The Way of the Center

Zhou Qi, a young Chinese center with a height of 2.16 meters and a wingspan of 229 cm, is currently confronting An Jie on the training ground.

This child born in 1996 was really similar to An Jie back then, tall and thin, with long arms. Moreover, Zhou Qi's touch is quite soft, and his shooting range can even cover beyond the three-point line.

However, Zhou Qi weighs only 95 kilograms, so he has no threat at all in front of An Jie.

An Jie originally wanted to teach Zhou Qi to play more aggressively, but seeing Zhou Qi's thin arms and legs, An Jie was really afraid that he would hurt Zhou Qi if he tried too hard.

"You have to use your height advantage to turn over and shoot a jump shot. Be calm and don't be afraid of being blocked!" An Jie had no choice but to change his words. If Zhou Qi wants to play more aggressively, at least he has to wait for his weight to come up. Although Zhou Qi's muscle lines are very beautiful, but the weight is there, which is a flaw. No matter how good the muscle line is, it can't change the flaw.

Zhou Qi followed An Jie's suggestion and suddenly turned around and shot a jumper. But it could be seen that even though An Jie didn't interfere too much, Zhou Qi was still a little impatient.

His shots were not standard, and he was afraid that if he shot later, he would be blocked by An Jie. An Jie shook his head, and as expected, the basketball went straight out of the frame.

Gong Luming's intentions are obvious. The reason why he has recruited so many young players this year is that he hopes that An Jie and Yi Jianlian can bring these kids out, so that they can play their own roles earlier in the future.

But An Jie and Yi Jianlian are never professional coaches, not to mention that An Jie can only guide this group of young people for about ten days.

Looking at the others, except for himself and Yi Jianlian, almost all of them were new faces. This national team is too young. They don't have any experience in major competitions, so they will go directly to the World Cup. One must know that An Jie, who made his name in the NCAA back then, did not receive such treatment as entering the national team. And is this group of young people really better than An Jie back then?

An Jie couldn't help being a little worried. He couldn't guarantee that the Chinese team could achieve results with this group of children in the World Cup. Although An Jie is the nba double mvp winner for two consecutive seasons, he is not so arrogant yet.

"What, is there a problem?" Seeing An Jie standing on the field thinking, Gong Luming approached and asked with a smile.

"They're too young." An Jie answered straightforwardly without shy away.

"I know that these kids may not be good enough. But... But this is a period that Chinese basketball has to go through. Wang Zhizhi has already retired, and you and the Arab League can't play for a lifetime. The national team has to stand up,

It's you now, but what about ten years from now? These young men must come up now, while they still have your protection. "Gong Luming chatted with An Jie, and it was obvious that this coach from China was not concerned with temporary achievements and political achievements like the "foreign coach", but was really thinking about Chinese basketball.

"They need more time to polish. With all due respect to Director Gong, these young people have too many problems. Let's take Zhou Qi as an example. Now he has no technical and tactical problems at all. Just his weight alone is sure It is unqualified. I know that the trend of modern basketball is to favor more mobile centers. Heavy centers like O’Neal and Dayao are no longer in line with the mainstream. But really, this does not mean that our inside players can directly abandon the tonnage Confrontation is always the theme on the basketball court, and Zhou Qi does not have the ability to confront at the level of international competitions at all. Also, Zhou Qi is very unconfident in himself. Maybe it is because of the lack of games, but in training, the coach The team has a responsibility to instill that confidence in him."

An Jie started to talk at length, and Gong Luming became happier the more he listened.

"Hahaha, you are indeed a superstar in the NBA. You have only been here for a long time, and you can see things so thoroughly. After retiring, go back to China to develop. Chinese basketball needs a guy like you." Gong Luming patted An happily. Jie's back, but also a little sad. Such a basketball talent was also cultivated under the American system.

"After the palace guide, I'm only 25 years old. When I retire, when will I go?"

"It's never too late. If we don't book you now, maybe one day the U.S. national team will recruit you as a center forward coach? Alright, let's talk about this first. Zhou Qi, continue to practice with An Jie, be careful! "

"Okay." The big man with pimples on his face and a childlike face obediently agreed, and came to An Jie again.

