The Way of the Center

Chapter 14: Head-to-head (Part 2)

A trace of anger surged in DeAndre Jordan's heart, but he still forced himself to suppress the impulse. Not to mention that he was tricked in the attack just now, he also fell a lot. Anyway, the time is still long, I have plenty of time to fight with you!

An Jie knew that the key to the outcome of this game was the control of the inside line. Only when he opened up the situation could his teammates get a chance to break through or shoot. The next game will depend on him and DeAndre Jordan who can take control of the penalty area first.

Jordan was not affected by the ball just now, and his performance on the court is still active. Under the circumstances that weight and strength are not dominant, it is obviously very difficult for An Jie to resist the violent impact of Jordan. In this attack, Jordan pushed An Jie away with a few hits, and made an easy layup under the basket.

No one can defend all the balls, but An Jie found a very bad signal in the opponent's attack just now. DeAndre Jordan is much stronger than An Jie imagined. After An Jie started to train himself every day, he hadn't been at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength for a long time. However, the confrontation with Jordan just now reminded him of the feeling of powerlessness when he confronted Morris and Asakin for the first time in training.

This time the Cyclones' offense was not handed over to anyone else. Mike Taylor honestly passed the ball to An Jie who was still able to get a good position. An Jie's nimble footwork made him feel like a fish in water on the offensive end. With a standard turn around and layup, An Jie made another victory. Other players also perform occasionally, but most of the time the ball is still in the hands of these two centers.

The game proceeded unhurriedly in the wonderful hand-to-hand fight between the two big men inside, until 4 minutes and 23 seconds into the first half, Ricard called a timeout. At the moment, they are tied with Texas A\u0026M University, both with 11 points.

"Other people have to find a way to support Anjie! Don't be fooled by the pre-game media hype! This is the Iowa State University Cyclones vs. Texas A\u0026M Farm Boys game, not Anjie and DeAndre Jordan. One game! You said it yourself, if you work hard alone, you all have to work hard! Don’t forget how we won the previous game, our integrity! I want to see your integrity!" Ricard His voice is almost hoarse, but in this noisy environment, he must ensure that his players can hear what he is saying, and he has to maintain this volume to speak.

After Ricard finished speaking, Divac, who had been sitting on the bench, stood up and walked towards Anjie.

"It's been tough," Divac asked.

"Yes, his physical fitness is much better than I imagined. Whether it is on the offensive or defensive end, it is very difficult to limit him." An Jie told his coach the truth.

"You are using your weaknesses to compare with other people's strengths. Of course it is difficult. Don't forget that the basic basketball skills are the biggest shortcoming of Jordan. If you grasp the opponent's shortcomings, you can beat him. And I remind you, if You don't want to keep entangled with him, the best way is to let him go." Speaking of this, Divac winked at An Jie.

Rickard accidentally saw Divac's eyes and understood the meaning of that eyes, his back went numb.

This old devil didn't teach An Jie a lot of good things, but taught a lot of these bad tricks. I just hope that An Jie can handle it to that degree, and don't be self-defeating.

The two sides returned to the court again, and Texas A\u0026M University still focused on Jordan's individual singles. As for the Cyclone team, after being reminded, An Jie and his teammates all came out of the state of one person playing four people, and they became the Cyclones team that never stopped running.

Mike Taylor made a mid-range shot.

Cruz made a long-range two-pointer.

These two goals are the scoring opportunities created by the Cyclones relying on active off-ball running and complex and tacit off-ball pick-and-roll.

As long as Anjie keeps Jordan in the paint, other teammates will have more and more opportunities. If a team's defensive backbone is restrained, it is not an exaggeration to say that the team's defensive quality will drop by half.

The head coach of Texas A\u0026M University, Carter Robertson, was frowning off the court. The Cyclones' offense has shown signs of improvement, but on the other hand, they are on their own side. Jordan didn't help his teammates' offense at all tactically. His pick-and-roll awareness was poor, and he couldn't do it subconsciously. Now he only wants the ball blindly for singles, and after entering the singles state, he rarely passes the ball out. However, who made this guy in a hot state recently, and broke the record of scoring consecutive goals in one fell swoop. Let him continue to wait and see in singles, anyway, Jordan is really playing well now.

It is precisely because of this consideration that Robertson did not change his tactics, but continued to let Jordan solve the problem by himself. So in the offense of Texas A\u0026M University, DeAndre Jordan once again leaned on Anjie to receive the ball.

Confronted with little Jordan again, An Jie kept repeating what his teacher Divac had just said in his mind. Grasp the opponent's shortcomings, and you can win him.

