The Way of the Center

On the basketball court, the Trail Blazers are currently leading the visiting Detroit Pistons by 13 points. The Pistons center Drummond, who is called "Zhuang Shen" by the fans, was completely suppressed by Anjie today.

But even so, the atmosphere in the Moda Center still has nothing to do with being happy. The fans all sighed and pulled their faces together.

Because a minute ago, Damian Lillard, who had just signed a 100 million yuan contract, retired due to injury.

An Jie, who was on the bench, had no intention of playing. Originally, the preseason was used by Ricard to run the lineup, so the players who joined the new team would play longer.

Who would have thought that in such an insignificant game, Lillard was actually injured.

It is not uncommon in the NBA that a star is injured in the preseason and affects the team's record. An Jie didn't want this irrelevant game to delay the Trail Blazers' plan for the whole season.

Now Anjie doesn't care about the situation on the court at all, he only hopes that Lillard's injury will not be too serious.

When the game ended, the lineup composed of new players still won the final victory by 3 points. But at this moment, the outcome of the match was no longer important. Anjie and Ricard didn't even attend the press conference after the match, and rushed to the hospital in a hurry.

Fortunately, Lillard's foot injury is not serious. After more than ten days of rest, he can return to the court alive and well.

However, Lillard will definitely be absent from the Trail Blazers' opening game this season. There are indeed not many candidates for the No. 1 position of the Trail Blazers, and they are not strong enough. Pat Connaughton and Tim Fraser, two little-known young players born in the 90s, are still not sure whether they can gain a foothold in the NBA, let alone start in the NBA. Therefore, Lillard's absence still has a great impact on the Trail Blazers.

The next few preseason games were still going on step by step, but the Trail Blazers did not continue to win as they did in previous seasons.

Although the victory or defeat in the preseason cannot explain any problems, everyone can see that there is still a long way to go for the new players to fully integrate into this team and system.

In the uneasy mood of the fans, October 27, 2015 finally arrived. Today is the opening day of the new NBA season. The opponent of the Portland Trail Blazers is the New Orleans Pelicans, who were hyped before the start of the season.

Pelicans star "Big Eyebrows" Anthony Davis is considered one of the MVP candidates this season, so the confrontation between him and the "old master" Angie in the West,

It is particularly eye-catching.

Because of this, Adam Xiao Hua decided to put this group of duels in the three games of the opening game.

The regular season officially started, and when the fans saw the Trail Blazers' starting roster today, they couldn't help but feel a little worried. Because the lineup that Ricard put out today is likely to be the weakest starting lineup for the Trail Blazers in the past five years.

Lillard was injured, the Trail Blazers' starting point guard could only be topped by the young Allen Crabbe, and C.J. McCollum at the second position was just a rookie guard that many people had never heard of. Iguodala is slowly getting older, and you can't expect him to share the scoring burden for Anjie. As for the guest starting power forward Meyers Leonard, he is just a young guy who has just passed his rookie period.

Angie brought such a lineup and stood in front of Anthony Davis and his Pelicans.

Although on paper, the strength of the Trail Blazers is indeed a lot discounted compared to last season. But Anjie's terrifying dominance will not be weakened in the slightest.

Just after the first goal of the game, Anjie suddenly passed the ball after attracting double-teams inside, and assisted the team rookie C.J. McCollum to hit a three-pointer. McCollum got an enthusiastic ovation from fans throughout the Moda Center, which made him very happy and brought his relationship with the team closer.

Later, it was still Anjie who was double-teamed, and it was still Anjie who passed the ball. Meyers Leonard, who has thoroughly developed a three-pointer, got a shot at the bottom corner. Anjie did not miss the gap and delivered the ball steadily.

Leonard didn't want to mess up his starting game, not to mention, he had to cherish the ball passed to him by the big brother Anjie!

Just like that, Meyers Leonard scored the second goal of the game. All the fans are cheering at this moment. This brand new Trail Blazers team doesn't seem to have any major problems.

These two three-pointers made Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry give up the double-team. After the double-team disappeared, An Jie became even more lawless inside.

Kendrick Perkins, an inside defender with constant injuries last season, is no longer the one who can defend Anjie alone.

