The Way of the Center

　　 November 21 arrived as scheduled, and most of the Chesapeake Energy Arena auditorium was still vacant. Among the fans present, many people came to see Chris Paul. After nine consecutive defeats, in Oklahoma City, where a good fan culture has not yet formed, how many people would be willing to spend money to see their team be defeated? Just like in the preseason, the Thunder were left out by Oklahoma City fans.

　　 After today, can Kalesimo stand on the sidelines and direct the game, that's another matter. The fans didn't regret Carlesimo at all, they couldn't leave the old guy early, so as not to miss the growth of the three young people.

　　 And the man in the black suit who was talking to Presti in the office that day also came to the scene today and sat in the VIP seat in the front row. Since there was news that he would sign with ESPN to become a commentator, people were not surprised by his arrival. Maybe he was here to learn the experience of commentary in this game.

　　 After the black suit man sat in his seat in the second row, he focused on observing the warm-up state of the three rookies of the Thunder. Durant and Westbrook looked listless, but the recently abandoned Anjie looked strenuous. Kalesimo promised him playing time? The man in the black suit continued to wait and see with questions.

　　 Indeed, Anjie may be the most dedicated person in the Thunder team to warm up. Others are still living in the haze of the team's consecutive losses, but Anjie has overcome this difficulty and found a new goal. Thanks to Morris for the phone call with him.

　　 Ten minutes later, the Hornets, led by Chris Paul, also played to warm up. Because the Hornets briefly stayed in Oklahoma City, the Thunder's home court was also the Hornets' temporary home court. So their popularity here is very high, almost half the home team of Oklahoma City.

　　 Seeing the Hornets enter the field, the Oklahoma City fans cheered. Some people even held up a big sign with the head of Chris Paul in the stands. This undoubtedly hit the confidence of the Thunder players even more severely. Even their home fans turned to cheer for others. They really felt very bitter in their hearts.

　　 Callesimo yelled in an unmannered manner from the sidelines, for fear that the Thunder would be lazy during the warm-up. This game will determine his fate, and he doesn't want to be fired because of the laxity of these boys.

　　 Presti also sat in the luxury box for this game. The Thunder's results really did not attract any big names to rent the box to watch the game. Empty is empty, Presti might as well bring a bottle of red wine to enjoy in the box.

　　 But today, he doesn't care whether Calesimo can lead the team to victory. Even if Calesimo wins by chance, he can still find another reason to expel him. The purpose of Presti's visit today is to see how the man in the black suit would react after seeing the Thunder play.

　　 There were not many people sitting in the empty stands, and the game kicked off with cheers that were not enthusiastic.

　　 An Jie still failed to get the chance to start, let alone the start, whether An Jie can make his debut in this game is a question. But unlike the dejection of the previous few days, Anjie still has piercing eyes off the court. Whether he is on the court for a minute or two, he is ready to fight anytime! It is not impossible to prove yourself in a limited time! Morris can, and he Anjie is not bad either!

　　 The Hornets' starting lineup is more than one grade better than that of the Thunder. Just talking about the inside, the Hornets have Tyson Chandler and David West, two powerful guys, Collison and Wilcox can't escape the fate of being crushed.

　　 The small forward position is played by the former Kings star Peja Stankovic.

　　 In addition to Rassu Butler, who has a stable scoring at the back, Chris Paul is the core of the entire Hornets.

　　 This lineup gap seems to have allowed people to roughly judge the outcome of the game.

　　 The most eye-catching performance of the Hornets after the opening was not Chris Paul, but the team power forward David West.

　　 In the face of the defensive black hole of Chris Wilcox, David West was able to play like a fish in water.

　　 Under the sharp breakthrough of the "Queen Bee" Paul, West made two consecutive mid-range shots, and Wilcox, who defended him, stood far away from West on both occasions.

　　 After that, West began to play singles with his back, fearing that Wilcox would not be able to prevent it. Kalesimus specifically asked Collison and Wilcox to switch positions, and Collison, the center forward, defended West.

　　 The result has not changed, West used his footsteps to easily sway Collison, facing the empty basket and hooking into the frame.

　　 "The Thunder's inside defense! Why don't you want to send Anjie up to try!?" CCTV's commentator was also anxious. It was like this for nine consecutive games, which is really abnormal.

　　 Callesimo squeezed his fists on the sidelines, and after a few hours of fighting like this, he would lose his job! He looked at the Frenchman Petro, who was on the bench, and then at Anjie. Although he doesn't like the Chinese in offensive play, Callesimo has to admit that, at least on defense, Anjie is indeed much better than Collison and Petro.

　　 "Ann!" After hearing Callesimo call himself, Anjie didn't lose his mind, but he was waiting for the call at any time.

　　 "You will come after the ball is dead! I hope you can improve our defense!" Calesimo patted Anjie on the back. This was the first time the two of them were so close.

　　 Anjie ran to the front of the technical table and sat down, waiting for a substitution opportunity after the dead ball. Now he doesn't think about whether he will be replaced or whether he can play for a few minutes. Just play! He will go all out!

　　 The Hornets’ offense, traditional point guards like Chris Paul gave the inexperienced Westbrook a headache, and Paul passed the ball inadvertently.

　　 Peja Stankovic shot the ball, but he somewhat underestimated Durant's follow-up speed. Durant straightened his long arms, leaped with all his strength, and slammed Peja's shot out of the field. The referee blew his whistle, indicating that it was a throw-in.

　　 Dead ball! Anjie stood up immediately! His height completely blocked the sight of the technical desk staff.

　　 After high-fiving Nick Collison, Anjie stepped onto the court. He felt that he had been for a long time, and hadn't had this feeling of longing for battle in a long time.

