Under Divac's tutelage, Anjie, Asakin and Morris have made rapid progress. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Because of this, the Iowa State University Whirlwind team has become an outlier in the entire league. Not many teams play around a center anymore, and it's an era of guards and small forwards who are on the verge of becoming a thing of the dead end of modern fast-paced basketball. Good centers have all but disappeared from the NCAA and NBA leagues.

Whether you admit it or not, one of the NBA's greatest legendary centers, Hakeem Olajuwon, once said, "Center?

Alonzo Mourning's centre-forward coach also acquiesced in the decline of the centre-forward.

However, Iowa State University is such a maverick team, and they play a one-sided attack around the center. In this era of the decline of the center, only the Whirlwind team still holds on to the glory that belongs to the center. Whoever wins the inside line wins the world, and this is still Ricard's credo for victory.

Divac's training also became more and more in-depth, and he even began to demonstrate the skills of small movements and foul making. He also gave each of the three of his subordinates a USB flash drive, and told them to study the contents carefully.

An Jie thought that there would be some detailed demonstrations of footsteps and technical work in the USB flash drive, but when he opened the video to learn, he was stunned by the content of the video.

The screen showed a highlight reel of Divac's bad work on the pitch back then, and the means were simply extremely powerful. Fake falls, dark elbows, pulls, trash talk, and small movements are simply a full record of his dirtiest side. And it was such a video that Divac actually asked his disciples to study well.

The next day, Divac asked Anjie what they thought and gained from last night's video tutorial, and none of the three of them were speechless. Even Morris, who is the most dishonest on the basketball court, thinks the actions in the video are simply bad.

"I'm not kidding, these things really need to be learned. This league and even the NBA do not have the existence of Mr. Yes. Whether your name can be remembered or not depends not on whether you play honestly, but on whether you can be the final winner. John Stockton is arguably one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, but instead of hating him, people erected a statue of him outside the Salt Lake City arena. This is the world of basketball, you know, as long as you can win, no one else cares what kind of means you use. Divac said seriously.

So Anjie and Morris spent a lot of energy on making bad things in addition to their usual training. But Asakin's personality kept him at odds with this view, and he became the only center under Divac who didn't become a demon.

With a style of play that is incompatible with this era, the Whirlwinds continue their journey to March Madness.

On December 10, the Iowa State University Whirlwinds played against the Texas Catholic University Horned Frogs. The Horns are also a perennial bottom-of-the-league team, an opponent who is simply vulnerable to the current Whirlwinds.

Anjie was very consistent, recording a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds in this game, while Morris and Taylor also scored 15 and 17 points respectively. The Horned Frogs were completely unable to withstand the tacit cooperation of the three, and in the end, the Whirlwind team won 53-72.

On December 18, the unstoppable Whirlwinds, who had won five in a row, swallowed their first loss since the start of the regular season. Their opponents, the Texas Tech University Red Killers, weren't really strong, but the Whirlwinds were sleepwalking on the field.

Their aggressive positioning, intricate off-ball blocking, and consistent shooting percentage all disappeared without a trace in this game.

"When are you not satisfied with winning, and when are you entitled to belittle and ridicule your opponents!" Rickard roared loudly in the dressing room at half-time, and everyone felt the anger of Ricard.

Although the Whirlwind players woke up and fought back in the second half, the head coach of the Red Killers team was not an expert at psychological adjustment. The confident Red Killers are getting braver and braver, and the crowd also saw a wonderful game with an anxious score in the second half. But before the final whistle, the Red Killers finally held on to their advantage. 68-72, Iowa State University lost to Texas by four points.

When you win, everyone will lift you up to the sky. But once you fail, those who are still holding you just now will ruthlessly throw you off, and then have to stomp on your body a few times.

"Not to mention the NCAA, how many NBA teams are going to play around the center right now? That's how modern basketball is going, and Coach Rickard's backward basketball thinking will definitely cost him in the end. At the beginning, he was able to win five in a row because his opponents didn't know much about the Whirlwind team, and once the opponent studied the Whirlwind team's style of play, the Whirlwind team would still be as vulnerable as before. This is part of an article written by a commentator at a newspaper after the Whirlwinds' defeat, and two weeks ago he was raving about how wise Coach Ricard is and how promising Anjie is. It's no wonder that most coaches affectionately call commentators "idiots who don't even know bullshit."

Wu Hua was one of the few reporters who sided with the Whirlwinds, not just because they had a Chinese player on the Whirlwinds, but because he felt that a loss in one game didn't mean anything. After many interviews and observations, Wu Hua knows that Coach Ricard and his players will not be just a flash in the pan, this group of people really has a desire to win in their hearts and are willing to work hard for it.

After a week, the Whirlwinds finally didn't play. To be precise, there were no games in the entire NCAA league because the time came on December 25, Christmas. In the West, it's a festival comparable to the Chinese New Year, so all schools are closed.

During the Christmas holiday for a week, An Jie's mother also thought about calling her son home to rest for a few days, An Jie also wanted to return to China very much, he had not seen his parents for more than three months, failed to return to his familiar room, failed to breathe a breath of the air of the motherland, and even in addition to talking to his parents and friends, An Jie had not spoken Chinese to others for a long time.

"Come back when you are homesick, just go back to China, and you can spend New Year's Day together before leaving. The mother's tone on the other end of the phone showed infinite longing.

"No, Mom, a round-trip ticket for Christmas costs more than $2,000. It's not easy for you to send me here to study, so let's save this money. "More than 2,000 US dollars, which is almost the net income of an average Chinese family who does not eat or drink for an entire month, and some families do not even reach this figure.

