Chapter 426: Tenacity, Toughness, Unity, Bloodiness
The Portland Trail Blazers in the 2011-2012 season gave people the following impressions: a super center who averaged nearly 30+13 per game, a big forward whose basketball IQ and physical fitness were completely opposite, two guards who had little impact, a former All-Star forward who occasionally returned to the light but disappeared most of the time, and two guards on the bench who often made opponents desperate and two old interior players who may have existed since the beginning of Pangu. Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 info Such a lineup seems to be very good, especially the "30+15 super center", which will be eye-catching. But such a lineup is nothing compared to the other three teams in the Eastern and Western finals.
Indeed, George Ricard is a master of tactics, and his "ghost ideas" have even turned old Popovich in the gutter. Otherwise, this guy would not have gone from a high school basketball coach to an NBA-level coach in just a few years. Nel Orsi was initially afraid that he would make a big mistake by letting Rickard skip assistant coach and go straight to head coach, but this season's excellent results for the Trail Blazers turned another gamble into a victory.
But even the strongest coach needs a good squad to make the most of his talents. If you don't believe me, you can let Phil Jackson coach the Bobcats and see if the Bobcats can soar.
However, with such a slightly mediocre lineup - in this era when stars are starting to play together, the Trail Blazers' lineup can definitely only be described as mediocre. Rickard actually led the team to the Western Conference Finals again after 12 years. It's fair to say that what the Trail Blazers did was enough to make a splash, and Nell Orsi didn't expect his team to get so close to the O'Brien Cup so soon. But for the players at Rickard and the Trail Blazers, that wasn't enough. Seeing that the O'Brien Cup is just around the corner, they are not willing to take an early vacation.
After Oklahoma swallowed the bitter fruit again, today, the game is back in Portland, back to the Rose Garden Stadium that has left most teams in ruins. The battle of Tennoyama, this is the special name given to this game by the media. Win, or, Go, home, such games are always the most popular matchups for fans.
"Ann, we have a lot of people watching your game today! Win two games in a row and advance, just two, come on! There is no football here today, only your performance!" Catherine has left the United States again, and now she is in Milan, Italy, but in this football-ruled city, Catherine still finds many like-minded friends. The reason, of course, is because of the coming of the battle of Tianwang Mountain.
"I gambled $100,000 on you! You have to know that $100,000 is not a small amount for a retired old man!
"Take it easy, Applejack, there's been a lot of talk in the country about today's game. Tomorrow we will set up a temporary studio downstairs to broadcast your game on a giant screen! Many people will come to watch the game tomorrow, and your mother and I have been interviewed by reporters many times. Everyone has confidence in you, and you have to have confidence in yourself!" An Jie's parents showed infinite pride in the conversation.
Countless people called Anjie before the game started, and everyone knew how important this game was to Anjie and the Trail Blazers. So no one, whether it's the U.S. or anywhere else, wants to miss the game live.
An Jie always responds to all callers with an optimistic attitude, but when the ears are quiet and the phone no longer rings, An Jie's smile suddenly disappears.
Blessings are always good, but how tough this game is, only An Jie knows.
He doesn't have a lot of offensive pressure, and even Morris can't limit Anjie in a one-on-one defense. However, it is precisely because of this that the Trail Blazers will be forced into a corner. Van Gundy's bold change allowed him to find a way to deal with the Trail Blazers before the team lost ground: let Anjie play to his heart's content, but strangled the other four Trail Blazers, isolated him and cut off support.
Rickard used this trick against Paul when he played the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. This move proved to be very useful, the Trail Blazers were able to easily sweep the Clippers, and Ricard's move can be said to have brought great help to Angel and them.
However, neither in the second round of the series nor now against the Thunder, Ricard is unlikely to use such tactics again. Because even if he isolates Westbrook, the Thunder will still have a point of attack that will step up to break the deadlock and force Rickard to change tactics. However, when the Thunder isolated Angel, the Trail Blazers didn't have a second person on the roster who could break the deadlock.
Aldridge is the second leader of the Trail Blazers, but in the face of Ibaka's defense, this guy still can't do it on his own.
