The Way of the Center

Wildcats center Scott Martins was unquestionably down on the jump ball. An Jie took advantage of his height and wingspan to easily shoot the basketball into Mike Taylor's hands. Martins, who is not dominant in height, was not good at jumping. It was a matter of course that he lost to An Jie in the scrimmage. Although it was just a jump ball, he was very upset. Losing to this thin and tall Asian made him very embarrassed. He decided to clean up this black-haired guy in the next game.

"I want to show you what American college basketball is!" Martins cursed silently in his heart.

………………..

Mike Taylor unhurriedly advanced the ball to the three-point line, and raised his hand to signal everyone to take their positions.

The NCAA rule of 35 seconds per attack gives defenders a lot of benefits, allowing them to control the ball more calmly and direct the offense. This is also the reason why many guards who play well in the NCAA cannot adapt to the NBA. The 24-second offensive time in the NBA completely disrupts their ball-handling rhythm, causing most college star guards to enter the NBA.

But Mike Taylor is not a popular player in the draft. Now he doesn't think so much, only thinking about how to complete this first offense. While guarding against harassment from the opponent's point guard, Mike Taylor has been observing the position of Anjie and Morris. The coach actually said to play more inside, why didn't he try the tactical effect at the beginning?

Anjie leaned against Martins inside and raised his hands high, but Beasley, the No. 1 pick candidate with equally astonishing wingspan, was just on the passing route. If he passed the ball rashly, he might be cut off by Beasley. Morris, on the other hand, has been harassed by the opposing players, and his position is not firmly held. Knowing that the ball wasn't as easy to feed into the lane as he had been in practice, Taylor gave up on the idea of ​​a direct pass and raised his hand for a high pick-and-roll.

Anjie didn't neglect after seeing Taylor's gesture. He quickly got rid of the entanglement with Martins and ran near the three-point line. Since Anjie has excellent mid-range shooting ability, Ricard handed over all the high pick-and-roll matters to him.

He and Taylor have practiced this tactic countless times during training. Taylor activated it tacitly, and An Jie just hit it off. Just like that, the opponent's point guard was completely blocked by An Jie, and he didn't even notice that someone was coming up.

Seeing this, Martins immediately raised his hands to block Taylor's shooting space and observed Taylor's posture ready to block his breakthrough route at any time. But Martins' feet were moving too slowly, Taylor accelerated easily and broke through Martins. Beasley saw Mike Taylor rushing towards the basket, and without even thinking about it, he left Anthony Ben and chased Taylor. There is nothing wrong with his choice, Anthony Ben's shooting ability is indeed his weakness.

Taylor went to the basket, and the opponent's 4th player in front of him was rushing to make up the defense, and Beasley and Martins were chasing after him. He turned his head back slightly, and glanced at An Jie's position from the corner of his eye. Afterwards, the corners of Taylor's mouth curled up slightly, and he threw the ball into the air.

"You think too simply!" Beasley jumped with all his strength, ready to stage a wonderful chase. But the basketball didn't fly towards the basket, but flew vertically into the air. Beasley's center of gravity was all forward, so he naturally missed it.

"What's the situation? What kind of layup is this?" Beasley was completely puzzled. This kind of layup mistake is really too amateur.

Of course, this was not Mike Taylor's layup error. When the basketball flew to the highest point and was about to fall, a pair of big hands reached out from behind to get the ball, and took advantage of the opportunity to dunk the ball towards the basket.

"WoW!!!!!!" Apart from the cheers and exclamations of the fans, nothing could be heard in the audience.

Alley-oop! As soon as the game started, the Cyclones completed their first offense with a high profile.

The Wildcats thought too easily of the yellow guy,

They all think that the team's main attack point is the most experienced Mike Taylor, and the Wildcats paid the price for their miscalculation!

