The Way of the Center

The 48 minutes of regular time in the playoffs alone is enough to exhaust people, not to mention that the two teams played an extra overtime game today. After returning to the locker room, none of the players wanted to move. They just sat quietly in front of their lockers, resting with their eyes closed.

After attending the press conference, Van Gundy pushed the door in, but he could only hear gasps in the locker room.

"Take a good rest everyone, just take a rest tonight, and we'll go back to Oklahoma tomorrow." These guys have tried their best. Although they lost the game, Van Gundy has nothing to say. They would have been winners today, but it's a pity that the Lakers have a guy who is destined to become a legend. And that guy is also completing the impossible task again. It's a pity that this time the Thunder team became the foil of the legend.

Once again, Giardina was the last spectator left behind. Forty minutes had passed since the end of the match, but Anjie still didn't show up, and the phone was still unanswered.

Not to mention Giardina, people all over the world can't find Anjie now, Ricard, Divac, Olajuwon, Kobe, Catherine... Different people call Anjie same, but they all get the same result.

An Jie was still leaning against his cabinet at this moment. He felt the vibration of the mobile phone in the cabinet, but he didn't even bother to execute the action of connecting the phone. Everyone in the Thunder is in this situation. Playing in Staples is really hard.

"Let's go, Tina, he won't be here today. This guy didn't even attend the press conference, he must have left early." Abrahi watched the security approaching, so he hurriedly urged Giardina to leave.

The unwilling little girl dialed An Jie's number for the fifth time, but after the prompt tone, she finally connected this time!

"Where are you?" Giardina was sure that Anjie saw him today, but why, why was the big boy indifferent.

"I just changed my clothes. I'm sorry Tina. I'm too tired and busy today. You saw the game process, so I can't accompany you tonight." If it's a regular season, An Jie doesn't mind going out to relax after the game. But in the playoffs, he knew he couldn't be distracted.

"Okay..." Giardina's voice sounded very disappointed.

Although An Jie didn't have any thoughts about Giardina, he couldn't bear to hear such a pitiful sigh from a girl. He knew that this little girl was coming for him, and he didn't even say a word to anyone after running all the way here, which seemed a bit too much.

"Okay, Tina, if you have time, go to Oklahoma City. Four days later, on May 8th, we will continue to compete against the Lakers at home. If you want to come, I can save a few tickets for you." I will definitely not go out today,

In the next few days, I was busy training An Jie and didn't want to be disturbed. Inviting Giardina to another game seemed the only thing to do in good faith. Otherwise, I would be too sorry for this girl.

"Really!? I'm going to sit behind the Thunder's bench!" Giardina suddenly became excited when he heard that Anjie invited him.

"Okay, no problem. It's just that I may not have time in the days before the game. You have to arrange the accommodation in Oklahoma and so on yourself." Seeing the teammates have walked out of the locker room one by one, An Jie also stood up. After all, the team bus cannot be delayed because of him alone.

"A word of peace, see you in Oklahoma!"

"Oklahoma!?" Abrahim looked at Giardina in disbelief. They just arrived in Los Angeles not long ago!

"Hey, it's still early, we can still play in Los Angeles for a few days." Giardina held the phone in front of her chest with both hands, no matter which city she was in, as long as Anjie was there, she was willing to go.

On the second day, almost all Thunder players got up late, even An Jie, who was always beaten like a chicken blood, was no exception.

Anjie and the others never wanted to experience the feeling of playing overtime in the playoffs again. What's more, the Lakers in overtime yesterday were more active than they were in the 48 minutes of regular time.

But after a good night's sleep, the fatigue has long since disappeared from the players. Instead, it is the desire for the next game, and even more the desire for victory in the next game.

The picture of Kobe celebrating wildly on the commentary stand is still vivid. Thinking of this, An Jie's fists would be clenched involuntarily. An Jie is so stingy when it comes to victories. He only hopes that victory will always belong to him, and he will feel distressed if others touch him.

The Thunder team was full of energy when they got on the plane, but Van Gundy still had the big dark circles under his eyes. The Lakers' triangle offense is really difficult to limit. You must know that the Lakers' state in these two games is not good. Van Gundy must always be ready to fight the Lakers at full strength.

Although the next game will be played at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, the "blue ocean" in the mouth of the fans. But in front of the Lakers, the advantage that the home game brings to the Thunder will be very small. The group of guys who can win under the loud shouts of "" are not so easily disturbed by fans.

