The Way of the Center

Peggy covered her mouth with her hands, and her tears flowed down the corners of her eyes unconsciously. Peggy would worry about the injured Trail Blazers players watching the game on weekdays. Unexpectedly, her husband was among them today.

Since Ricard was found to have chronic bronchitis, Peggy has been worried about Ricard who yelled every game. But now, everything she worried about happened.

She immediately wiped away her tears and drove to the Moda Center. At the same time, the chaotic and tense atmosphere at the scene continued to heat up.

"Aldridge just left the field, and now we see... it seems that coach Ricard also walked into the player channel with the support of the team doctors! What happened to coach Ricard?" Mike Breen was nervous Looking towards the field, it is common for players to get injured and leave the field in the middle of the game. But it's really uncommon for the coach to leave the game midway.

Typically, if a team's head coach feels he is no longer physically fit to coach, he will call in early and notify the media. But Ricard is different. No one knew that he had a physical problem before, so now when he leaves halfway, not to mention the fans and commentators, even Nell Orsi, the general manager, is very nervous.

"Boss! How are you!?" Almost all the Blazers players surrounded Ricard. After all, only Anjie in this team knew about Ricard. Seeing Ricard suddenly spitting up blood, although the amount was not much, it was scary enough.

"You guys give me a good fight! After LaMarcus is gone, Robin, you go up, I want you to put more pressure on Duncan on the defensive end! Vlad, the next game is in your command. Listen , You must give me your all! This game is undoubtedly our simulation of the playoffs in advance!" Before walking into the player tunnel, Ricard did not forget to explain things to everyone. It's as if this guy doesn't know he's sick. If it weren't for his physical discomfort, he might really stick to the whole game.

A few minutes later, a chaotic sequence of events ensues. The originally good Trail Blazers suddenly lost their All-Star coach and second-in-command.

Vlade Divac took over the coach. Although the former Kings legendary center has always been an excellent tactical consultant and assistant coach. But the position of the head coach is not so easy to sit. Not everyone can jump straight from college to the NBA to be successful like Ricard. Divac, who suddenly took over the coach, will definitely have a lot of discomfort.

With Ricard and Aldridge both being sent to the hospital, the Trail Blazers players on the court were also unwilling to fight. What they are thinking about now is not how to crack the Spurs' desperately stable offense, but thinking about the injuries of Ricard and Aldridge.

The three of Popovich and GDP will not feel pity for this. They seized the opportunity to launch a fierce attack when the Trail Blazers were in a mess. Robin Lopez is indeed an excellent defender, but he still doesn't have the ability to completely seal Duncan.

When Aldridge was there, although Aldridge couldn't guard Duncan, he and he were able to make up for the lost points on the offensive end.

When it came to Robin, the interior offense almost became An Jie's business again.

Seeing that Robin Lopez was doing nothing on the offensive end, Divac replaced another long center, Angie's "little brother" Meyers Leonard. Leonard's shooting ability is indeed much better than Robin. Last summer, Leonard even developed a three-pointer.

But under Duncan's sophisticated defense, Leonard failed to help Anjie to share too much pressure after he came on the court.

The discomfort caused by the sudden loss of a coach and an important core cannot be solved by Divac in two or three sentences.

The Trail Blazers are still clinging to the score under Anjie's efforts, but everyone can see that the Spurs have firmly controlled the situation on the field.

In the end, the Trail Blazers, who had experienced a big hit, lost 111 to 107 at home to the Spurs.

Although the Blazers only lost 4 points in such a difficult situation, it is really not easy. But no matter how much the difference is, if you lose, you lose. For An Jie, there is not much difference between losing one point and losing ten points.

After the game, An Jie hurriedly hugged and said goodbye to Duncan and others. He refused all interviews from the media, even the reporter An Jie sent by CCTV ignored him.

Now he doesn't want to answer those boring questions. The injuries of Aldridge and Ricard are what Anjie cares about the most.

In the past, Ricard was worried about his injuries. An Jie didn't expect that there would be a day when he would worry about Ricard.

※※※

In Portland in winter, it suddenly rained lightly, with sleet and sleet, and the road surface was particularly slippery.

An Jie had to slow down the car. He didn't want to be the third injured person because he was too impatient, and he was injured outside the basketball court.

The car radio has been broadcasting programs related to basketball. There is no doubt that the game that just ended has become the focus of discussion among the program hosts.