It turned out that after the pick-and-roll for Mike Taylor just now, Anjie was still actively following up, and he didn't passively stand outside because of his shooting ability. After Taylor attracted the defense of the other three, only the Wildcats point guard was chasing Anjie. But he didn't follow Anjie too seriously, because he felt that Taylor would definitely layup directly, and Anjie ran in just to prepare for the rebound.

Mike Taylor faked a layup as the Wildcats wanted, but not for direct scoring. He knows that his height is at a disadvantage, and if he chooses to make a layup at this time, he is likely to be blocked by Beasley who is chasing back. So he just tricked the defender with a layup with the sole purpose of throwing the ball into the air. Tyler glanced back during the drive, knowing someone was going to score for him.

Sure enough, before everyone could react, An Jie, who followed up, suddenly stood up. He grabbed the ball in the air with both hands and vigorously dunked it towards the basket. The force made the entire basketball hoop tremble. After landing, An Jie changed his usual modest and gentle personality, and yelled at Xiaotian in the auditorium! His momentum and performance deeply conquered the hearts of the fans. With the enthusiastic shouts of the fans, the whole stadium trembled!

"Great job!" Mike Taylor and Anjie clapped hands tacitly, with smiles on their faces.

"Martins! What are you doing? Isn't his yellow skin and height eye-catching enough!? Keep an eye on him!" Off the field, the head coach of the Wildcats yelled at Martins in dissatisfaction. The Wildcats players on the field couldn't speak a word, especially Beasley, who was so beautiful before the game. He was a total teased clown in this defense. On the first attack, the opponent completed an alley-oop, and the guy with a different skin color than them was the one who stood out.

"This is fucking my game, mine!" Beasley asked for the baseline ball directly, ignoring the dissatisfied eyes of his own point guard. After he got the ball, he led it through the half court, ready to avenge his shame.

"Get out of the way!" Beasley gestured while controlling the ball, beckoning his teammates to make way for him. The rest of the Wildcats also knew Beasley's ability, and obediently followed the instructions to empty the middle area.

When Anthony Ben's toes just touched the three-point line in Belgium, he posted it without reservation. Ben kept interfering with Beasley's dribbling, disrupting his ball-handling rhythm. Beasley wanted to force a breakthrough with his body, but found that this unknown guy was almost as strong as himself. Rickard had already figured it out, Anthony Ben's explosive body would allow him to defend strongly against any intruder.

After all, Beasley is one of the candidates for the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. If he is strangled to death so easily, then the title of No. 1 pick in the NBA draft is too worthless.

Seeing that he couldn't break through easily, Beasley took two steps back to distance himself from Ben. Ben strictly followed Ricard's instructions and never let him go. Just as Anthony Ben moved his center of gravity forward and approached Beasley, Beasley suddenly started without warning! Ben could only feel a gust of wind brushing past him, he knew in his head that he had to stop that guy, but his legs couldn't react.

Michael Beasley broke through Anthony Ben with speed alone! Ben didn't give up, and quickly turned around and chased after Beasley. Morris was the second barrier to defend Beasley, but he was stuck in the matchup and couldn't move.

Just as Ricard arranged, Anjie ignored Martins who pulled out to make room for Beasley to attack. He was waiting for someone to come in near the three-second zone, and saw that Beasley was getting closer and closer to him. Near Anjie is ready.

In the blink of an eye, Beasley broke through to the basket. He ignored An Jie who was defending the basket, held the ball with both hands and jumped up to dunk. An Jie didn't expect Beasley to be so fast, nor did he expect Beasley to be so bold. He jumps hastily to complete a block. But Beasley's bounce speed and bounce height are much better than Angie's. The height of his dunk makes his head almost parallel to the basket!

Anjie had just risen halfway after taking off from the side, and Beasley had already completed a dunk from the front and hung on the rim.

"My God, this game is so exciting! It's only one back and forth, and we're already hooked! The first offense of both sides was completed very entertaining! Michael Beasley! How much Terrifying jumping height!" The on-site commentator was amazed at the performance of the two parties just now.

