The Way of the Center

Chapter 79 : An Jie from Jisuke?

15 points and 10 rebounds. Yao Ming is still a matchup. This is definitely a stat that can’t be ignored. But in the eyes of Kalesimo, most of Anjie’s data was drawn when facing Hayes. When facing Yao Ming, Anjie’s performance did not satisfy Kalesimo. One of the biggest reasons is that Anjie challenged the authority of his head coach time and time again. He mentioned high positions without authorization, causing the team to lose a lot of offensive rebounds. At the same time, he failed to contain Yao Ming to facilitate Durant and Durant. Westbrook breaks through.

Calesimo has always been known for being harsh. Facing such a rookie who challenges his authority, he will naturally not make An Jie feel better. But no way, he got a call from Thunder general manager Presti when he came together this morning.

“Good morning, coach, I didn’t interrupt you to rest.” Presti was very polite.

“What’s the matter?” Calesimo knew that Presti was not calling to say good morning.

“It’s okay, I just watched yesterday’s game video, and there are things I want to discuss with you.” Without Presti, Carlesimo knew it must be about Anjie. Yesterday, he suddenly took An Jie down several times. It was a sensible person who could see that there was something wrong.

But Callesimo still intends to continue acting stupid, “I’m listening to the manager.”

“I think you should give Anjie more time to play. He played well yesterday against Yao Ming. Today he faced Al Jefferson, the head of the Timberwolves center. Maybe he can still perform well. “Presti knows that the chances of Anjie playing better than Jefferson are very small, but it is better than watching Jefferson raging inside. With Anjie, Jefferson won’t play too easily at least.

“Oh, of course you are the head coach of the team. You have the final say on tactics and employment. I just mention it casually. It is your business what you do in the end.” After all, Presti and Calle Seamus came from the Spurs, and he didn’t want to embarrass Carlesimo as a head coach.

“You are right the manager. I will give An Jie some more playing time. But you also know that there are still many problems with Ann, so the person facing Al Jefferson may have to be Nick. Collison.” Callesimo made a concession, but he still didn’t cross the bottom line.

“I know you will make the right choice, good luck coach tonight, I look forward to you and the lads bringing a victory to the team.” After that, Presti hung up the phone. An Jie has proved that Presti hasn’t lost sight of him with his actions. He doesn’t want such a good seed to be destroyed in an inappropriate tactical system. But now the season has just begun, even the general manager cannot change the head coach in such a trivial way, so Presti can only put pressure on Carlesimo from the outside world.

During training at noon, Kalesimo watched Angel the most. This big Chinese man, like his two compatriots, likes to cruise in high positions. However, Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi are both power forwards, and they can be forgiven outside. But Anjie is a center forward. Have you ever seen Yao Ming always hold the ball in a high position?

Calesimo didn’t know yet. Although Anjie was able to organize offenses in college, he still prefers to be in the post, and he prefers to use low singles to solve problems.

But now the Thunder have both Durant and Westbrook’s offensive strengths. Which interior line can stay in the low post with such a configuration. That would not give the two of them open up offensive space, and it would also weaken the offensive ability of the center itself.

What’s more, when An Jie was in the high position, the Thunder played better offensively. Unfortunately, Carlesimo felt that those were the manifestations of the personal abilities of Durant and Westbrook, and there was nothing like An Jie, the Chinese. relationship. Because in his concept, it is impossible for a center to do anything in a high post, let alone organize an offense.

But he didn’t know that the true traditional center does not only play in the low post. Traditional centers are not like the current brutalist centers. The current brutalist centers are limited by their own skills, and their abnormal bodies will be useless if they leave the low position, so they can only show their value when they are in the low position. If you don’t believe you, let Howard go to the high post and play with the ball. Don’t talk about organizing the offense. It’s good if he can protect the ball.

It is because of the influence of the current brutalist center that makes Kalesimo firmly believe that the center should be honestly in the low post, and can’t run out except for the pick-and-roll, otherwise it means that there is one offensive point missing. If you ask him how to count the goals Anjie scored against Bogut and Yao Ming? He will answer you, whose child is crying every day? This erroneous understanding has taken root in Kalesimo’s heart.

The first choice of the center is of course low. The center was born to dominate the inside. Anjie also wanted to play in the low post comfortably, but for the benefit of the team he had to go to the high post and had to sacrifice himself. And An Jie didn’t just float outside to shoot. Although he held the ball in the high post, An Jie’s offensive end point ended up in the three-second zone.

No way, the basketball concept is too important and too complicated. When two different ideas collide, it is not a matter of words that can bring both parties together.

Sure enough, even if Presti called Carlesimo early in the morning, and even if Anjie scored 15+10 in the game against the Rockets, when the game with the Timberwolves began, Anjie Jie sat on the bench again.

It’s normal for a rookie to play on the bench, but Carlesimo’s reason for letting a rookie on the bench is not a normal reason. In this battle to win, Anjie played less time than he played against the Rockets.

During the first quarter, An Jie didn’t get the chance to play. The shot was given to An Jie several times. The young man just watched the court intently, making you totally unable to guess his current mood.

Just relying on the rotation of Nick Collison and Johan Petro, do you want to prevent Al Jefferson? In the first quarter, Al Jefferson scored 4 of 8 shots and scored 10 points, which is undoubtedly the most powerful response to Kalesimo.

The coach ignored Presti’s suggestion and instead let Anjie sit on the bench. The relationship between Presti and Carlesimo seemed to have a thin line of cracks. Such a crack may not be visible from the outside at all, but once it is under pressure, the crack will grow bigger and bigger until it collapses completely.