Maybe three or four years ago, Angie would have struggled because of Perkins' defense. But now, in An Jie's eyes, Perkins is just another defeated opponent.

An Jie showed his prowess in the interior, shooting suddenly and buckling up, beating Anthony Davis and Perkins to the point where they couldn't fight back.

In the end, Anjie also led the incomplete Trail Blazers, and successfully won the game with a score of 94 to 112, making a good start after the start of the new season.

Anjie scored 37 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in this game, and C.J. McCollum, who scored 21 points, became a surprise for the entire Portland city. When An Jie lacked helpers, it was McCollum who stood up bravely and gave the opponent a fierce counterattack.

After winning the opening game, Portland fans seemed to regain their old confidence. After all, An Jie, the greatest player in the world, is still playing here.

In the next few days, the Trail Blazers still won repeated battles. An Jie may be born with good leadership. Under his leadership, the newly formed lineup was quickly softened together.

Although it doesn't look very good on paper, as long as it is a winning lineup, it is a good lineup!

Time flies, when the new NBA season has been played for a week, Damian Lillard also officially returned.

People feel that the Trail Blazers, who have won three games and three games now, will be as invincible as last year after having Lillard.

However, on the first day of Lillard's comeback, the Trail Blazers lost.

In the first game, Lillard's performance was not satisfactory. Lillard only made 3 of 15 shots in the game, and only scored 10 points and 4 assists. And what is even more sad is that at the last moment of the game, c.j. McCollum, the biggest dark horse of the Trail Blazers this season, had to withdraw from the game because of a sprained ankle.

Lillard had just recovered from his injury, but McCollum immediately lined up and entered the injured list.

Relying on Hayward's excellent performance, the Jazz finally defeated the Portland Trail Blazers and became the first team to defeat a legend this season.

As the season continued, the Trail Blazers exposed more and more problems.

Although under the leadership of An Jie, this lineup will always play some bright performances from time to time. But the regression in hard power has put the Trail Blazers in trouble from time to time.

Whenever Anjie and Lillard are off the court, the Blazers' offense often becomes Ricard's biggest headache.

When luck is good, Iguodala and Gerald Henderson can carry the banner and perform well. But most of the time, without Lillard and Anjie, the Blazers can only watch the opponent close or widen the score.

When the schedule for the first month of the new season is all over, the Trail Blazers' record is only 12 wins and 5 losses. Although this is still a good result, it always feels a little unsatisfactory on a team like the Trail Blazers.

You know, the Trail Blazers only lost 8 games last season. In just the first month of this season, they lost 5 of them.

A few days later, C.J. McCollum, who surprised Trail Blazers fans, finally returned, and Ed Davis was injured again in practice.

"It's very strange, because this season is like a cycle. People are always injured one after another. When someone is injured, someone will fall." Lillard said helplessly when he was interviewed by reporters.

Although Ed Davis is not the key point of scoring for the Trail Blazers, he is one of only two power forwards in the Trail Blazers this season.

When he is injured, the pressure on the rotation of the Blazers inside will become very huge. And Aminu, who was born as a power forward, now plays more in the third position, which makes Ricard a headache in the fourth position.

Anjie and Lillard still continued their excellent performance, but the record of the Trail Blazers will never reach the height of the previous two seasons.

In the subsequent games, the Trail Blazers won and lost, and the injuries within the team are still in a constant cycle.

At the end of December, the day of the Christmas War. Without Iguodala and Courtney Lee, the Portland Trail Blazers faced off against a full Oklahoma City Thunder.

Last season, the Thunder had an incomplete lineup and were excluded from the playoffs. A year later, the Blazers and Thunder switched positions.

Although the Trail Blazers, who are currently ranked third in the Western Conference, are not so miserable that they will be rejected from the playoffs, their already declining strength has been greatly reduced due to injuries. Now, Angie can finally understand Westbrook's mood last year.

In this game, Westbrook, Durant and Morris, the three former good brothers of Anjie, were not relentless. Westbrook and Durant scored 55 points together, and Morris also had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

As for the Trail Blazers, Anjie's 33 points and Lillard's 18 points are the only two figures that scored in double figures. C.J. McCollum, who had high hopes, played abnormally in this game and only scored 7 points. As for the rest of the Trail Blazers, they couldn't hold up the scene in this kind of battle.