"Come on, be more courageous, I won't eat you. Come on, play hard!" An Jie also began to encourage Zhou Qi, although he might only stay in the national team for more than ten days. But during these ten days or so, I must do my job well!

In this way, An Jie, as an "outsider", integrated into the team very well. Everyone is willing to learn more from this 25-year-old "big brother", and Anjie's popularity in the locker room is also very high.

But the one who has the best relationship with An Jie has to be Yi Jianlian. After all, the two are already familiar with each other. To be precise, only An Jie and Yi Jianlian in this team are familiar with each other. Everyone else is new and needs to get used to it.

Five days later, the Chinese men's basketball team moved to Spain, the host of the current Men's Basketball World Cup. But this time, Anjie didn't have the chance to enjoy the beautiful beach and hot sunshine there. Training, training, training... The battle is imminent, what An Jie does every day is to train non-stop.

An Jie was training, and none of the boys in the Chinese team had the nerve to rest. Even NBA superstars are training, so what qualifications do they have for not working hard?

In this way, the Chinese national team has entered a virtuous circle. Although the players work very hard every day, Gong Luming is very happy to see the team's progress. No wonder Anjie was able to make a group of Yankees follow him to conquer the NBA league. His ability to lead the team is really very strong.

Ten days of training passed by in a flash. During this period, An Jie also had a good relationship with the players in the team.

At first, the group of young people thought that An Jie would put on airs and play big names. Those foreign players in the CBA league, don't they all practice and eat by themselves. Sometimes after a season, players can't speak a few words with foreign players.

But An Jie is different, he mixes with the players every day, whether it is training or eating and sleeping, An Jie never separates himself from this group of young people. Like, he's always been a part of the team.

Gong Luming felt very relieved to see this cohesive team. Perhaps now, Chinese basketball is not strong enough. But continuing to move forward under the guidance of An Jie, Chinese basketball can be regarded as seeing hope.

On August 30th, Beijing time, the first Men's Basketball World Cup in 2014 will start today. The first opponent of the Chinese team is Angola, the champion of last year's African Men's Basketball Championship, the "King of Africa".

Before playing, Gong Luming repeatedly emphasized key tactics in the locker room. Angola has not been a soft persimmon in the international arena, especially for the young Chinese team now. It is a formidable enemy.

Gong Luming was in charge of tactics, while An Jie was in charge of mobilizing the morale of the players.

In the player tunnel, An Jie called everyone to form a circle with their hands folded. The players leaned against each other, eyes closed.

"Did you feel it? When we got on the court, we were leaning on each other and fighting together! Don't worry, your teammates are always there for you! After training for so long, we are not here to cry! Get on the court! Win the game! As long as we work together, nothing is impossible! People may not know you now, but after this game, everyone knows who we are! Come on, one two three." Angel took the hands of his teammates Push hard.

"Team China!" The young people yelled, and each of them immediately became murderous.

"Let's go! It's our turn!" An Jie walked at the front of the team and led the team out of the player tunnel.

Gong Luming followed behind, secretly admiring in his heart. After Wang Zhizhi withdrew, An Jie became the well-deserved master of the national team. This is Anjie's first game after "taking over" the national team. It can be seen that Anjie really made this team very different.

"CCTV, CCTV, hello, viewers and friends, welcome to watch the match between China and Angola in Group D of the 2017 Men's Basketball World Cup. They are all new faces to the audience friends. But we can see from the expressions that this group of young men are full of energy now! I hope that under the leadership of An Jie, they can play a satisfactory performance!" Yu Jia's tone , revealing unlimited expectations and expectations.

The Anjie era of Chinese basketball has officially arrived! The fans wanted to see how the "King of Africa" ​​would block that giant's footsteps in the international arena.

An Jie took a deep breath. This was the first time he felt that the burden of the entire national team was on his shoulders. In the past, there were always people with more seniority than him who took the lead. But now, An Jie knows that he is the one who is the pillar.

Angola's starting center Yannick Moreira stood nervously in the center circle, and Anjie smiled at his opponent. But this smile. But very human...