The Way of the Center

"Odom and Powell's defensive effect is amazing. Angie and Morris haven't scored for several minutes. Durant's offensive pressure is also huge under Artest's defense. The trend is improving. If it weren’t for Westbrook’s repeated impacts, the point difference might have already become double digits!” Mike Breen couldn’t believe what he saw, even Bynum and Gaso The whirlwind twin towers that everyone couldn't stop were actually beaten by the insiders of the Lakers' second team.

"Don't double-team Anjie." This sentence often appears in the commentary, and it seems that Odom and Powell have also been broken.

Powell has good muscle strength and can withstand the impact. Odom is experienced and quick. The defensive combination of the two can complement each other and achieve very good results.

During the regular season, the teams that other teams arrange for An Jie are either one tall, one short, one outside and one inside. In this case, it is difficult for the outside player to interfere with An Jie's vision, while the inside player behind him can hardly interfere. It was difficult to deal with An Jie's turn and breakthrough.

If two ordinary insiders double-team An Jie, then both of them will be fooled by An Jie's sensitive footsteps.

But Odom is different from Powell, they are both tall and flexible. An Jie could only choose to pass the ball again and again when his vision was blocked and his breakthrough was unfavorable.

In addition, the importance of the playoffs far surpassing the regular season also added a lot of psychological burden to An Jie. He is afraid of making mistakes, so he dare not hold the ball when he is not sure.

Now let alone An Jie's attack, even letting him organize it has become extremely difficult.

There is no need to waste energy, Van Gundy had to let Anjie and Morris end to rest. Replace Ibaka and Nick Collison.

The defense of these two lacks the tacit understanding of Anjie and Morris, so even though Ibaka's personal defensive ability is very strong, Kobe's scoring after the breakthrough is still much easier than before.

It's very rare for An Jie to be misfired. In the 82 games of the regular season, he couldn't find more than four games. But today, in the crucial Western Conference Finals, Phil Jackson did it with two guys who weren't great defensively.

Now, the person who gave up the inside line turned out to be Jeff Van Gundy.

Durant was still frantically hitting the iron, breaking through him and failing to score, and Artest interfered with his shooting and lost his sight. Westbrook became the core of the offense as he wished, but his style of play made Van Gundy feel worried every time.

This is not a long-term solution, and if Westbrook is injured as a result, it will not be worth the candle.

Durant and An Jie, one of them must recover!

An Jie was replaced this time purely because his performance did not meet expectations. Therefore, he did not rest after the game, but focused on observing Odom and Powell's defense.

But to his disappointment, the Lakers didn't double-team when Ibaka and Collison were on the court. Now if you want to find a flaw, you can't start.

Time passed by every minute and every second, watching the point difference being opened up step by step by the Lakers, Van Gundy decided to call a timeout in advance and arrange defense.

On the Lakers side, the players were vying to celebrate, and the atmosphere was so lively. Calling the Thunder a timeout is enough to show how good their performance is.

"Lamar and Josh did a great job, keep it up! Kobe, your shooting percentage is starting to drop. Don't worry, your teammates will make sure Sefoloza and you are always one-on-one. Shoot closer to the basket , Don’t shoot at random!” There is not much content arranged by the Zen master in this pause, after all, it is not what he wants to arrange on his own initiative, but Van Gundy has to make changes.

"Ann, what are you afraid of!?" Van Gundy lifted a small bench and sat in front of An Jie.

"Ah?" An Jie looked at his coach in a daze. He had been on the bench just now.

"I said, when you are facing a double team, what are you afraid of!? Powell's kind of low-level guy can actually prevent you from getting nothing! No! I don't allow this kind of thing If it happened, you should do the same!" Van Gandis thought about it, but he was still ready to let An Jie give it a go. Durant's hand feeling today should not improve.

"Turn around and break through, foul me, and do everything you can, just like you did to Bynum! Don't be afraid! Only if you dare to fight, can you test the strength of the opponent's defense!" Facing For double-teaming, Anjie all chose to pass the ball, without any attempt to attack by himself. Van Gundy now wants to see how effective Anjie's own offense is.

Fan Gundy's roar could be heard clearly by the fans in the third row, but they were amused by Van Gundy's arrangement. Encourage your players to keep attacking when faced with a double-team? Van Gundy is old and confused!

Lakers fans are waiting to see a Van Gundy joke, waiting to see a Thunder joke. And An Jie is still expressing doubts about Van Gundy's arrangement.

After the timeout, Westbrook, who was really exhausted, carried out Van Gundy's tactics and passed the ball straight to the penalty area.

His impact is not as good as before. Almost halfway through the third quarter, the Thunder almost relied on Westbrook's impact.

