The Way of the Center

Chapter 61



Chapter 61 : Towards professional basketball

“Hey, everyone will perform well later, especially Anjie and Westbrook. Don’t be nervous, just play at the level.” In the Thunder locker room, coach PJ Calesimo started to encourage after finishing the tactics. Two newcomers in the team were up. Presti said that in addition to improving performance this season, the team’s only task is to train young people. He believes that his choice cannot be wrong.

“You will look at Baan behind me for me, just like you did when you were on the Tornado.” Westbrook’s legs kept shaking.

“Don’t worry, Russell, you can attack out with confidence.” An Jie patted Westbrook on the back, as the saying goes. Westbrook’s best friend in the team is Ann. Jay.

“Hello everyone, audience friends, welcome to the 08-09 NBA preseason. Today we are bringing you the game between the NBA rookies Oklahoma City Thunder and the Philadelphia 76ers. I think everyone knows this. The highlight of the game, Chinese player An Jie is very likely to appear in this game and become the fifth Chinese to land in the NBA!” The commentator of a live broadcast platform introduced excitedly.

“Angel may get a lot of chances to appear today. Thunder general manager Presti is a person who looks at re-development. The team’s head coach Carlesimo has also faithfully implemented the general manager’s thinking. The Thunder dare Use newcomers, from the team to the players, this is a young, brand new team!”

Divac was sitting in the luxurious box of the Chesapeake Energy Arena, with Presti next to him. This is Anjie’s first professional basketball game and the Thunder’s first NBA game. Although it was only a preseason game, it was obvious from the empty seats in the audience that the game was not eye-catching, but in the eyes of Divac and Presti, the game has a different meaning.

“I look forward to your students’ performance later.” The players have finished their warm-ups. An Jie played well on the court, but Westbrook looked a little nervous.

“I am also looking forward to the Thunder’s first game in their new home. Watching this young team play seems to make me ten years younger.” Divac smiled cheerfully and wanted to say Press Divac was really enthusiastic. Originally, Divac just wanted to sit in the auditorium low-key, but after being discovered by Presti, he was invited to this luxurious box.

Anjie didn’t feel much nervousness. This arena only occupied about a quarter of the audience, and the new Oklahoma City fans had not yet formed a distinctive fan culture. The sound of cheering is sparse and out of order. Compared with the fanatical atmosphere of Ames, this game was deserted and looked like a college basketball game.

Except for that distant eastern continent, this game really failed to attract the attention of fans.

Anjie and Westbrook sat on the bench, waiting for the start of the game. This is the first time that the two of them played a basketball game as a substitute. You must know that when they were in college, both of them were arrow figures for their respective teams.

“My wife, come and sit down, the game is about to begin!” An Shiran made a cup of tea for herself, sat comfortably on the sofa, and watched the new TV that An Jie had just added to the house. On the TV screen, the players on both sides have stood up near the center circle, ready to jump the ball.

The Thunder’s starting lineup is not much different from last season. Nick Collison is still fielded at the center position, and Chris Wilcox is the power forward. To be honest, the combination of the two insiders, Putting it in the west is the only way to be flattened by others…

The position of the small forward is still the second-year Kevin Durant. His strong performance last season proved that second place is not necessarily worse than first place.

The Thunder at the back line played a combination of Desmond Mason and Earl Watson. Such a lineup is too shabby compared to other teams, and it is hard to see how competitive such a team can be.

Sure enough, after the game started, the 76ers immediately launched a fierce attack under the leadership of Andre Iguodala. Although Durant performed well last season, he still looks very immature when facing Iguodala.

In addition to Iguodala, the 76ers’ starting shooting guard Louis Williams also played well. He has hit two consecutive three-pointers on Mason, and not long after the game began, the 76ers immediately established a very lead!

Presti looked in the box and shook his head again and again, but it didn’t matter, this was just a preseason game, not to mention the two little guys have not played yet.

“Defense! Where is our defense!?” P.J. Carlesimo yelled, as if the Thunder’s offense would be no problem.

“Russell, Anjie, you two!” Kalesimo waved his hand, and the two young men smiled at each other.

