The Way of the Center

Rickard was the first to arrive at the gymnasium today. When he arrived at the gate, the gatekeeper Old Austin had just gone to the duty room to change his clothes.

"Morning, coach." Austin took out a bunch of keys and prepared to open the door.

"Morning Robert, no one has come yet?"

"You don't even look at what time it is, those boys are still in class." Austin pointed to his watch at Rickard.

Standing next to the schedule posted on the wall of the office, Ricard picked up the marker pen on the table and heavily drew a red circle on the name of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Tomorrow will be the game day. After training today, their regular season this season will come to an end. Ricard still clearly remembered the comment he saw in the newspaper on the day the regular season started. He wondered if the guy who wrote that news had been fired. Now March Madness is already in front of his eyes, and the trough of the Cyclone team for many years is finally about to be broken. Ricard will not let this opportunity go away no matter what. Tomorrow, the most watched matchup in the Big 12 league, the Cyclones will not allow themselves to be slaughtered even in the away game.

The enthusiasm of the players in the afternoon was very high, and they were very dedicated and focused during training.

After the big victory in the previous game, the mentality of the Cyclone players has been adjusted to a state about to explode. All of them are eager to fight, eager to win.

Ricard looked at the shouting, running, passing and cutting of the players on the training ground, as well as their attitude towards every ball seriously, and he had no other thoughts in his heart other than satisfaction. Every rebound, every defense, the players did it as if they were in actual combat. A team can't just rely on the star to play, the performance of the role players also determines the victory or defeat of the team. Now the team's training quality is very high, so naturally there is no need to worry about the state of people other than the main players.

"You have occupied the first position for a long time, it's time to come down and rest." Ricard looked at the active subordinates, and couldn't help but think of the scene when he stood at the top position after victory.

"Bang!" There was a loud bang from the basket, pulling Ricard's thoughts back to the basketball court. On the court, Anjie had just come off the basket, and Asakin was complaining as always about Anjie's "abuse" of him every day. For such a picture, Ricard has long been familiar with it.

This Asian boy grew up, but he personally watched it step by step. He was very grateful to God for this gift, and he was glad that he could see Anjie playing in the crowd that day. And Divac, the old devil's guidance saved An Jie from taking a lot of detours. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is An Jie's Bole. There is always something An Jie can't learn from this guy who has worked hard in the NBA for more than ten years. Thinking of this, Ricard turned his head to look at Divac who was sitting not far away, only to find that Divac was also looking at him with contempt.

"Why do I feel like you're talking bad about me in your heart again?" After Divac and Ricard got to know each other well, they were no longer as polite and restrained as they were when they first met. Now when Rickard sees Divac, he no longer respectfully calls "Mr. Divac" as before, but opens his mouth to call him "Old Devil". Divac is not angry, on the contrary, he is proud of the nickname.

"I said, the next game is really against an All-Star team. In the entire Big 12 league, there is no second opponent like them." Ricard has been studying all night He had been with the Jayhawks for several days, and he now knew as much about those Jayhawks players as he knew about his own players.

"It is true that they have excellent players in every position, even on the bench there are a few good guys. The most frightening thing is that this group of powerful guys is still very united. However, I believe that An Jie can open up the situation inside. I have watched a lot of Darrell Arthur and Sasha Cowan's game videos, and I think that An Jie's strength is far superior to those two.

"Divac's tone is very confident.

Averaged 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team. 54.3% field goal percentage, ranking fourth in the Big 12 League, and averaging 1.3 blocks per game ranked seventh in the Big 12 League. Scored more than 20 in a single game 5 times and scored double-doubles 5 times. This is the data Darrell Arthur sent this season. His 109 blocked shots ranked 13th in the history of the University of Kansas. It is such an opponent with beautiful statistics, but Divac confidently said that Anjie's strength is far above him. Even though he only played against An Jie on the training ground, Divac already knew in his heart what level An Jie is now. Divac's confidence in Anjie did not come out of thin air.

"Ha, I know, he has never let me down. Opening the situation from the inside, that's what I thought too." Rickard rubbed his chin, and turned his gaze back to An Jie.

At the same time, the Jayhawks in Lawrence are also actively training. Darrell Arthur was one of the hardest-working ones, and the most stressed one of the bunch. Even without Morris, the Cyclones' inside offense will still become stronger because of the presence of the Chinese.

"Don't worry, we will support you tomorrow." Chalmers saw the worry of his teammate.

"Of course, I won't be as stupid as Koufus and Jordan Jr. to go one-on-one with him." Many guys have fallen under An Jie's hands, and Darrell Arthur doesn't want to be the next laughing stock.