Poor basic basketball skills and low basketball IQ are the two biggest shortcomings of DeAndre Jordan. Such an opponent is easy to deal with. Didn't Divac teach himself such a trick...

DeAndre Jordan really couldn't come up with other tricks, and he started hitting An Jie with his back, hoping to continue scoring in the same way.

For the first time, he felt the resistance behind him, and he also took a big step forward with his advantage in strength.

The second time, he still felt that An Jie behind him was trying his best to stop him, but it was all in vain.

On the third play, he decided to make a sudden effort, squeeze the thin defender away in one fell swoop, and score again. However, unlike what he had imagined, when he pushed An Jie hard for the third time, he felt that his back was empty, and he lost his center of gravity due to excessive force.

An Jie just deliberately made the illusion that he was going to fight him to the end when Jordan made the first two pushes, in order to make Jordan, who was bursting with confidence, go back with all his strength when he made the third push. But when Jordan was really backing with all his strength, An Jie deliberately took a step back, causing Jordan to stand up empty. Jordan, who had lost his center of gravity, couldn't control his footsteps. He walked four or five steps with the basketball in his arms before he stabilized and didn't fall.

"Beep!" The whistle sounded, there was no doubt about walking, and the ball was exchanged.

"Damn it!" Little Jordan spread his hands and looked at the referee innocently. But rules are rules, and walking is walking.

"You opportunistic guy!" Little Jordan growled at An Jie dissatisfied. Only Morris knows An Jie's character, no matter how provocative and dissatisfied you are, An Jie will not respond easily. He will only respond to the opponent's provocation with actions. You must know that Morris was the first person to speak out against An Jie and was so embarrassed that he didn't get a single response.

"Haha, not bad." Divac clapped his hands and cheered as he watched from below. Wanting to rule the inside line can't be done with just brute force.

DeAndre Jordan became angry and anxious after that ball, and his movements had begun to be out of control of his brain. So in the next offense of the Cyclones, Anjie used his footsteps to lure Jordan, and finally tricked him into a foul.

"I didn't touch him, he bumped into it himself!" Little Jordan loudly argued to the referee on the side. The referee just beckoned him to go back and stand up, otherwise don't blame him for being rude.

However, An Jie only made one of two free throws this time. During the first free throw, An Jie couldn't control his shooting movements well, and the ball was a little crooked. This also means that he now owes Ricard and Divac each fifty push-ups each.

Jordan played singles with the ball again, and Anjie kept disturbing DeAndre Jordan's offensive rhythm with small movements of grabbing the jersey behind his back. Taking advantage of Jordan's inattention, An Jie suddenly moved forward, reached out from behind and patted the basketball in Jordan's hand. Anthony Ben immediately picked up the ball, quickly advanced to the opponent's half, completed a beautiful one-stop dunk, and fully demonstrated his athletic talent in front of people. This is also Ben's first half since the first half goal.

Through this goal, the point difference on the field was also widened to six points. 29 to 23, Carter Robertson had to call a timeout.

"DeAndre, calm down! What you are doing now is in the hands of that big Asian man!" Robertson kept reminding his immature child that the opponent's center had that old fox like Divac. In teaching, he could think of a thousand different ways to stimulate Jordan's nerves.

"You rest off the court first, and I will send you on the court when you calm down." Robertson patted Jordan on the shoulder, and then continued to arrange tactics for other players. Little Jordan just let the towel hang over his head, and he didn't move or say a word.

………………..

At this point in the game, both sides have also changed their rotations. The Cyclones currently have only Anthony Ben as a starter, and he will withstand the defensive pressure when Anjie is not on the court.

To everyone's surprise, when DeAndre Jordan was not on the court, Texas A\u0026M's offense improved and played in style. It's just that in terms of defense, it's a little bit worse.

"It's not good news for that kid," Divac said to himself.

Yes, Carter Robertson at this moment has also seen the changes in the team. DeAndre Jordan has almost no tactical role on the offensive end of the court. He can't play anything other than his own singles. The reason why they were able to win the first three games was because Jordan played so well personally. Today, however, Jordan met a smart guy. He wouldn't spend so much time with DeAndre. Just now he made DeAndre a walk and a foul.

Robertson began to hesitate in his heart at this moment. While thinking, Texas A\u0026M University had relied on a smooth offense to catch up to only two points. The team played pretty well. If DeAndre still can't perform well against the Asian kid in the next game, then he will have to put Jordan on the bench.

Who is the inside king in the Big 12? Who can have the last laugh between a traditional center with technical skills and a center with physical strength? The prologue has only just begun.

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