105 to 100, the Trail Blazers lost this season's Christmas game. This is also the first time in Anjie's career that he has lost on Christmas.

"We didn't have any problems. Losing is a normal thing. What we have to do is to adjust our state as soon as possible." At the press conference after the game, An Jie's answer was tepid. But Wu Hua can clearly see that An Jie this season is much more exhausted than last season...

On January 16, 2016, the Trail Blazers successfully avenged the Jazz with a score of 99 to 85 in Salt Lake City. Anjie scored a large triple-double of 48 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. This should have been a happy day.

But just like in the preseason, the Portland fans couldn't stop laughing after the game. Because in this game, Damian Lillard was injured again during a breakthrough in the first quarter! If it weren't for the lack of Lillard, Anjie wouldn't have scored so many points alone.

Coincidentally, Iguodala had just confirmed that he would return in the game the day after tomorrow, and Lillard fell down. This vicious circle of repeated injuries continues to expand, and fans are worried whether this circle will find Anjie one day.

February 6th is the traditional Chinese Spring Festival. An Jie, as always, distributed red envelopes to every teammate. Only this year, many people are missing in the locker room.

With Aldridge joining the Spurs, they are now firmly in second place in the Western Conference. The number one ranked team became the Golden State Warriors, who were defeated by the Trail Blazers last year.

The Trail Blazers currently rank third in the Western Conference with a record of 40 wins and 11 losses, but the gap between them and the Spurs has widened.

The only good thing is that the cycle of injuries never found Anjie from the beginning to the end. On April 13, when the Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets, when the Trail Blazers' last regular season game of the season ended, Anjie still did not fall. For the third straight season, he played all 82 games. This is almost unbelievable for Anjie, who has suffered serious knee injuries.

Fortunately, Anjie has played all the games this season. Otherwise, the Trail Blazers, whose lineup has been incomplete, may not even be able to maintain the third position in the Western Conference.

On the same day, Ainger's once-favorite star, Kobe Bryant, staged his own retirement performance at the Staples Center. Although Anjie and Kobe met more as opponents, but for some reason, Anjie's eyes turned red when he saw Kobe scored 60 and left the court forever.

After Kobe's last game, Angie called Kobe immediately. On the other end of the phone, Kobe's voice was very relaxed. 20 years of professional career has turned Kobe into what he is now, but from now on, he can be free. …

"Come on, Ann, I think you are the only one who can rule this league. You know, I think I still have one regret in my career, and that is that I haven't been able to cooperate with you, a super center!" Kobe's words made Ann Jay was flattered.

"Don't fawn on me, I won't go to the Lakers this summer. Hey man, come out and play more often in the future."

"Don't worry Ann, I'm 40 years old, and I can still embarrass you!"

"Hahahaha, then you have to call me!"

Say goodbye to Kobe, goodbye to the regular season. But Anjie and the Trail Blazers still couldn't stop.

Now after the regular season, both Lillard and C.J. McCollum are healthy. Only Iguodala couldn't catch the last train of the playoffs.

But for the Trail Blazers, this is already a blessing in misfortune. At least, their top three scoring points this season are all there.

In the end, the Trail Blazers secured the third place in the Western Conference with a record of 60 wins and 22 losses this season. Anjie averaged 29.8 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game this season. It can be said that he has maintained a high standard as always.

But many people predict that Anjie's consecutive mvp winning record will be cut off. Because Stephen Curry, who led the Warriors to 73 wins, has already booked the mvp trophy this season.

From the data point of view, Anjie may not be inferior to Curry. But the Warriors broke the Bulls' record of 73 wins, which is much better than the Trail Blazers' 60 wins this year.

Team record, which is also one of the important considerations in the selection of MVP awards.

In the blink of an eye, another season is coming to an end. An Jie really couldn't believe that he and this group of "new" guys who joined the team have been fighting side by side for a whole season. The days of creating a dynasty are still vivid in my mind, but now, I have once again set foot on the stage of the playoffs to fight again.

The further you go in your career, the faster time flies.

In the playoffs, the game will be more difficult for the current Trail Blazers. The era belonging to An Jie, perhaps, is about to change...