“There are so many things that the Thunder have to change this season. They are 10 points behind after just over four minutes in the first quarter, and their scoring is still in the single digits.” The commentator of the webcast platform felt I was about to fall asleep, if it weren’t for An Jie, who would have watched this team without a star? However, after returning from the timeout, he seemed to see a tall yellow-skinned guy taking off his coat and preparing to make his debut!

“It’s An Jie! An Jie is ready to play! Audience friends, An Jie is here!”

“Look, it’s a son!” An Jie’s mother yelled excitedly, pointing to the picture on the TV. In the past, NCAA games were only played in the United States, and Anjie’s parents had no way to see their son’s performance. Now it’s different. They can see the picture of their son fighting on the field at any time.

“Catherine! Anjie is on the court!” The bearded shouted to the daughter in the room. After hearing the sound, Catherine rushed downstairs.

“You kid, don’t embarrass the Cyclone team!” The corner of Morris’s mouth raised slightly, and he almost fell asleep for the first four minutes.

“Peggy, please make me a cup of coffee, thank you.” Ricard stared at the TV intently, his face full of pride.

Countless pairs of eyes were staring at this tall, yellow-skinned boy. He set foot on the NBA arena with people’s boundless expectations.

“Come on, Ann.” Westbrook and An Jie touched their fists. For a moment, An Jie almost thought that it was Mike Taylor who was standing in front of him.

The Thunder sent a baseline ball, Russell Westbrook dribbled the ball through halftime, and An Jie’s career officially started from this second!

Westbrook handed the ball to Durant, who was in a good position, in the first half of the game. Durant observed the running position of his teammates. After a few probing steps, he suddenly started and broke through the penalty area!

Although the team is ten points ahead, Iguodala has to admit that this second-year rookie has caused him a lot of trouble! Seeing Durant start, he reacted quickly and immediately moved his steps! Although Iguodala’s offensive ability is superb, his defense is also one of his housekeeping skills.

Only halfway through, Iguodala suddenly hit a “wall”, and Iguodala, who was blocked, could only watch Durant slip past him.

“When is the pick-and-roll!” Iguodala looked up in surprise, only to find that a yellow-skinned guy was standing in front of him. The pick-and-roll was very secretive, and Iguodala didn’t notice anyone on his side before hitting it.

Durant broke through and made a jump shot. After the goal, Durant pointed to An Jie to show his gratitude. An Jie just smiled and ran back to prepare for defense.

“This pick-and-roll is enough to see how good Anjie’s basketball IQ is. Don’t look at it as a simple pick-and-roll, but in fact it requires a very high ability to read the game!” As long as the Chinese players have any good performance on the court , The narrators in the mainland will seize the opportunity to blow up. But this time they were not completely wrong. Under the guidance of Ricard and Divac, Anjie’s ability to read the game is indeed better than his peers. You must know that Anjie is still a center, not a point guard.

Just as An Jie took the defensive position, the 76ers counterattacked aggressively! Sure enough, the current NBA game rhythm is very fast!

Louis Williams ran into Westbrook on the perimeter. He thought he could easily break through this first-year rookie, but he didn’t know that as soon as he had physical contact with Westbrook, he was squeezed abruptly. Came out.

“What! Is this guy really a guard!?” Louis Williams himself was really thin, but Westbrook’s physical fitness still surprised him.

There is no way. Now this guy has just accumulated enough energy to play in the NBA. Williams can only pass the ball to Iguodala. He doesn’t want to hit the gun and become a stepping stone to the success of this group of rookies.

Iguodala is still very experienced in facing this Durant, although he is very difficult on the defensive end, but on the offensive end he is no worse than the genius in front of him.

Dalembert mentioned the high position to pick and roll. Iguodala wanted to cooperate with Dalembert, but in the middle of the process, suddenly a rapid change of direction, towards the side where there is no wall. Suddenly. Durant reacted a bit slower, and he had been entangled with Dalembert, Iguodala can be said to have made Durant’s life clean.

Iguodala, who has excellent athletic ability, will never let go of the opportunity to ravage the rim, even if this is just a preseason game, he does not intend to be reserved.

