The Way of the Center

I don't know if it was because he hadn't jumped the ball for too long, but Anjie actually lost to Robin Lopez, who was a head shorter than him, in this session. Lopez was one second faster than Anjie to take a shot of the basketball, and the Suns power forward "Small Overlord" Stoudemire took the ball.

Nash quickly ran toward the frontcourt, Amare Stoudemire passed the ball to Nash immediately. The Suns ran on the first offense in the opening game!

With Stoudemire's pick-and-roll, the seasoned Nash got rid of Westbrook's defense directly. However, at this time, the advantage of Thunder's new starting shooting guard Damien Wilkins is reflected. Although he is not a veteran, his experience in the NBA is still much richer than others.

When people hear the name of Damien Wilkins, people may feel a little familiar. That’s right, Dominic Wilkins, who was once called “the essence of human cinema”, is exactly this Damien Wilkins His uncle!

Although Damien Wilkins is not an excellent offensive player, he is definitely an excellent perimeter defender! This person was not reused under Carlesimo, which Van Gundy did not understand very much. Therefore, just like Anjie, Van Gundy immediately activated this player who had been on the bench for a month in the first game after taking over the team.

Wilkins did not let Van Gundy down either. His good defensive awareness allowed him to block Nash's shot at just the right time.

But Nash is not an ordinary small guard. In terms of passing skills, he is the top existence in the NBA. Seeing that the shooting angle was blocked, Nash temporarily decided to change the shot into a pass. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of small forward Matt Barnes running outside the three-point line. Nash immediately turned his wrist, and the basketball flew towards Barnes with precision.

Durant thought that Nash was going to make a move, so he didn't follow Barnes's footsteps very closely. Unexpectedly, Nash suddenly passed the ball, and Barnes caught the ball and shot it.

Durant, who was two steps away from Barnes, immediately went to block, but it was of no avail. The Suns scored a three-pointer as soon as they came up!

"Nash's beautiful assists, and only a guard like him can handle the Suns' fast-paced offense in an orderly manner." Mike Breen's voice was very comfortable to listen to.

"Russell! Did you forget how we should stand in the pick-and-roll? You can't just be restricted by a pick-and-roll." Van Gundy shouted at Westbrook from the sidelines. It seems that three days is not enough Completely get rid of the defensive habits of this group of guys.

After switching to the Thunder's offense, Robin Lopez clearly remembers how his college basketball career ended. He has gathered enough strength, hoping to avenge his shame in the NBA. So he set up a posture near the three-second zone, ready to face the incoming An Jie at any time.

Unexpectedly, An Jie stopped suddenly after running to the free throw line, and did not continue to the penalty area to settle.

"This is?" Even so, Robin still didn't dare to neglect, he quickly followed Angela out.

Seeing that Robin was drawn out by him, Anjie immediately raised his hand to ask for the ball, and Westbrook also handed over the ball as Anjie wished.

At the same time, Durant ran back and cut into the penalty area. Matt Barnes hurriedly chased him, but he was thrown halfway by Durant who suddenly started.

Half body position, which is enough for Anjie to pass the ball into the penalty area. An Jie held the basketball high near the free throw line, and suddenly made a pass, and Durant, who cut inside to the penalty area, slapped him.

Seeing this, Stoudemire had no choice but to drop Joe Smith to defend the penalty area, but Durant was not afraid of Stoudemire's block, and he layup directly after receiving the ball!

Stoudemire did not expect that Durant would choose to ignore his defense. He immediately took off to block the shot, but Durant's bounce and long arms prevented Stoudemire from touching the basketball.

Under the fierce body collision, Durant's ball did not advance, but he managed to make Stoudemire get a foul from the beginning!

"Angie's pass is very accurate! When was the last time we saw a center come to play? In my memory, it dates back to the Kings in Princeton.

At that time, Divac played like this, and Anjie really did not follow the wrong master. "Mike Breen saw not only Durant's bravery, he also saw the contribution of Anjie.

On the offensive end, Van Gundy gave Anjie more freedom to position. He knew that Anjie had rich offensive methods, so Van Gundy did not restrict Anjie's offensive position like Carlesimo did, but let Anjie listen to him at any time according to the situation. Your own instructions, and then choose whether to organize at a high level or look for a breakthrough at a low level.

However, Van Gundy's tactic for Anjie is to play the role of organizer first in the high position.

Van Gundy admitted that Westbrook's impact is very strong, but as a point guard, Westbrook's organizational skills are obviously unqualified.

Carlesimo's solution to this problem in the past was to use Earl Watson, an authentic No. 1, to match Westbrook in the backcourt, but in this way, the Thunder's defense on the back line would be directly dragged down. collapse.

In order to ensure the strength of the defense, Van Gundy boldly gave up the idea of ​​the defender organizing the offense and handed over the responsibility of organizing the offense to Anjie. After watching so many videos of Anjie, plus Anjie is a disciple taught by Divac himself, Van Gundy believes that Anjie must have this ability.

As a result, although An Jie didn't get an assist for the first attack, he still handled the ball very well.

