The Way of the Center

Chapter 86: The identity of the man in black

After the game, apart from Chris Paul who completed the lore, the person most sought after by reporters was An Jie who performed well in this game and vented his emotions in a high-profile manner at the end.

The explosive Anjie scored a large double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds in this game, both of which set Anjie's career high. If it weren't for the high shooting percentage of both sides in the second half, An Jie might have grabbed a few more rebounds.

After a slump in nine games, Anjie once again became the focus of media interviews since the Chinese Derby.

At the press conference after the game, Carlesimo took Durant and An Jie to attend with him. The faces of the three were not good-looking, but the reason for Carlesimo's bad face was not because of the ten consecutive defeat.

The media reception area of ​​the Chesapeake Energy Arena was overcrowded today, and all the major media were sitting in the audience, with a lot of questions in their stomachs to throw to the three people on the stage.

"The team has lost ten games in a row. Coach Carlesimo, do you think there is any problem with your tactics?" The TNT reporter raised his hand first.

"The team is still in the running-in period, and everyone is just not familiar with the current tactics." Carlesimo was embarrassed when asked. This press conference was very sharp from the beginning.

"An Jie, who didn't have much playing time before, got a lot of performance opportunities today. Is this sudden explosion in your expectation? That's why you gave An Jie a chance to perform today?" The second raised his hand The person who got up was Wu Hua, the special correspondent of the "Sports Vanguard" in Oklahoma City. He also deliberately asked this question to embarrass Carlesimo.

"Uh...Ann...he's had inconsistent minutes the first couple of games and that's because...because he hasn't adapted to the pace of the NBA, I think it's time for him to He's on stage, and he's really done a good job." After speaking, Carlesimo turned his head hypocritically and smiled at An Jie, but An Jie ignored Carlesimo's gesture of goodwill. He and Durant were still gloomy, watching the group of reporters molesting their head coach to their heart's content.

Everyone sitting below knew that An Jie and Carlesimo were at odds, and Carlesimo was just talking nonsense. Seeing Carlesimo's incoherent awkward expression, Wu Hua sat back in satisfaction.

"Ann, you performed very well in this game. Do you think you can maintain this state? Or is it just that you just feel hot today?" Finally, the reporters lost interest in Carlesimo, and they turned their heads Aimed at Anjie.

"It's not that I haven't played a game of this level before. This is not the first time. As long as I am on the court, I will try my best like today." An Jie is not in the mood to intrigue with the media now, he said bluntly Out of my own inner thoughts.

"At the end of the game, we all saw you smashing the basketball to the ground viciously. Are you expressing dissatisfaction with your teammates? Or are you expressing dissatisfaction with the coach?" A fat reporter stood up, and this question also attracted The eyes of everyone present.

"I'm expressing my dissatisfaction with my last defense." With a simple sentence, An Jie dismissed the reporter.

"Kevin, today we saw you feeding Anjie many times. Who do you think is the first scoring point in the Thunder team?" The reporter from the Sun Sports News asked such a question maliciously.

"The entire Thunder team is happy to share the ball with each other. I fed Ann a few, but Ann also sent me quick passes. We all enjoy this rhythm of the game, and we are a real whole." Durant But the answer was very tactful, and he didn't say anything that made everyone worth spending a lot of money to hype.

The following press conference gradually became calm, and Carlesimo had long been absent-minded. As soon as the press conference was over, Carlesimo rushed out of the media reception room and headed straight for Presti's office.

"Boom, boom, boom!" Carlesimo knocked on the door three times. Before Presti could agree, the anxious head coach pushed the door open.

As soon as he entered the door, Carlesimo saw that Presti was having a good conversation with a man in a black suit. Most importantly, there were several contracts on Presti's desk!

"Hi, Mr. Carlesimo, it's a pity today." The man in a black suit stood up and shook hands with Carlesimo. This person looks younger than Carlesimo, but his coaching experience as a head coach is much richer than that of Carlesimo.

"This..." Carlesimo looked at the man shaking his hand, and then at Presti.

"The coach we agreed, if we lose ten games in a row, I will change. No, we lost ten games in a row just now." When it's time to be decisive, Presti will never soften his heart.

Carlesimo sighed, now it's useless to say anything, he and the Thunder have been cut off from now on.

"I hope you can achieve good results here." Carlesimo suddenly felt a sense of relief. This sentence was his sincere blessing to his successor.

After speaking, Carlesimo turned and walked out of the office, he no longer belonged to this place.

"So, what do you think of the contract?" Presti continued to discuss the contract with the man in black after Carlesimo closed the door.

"At least it's much more interesting than being an ESPN commentator." After speaking, the man in the black suit smiled and signed his name on the contract. Presti was overjoyed in his heart, wondering how those little guys could fight under this guy's training.

Early the next morning, before An Jie woke up, he was woken up by the ringing of the phone. Look at the time, it's just half past six, who will call him at this time?

An Jie picked up the phone in a daze. "Kevin?"

"What's the matter Kevin?"

"Have you checked the team's official website?" Hearing Durant's voice, he probably just woke up.

"Official website? What's the matter?" An Jie was a little puzzled. What's so interesting about the Thunder's official website? Is it to see what the fans say about the Thunder's ten-game losing streak?

"You'll know when you see it!"

An Jie was also full of curiosity when he received this nonsensical call from Durant early in the morning. What makes Durant call early in the morning to share with himself.

An Jie unhurriedly searched the Thunder's official website on his mobile phone. It's great to live in such a high-tech age.

"I'll go!" Unexpectedly, when An Jie saw the first news on the homepage of the official website, his drowsiness was swept away.

"The Thunder officially announced the dismissal of team coach Peter J. Carlesimo. A press conference will be held at Chesapeake Energy Arena at 2 pm today to announce the identity of the new coach." Simple title, Accompanied by a simple picture of Carlesimo. But this news is bound to keep the media busy.

"Are you ready to meet everyone?" At 1:58 p.m., the media were already waiting in the reception room, but Presti and the man in the black suit stood outside the door.

The man in the black suit straightened his tie. He was a meticulous person. "Let's go in."

Teammates such as Anjie and Durant were watching live TV in the locker room. They didn't know who their new boss would be. An Jie prayed in his heart, as long as he stopped being the best like Carlesimo.

"The manager is here!" Westbrook yelled, pointing at the TV screen, and the person following Presti was their new coach!

Looking at this familiar face, some reporters smiled knowingly, while others were surprised. Didn't this guy promise to be a commentator? How did he come to the Thunder to coach?

Presti sat down, still with that official smile on his face. Then he leaned his head toward the microphone.

"I gathered everyone here just to take this opportunity to introduce the new head coach of the Thunder. If you have any questions after that, you can ask him directly." Saying that, Presti turned his head and looked at him. next to the guy.

"Welcome to the Thunder, Mr. Jeff Van Gundy."

At this moment, Van Gundy became the second coach in the history of the Thunder.

"Hey! Didn't you reveal that you've reached out to ESPN?"

"What made you want to take over the Thunder?"

"After more than a year of vacuum, do you think you're really capable of coaching an NBA-level team?"

Immediately, the audience exploded, and Presti looked at the unbelievable expressions of the reporters with satisfaction. This is what he wanted.

Van Gundy tapped the microphone at this point to make sure it was speaking correctly, and he was about to speak!

"I believe that I can bring out the potential of the Thunder team."

On November 22, 2008, Carlesimo officially dismissed get out of class.

That is, on the same day, this familiar coach who made Chinese fans love and hate him once again coached a team with Chinese players.

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