The Way of the Center

"Paul George is injured for a month and will miss the entire finals!"

"Lose before you fight? The Trail Blazers lost their second general!"

"The curse of injury once again shrouds the city of tearing, counting the injury history of the Trail Blazers."

The next day, what the media reported overwhelmingly was not the news that the Trail Blazers had advanced to the Finals. Because compared to the victory over the Thunder, Paul George's injury is undoubtedly more eye-catching.

The Trail Blazers defeated the Thunder, and Anjie scored exaggerated statistics and sent a lore. These are all things of the past. People, on the other hand, tend to be more curious about things that haven't happened.

After losing Lillard and losing Paul George, does the Trail Blazers still have a chance of winning? This has become the most concerned issue for fans now.

It can be said that, except for local Portland fans and Chinese fans, almost everyone feels that the Cavaliers will win by an overwhelming advantage.

The Cavaliers have always been the overlord of the Eastern Conference in recent years, and they just won the championship trophy the year before last. Moreover, James has reached the finals for the eighth consecutive year. For a player and team with extremely rich experience in the finals, they rarely perform abnormally on the stage of the finals.

In addition, the Cavaliers' lineup has also become quite terrifying after the upgrade last summer. Although Irving was lost, the addition of Isaiah Thomas undoubtedly allowed the Cavaliers to maintain a high combat effectiveness. Moreover, Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade, who were signed by the Cavaliers with a basic salary, are also a force to be reckoned with.

These guys, coupled with the already very strong lineup of the Cavaliers, are bound to bring huge troubles to the Trail Blazers, and even troubles that the Trail Blazers cannot stop.

After Lillard was injured, the Trail Blazers' offensive firepower was greatly reduced, and the defense will also be affected to some extent. Although Morris is great, he is just a character like Rodman or Ben Wallace. Andre Iguodala? The 33-year-old Iguodala may barely be considered a star, but when facing James, how much can Iguodala do?

As for other people, other people may be an indispensable puzzle for the Trail Blazers, but they are by no means the key to controlling the situation!

Judging from the lineup on paper, the Trail Blazers after suffering from injuries really cannot be compared with the star-studded Cavaliers. Because of this, almost the whole world has judged that the Trail Blazers have lost the game.

"The league can already award the O'Brien Cup to LeBron in advance, because this is almost the most suspenseful finals in NBA history.

"Anjie's old rival, Sam Smith, may be one of the reporters most willing to see this situation. He tried hard for two years and was about to explode. As a result, he was hit by an injury.

This guy uses words to drive the rhythm differently, as if the Cavaliers have won the championship.

"The jumping clown." An Jie took the newspaper from Meyers Leonard, glanced at the signature, crumpled the newspaper up, and threw it into the trash can.

As long as it was news related to Sam Smith, An Jie would not even glance at it. After all, after Jordan's era is over, this guy has nothing left to do except to produce literal garbage.

"You won't believe these nonsense, Leonard." An Jie raised his head and asked seriously.

Meyers Leonard waved his hand quickly, he didn't want An Jie to think that he was scared.

"That's good, it's not the first time you play in the finals, man. From joining the Trail Blazers to the present, everything I have experienced, you have experienced it completely. Now, a chance for revival is here In front of us. So no matter what, we can't give up, understand!?" An Jie said, putting his hand on Leonard's shoulder.

Leonard suddenly felt that his whole body was full of strength. An Jie needed him, and the city needed him. And he will definitely fight to the end for this city!

Seeing Meyers Leonard confidently returning to the court to start training, Anjie smiled softly. The absence of Lillard and George is indeed a big loss for the Trail Blazers. But look in front of you, isn't there still so many people fighting with me?

They may not be as quick as Lillard, and they may not be able to run over defenses like George. But when An Jie squeezed these guys together tightly, the strength of the Trail Blazers was still huge!

In the few days between the Western Conference Finals and the Finals, the outside world was full of all kinds of unfavorable remarks for the Trail Blazers. Many experts have even written some seemingly convincing articles to prove how huge the current gap between the two sides is.

If you can't believe these remarks, then the winning odds offered by the gaming company are all strictly calculated.

Bookmakers need to make a profit, so of course they need to accurately calculate the occurrence of any possibility. Therefore, the odds of bookmakers are often very telling.