Since Westbrook began to control more of the ball, Durant found himself playing off the ball more and more handy. Especially when Anjie is on the court to pass the ball to him, as long as he runs out of space, Anjie's pass can always find him.

"Although it's just the first attack, we can already see that the Thunder have a clear idea now."

After Durant made two free throws, the Suns sent the baseline ball.

The Suns serve the baseline ball differently from other teams. When most teams serve the baseline ball, for safety reasons, the point guards will stand still and wait for their teammates to serve the baseline ball to themselves.

In order for the Suns to bring up the rhythm and maximize the characteristics of running and bombing, Nash caught the baseline ball from his teammates while running.

So when Nash received the ball, he was almost halfway through the court!

An Jie just ran to the defensive position and turned around, and saw that Nash had already killed outside the three-point line!

If he didn't pay attention, Nash passed the ball again. Stoudemire caught the ball and rushed into the penalty area. Before Anjie had time to make up the defense, Stoudemire had already dunked.

This is the power of running and bombing! Don't you Van Gundy like to emphasize defensive positioning? But before your players get into position, the Suns offense is over!

Helpless, An Jie didn't do anything and started to run towards the Suns half court. He finally knew how unfavorable the development trend of modern basketball is to the center position. He's the same as Robin Lopez, and they're both limited to running back and forth in this offense.

Influenced by Nash, Westbrook was unconsciously brought into such a fast pace. Although the person who organizes the offense has become An Jie, the person who handles the ball is still him. Seeing that An Jie hadn't come up, he quickly launched an offensive.

This is also one of the strengths of the run-and-gun tactic. The Suns can always bring their opponents into their own rhythm without knowing it.

Westbrook passed the ball to Wilkins and cut inside himself. Westbrook originally thought that he could run in front of the poor physical Nash, but he found that Nash was in his receiving route all the time. Even without physical contact, Nash kept Westbrook temperless.

Wilkins is a bit at a loss holding the ball. His role is a bit like Anthony Ben in the former Cyclones. They are both athletic and defensive, but they can't do much on the offensive end.

Wilkins has been protecting the ball, waiting for Angie to settle before passing the ball.

An Jie didn't stay for a second after receiving the ball, and immediately distributed the ball from his high point to the bottom corner. Durant got a fleeting opportunity and he made a quick shot.

Durant finally played the rhythm he likes, so the feel and confidence are also very good. Matt Barnes had already defended the ball in time, but the basketball shot by Durant still went in!

Anjie's way of passing the ball is called "one touch the ball" in football. The advantage of this kind of passing is that it moves quickly, making it difficult for the defensive side to keep up with the rhythm. The disadvantage is that the requirements for passers are very high, and mistakes are prone to occur. However, judging from Anjie's performance, it is not particularly difficult for him to control this kind of pass.

"Kevin Durant! Scored five points in a row! It's still a wonderful pass from Anjie. These two little guys have made Van Gundy's strategy succeed twice in a row."

In the subsequent duel, neither the Suns nor the Thunder could defend against each other's offense. The Suns' running and bombing made it difficult for the Thunder, which had only just accepted the new system, to adapt to it.

With four minutes left in the first quarter, Angie and Nash both went off the court. Nash got three assists, while Anjie got four! As a center forward, Anjie's stats are also very different.

"Ann! When you are defending later, move closer to the three-second zone. If necessary, you can just stand in the three-second zone and wait!" An Jie left the field, and Van Gundy immediately wrote on the small note. Something said to An Jie.

"But..." An Jie was about to say something when he was interrupted by Van Gundy.

"Don't worry about you defending the three-second violation. The Suns use this mentality to successfully attack the inside again and again. Before you defend the three-second violation, the Suns players have already rushed in!" Van Gundy analyzed clearly, he Going back and forth on the sidelines is not just for show.

"I'll follow suit, boss." An Jie nodded, and began to pay close attention to the direct competition between the second teams of the two teams.

Since Van Gundy made a lot of adjustments to the team rotation, the Thunder's second team is not so unbearable. Although the defense is a bit weak, but because of the existence of Wilcox and Desmond Mason, the offense of the Thunder's second team is their strong point.

Defense has never been the Suns' strong suit, and the Thunder's second team has made it clear that they can't defend. Therefore, the substitutes of both sides played extremely well in the remaining time, even more dazzling than the starting players.

But under the attack of Mason and Wilcox, the two forwards, the Suns are still slightly at a disadvantage. After the first quarter, the score became 26 to 25, and the Thunder took the lead in the first quarter in a rare way!

"The scores of both sides are very high, and coach Van Gundy also used his second team to prove that he is not only good at defense." Mike Breen appreciates the changes Van Gundy brought to the Thunder.

"The offense was good in the first quarter! We will defend in the second quarter!" Van Gundy took a small bench and sat among the tall players, and began to arrange the tactics for the second quarter.

Everyone on the Thunder wants to get on the court and continue to finish the run of the game. They don't look like a team that has just experienced a ten-game losing streak, they are full of fighting spirit!

The poor lineup is really not an excuse that can be used to cover up the lack of coaching ability.

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