"Do you know Tony, counting the two games before the All-Star Game, this is already the longest three-game losing streak for the Trail Blazers this season. I can't help but want to ask, what happened to the mighty Trail Blazers?" Radio The host's words caught An Jie's attention, and An Jie also turned up the volume of the car radio.

"I don't know what happened to the Trail Blazers, but I know that the second half of the season is not easy for the Trail Blazers. We don't know the physical condition of LaMarcus and Ricard. If the situation is bad, it will definitely be a big blow to the Blazers!" The man named Tony replied.

An Jie sighed, although he usually didn't pay much attention to the remarks of these so-called "experts". But at least they are right, the next half of the season will be very difficult for the Blazers.

playoffs? Of course not a problem. But the Trail Blazers, whose record has become 36 wins and 6 losses, have found it difficult to break the Bulls' record.

Besides, even without considering the damn 72-win record, if Ricard and Aldridge can't return before the playoffs, the Blazers may not even be able to complete the task of defending the championship.

An Jie can't accept the ending of fighting for a season with nothing. Thinking of this, An Jie gritted his teeth. No matter what, you have to lift the burden yourself!

※※※

When An Jie rushed to the hospital, Ricard and Aldridge were already lying on the hospital bed.

Ricard's condition was better. After coming to the hospital to take medicine, his cough finally eased a lot. But the doctor also gave Ricard an ultimatum: "Get off the basketball court and take some time off."

This time, even An Jie would not persuade Ricard to come back. Only when you see Ricard in danger of breathing difficulties at the scene, do you know how terrible this seemingly innocuous disease is.

Peggy and Abidal, the mother and daughter, were anxious in the ward, and Anjie didn't want to disturb him. He said a few words to Ricard, and then left the family of three alone.

After that, An Jie took the elevator to the 8th floor. There, Aldridge was doing some simple checks.

Previously, Aldridge averaged 23 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. These three data are Aldridge's career highs. It is precisely because of this seemingly tepid big man that the Trail Blazers can now rank first in the league.

Seeing An Jie walk into the ward, Aldridge smiled as the rusher.

Maybe many players can't cheer up after experiencing such an injury, but for Aldridge, who almost died once due to a heart problem, the injury is just a trivial matter.

"How do you feel?" Anjie lifted a bench and sat beside Aldridge's bed.

"It doesn't hurt that much, but I still can't move. I'm going to have an MRI tomorrow. Hope it's okay. Where's the boss?"

"His condition is now stable, but the doctor said that hemoptysis could cause breathing difficulties again at any time. Therefore, they advised him to be hospitalized."

"The boss must not have agreed." Aldridge smiled. The coach's temper is even more stubborn than An Jie.

"LaMarcus is out of his hands this time, out of his hands." An Jie shook his head. An Jie knew very well how risky the job of head coach was. Otherwise, Van Gundy would not choose to retire now that the Thunder are in full swing. It was for the sake of his own body that Van Gundy switched careers as a commentator.

Ricard always thought that he could survive all difficulties, but this time, Anjie would persuade Ricard to rest first no matter what. After all, he wanted to continue working with this guy for a long, long time.

Seeing Anjie's serious expression, Aldridge stopped joking. "If things are going badly for me and the boss..."

"It's okay LaMarcus, trust me, I'll take care of everything!" An Jie said, stretching out a fist.

Carrying it all without a head coach and a second-in-command and a team on a three-game losing streak? It sounds like it's just bragging rights.

But Aldridge found that he had no way to doubt An Jie. He always believes that An Jie can turn the tide, even if the situation is so bad now, he still believes in this.

I was injured last year, and Lillard is still immature. Isn't it because of Anjie's explosive performance that the Trail Blazers achieved a terrifying 27-game winning streak and 69 regular season wins?

In Game 7 of last year's finals, the Heat and the Trail Blazers fought hard, and in the end Aldridge even released the baseline. Isn't it because of Anjie's incredible goal that Portland won the O'Brien Cup?

Thinking of all that An Jie had done, Aldridge was suddenly relieved.

An Jie, it is precisely because he can always shoulder the responsibility that he is worthy of being a leader!

"I believe you will, Ann!" Aldridge also stretched out his fist and touched Anjie's.

How does a superstar become a superstar? Because of him, he can always complete challenges that others cannot complete!

As long as An Jie is still there, no matter how bad the situation of the Blazers is, he will not let his team fall!