Fortunately, in the first quarter Durant and Westbrook did not commit the old problem of offensive shooting instability. Westbrook scored 4 points on 2 of 3 shots and Durant scored 8 points on 3 of 4 shots. The combined scores of the people have exceeded half of the Thunder’s total points in the first quarter.

At the end of the first quarter, the two sides tied for 20, and no one had the upper hand.

The same person who sat on the bench with An Jie is Kevin Love. After coming to the Timberwolves, he hasn’t got too many opportunities to play. But this is because the Timberwolves starting power forward Ryan Gomez is a stable scoring point in the team, and it will take some time for the rookie to climb onto his head. But where is the Thunder’s starting center Nick Collison? He is neither a stable output point for the Thunder nor a defensive backbone for the Thunder. In this way, An Jie can only accept the same fate as Love.

During the break, Callesimo talked a lot to Durant and Westbrook, except for Anjie, who was indifferent to the game for a whole quarter. But at the last moment, he glanced at An Jie, and Carlesimo didn’t want to lose his job because of this rookie.

“Ann, you go in the second quarter, I hope you can seize the opportunity.” Calesimo decided to let An Jie go up and try, anyway, he can change at any time.

Anjie was not too excited when he heard that he could play, because he knew that even at a critical moment, Kalesimo might replace himself inexplicably.

When Anjie came on the field, his opponent was no longer Al Jefferson, but the stocky center of the Timberwolves, Craig Smith.

is only 2.0 meters tall, but Craig Smith still uses his strong body and flexible movements to win a place for himself.

In the Timberwolves’ game against the HSD Wizards at the beginning of last season, Craig played 38 minutes and scored a career-high 36 points on 14 of 22 shots. This kind of performance made him unanimously favored by the outside world, so even if his opponent is not Al Jefferson, Anjie knows he can’t be careless.

is a full 18 cm shorter than himself, but the chassis is very solid. This is Anjie’s new evaluation of Craig after the first confrontation.

As the sixth man of the Timberwolves, Craig’s possession of the ball on the court is also fully guaranteed.

This was the first offense in the second quarter, and Craig received a pass from Timberwolves point guard Randy Foye.

Even though An Jie’s height is dominant, he still dare not neglect. After all, this guy has a firm foothold in the NBA. An Jie doesn’t know him, but he definitely has his own strengths.

Craig pushed inward, and An Jie felt that he had no pressure. Such power would never make him take a step back. Just when Anjie had just built up his confidence, Craig stopped back hitting and turned around instead.

Compared to ordinary centers, Craig, who is short in stature, is very agile. He turned very quickly, and An Jie’s defense was half a beat slower.

After 　　 turned around, Craig raised the basketball with one hand. Both feet slightly jump. This ball is not a hook, but it is not a shot, it’s more like a…throw shot! ?

hit the back and turn around and then pick up the toss, which is undoubtedly a strange trick. But Craig, who is short, relies on this trick to cross the NBA. Even in the face of Yao Ming, he can successfully throw shots many times, not to mention that he is facing An Jie who has not yet reacted.

Anjie didn’t expect Craig would choose such a strange way to attack the frame. He jumped and interfered, but he still couldn’t reach the basketball. But Craig’s ball throws precisely into the net.

“Single-back singles, this is Craig’s best skill.” ESPN’s commentator has long been familiar with it, but An Jie, who doesn’t know Craig, was caught off guard by this move.

was scored by an inside player who was so much shorter than himself. This kind of thing hasn’t happened for a long time. An Jie has a long mind, and he decides to change his strategy the next time he defends.

The Thunder’s offense was still handed over to Durant. After Westbrook had the ball, Durant’s offensive talent without the ball has gradually emerged. This time it was still through a reverse run and an off-the-ball pick-and-roll, and Durant got a chance. He shot the ball and scored two more points.

Both you come and I go, no one can guard against each other. Because Westbrook and Durant feel hot, and An Jie did not come out in the low post as required, so now An Jie has not even gotten a shot. Just when people were about to forget that An Jie was still on the court, Craig leaned on An Jie again, and he was going to play singles on his back for the second time!

Anjie moved his center of gravity greatly this time, so that he could quickly stick to it when Craig turned around and shot. Everything seemed perfect, and Craig really didn’t repeat the trick when he saw Anjie defending him like this.

But this time Craig turned toward the basket, and the short Craig slid through An Jie’s armpit and broke through! An Jie had too much time to adjust because his center of gravity was too high . When he turned and chased, Craig had already completed a layup and scored two points.

Being tall has the advantage of being tall, and being short naturally also has the advantage of being short. In the eyes of Craig, a center with the height of a small forward, most of the matchups are half-time slower than him. He also took advantage of this to maximize his strengths and avoid weaknesses, so he could win the sixth man of the Timberwolves under the condition of insufficient congenital conditions. position.

These tricks of Craig are very inefficient when facing a strong and experienced insider. Although An Jie is good, his lack of experience also makes him suffer.

Originally, Calesimo was very dissatisfied with Angel, now let alone Al Jefferson, even against a Craig Smith Angel, this is what made Calesimo find and stop. An Jie’s excuse for playing.

After a dead ball, Anjie looked to the sidelines, the big brother Nick Collison was ready to play. An Jie walked on feebly, without the slightest expression on his face. He had never felt that he had failed so much. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, anyway, he feels languid on the court, and he feels that he is missing something.

But Carlesimo doesn’t care about so much. He knows that after Anjie’s bad performance, Presti can’t say anything. Now the power of employing this team is truly in the hands of his head coach.

really just sink in like this? After getting 15+10 against Yao Ming, this back-to-back match coupled with a crisis of trust with the coach, these obviously made An Jie feel physically and mentally exhausted.

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