"If someone just turned on the TV and thought there was nothing to watch between these two teams, you will regret it later!"

"Don't think that you can dominate the game if you pick up a leak, I won't be soft because you are a foreigner!" After the dunk, Beasley did not forget to issue a "serious warning" to Anjie, and at the same time the disgusting There was Beasley's disdainful eyes that day.

An Jie didn't even say a word of provocation, but he already attracted the hostility of Martins and Beasley at the same time.

"Don't pay attention to that kid, let's continue to play in a good position later!" Morris came over and patted An Jie. The ball was really too athletic for Beasley, and An Jie had tried his best to defend it.

"Don't worry, what I'm most afraid of is that guy's silence. If he loses his due calmness, he will only suffer!" An Jie looked at Beasley disapprovingly, the champion candidate? Today we are here to add obstacles to your road to the top spot!

………………..

Angie leaned on Martins again and reached out for the ball. This time Beasley was pulled to the corner by Ben, so Taylor easily lobbed the ball into the penalty area.

An Jie caught the ball steadily on the left side of the penalty area, and then began to push back hard. Martins clenched his teeth and insisted, marveling at the power contained in this thin oriental man. Of course he didn't know that An Jie locked himself in the gym and trained crazily when he was peacefully haunting nightclubs with his friends every night. In the end, Martins still didn't hold back, and he took two steps back slightly.

Seeing that he had won the space to turn around, An Jie immediately turned towards the baseline with his right foot as the axis, looking like he was going to pick the basket directly.

Just now this guy completed an alley-oop on his head, causing him to be reprimanded by the coach off the field. Martins is now full of anger, and he tried his best to defend the ball! Seeing that An Jie was about to make a move, he jumped up without thinking.

"Damn it!" But when Martins jumped up, he realized that An Jie's feet were still standing firmly on the ground, and An Jie took back the basketball that seemed to be about to be shot. An Jie turned his body to the other side, and a simple step fooled Martins who had lost his composure.

Martins was not reconciled, he didn't want Anjie to score as he wished. He was still in the air after being shaken, but he deliberately reached out to interfere, intending to stop An Jie, but he slapped An Jie's arm fiercely. But the basketball was still shot, and An Jie's soft touch still allowed him to pick the ball into the basket.

"Beep!" As the basketball entered the net, the referee also blew the whistle. The sharp whistle was very harsh in the noisy basketball court! Martins knew he had screwed up this one.

"Two plus one! An obvious foul, the referee did the right thing. Whoa, where did this amazing big man come from? Seriously, Bill, how many centers are there now who can use their feet around the basket? It’s been a long time since I saw the picture of using the footsteps in the paint to shake off the opponent just now.” Paul Philips, the commentator of the local TV station in Ames City, praised An Jie without hesitation.

"I'm even more curious about why Martins was shaken up with just a simple fake action. Maybe he had too many matchups with the kind of center forward who only used his body, which caused him to regress even the most basic judgment ability. Did you see Michael Beasley's reaction? He just shook his head to express his disappointment with Martins!" The commentator named Bill sang in harmony with Philips, applauding An Jie who performed well, and I belittled Martins, who was hot-headed, and finally I didn't forget to mention Michael Beasley, the focal point. The two of them are really experienced.

On the court, Anjie made free throws steadily, and he single-handedly scored the first five points the Cyclones scored after the start. At this moment, Rickard's intention has also been exposed, which is to hit your weak inside!

Wildcats coach Rick Crissben thought that the Cyclones' group of mediocrities would not cause any difficulties for his team, but now it seems that at least the tall yellow-skinned center will give him a headache for a while. Of course he knew how much his team's inside line was worth, but he didn't expect that just a whirlwind team could cause him trouble.

In the following games, Beasley still occupied a lot of ball possessions, and he did show his all-round scoring methods and super athletic ability. Anthony Ben and Morris have worked very hard, but Beasley's offensive methods are too rich, not to mention that his shooting range can extend to the three-point line, and his post-up singles inside are not weak at all. His only problem is that he hardly shares the ball with his teammates except when cornered.

