had quick eyes and quick hands, and sent the basketball in time.

Courtney Lee knew how big Durant's defensive range was, so he didn't hesitate.

Courtney Lee may not have the advantage on the defensive end, but on the offensive end, he is an indispensable part of the Nets.

The basketball entered the net with precision. Although the UAE's individual offense failed, the overall offense of the Nets was successful.

After that, Anjie still didn't touch the basketball, and Durant would hit the ball if he could score it. Anjie has no objection to this, he admits that Durant's scoring ability is above his own.

But this time, Durant's three-pointer missed the target. An Jie was blocked by Lopez, who was also excellent in positioning skills, and Yi Jianlian took the opportunity to jump high and take off the rebound.

"It seems that the UAE is in a very good state today! Anjie's offensive end has not shown his performance for a long time, but audience friends, don't worry, the Thunder are still in the period of feeding Durant. Anjie's performance It's not time yet." It's true that top scorers are fed the ball.

After that, Yi Jianlian still made a lot of shots, and Vandeweghe really used the UAE as the first scoring point. And Krstic also "did not disgrace the mission", allowing Yi Jianlian to score frequently.

Later, the UAE, which gained confidence, even started to play hard inside. Although it failed to score directly, it still made two fouls by Krstic.

The Chinese fans were hooked, and Yi Jianlian's performance was even better than the previous two games!

And what about Anjie? Still did not shoot, although Durant failed to hit the first three-pointer, but the next two breakthrough attempts were very successful. There is no reason for the Thunder to replace others. If you can make it, you can continue to play. Even An Jie, if he can hit consecutively, he also enjoys this treatment.

The game has been very anxious, which is not the situation Van Gundy wants to see. As the Eastern Conference, no, the Nets are the bottom team in the league, even if they are inextricably linked, it is unacceptable.

The Thunder must have the advantage, from the first quarter to the end of the game, they must have the advantage!

People say that the Thunder might underestimate the bottom team in the league. In fact, the opposite is true. No team in this league wants to stumble against the bottom one. Every team will definitely show its full strength when facing the Nets.

Taking advantage of a dead ball, Van Gundy waved his hand and replaced Andrew Morris, who would confront Yi Jianlian. This move also shows that Van Gundy no longer keeps it. From now on, the Thunder's trial period is over, and they are about to give full play!

"Yi! Play more resolutely! Shoot closer to the basket! You have done well so far, keep it up!" Vandeweghe saw Morris taking off his training uniform, and hurriedly shouted at Yi Jianlian. You know, the Chinese big man is about to face a real test.

"Are you Chinese again?" Morris flexed his muscles and bones. He had long been curious about how Chinese people other than Anjie would play. Now, he has the opportunity to solve the doubts in his heart.

After An Jie saw that Yi Jianlian had become the main attacking point of the Nets, he appropriately increased the distance between him and Lopez. In this way, he can quickly make up defense when Yi Jianlian goes inside.

However, after Morris played, the Nets' offensive point became shooting guard Trenton Hassell. His sudden shot caught Sefoloza by surprise and made a mid-range shot.

But Van Gundy knew that this was just a smoke bomb put by Vandeweghe, the purpose was to distract the stronger defensive Morris and distract him from Yi Jianlian.

Morris naturally also saw this. He had played under Ricard for two years, and he was no worse than anyone else in terms of tactics. Vandeweghe's little trick didn't work.

Another attack, Yi Jianlian just got the ball, and Morris stuck up every step of the way.

"Come on, come on." Morris muttered brokenly. He didn't want to provoke Ah Lian, but was so excited that he spoke incoherently.

Finally, he got another chance to play one-on-one with Chinese players. He seems to have returned to two years ago, back to the moment when he and Anjie singled out at the Cyclones training ground.

Yi Jianlian first pushed forward with his back, and after the first effort, Ah Lian found that he couldn't shake the big black man behind him!

Morris elated and became more excited.

Excitement is sometimes a good thing, and sometimes it can make a player lose his cool.