　　 Callesimo has been set up off the court, and Anjie will switch directly to defend West after he comes on the court. An Jie looked up at his opponent, his eyes fierce.

　　 "Is that you? Come on!"

"An Jie is on the court! We haven't seen An Jie in the first quarter for a while! Let's see his performance!" The CCTV commentator suddenly came to his energy, and even his commentary tone was much stronger. .

　　 Seeing that the Thunder had replaced a lanky center forward, West decided to play singles without even thinking about it.

　　 After all, Anjie's playing time in these games is too little, and most of them are played in garbage time, so West is not very familiar with this guy who can score 15+10 when facing Yao Ming.

　　 But when he started fighting for the position with An Jie, he found that something was wrong.

　　 "What's the matter!?" West felt that it was very difficult for him to even hold a position. The Chinese didn't spare any effort to wrestle with him, and his strength was not small!

　　Thunder's starting center can't pose a threat to him, how could this third center be so difficult!

　　 Paul sees that West has never been in a good position, and the offensive time has already passed halfway. So he planned to attack on his own and began to change the rhythm of the dribble.

　　 Paul is such a terrifying guy. He is the first defender who passes the ball, but if you think that Paul has poor autonomous offensive ability, then you are ignorant.

　　 Paul, who was constantly changing his rhythm, suddenly accelerated, and wiped out Westbrook who could not respond cleanly.

　　 The queen bee rushing to the inside suddenly took off, a soft throw shot, Westbrook was helpless.

　　 Upon seeing this, An Jie immediately left West behind and rushed towards Paul who had invaded the penalty area.

　　 Just after Paul threw the ball, An Jie leaped high in front of Paul. With his long arms, the height made the Queen Bee also surprised.

　　 In the air, An Jie caught the basketball directly! He stopped this attack!

　　 "This is!? Catch the risk!?" The inland commentators were all excited.

However, the referee’s rushing whistle broke everyone’s illusions. Paul’s throw could not be intercepted casually. An Jie did catch the ball, but by then the basketball had already begun to fall. It's an interference ball.

　　Although it was an interference with the ball, Paul was surprised by An Jie's defensive height. It seems that next time I face this Chinese, I must be more cautious.

　　 Anjie has successfully shocked his opponent, but he has not been able to conquer himself. He was still dissatisfied with his defense, because the Hornets managed to score two points anyway.

　　 Wu Hua saw An Jie's expression, he quickly raised the camera and started shooting frantically. He knew that An Jie, whom he knew and loved, was back again!

　　 Anjie aggressively ran to the Hornets halftime, but Tyson Chandler was not afraid of the Chinese at all. Isn't he Tyson a ruthless character?

　　 Anjie leaned on Chandler to take a seat, and Chandler immediately made a small move. Most people can't stand his small defensive moves, not to mention the Chinese is still a rookie.

　　 But to Chandler's surprise, Anjie was not affected at all. When training with Divac, the old guy's little moves were much harder than Chandler. After getting used to that level of interference, Chandler's tricks couldn't affect An Jie's half-point at all.

　　 An Jie steadily took the position, Chandler just tried to push An Jie out, Westbrook's pass found An Jie!

　　 Anjie caught the ball and sat directly on Chandler. Back hit!

　　 "You will regret the kid!" Tyson Chandler is a defensive center, and now the rookie challenges him directly. Of course Chandler would not agree!

　　 "Very courageous." The black-clothed man sitting in the audience smiled and wrote something in his notebook. This habit really resembles Ricard.

　　 "Boom!" But when An Jie exerted his strength, Chandler realized that he might have thought of this guy too simple. This downturn is so heavy that Chandler can withstand it. If he wants to be replaced by someone else, he may have been knocked out of the defensive position long ago.

Chandler did not move in the first time, and An Jie was not discouraged. He continued the second attempt~www.NovelMTL.com~ This scene was very unusual in the Thunder's offense, Durant and West. Brook was watching from the outside, waiting for a center to play singles inside. In the hearts of Durant and Westbrook, only An Jie, who was connected with them, could get this treatment.

　　 For the second time, Chandler gritted his teeth and insisted. He admitted that if this guy can get stronger, he might not be able to withstand it.

　　 Chandler has reached the limit, and Anjie can no longer exert more power. Seeing that direct back-to-back is not working, An Jie is ready to use his own footsteps to get out of the opportunity.

　　 shook his shoulders and turned to the bottom line!

　　 Chandler blocked it immediately, not willing to give a chance.

　　 "As expected of the top inside defender!" An Jie also looked at Chandler with admiration in his heart.

　　 Only halfway through the breakthrough, An Jie suddenly turned around and turned in the opposite direction of the bottom line. After that, he raised the basketball with his right hand, took off on one foot with his right foot, and hooked his left leg, a very retro hook.

"A big hook with a very stretchy action! Can you make it!? A good shot! An Jie scored two points on the head of "Boxing King"!" The mainland commentators cheered, An Jie's action was very quick and consistent. The most important thing is that you can score goals.

　　 "Hey Tyson! If you have the ability, you can pay me back on the offensive end!" After the goal was scored, An Jie hooked his finger at Chandler who was about to make a baseline kick.

　　 "Smelly boy!" Chandler cursed secretly in his heart, and did not respond, but this did not mean that his heart was very calm.

　　An Jie is back! The seemingly humble and weak insider demon has now officially opened his bee-catcher net~www.NovelMTL.com~ Book friends are welcome to visit and read, the latest, fastest and hottest serial works are all at ~www. NovelMTL.com~ For mobile phone users, please go to read.