As for the Cyclones, Mike Taylor still organized the offense in an orderly manner. Morris finally found a breakthrough in the interior and completed several beautiful offenses.

As for An Jie's situation, poor Martins seemed a little at a loss in the face of An Jie's skillful back-up skills. Anjie already has a height advantage, and Martins is getting more and more frizzy in his behavior because he wants to prove himself quickly, all of which make Anjie play more and more smoothly on the offensive end.

In this way, the game passed by for nine minutes, and both sides began to gradually send substitute players for rotation. When Anjie was replaced by Ricard with Asakin, he had scored 9 points and 5 rebounds on 4 of 5 shots. At this moment, the score on the field is 18 to 15, and the Cyclones are still three points behind under Beasley's strong attack power.

The staff handed Anjie water and towels, and the other players took it for granted. Only Anjie kept saying thank you to the staff. After playing, there are people who deliver water and towels, which is a very good treatment in China's field courts. Because of this, An Jie still seemed a little unaccustomed to the thoughtful service of the staff. I'm still a child who grew up in China...

Ricard was still standing on the sidelines directing the game. He didn't have time to come over and say a word to the players who had just left the field. Now the situation is much more difficult than before.

While the Cyclones starters were off the field, Beasley of the Wildcats was still on the field. If even Anthony Ben and Morris can't do anything about Beasley, then Walter Sharp and CJ Fortes, who came off the bench, will be bullied by Beasley even more.

"He has always been one of the best college players in the United States." Ricard had no choice but to accept this fact as he shook his head helplessly.

With five minutes left before the end of the first half, Rick Chris finally took Beasley down. At this time, the score had become 40 to 32, and the point difference behind the Wildcats was approaching double digits.

"It's finally here!" Ricard called a timeout immediately after seeing Beasley go down. For the next five minutes, if everything goes according to the arrangement...

"The current situation on the court is very unfavorable to the Cyclones. There are five minutes before the end of the first half, and the momentum is all on the Wildcats side. Coach Ricard is very wise and did not wait until the point difference is further widened. It's called a timeout. He should remind his boy what defense is. They let the Wildcats score 40 points before the first half. Ah, Beasley scored 19 points and 7 rebounds in the first half alone! This is almost half of the points scored by the Wildcats, including 3 of 5 three-pointers. Don’t forget that this was not in the first half. The data obtained at the end of the situation! I bet, the name that coach Ricard said the most now is Michael Beasley." Paul Philips also kept talking during the timeout, no rest.

"Tell me Anjie, what have we practiced the most during this time?" Unlike everyone's imagination, Ricard didn't mention Beasley at the beginning.

"Ah?" An Jie was unprepared for the sudden question from the head coach. "Um... run?"

"Yes! What we practice most is running! Now, look at them! Beasley has been overdrawn in the first half, and the others are not much better." Ricard pointed to the other side of the field.

Players look to the Wildcats bench. Indeed, everyone on the other side was sweating profusely and panting.

"Your hard work in defense is now paying off! They have already consumed too much energy in the confrontation with you."

"And we're in good form!" Morris added, following Ricard's words.

"Yes! Now is the time to give you some rewards for your hard work in physical training! Our physical reserves are much better than theirs, so on defense, let me take the initiative to find physical confrontation, and on offense, let me speed up the rhythm of running and Speed! We need to bring back the downturn before the end of the first half! The starting five will all play, catch them off guard, and drag them down!" Ricard waved his hand, and the timeout just ended.

Everyone thought Beasley had taken over the game, even himself. But from the remaining five minutes, the Wildcats are just caught in a violent whirlwind...

Note: The NCAA basketball game is only divided into two halves, each of which is 20 minutes long.

UU Read Books welcomes all book lovers to come and read, the latest, fastest and hottest serial works are all in UU Read Books! Mobile users please read here.