The Way of the Center

The performance of the Spurs this season will definitely not satisfy the fans, including Duncan and Popovich himself, are very disappointed with this season.

The Spurs have shown their age this season, and there is little fresh blood flowing into their formation. The only Spurs rookie worthy of praise may be rookie guard George Hill who is at the same level as Anjie. But with the exception of Hill, the Spurs are still living on their laurels and are still playing on GDP.

Maybe a year or two ago there was no problem doing that, but now that Duncan is 33 years old, Popovich has to strictly control his playing time. Ginobili is 32 years old and has gradually lost his edge. Some helpers must stand up beside GDP, but unfortunately, the Spurs lack such roles this season.

More and more young people are beginning to challenge the authority of this great combination. The Spurs, whose lineup is not strong and full of injuries, have indeed been defeated by most young people.

Oklahoma City's Thunder three young men have defeated GDP this season. Duncan still remembers the block that decided the outcome of the game, the one round of offense and defense that made him have to face up to the years.

Because of this, the Spurs' performance this season is not good. So far, the Spurs are only ranked seventh in the West, and their winning percentage this season is the lowest since the 96-97 season.

But this group of old guys will never give up, never admit defeat. They fought the Thunder again to the last four seconds, and the old guys had a one-point lead over the young Thunder in the last four seconds.

"I hate the Spurs!" Anjie kept chanting. Maybe the fans like to watch such exciting and critical moments, but as players, what they hate the most is this kind of one-goal game. .

Clocking in and leaving get off work in three quarters in several consecutive games has made the Thunder players more and more accustomed to the feeling of hearty victory. But today, in the midst of their 10-game winning streak, the Spurs gave the young Thunder a head-on blow.

"In this league, you are not allowed to do whatever you want." The strong resistance of the Spurs undoubtedly conveyed such a message to the Thunder, which has been too smooth recently.

"The timeout is over. Every time I look forward to seeing how the Thunder will execute the final blow. Because most teams have only one end point for the final blow. For example, the Lakers only have Kobe, and the Trail Blazers only have Roy. But the Thunder , Except for Morris who served the sideline, everyone else has the possibility of becoming the end point.” Kenny Smith focused, every game between the Spurs and the Thunder was boring in the process and tense in the end.

Although Anjie is the one with the highest shooting percentage in the Thunder team today, it is not impossible for Westbrook and Durant to execute the final blow. So Popovich can't guess who will be Van Gundy's last dagger.

But Popovich still told Duncan to stick to Anjie every step of the way. Duncan did as he did, and Anjie was already wrestling with "Stone Buddha" before the sideline ball was delivered.

Morris got the ball passed to him by the referee. Although it was just a sideline kick, he was still very nervous. The last time it was because he made a mistake on the sideline, which almost caused Duncan to complete the lore and win the game.

This time Westbrook got rid of it much faster. Before Anjie's pick-and-roll was in place, he got rid of Tony Parker on his own and received a sideline ball from Morris.

After receiving the ball, the game time that had stopped started to move. Parker and Ginobili both sealed up to contain Westbrook, while Durant had no chance under Roger Mason's follow-up defense.

Westbrook looked inside again,

Anjie is still near the free throw line, and Duncan is also very close.

After some observation, time is running out. Westbrook forced his shot from outside the three-point line with his limbs and arms.

"Not good!" Looking at the arc of the ball, An Jie knew that this could only be a non-stick! He quickly pushed Duncan, and then quickly ran towards the basket.

Not too early or too late, Anjie rushed to catch the air ball thrown by Westbrook.

As soon as he got the basketball, Anjie immediately took off and put the ball into the basket. At the same time, the red light on the backboard sounded again.

"Win! Ann made another lore!" The fans in the Chesapeake Energy Arena jumped up, and their inside Dinghaishenzhen once again brought the team a victory.

But the Spurs players didn't think so, especially Duncan, who walked towards the bench expressionlessly after seeing An Jie complete the lore. Because he can guarantee that Anjie's ball must have timed out!

"The fans in the Chesapeake Energy Arena have already started cheering, but the score on the big screen has not changed at all. Whether the Thunder can win the game or not has to be judged through the replay." The scene of An Jie's goal happened It was too fast, the light turned on as soon as he scored the ball, and it was completely impossible to judge whether the goal was valid with the naked eye.

Several referees gathered in front of the technical stage. Duncan and his teammates high-fived each other to celebrate the victory, while An Jie stared nervously at the big screen, hoping to see the result of the game as soon as possible.

But just the first replay, the Thunder's fantasy of winning was swept away. It can be clearly seen on the big screen that the red light on the backboard was already on before An Jie shot the ball.

"Oh, how could this be!"

"Russell shouldn't have shot against the defense at all on the last ball!"

"Why doesn't An take the shot faster, he can use faster technical moves, such as throwing."

In an instant, the originally cheering fans began to complain. The Spurs did not celebrate the victory. They quietly walked to the player channel under the leadership of Popovich. It was really not easy for these old guys to get out of Oklahoma City.