Only by restraining the Lakers tactically can the Thunder have a greater chance of winning. In fact, the triangle offense is also a type of positional offense. In this respect, the rhythm of the Thunder and the Lakers is very similar. This is also the reason why the shooting percentages of the two teams are not high in the two games. Positional warfare is the most difficult to play, and both teams happen to be teams that like to play in position.

Van Gundy wanted to be fast, but couldn't get up fast. If he played fast, then An Jie's advantages would not be brought into play. He didn't forget that the victory in the first game had a great relationship with An Jie.

Continue to fight? That is gambling, betting on who can score more goals between the two teams.

These two methods are obviously not what Van Gundy hopes to use. One is not practical and the other is not sure.

He needs a new idea now, a new tactic that can catch the Lakers off guard.

"Boss, boss!?"

"Ah!?" Hearing someone calling himself, Van Gundy broke free from his thoughts.

Looking around, An Jie was the only one standing in front of him in the plane. And outside the window of the plane is not the clouds, but the ground he is more familiar with.

"That's it?" Van Gundy felt that his thoughts had just begun, and he didn't realize that the plane had landed.

"What do you mean, Boss? You don't need to be on the plane to think about tactics." Compared to Van Gundy, An Jie is really embarrassed to say that he is a workaholic.

"An, yes, Ann!" Van Gundy looked up at An Jie, and wrote down An Jie's name in a small notebook.

Van Gundy rushed off the plane excitedly, as if he had discovered something extraordinary. Only An Jie was left at a loss, unable to figure out what to do.

Angie! An Jie is the new idea he needs! Although Anjie will serve as the core of offense for a period of time in previous games, since Durant returned from injury last season, he has never used Anjie as a real "core".

The core of the team is different from the core of the offense. The core of the offense is only responsible for scoring, while the real core of the team needs to take care of all aspects. For a whole season, Van Gundy didn't let Anjie serve as the core of even one game. Now, this is also an option!

The low-post skills of an excellent center can not only make him the end point of the offense, but also make him the starting point of the offense. Only one person who can create damage inside and attract double-teams can lead to more tactics in the future.

The center can not only support, but also transfer the ball from the front that the defender cannot. Move the ball widely, side to side, outside to inside. There are very few centers in the league who can do this now, but Van Gundy has a guy who can do this.

The Thunder have never really played with center tactics. There is no way. The expressions of Durant and Westbrook are too dazzling. Even Anjie can't play the most dominant role in the team's tactics. But in the playoffs, Van Gundy decided to give it a try. Anyway, basketball is not football, and you can pause and adjust at any time during the game. If that doesn't work, Van Gundy can immediately get the Thunder back to normal.

"Hmph, who the hell said that the center has fallen." Van Gundy picked up a pen, began to draw tactics on the manual, and began to write essentials on small notes. In that era, most strong teams played around the center. A center is not a tool for rebounding and making walls for small people!

After getting off the plane, the Thunder's team bus first drove to the Chesapeake Energy Arena, and then everyone on the Thunder went home from the stadium. After a day of rest, the second and third days of training continued as usual until the third game of the Western Conference Semifinals officially started on the fourth day.

This is the normal process arrangement of the Thunder team. However, Van Gundy, who had thought of countless tactical ideas in his mind, shut himself in the office next to the training field on the first floor of the court as soon as he got out of the car. Van Gundy's confidence in the game the day after tomorrow is also more and more sufficient.

The playoffs are not only about players, coaches also play an important role in it. Although Van Gundy has never won a championship in his life, it does not mean that he is a bad coach. From Patric Ewing's Eastern Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets' first-round spell, Van Gundy has been through a lot.

Now, using his familiar center tactics again, this young but already bald guy is handy.

"If it works, we can win!" Van Gundy didn't finish his work until 10:30 p.m. His wife had already brought him dinner, but the lunch box sat there, never touched by Van Gundy.

This workaholic, as long as he devotes himself to basketball, even he will feel scared.

However, for a victory in the Western Conference semifinals, what is this sacrifice?

An Jie, who had fallen asleep on the bed for a long time, didn't know that after the Cyclones and Durant's brief injury period last season, he would once again stand at the core of the team and lead the team to strive for the extreme desire in his heart. victory! (To be continued.)