"Don't worry, we will be the strongest if we work together." The shortest Chalmers on the field, like Mike Taylor, has become the leader of the team's locker room.

Both teams are ready, and now the Jayhawks are waiting for the whirlwind to strike.

...................................

The bearded man had already driven to this city in the northeast of Kansas, USA. Along the way, he met many fellow travelers. Most of them, like himself, came from Ames to watch the final contest. Among them, he also met a Chinese reporter named Wu Hua. It is said that many articles and news about An Jie in China were written by this guy.

Lawrence City is not a big city either, with a total population of only 70,000, and there are only light industries such as food processing, paper making, and chemicals in the city. Like Ames, Lawrence is a standard college town. Two well-known American institutions of higher learning are located here, one is one of the largest and oldest Indian schools in the United States, Haskell University. Another school that makes Lawrence so lively today is the University of Kansas.

The University of Kansas, a traditional giant in the Big 12 league, has been inseparable from the sport of basketball since its birth.

The inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith, once coached at the University of Kansas, and the ancient beast that only existed in legends, Wilt Chamberlain, started his legendary basketball career at the University of Kansas. Want to say a closer name? Paul Pierce, the current star of the Celtics, also came from this school. There have been too many basketball legends at the University of Kansas, and who can guarantee that the guys in the current Jayhawks will not become part of the legend in the future?

But after all, the records are only created by those seniors. No matter how glorious the past of the University of Kansas, Ricard has only one thought now, and that is to pick this giant off the horse!

The school bus of Iowa State University drove into the campus of the University of Kansas early. As a serious opponent, the Cyclones were also enthusiastically "pursued" by the away fans. Countless middle fingers and name-calling outside the windows of the school bus, as if the fans would rush on board and tear Cyclones players apart as soon as the doors opened. The Cyclones players' ears finally quieted down after the bus pulled into the underground parking lot that only players could enter.

"It seems that we are very popular." Mike Taylor had been wearing earphones in the car just now, otherwise he would have been disturbed to death.

"Okay, now go to the locker room to change clothes and warm up, you will not relax tonight." Ricard waved to everyone at the front.

"Hey! Darrell!"

"Ah!? Oh, I'm sorry." Hearing Chalmers' loud shout, Darrell Arthur came back to his senses and continued his warm-up. Arthur has been staring at the yellow-skinned guy warming up for shooting on the opposite field for a long time, and he has never worried about any opponent in his heart, but this Chinese kid is different, he is indeed strong enough.

"An Jie, that kid over there seems to be very afraid of you." Mike Taylor also observed Arthur's strangeness.

"That's just right. If I'm being taken care of, I believe you guys won't waste the opportunity." An Jie never thought of himself as the boss of the team or the star of the team. As long as the team needs it, he is very willing to give up the right to shoot.

"It looks like he's in good shape today." The bearded man sat in the third row. He didn't expect that the ticket An Jie gave him would be such a good seat. Just looking at the mark on the ticket, he thought it was the last What about the third row? Who knew that after looking for it, he sat in the front row.

Catherine did not answer, she just quietly looked at An Jie who was shooting on the court, hoping that this tall and thin boy would not get injured today.

When the players on both sides were called back to the locker room by their coaches for final deployment, the atmosphere on the scene eased a little. But all of this is just to store energy for the explosion in more than ten minutes.

"Taylor! I want you to stick to Chalmers every step of the way! He is the core of the entire Jayhawks offense. Even if you pass the ball, you can't let him pass it comfortably."

"I don't need to say more, you know what to do. As soon as the Chinese gets the ball, you double-team me! Forcing him to pass the ball, you must not let him have the opportunity to single in the paint!"

"They will definitely take care of An Jie, so you have to run around him quickly. If there is a gap, I believe An Jie can pass the ball. When the time comes, this is the opportunity!"

"Chalmers! You are not allowed to participate in double teams. I want you to follow that Mike Taylor all the time. As long as Anjie can't pass the ball to his hands, the Cyclones' offensive power will be reduced by more than half!"

The coaches of both sides are hurrying to make the final deployment.

"Okay! The last game, let's go to March Madness!" Ricard smashed another tactical board.

"We are the University of Kansas! Look at the jerseys and the pennants that represent honor hanging on the court. Victory has always been our tradition. Go out and beat the opponent back to its original form!" The head coach of the University of Kansas also pushed away the locker room door.

Fans at the University of Kansas saw their players rushing out of the tunnel, and burst into eardrum-shattering shouts in an instant. They're just one step away from popularizing March Madness. When the traditional giants meet the new dark horse, they must have the last laugh. The fire in the hearts of the Jayhawks players is also burning brightly.

However, a whirlwind is coming! All flames may be extinguished by it!

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