The Way of the Center

The place An Jie is least willing to go in now is the team training ground on the first floor of the Chesapeake Energy Arena. As soon as he stepped into the stadium, a strong sense of oppression hit his face. This feeling filled the air of the entire training ground and could not go away.

Anjie was the third to arrive, and Durant and Westbrook were already shooting and warming up in the training ground. Durant is indeed relatively quiet off the court, but Westbrook, who is usually joking, smiles and talks a lot less during this time.

It has been almost a month since the start of the 08-09 season, but the Thunder only achieved one poor victory in this month. For the three young people who were full of longing for the new season, this blow was indeed a bit big.

With 12 losses and 1 win, both the Thunder and the Lakers are number one in the latest power rankings, but the Thunder are the bottom one. Facing such achievements, how could the three victorious young people laugh?

But no matter how bad the team's performance is, Durant and Westbrook still have a chance to play hard. And An Jie has not played more than 13 minutes in nine consecutive games. Not only is the team unable to play, An Jie now feels that he himself is about to be unable to play.

The three young people practiced their own things in the training ground like this, and no one paid attention to the other. It's not that there is a conflict between them, but that they really don't have the mood to say hello now.

When the three were thinking about each other on the training ground, P.J. Carlesimo, the culprit who caused the team to collapse, came in.

All three turned their heads to look at their head coach, but did not greet him, and Carlesimo walked into his office in a hurry, looking preoccupied.

After closing the door of his office, Carlesimo slumped on a chair, and the day finally came.

A few hours ago, Presti had already called Carlesimo to give an ultimatum. If the Thunder lost another game and ushered in a ten-game losing streak, Presti would have to fire Carlesimo. Don't be the head coach.

If Presti didn't see that everyone came from the Spurs, Carlesimo would have been fired long ago. The general manager gave Carlesimo opportunities again and again, but Carlesimo also challenged Presti's bottom line with repeated failures.

The Thunder is indeed not a strong team, but Carlesimo must at least give people some hope. He must at least let the Thunder play something. It's a pity that under the coaching of Carlesimo, the Thunder, which was originally full of potential, has a bleak future.

Carlesimo has always used the Thunder's poor lineup as an excuse to cover up his lack of coaching ability. However, at this point, Carlesimo's shield has completely lost its effect.

Tomorrow, November 21, 2008, the Thunder will face the Hornets led by Chris Paul at home. Whether Carlesimo's job can be kept depends on this game.

Thinking of this, Carlesimo suddenly rushed out of the basketball hall. He wanted to urge those guys to train the whole time, otherwise he would really lose face after tomorrow's game.

"An Jie! What's the matter with you!? You can't block this kind of ball!?"

"Russell! You should have scored this goal!"

"Mason! If you can't do it, just guard the drinking fountain for me tomorrow!"

Carlesimo yelled on the sidelines of the training ground unprecedentedly, but this did not improve the enthusiasm of the players, but only increased the disgust of the players towards him. Sad Carlesimo, he hasn't learned how to get along with his players until now. If the relationship between the coach and the players is not harmonious, how can the team achieve results?

The sudden increase in training intensity has no effect other than wasting energy on the players. Even Presti, who is sitting in the office, knows this.

However, Carlesimo has lost his mind in order to keep his job.

After the training, An Jie went home directly. He had given up extra training for a week in a row. Anyway, no matter how hard I train, I can only sit on the bench and act as a spectator in the end. One's own efforts are not recognized, which is the easiest factor for people to give up.

As soon as he entered the house and lay on the sofa, An Jie's cell phone rang. Generally, the family members and Catherine would not take the initiative to call in order not to disturb An Jie's training, but would call them when An Jie was free.

"Is it Catherine who is worrying about me again?" An Jie thought, and took out the phone. However, the name on the caller ID on the phone screen surprised An Jie a little.

"Is that you, buddy?" An Jie asked cautiously.

"Who the hell is your buddy, you coward." Morris cursed from the other end of the phone.

An Jie was at a loss for words for a while, he didn't know why Morris suddenly called to scold him.

"Why, after you became a football star, your life of luxury and money made you fall?" This was the case between Morris and An Jie, completely outspoken.

"Look at your performance in these few games, no, not a few games, it's been nine consecutive games, what have you done on the court? I said, if you give the Cyclones If it's embarrassing, I won't fucking admit that I have you as a teammate." An Jie understood the purpose of Morris' call, but An Jie has heard enough of such conversations these days, and he is already immune up.

"Can you blame me? It's all because the head coach didn't give me a chance." An Jie responded indifferently.

"Oh! Listen! This sissy is starting to make excuses for herself! Who the fuck do you think you are!? You're just a 12th overall pick who got picked by the team Abandoned rookie. Why does the head coach give you a chance, do you think you are LeBron or Cameron?" Morris said more and more. Even though An Jie admitted that Morris and him were good brothers, An Jie felt a little angry when Morris said this.

"What's wrong with you?" An Jie suppressed the anger in his heart, and he tried hard to convince himself that Morris was not malicious.

"It's nothing, I just want to tell you that I really despise you for making excuses for you when you call like this." After finishing speaking, Morris hung up the phone. Morris on the other end of the phone suddenly felt a little regretful. Did he go too far by doing this? I hope that kid can wake up.

An Jie listened to the phone with a busy tone for a long time, and every word Morris said just now hurt his heart.

Morris, who used to be his best friend in the Cyclones, is actually saying the same thing about him now. Speaking of Morris, how has the Cyclones been playing recently? Anyway, he was free today, so An Jie turned on his computer and entered the official website of the NCAA.

Clicking on the basketball section of the NCAA sports league, An Jie skillfully opened the record list of the Big 12 league. The performance of the Cyclones is much better than that of the Thunder. They are currently ranked third in the Big 12 league.

Angie clicked on highlights from the most recent game, the Cyclones' game against the Missouri Tigers last Sunday.

In the first 30 seconds, Anjie watched with excitement. Anthony Ben's dunk and Cruz's three-pointer made him seem to return to the good old days. But when he reached the 32nd second, An Jie suddenly widened his eyes!

On the screen, a big black man in the Cyclones' No. 32 jersey blocked a layup by a Missouri Tigers small forward. This jersey is so familiar to Anjie. For a period of time, Anjie wore it to play in every game. Even when he participated in the NBA team trial training a few months ago, Anjie wore this jersey.

The person on the screen is none other than Andrew Morris!

"Morris...he's back!?" Anjie turned off the video in disbelief, and directly found the statistics of all the Cyclones' games this season. Sure enough, Morris played in every game. Although he didn't play much, Morris' performance was much better than Anjie's.

Only then did An Jie understand what Morris meant by those ugly words just now. Morris is working hard with Anjie and Taylor as his goals. Now that Anjie is so depressed, Morris has to remind his good brothers in his own way.

Morris went through a lot more pain than Angie went through. He ruptured his Achilles tendon and was sidelined for almost a year. Compared with Morris' setbacks, An Jie's setbacks are not setbacks at all!

At this time, An Jie realized how weak he had become, just because he didn't get enough playing time, An Jie began to give up on himself. Little did he know that Morris, who had suffered more than himself, was now working hard for his future. Thinking of this, An Jie himself felt ashamed!

"Hmph, you damn bull, I won't lose to you this time!" An Jie suddenly got excited, and those suppressed feelings were instantly swept away. Now he is only eager to fight, eager to do his best on the court!

Tomorrow's match will be a match that will determine the fate of many people! Whether Carlesimo can stay in the team, whether Anjie's strong comeback can be successful, these will all be revealed in tomorrow's game!

(Book friend group number: 426062887, looking forward to everyone joining)

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