"Damn, why are you thinking so much. An Jie shook his head vigorously, now the locker room was empty, and his teammates were all warming up on the field. An Jie doesn't want to lose his fighting spirit before the game starts, it's useless to think so much, it's better to just go on the field and fight!
The tall guy put on the Trail Blazers' best-selling No. 00 jersey and put on the pair of centers that swept the world. An Jie pushed open the door of the locker room, and in the battle of Tianwang Mountain, the butcher came.
Fighting, this is the only thing Anjie can do now. But perhaps because he worked too hard, this guy made Ricard thrill in the first quarter of the game.
"Again! Ann fell again! Maurice and Ibaka headed towards Ann at the same time, I can't remember how many times Ann was assaulted, but I think he must have been in a lot of pain. Seeing Anjie being knocked to the ground by Morris and Ibaka again, Mike Brin shook his head unbearably.
"It's okay man!" Morris was the first to rush forward, ready to pull Angel up.
"you, Maurice! it hurts me!" Angel took Maurice's hand and stood up, but his tone was not very friendly. Now is the moment to fight for survival, Anjie can't be friendly to Morris, just as Morris will not hesitate to overturn Anjie again and again.
With two free throws and two hits, Ibaka still paid for his foul. However, this way of scoring points made all Trail Blazers fans very worried.
This is just the beginning, and the Trail Blazers' offense is very poor. Everyone on the Oklahoma side thought that the mighty Thunder was about to win at the beginning.
However, the Trail Blazers stubbornly withstood it.
The Trail Blazers used desperate defense and gambling to contain the Thunder's attempts to pull away the score. Embarrassed, ugly, and staggering, but even so, in the face of the Thunder's fierce attack, the Trail Blazers still stood firm in the Rose Garden!
In the first quarter of the game, the two sides tied 24-24, and Thunder fans couldn't believe that they actually suffered on the offensive end!
"I can't imagine how the Thunder could score with such a desperate defense, it's a game that will go home if you lose, but it's clear that the Trail Blazers players don't want to take an early vacation yet. ”
The Trail Blazers don't want to lose, and the Thunder don't want to play any more damn tie-breaks! Win this game, and they'll be in the Finals to compete for the O'Brien Cup! Damn Game 7, damn the Trail Blazers, no one in the Thunder team wants to continue to spend in the Western Conference Finals!
In the second quarter, Westbrook and Bledsoe both went crazy, and their breakaway could be described as outlawed. Raymond Felton, an old man, was no longer able to defend effectively against these two men.
2+1, 2+1, another three-pointer, in the second quarter of the game, the Thunder team gradually took control of the initiative under the leadership of these two guards, but the stubborn resistance of Anjie and Aldridge still shattered the Thunder's expectations of pulling away the score.
51-50, the Thunder entered the second half with only a one-point advantage. If these guys want to step through the corpse of the Trail Blazers and step into the Finals, they have to be ruthless!
So in the third quarter of the game, the rest of the Trail Blazers fully enjoyed the death entanglement that only superstars were previously entitled to. Jeff Van Gundy went out of his way at halftime to remind the fierce Thunder of the importance of defense!
The young and energetic Thunder did just that, with the perverted Westbrook, the perimeter defensive stalwart Sephorosa, the tall and arm-long Durant, and two intimidating interior players with formidable athleticism and strength. It is not difficult for such a lineup to do a good job defensively. Of course, this does not include restrictions on Anjie.
Angel still struggled under Morris's defense, and he bit the score for the Trail Blazers one by one, and he used one fall after another to win himself a respite. Can't let the Thunder team pull away the score, can't let the Thunder pull away the score! This is the only voice echoing in An Jie's head in the second half of the third quarter.
The offense punched and kicked, and the hammer wrench was used as hard as possible, but the Trail Blazers still blocked the Thunder's menacing attack.
"Look at them! They're not good anymore! That's all this bunch can do! Don't relax, we're going to eat the Trail Blazers!" Jeff Van Gundy jumped up and down in a hurry during the break, and the last 12 minutes were over, and the Thunder had to crush the Trail Blazers in those 12 minutes!
"We're only 12 minutes away from victory!Withstand the pressure, hold on, we've got to get to the final!" Ricard also banged his fist on the tactical board, both sides already red-eyed.