However, even so, the odds of the Trail Blazers winning are still as high as 4.37. To put it bluntly, the gaming company directly believed that the Trail Blazers could not win the championship at all!

Everyone is discussing this unusual finals, some are gloating, while others are heartbroken. However, the protagonist of this incident, the Portland Trail Blazers itself, suddenly disappeared from public view as if the world had evaporated.

LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, the reporters were still able to chat with them between practices. The fully enclosed training of the Portland Trail Blazers made it impossible for reporters to take pictures for even a second!

There is no doubt that this team, which has been sentenced to death by the outside world, does not seem to want people to know what they are doing...

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"I'm sorry Mr. Xiao Hua, just give me two days, I only need two days. After the finals start, I promise everything will return to normal." In Neil Orsi's office, the Blazers has the most ever The successful general manager is nervously talking on the phone.

"A rule is a rule, Nell. You are not a rookie anymore, how can you help them do such a ridiculous thing!" The guy named "Xiao Hua" on the phone was none other than the then president of the NBA. Adam Silver!

The fully enclosed training of the Trail Blazers has made the seamless and drillable reporters frustrated. According to league regulations, the Trail Blazers should have opened the door unconditionally on the media day, allowing reporters to take pictures of the team's training at will. This is a rigid rule made by the nba league for each team in order to improve its relationship with the media and to increase its exposure.

You can tell your players to do nothing on a media day, but you can't prevent reporters from coming in and filming, or even doing interviews.

But this rule has now been completely broken by Ricard. No matter how noisy the reporters were, Ricard was unwilling to open the door.

There is not much time left for the Trail Blazers to adjust, and Ricard doesn't want his players to be delayed or distracted by it. With the media coming in, can the team still concentrate on training? All kinds of filming and interviews will ruin the entire training plan.

Moreover, even if the Trail Blazers insist on serious training, and the training content is broadcast in the end, what effect will Calder's changes have?

Therefore, even if the reporters have jointly signed a letter to complain, even if Xiao Hua's phone call has been made to Orsi's office, the way he got it is still the same sentence. "I'm sorry, Mr. Adam, but I still can't let the media in. I promise this is the last two days. After two days, everything will return to normal. But now, my coaches and players just want to train with peace of mind!"

"The Trail Blazers will be severely punished! Nell, do you know what you're doing!?" Adam Silver, a friendly guy on the surface, was never soft when dealing with violations.

The media day is a key measure for the alliance and the media to establish a good relationship. Didn't the Trail Blazers make such a fuss with the intention of letting the alliance fall into the public opinion? Xiao Hua doesn't care what method you use to win, but you can't harm the interests of the league!

Ole Nelsey listened to Xiao Hua's final warning on the phone, and cast his gaze from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office on the second floor to the training ground.

On the field, Ricard was still dancing and shouting. Divac, on the other hand, kept recording. The team doctors watched the players as if they were facing a formidable enemy. Even if someone fell, the person who fell would be checked by them for a long time.

As for the Trail Blazers, they were all sweating, they must have been exhausted, and they only had a few hours a day with their families. But under Anjie's leadership, no player complained about it. The closed training of the Trail Blazers was not set up to deliberately make trouble with the media. This group of guys, this team, really want to win!

"Nell, Nell!?" Xiao Hua's roar brought Nell Orsi's thoughts back to reality.

"Did you hear me?"

"I'm listening, Mr. Xiao Hua."

"Let the security pass right now, and the media open day must go on as normal! The Cavaliers didn't make such a special case in the finals, did they? Throughout the entire history of the NBA, no team has made such a special case!" Xiao Hua's tone continued to increase.

Looking at the players sweating on the field, looking at the three hard-won championship pennants on the ceiling of the training ground. Orsi, who did not know where the courage came from, opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry Mr. Xiao Hua, I can't meet your request! I also said that, after the first game of the finals, I will make everything return to normal!" After finishing speaking, Orsi directly hung up the phone and said He tore off the phone cord.

Anjie and the others worked so hard, and Orsi, the general manager, must do something for them! A training environment that allows players to concentrate is all that Orsi can do!

"I'm betting my job, Ann. You guys must win." Olsi lit a cigarette and looked at An Jie who was guiding his teammates to move on the court.

"It was a wise move to bring you from Oklahoma." Orsi, who watched the training ground, spit out smoke rings, smiled and said to himself...