After Anjie got the ball, Odom attacked again without hesitation.

"Scared...Damn it, don't care!" An Jie gritted his teeth, leaned on Powell and quickly turned around, ready to break through. At the same time, Odom also rushed over, but this time, Odom, who came to double-team, accidentally tripped Anjie who started the breakthrough. Although the Almighty Warrior was unintentional, a foul was inevitable.

"Strike!" Van Gundy waved his fist off the court. As long as An Jie dares to hit, no matter whether he can directly score or not, it will be a harvest!

Because the foul count has not yet arrived, the Thunder only got one chance to throw a throw-in. And An Jie also discovered in that attempt that although Powell has good muscle strength, his speed and basketball IQ are much lower than he thought! Relying on him to break through is simply a piece of cake!

An Jie, who let go of his burden, no longer made unnecessary scruples, and Ibaka's sideline ball directly lobbed into the inside line. This time Anjie anticipated Odom's double-team route, so he took the initiative to turn around in the direction Odom ran, and directly took off to shoot.

"What!?" At this time, Anjie's position was still far away from the three-second zone, and Kobe only made a jump shot in this kind of place. And what surprised Odom even more was that this guy actually took the initiative to turn around in a defensive place.

"Beep beep!" Odom, who didn't react in time, failed to stop the car. He rushed to double-team and collided with An Jie who took off and shot. Foul again this time, but it's not as simple as throwing a sideline ball.

Apart from not being intimidated, An Jie did it by all means. And when he did these two points, the double-teaming of Powell and Odom also lost the threat.

Sending Anjie to the free throw line is almost the same as sending the Thunder two points directly. An Jie lived up to expectations and scored both goals without a doubt.

Phil Jackson frowned, but thinking that An Jie hadn't scored directly under this kind of double-teaming, he decided to wait and see for a while.

But tens of seconds later, the last thing Jackson wanted to see happened. After Anjie figured out Odom's defensive speed and route, before he finished double-teaming, Anjie turned around and passed Powell, and went straight to the basket.

An Jie jumped up, raising the ball with one hand and preparing to dunk. Unreconciled, Powell kept tugging on Anjie's jersey, unwilling to let go.

"Bang!" The basket shook violently, and An Jie also fell heavily to the ground. But before he lost his balance, he dunked the ball in!

"A chance to hit a three-pointer! Powell was sentenced to a first-degree flagrant foul for this! It's useless. This double-team was completely broken by An. If Zen Master wants to win, he has to change his method!"

"It's fucking difficult!" Phil Jackson couldn't believe it. The tactics he arranged only gave him the advantage in half the game. In order to deal with the Thunder, he has made countless changes. The Thunder, however, can always crack one by one.

"Boss, I'm resting!" Bynum couldn't hold back for a long time, and now that Odom and Powell's defense failed, the little shark decided to take the initiative to fight.

"Hey, go to the technical table and get ready, you and Paul, replace Lamar and Josh." There is no way, now the Lakers can use these four insiders, and Zen Master has no choice but to use the twin towers.

Seeing that the Lakers brought up the twin towers again, Van Gundy quickly replaced Morris. After that, although Anjie and Morris's offense was not as smooth as in the second quarter, they still had some advantages.

The later the game, the more Kobe's shooting percentage dropped. For the fourth quarter, Zen Master also had to let Kobe end the game to rest. Now, the game seems to be a replica of the second half of the second quarter. Anjie and Morris suppressed the Lakers in the interior. The Thunder gradually approached the score until the end of the third quarter. tie!

64 to 64, the score between the two sides is still very low, and it is still even!

The fans in Los Angeles were eager to see the Lakers, who swept their opponents in the first round, win a big victory at home. Unexpectedly, the Thunder, the new face of the playoffs, made the Zijin Army into a hard fight.

However, the Thunder fans in front of the TV discovered that they really had the hope of overturning the Lakers in one fell swoop!

Phil Jackson must be very busy right now. In the fourth quarter, he had to come up with a tactic that the Thunder couldn't crack!

"It's time for a decisive battle! Let's play inside! Russell, you rest, and I will send you out in the end, and hit hard!" Van Gundy made a decisive decision and decided on the tactical idea for the last quarter.

Bryant's poor condition, Durant feels cold. This game seems to have become a war between the two warring teams.

And Anjie undoubtedly became an important weapon for Van Gundy to win this war!

Without the important competition of the core of the team, there must be someone who will continue to lead the team forward through the banner of the core.

Westbrook played such a role in the first and third quarters, and the next fourth quarter will be left to Anjie.

Playing the game with the center as the core of the offense is Van Gundy's forte. The person with a headache has now become the omnipotent Zen master... (to be continued.)