Hugging the ball with both hands and kicking the ground with both legs! Iguodala rises into the sky! An Jie has never seen this kind of take-off height in the NCAA! But now there is no time to be shocked, An Jie jumped up after chasing after him.

“Can it be covered!?” The mainland commentator watched An Jie jump and became very excited for a while.

“!” Iguodala dunks with both hands! The basketball hoop swayed constantly with great power, like a crumbling withered tree, unable to withstand such a huge devastation.

“Damn it!” An Jie scratched his hair in annoyance. He was just a little bit close to the basketball. But there is no difference between a little and a lot of it. Anyway, it can’t prevent the opponent from scoring. Is this the gap between the NBA and the NCAA? An Jie can easily cover the ball like the small forward of the NCAA.

Anjie was upset on the court, while Presti in the box looked wide-eyed. The remaining centers of the Thunder didn’t even have the chance to catch up. Not only can Anjie quickly make up for defense, he can also accurately determine the timing of the jump and block shots at such a high-speed moment. You must know that Iguodala is one of the best athletic players in the NBA, and An Jie has been able to do so in defense.

“Mr. Divac, it seems that your disciple is indeed well-deserved. I have watched a lot of his game videos and watched his countless wonderful blocks, but only by seeing it with my own eyes can I be affected by this large defensive range and I am impressed by the good defensive consciousness.” Presti did not hesitate to express his love for Anjie in front of Divac.

“His athletic ability is not good enough, and this has to be guided by the team.” And Divac will not miss any opportunity to provide advice.

“My fault, my fault.” Durant raised his long arm, he didn’t shirk responsibility.

After   ’s offense, Durant was seen to death by Iguodala, he could only pass the ball to Westbrook’s hands.

Westbrook’s eyes became focused after catching the ball. He quickly changed the ball holder, and his upper body kept shaking from side to side, making Louis Williams not knowing which direction he was going to break through.

to the left! Westbrook kicked the ground forcefully with his right leg, his first amazing explosive force made all the audience gasp! too fast!

Williams immediately stopped, but he only caught a gust of wind. Westbrook broke through easily.

Dalembert is waiting! Does a little point guard dare to hit the penalty area like this? Besides, he is just a rookie. Do kids now really think they can become Allen Iverson?

Even though Dalembert is at the basket, Westbrook still has no intention of slowing down. He knows that there are tigers in the mountains and prefers to go to the mountains!

Westbrook took off, the height of this jump surprised Dalembert. But basketball is not a high jump. It’s not that whoever can jump the most can win.

Dalembert opened his arms, ready to give a severe lesson to this ignorant child. However, when Westbrook rose to a height where he could attack the frame Dalembert discovered that the kid in front of him didn’t have a basketball in his hands.

“The Chinese!” Dalem Porter knew that the big thing was not good. The defense on the inside was all attracted by Westbrook, while An Jie, the highest on the court, was ignored by the people.

A secret pass by Westbrook in the air gave An Jie a chance in the open position.

“Come on, Ann, I know your strength.” Westbrook, who was still in the air, knew that he would definitely get an assist.

Anjie received the ball to the left of the free throw line, and there is no defender beyond two steps. The 76ers’ inside players all shrank into the penalty area because of a breakthrough by a first-year rookie.

Anjie was not nervous, he calmly aimed at the basket. Take off, lift the ball, and shoot. Thaddeus Young rushed over to interfere with the shot, but An Jie’s high shooting point made him useless.

“Swipe!” What a sweet voice, just as beautiful as Catherine’s voice.

“An Jie! An Jie scored! He scored the first point of his NBA career!” The commentator from mainland China was so excited as if he had scored a goal in football. He seemed to have forgotten that the preseason data was not counted. Within the career data.

“This guy!” Thaddeus Young did not expect that the Thunder’s two first-year rookies would completely disrupt their defense. How many centers have a soft touch in the NBA right now? Don’t worry, there is one more now.

Anjie officially challenged the NBA. Be careful, that Eastern Tower has officially landed in the league!

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