An Jie stood on the field in despair, with his hips akimbo and his head bowed. This game made An Jie realize clearly that they are not yet so powerful that they can be invincible.

Look at the opponents that the Thunder have defeated in ten consecutive victories. Except for the Suns and Jazz, none of these ten opponents can be called a strong team. They even encountered the Eastern underdogs such as the Nets, Wizards, and Knicks in succession.

The consecutive victories have stunned the minds of the young people. It was not until today when they faced the western powerhouses again that they realized that the game was so difficult.

It is not someone's fault that the lore fails. But with only eight Spurs able to play, the Thunder were dragged to the end when Ginobili failed to make a single shot in 10 shots. This result should not have occurred in itself. If the play is normal, the Thunder should end the game before the final four seconds.

The seasoned Spurs are very serious about dealing with a rookie in the NBA. On the contrary, this group of young people are careless when facing a traditional strong team like the Spurs.

Van Gundy gritted his teeth. He was not dissatisfied with the referee's final overtime penalty, but dissatisfied with the performance of his players.

Ten consecutive victories did not bring better performance to the Thunder, but arrogance, complacency, and the resulting failure.

"Since when have you guys been no longer satisfied with winning?" Van Gundy didn't speak in the locker room until the players were quiet before he spoke.

An Jie raised his head in surprise, and Ricard said the same thing back then.

"Kevin, can you tell me about your statistics for this game?" Seeing that no one answered, Van Gundy called and asked questions one by one.

"35 points and 5 rebounds, boss." Durant didn't know what Van Gundy meant by asking, so he could only answer truthfully.

"Oh, 35 points, awesome Kevin! James scored only 31 points in today's game. Congratulations, you have consolidated your position as the league's scoring leader." Van Gundy pretended to be happy in front, and the players He bowed his head and dared not speak.

"But 7 turnovers, my God. Tony Parker had 4 turnovers today, and that's because he had to play the game, and the more passes the higher the risk of turnovers. But you Kevin, you are the team At the end, you hardly pass the ball, but you still have 7 turnovers, and the Spurs only have 10!" Van Gundy slapped the whiteboard in the locker room to vent his dissatisfaction.

"Look at your mistakes. If I remember correctly, you and Anjie's pick-and-rolls collided twice and made mistakes, right!?" Van Gundy changed the subject and pointed at Anjie.

"I..." In the end, An Jie still didn't say anything. He admitted that he was always absent-minded on the court today and always deserted. Many tactical running positions deviate greatly from Van Gundy's arrangement, and things that collide with teammates happen from time to time.

"Forget about your girlfriend, Ann, the happy moments of the two of you ended the day before yesterday! It's enough for me to allow you to leave the team and go out alone with your girlfriend! Look at your training quality yesterday and your game performance today, don't you Forget how you got here, there are more flash-in-the-pan guys like you in the league than you can count!" Van Gundy was outraged, causing him to say a lot of harsh words.

"Why are you laughing at Russell! 9 of 24 shots, is this the change you made?" Van Gundy criticized one by one, without letting go of any player. Even Morris and Ibaka couldn't escape Van Gundy's scolding, because the two of them allowed the aging McDyess to score 13 points.

Once the fire was over, Van Gundy slammed the door and walked out. Only the players with dull eyes were left, sitting motionless in their original positions.

Sometimes the coach can quickly wake up the players by getting angry, but sometimes, it backfires.

At the moment when the Thunder team has a very good atmosphere and has just won 10 consecutive victories, Van Gundy's devaluation of his players is obviously counterproductive.

One day after losing to the Spurs, on January 15th, the Thunder flew to Texas non-stop to face the next Western rival, the Dallas Mavericks.

"Nowitzki stood on the free throw line for the seventh time, and Anjie also received his fifth foul. He is too rigid. This game is completely arranged by Coach Van Gundy. I don't know why, An Lian Don’t dare to do anything else. No, it’s so easy for Nowitzki to draw fouls after learning about An’s defensive positioning.”

"Opportunity! Eh!? Westbrook passed again, this kind of ball can be played."

"Durant has been reluctant to pass Ann's pick-and-roll for a long time, and he is also worried that he will run down with Ann like he did in the last game. Marion! The hesitant Durant was intercepted again, and Marion will not wait You have adjusted and come to defend again!"

"Westbrook's last chance to attack! Why is it still a pass! This kind of ball should not be passed! Look! The game was over when the ball reached Durant's hands, and the Thunder didn't even make a final attempt!"

"98 to 99, the Thunder have lost two games in a row. Their performance today is really unsightly. If Josh Howard on the Mavericks side didn't do something good, the Thunder wouldn't even get the last chance to attack!"

"Damn it." Van Gundy held his head in his hands in disappointment. It seemed that he got angry this time because he restricted the players too tightly. If you want to get these guys on the right track, you have to use some other methods.

The three Thunder juniors looked at the cheering Mavericks fans in confusion, and for a moment, they forgot how to win. (To be continued.) mz