That's right, kill the red eye. Even though Anjie and most of the Thunder team were brothers, friends, and teammates who fought side by side before, at this moment, all the people on the Thunder team wanted to swallow Anjie alive.
So two minutes into the fourth quarter, that's how it went.
On one offense, Anjie leaned on Morris and turned to the basket, intending to dunk hard.
At this time, Ibaka, who is the NBA league block king this season, naturally does not allow Anjie to go to the basket again to do evil.
He made up for the lack of timing and height with his exaggerated bounce speed and jumping power, and the guy quickly caught up with An Jie and held the basketball down.
In the end, Anjie's dunk ended in failure, but the referee also blew for Ibaka's foul again.
The Rose Garden fans cheered loudly, but this time, when the Portland hero got back on his feet, everyone gasped.
"Ann, you're bleeding!" Aldridge immediately rushed in front of An Jie.
"Huh?" An Jie touched his face with his hand, only to find that the hot liquid was flowing on his face.
Photographers on all channels avoided such shots as requested, after all, the bloodied images were too bloody. The game was temporarily suspended by the referees, and the Trail Blazers' team doctor immediately rushed into the court.
It turned out that when Ibaka landed on the ground, his elbow hit the corner of An Jie's eye. This gravity blow directly broke the fragile corner of the eye.
Although Ibaka did it unintentionally, he was "rewarded" to the boos of 20,000 people in the audience.
After some simple handling, Anjie was forced to go down. In fact, An Jie can continue to fight under such circumstances and continue to play with the Thunder team. But NBA rules are so, and Anjie must abide by them.
Didn't Ibaka feel sorry? Of course he did. When An Jie was still on the Thunder team, he had a very good relationship with An Jie. If Anjie hadn't played against each other and learned from him in training, Ibaka's defense would not have been so terrifying. However, in the face of victory, this camaraderie is unlikely to be a reason for Ibaka's softness.
During Anjie's absence, the Thunder were chasing after the victory, frantically attacking the interior guarded by Marcus Camby and Aldridge. Serge Ibaka and Morris also scored frequently, both of whom had been holding back for too long while Anjie was on the pitch.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, there's no blood!" An Jie yelled at the referee at the technical table, and finally after a dead ball, An Jie played again!
"An!An!An......" Rose Garden now has only one shout, and the hero of Portland is back on the battlefield, and he is the only hope that the Trail Blazers will win!
After that, the game returned to the rhythm of the first three quarters. An Jie, who was wearing a band-aid on the court, was still violated again and again, and the players of the Thunder team did not show any mercy because of An Jie's color. But An Jie didn't hate them, because if it were him, he would do the same.
"Oh, it's the worst game I've ever seen. Seeing that Ibaka had committed six fouls for overturning Anjie again, even O'Neal couldn't bear to shake his head. How hard does this guy's body have to be to do this!
With a brutal lethal defense against Ahn, Van Gundy also made a difficult decision. Doesn't he feel sorry for his former general? He can't help it, who let An Jie stand on the opposite side of the thunder now?
Under such a rough defense, An Jie was still slightly affected. The guy's offensive efficiency is starting to decline, and the fouls on the defensive end are gradually increasing.
With one minute left on the clock, the Trail Blazers trailed by eight points. Wu Hua's hands were trembling, and he had no way to finish the shooting. Because he knows that it is only a matter of time before the Trail Blazers are far from dying......
An Jie is still desperate, during which his Band-Aid is knocked out again, and blood gushes out again. However, he took advantage of Aldridge's free throws to wipe a towel and replace it with a new Band-Aid, and then went back on the court.
Everyone, including the Thunder players, has a lot of respect for Anjie. But paying homage doesn't help the Trail Blazers win.
The Trail Blazers were completely overrun by Van Gundy because of the strength of their roster.
Tenacity, toughness, unity, blood. This Trail Blazers team has made a big impression on the world, but ......
"It's over! Oh my God! 110-105, the Trail Blazers lost their battle of Kings Mountain! The Thunder won first place in the West, they are the champions of the West! This group of young people, going to the Finals!" Kenny Smith commented passionately to the madness of the Thunder players.
But ESPN's Mike Brin and Kenny Smith's partner O'Neal couldn't be happier in any way......