Seeing that Morris could not be eaten by strength, Ah Lian immediately turned around and held the ball with both hands. This is to shoot!

"Don't even think about it!" Morris thought he had seen through Yi Jianlian's intentions, and he jumped with all his strength, hoping to declare his defensive victory with a blocked shot.

However, Ah Lian just bowed calmly in front of the leaping Morris, took a step forward, and completely deceived him!

"Beautiful fake move, Ah Lian passed the defender!" Yu Jia clenched his fists excitedly, and Yi Jianlian really exploded.

The only choice after the UAE passed Morris was to pick the basket, and he chose the same way. The ball seemed bound to be won.

However, An Jie, who has been lurking behind Morris for a long time, has been waiting for this moment for a long time!

He quickly dropped Lopez, and his ambiguous position allowed him to quickly defend to the three-second zone.

The basketball provoked by Ah Lian had just flown into the air and hadn't started to fall yet, but An Jie shot out halfway, calculated the jumping point and jumped up from the ground, confiscating Yi Jianlian's very low shot this time!

The Nets fans in the Continental Aviation Arena were still cheering for the UAE's fake move one second, and the next second they were so shocked that their mouths grew wide and they didn't make a sound.

An Jie confiscated the ball directly in the air. This is not a metaphor, but a real scene on the court.

"An Jie! Is this... is this a catcher!?" Yu Jia couldn't believe what he saw just now, An Jie actually caught Yi Jianlian's basketball directly!

Not to mention Yu Jia, even Yi Jianlian himself did not expect such a thing to happen. He also looked at An Jie in surprise, but An Jie made a long throw in the backcourt, and Westbrook's lightning-like long-distance attack was a good show between the two of them.

Taking off with one foot and smashing the buckle vigorously, one defense and one attack, the Thunder team not only completed the task, but also completed it very entertaining!

"I told you, I don't know how to release water." An Jie said this to Yi Jianlian with a smile, but Yi Jianlian suddenly stopped laughing. He just shook his head helplessly. He didn't expect that the thunder team's biggest opponent was actually his compatriots.

"You have been fooled by the bull again, don't be so anxious next time." Afterwards, An Jie shared with Morris the experience of defending Yi Jianlian.

Now on the court, Yi Jianlian and An Jie are not compatriots or teammates of the national team. He's just a guy who wants to steal the Thunder's victory, and he's the opponent's top scorer!

For such a character, does An Jie need to show affection?

It may be that the morale was affected by Anjie's block, and Ah Lian's subsequent shot did not hit again.

On the other hand, for the Thunder, after Durant failed to score for two consecutive rounds, it was finally Anjie's turn to play.

Brook Lopez still has great potential, but for now, his progress is much slower than Angie.

Anjie's defense against Lopez is no longer as difficult as it was in college. He forced a few steps with his strength and won space for himself. After that, Anjie turned around and stepped back to shoot. into the network.

"An Jie's iconic move, a beautiful back turn and step back jumper. This is the first time An Jie made a shot, and he also scored the ball. Both of them performed very well today." This situation is exactly what Chinese fans what we want to see.

Then Yi Jianlian was replaced by Vandeweghe. He had to let the Chinese player rest and adjust his emotions.

And Anjie continued to wreak havoc inside the Nets. It was difficult for Lopez to restrain An Jie when he was in college, and now there is nothing to do with him.

Scoring 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting, An Jie responded to Yi Jianlian's performance in the first half of the game.

After the first quarter, the Thunder finally found their rhythm after several adjustments and played smoothly. Although the Nets did not play well off the bench, they generally played fairly well.

32 to 27, the Nets are only 5 points behind. Yi Jianlian, who scored 9 points in a single quarter on 3 of 5 shots in the first quarter, is the Nets' highest scorer.

The fate of the Nets after that seems to be directly linked to the performance of the UAE.

This time the Chinese Derby was unexpectedly wonderful, An Jie and Yi Jianlian both performed well.

But it was only 12 minutes of playing, and the more enjoyable ones are yet to come. (To be continued.) 8