"Oh, don't worry about that, come back if you want, you don't have to worry about it. ”

But An Jie is not a child after all, and he should always consider the actual situation of the family. An Jie also hopes that his parents can live comfortably in China, and he doesn't want them to increase the burden for some of his own high expenses.

"Okay, Mom, let's stop talking, let's start the video. ”

Christmas is also a time of family reunion in the United States, so there are hardly any people in the school. Anjie's teammates and roommates have also gone home for the holidays, and most of them are not Ames natives.

Divac also returned home temporarily this week, and there are still many things to attend to his hometown. Divac is said to have received an invitation from the Serbian government to serve as a humanitarian adviser to Serbia. This villain who does all kinds of evil on the court is a philanthropic humanitarian in life.

Rickard also invited Anjie to spend Christmas with him at his home, and Anjie wanted to agree, but when he learned that Ricard had no children, he didn't want to disturb the coach and his wife's sweet night.

In this way, after a short video call with his parents, only An Jie was left in the entire dormitory. Due to the team's holiday, An Jie completed what he needed to practice during the day, and Divac repeatedly told himself not to wear out his body excessively, so An Jie did not plan to soak in the basketball hall at night. It's actually a holiday today, so it's better to go out and find a restaurant to comfort yourself, and it's also a Christmas for yourself. As for that nutritious recipe, let's put it aside today.

………………..

Ames is a quiet town that is once deserted, and most people are now at home for Christmas Eve, leaving the streets with only a few pedestrians.

An Jie walked around casually without a goal, but most restaurants were closed these days, which made him feel a little lost. I don't know how long I walked under the snowy night sky, An Jie suddenly found a restaurant that was still open. The restaurant has an ordinary appearance, and there is nothing special about it compared to the other restaurants next to him. And the name of this restaurant is even simpler, but this simple name completely attracted Anjie's attention. The red light tube spells out three Chinese characters on the door of the restaurant: Chinese cuisine.

In the past few months in the United States, An Jie has not eaten authentic Chinese food once, and with anticipation, An Jie still pushed open the door of this slightly shabby-looking restaurant.

As soon as the door was pushed open, a girl in an apron rushed up from behind the bar and bowed to Anjie.

"Hello!" the girl spoke very lame Chinese.

The girl in front of her had bright and green pale blue eyes, a high nose bridge, white skin, and smiling red lips. This girl is very special because you can find both American and Asian facial features on her face.

"Is the gentleman here for dinner?" It seems that her Chinese level is only to say "hello".

"Yes. ”

"This way, please. "The girl was still very polite.

"Hehe, what does Mr. need?" At this time, the woman took a glass of water and put it on the table, and handed An Jie a large menu.

An Jie opened the menu, and the names of the dishes in it all had Chinese names and English names, and An Jie didn't know what to order, so he randomly pointed out one on the menu. "That's it. ”

"A piece of fried rice, you wait a minute, sir, the rice will be ready soon. ”

Taking advantage of the woman's time to cook, An Jie turned her head and looked around at the restaurant. Aside from the menu and signage, there is nothing Chinese here. After a while, the woman came out of the kitchen with a plate of rice.

"Your weird fried rice, please take your time, sir. ”

An Jie sent a large mouthful of rice to his mouth with a spoon full of anticipation, but he almost spit it out after chewing a few bites. What kind of weird fried rice is this, it's obviously just the result of taking some leftover vegetables and a mess of ingredients and putting them all together in a mess. Even if it's not a regular Chinese dish, it's not so unpalatable, and this kind of thing is simply discrediting Chinese food. An Jie was a little angry in his heart, he came out to look for food at Christmas, but found such a plate. He put the money on the table and prepared to leave the restaurant.

"Sir, where are you going!?" the waitress shouted in panic when she saw An Jie preparing to leave.

"I've got the money on the table. "The decoration is so careless, maybe I shouldn't have had hope for this restaurant in the first place.

"But you're not done yet. The waitress innocently pointed to the steaming fried rice on the table.

"Tell your chefs, don't fool people with such things in the future, I'm a real Chinese, but even I can't get used to this unique taste of your store." An Jie was angry, but he couldn't lose his temper with a little girl, so he could only express his dissatisfaction implicitly.

"You mean, this plate of rice is not delicious?" The girl changed her polite attitude at the beginning, she stared at An Jie fiercely with her big blue eyes.

Yo, complain about your dissatisfaction with the service, isn't this happy?

"Why are you so angry, I'm just asking you to convey my true opinion to the chef. ”

"What kind of chef is not cooking, this plate of rice is fried by me! You criticize my fried things like this, it's so hateful!" The girl now made it seem as if she was a guest, and An Jie was the waiter who made the mistake.

"It's unreasonable!" An Jie didn't want to continue to entangle with a little girl, he opened the door, ready to turn around and leave directly.

Just when An Jie opened the door, a bearded middle-aged man suddenly walked in and almost bumped into An Jie's arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, it's snowing so hard outside that I didn't notice someone at the door and broke in. The bearded man apologized to An Jie again and again.

"Dad, what are you sorry for, this guy actually insulted my craft!"

"Dad?" An Jie's mind was completely messed up.

"You go back to my room for Catherine first. Judging by the bearded man's reaction, this should not be the first time this girl has done this to a guest.

The girl named Catherine angrily walked up the stairs, and then there was a heavy slamming of the door from upstairs.

"I'm sorry, guest, but this girl has been getting more and more headstrong since her mother left. What did you just order? I promise to make you the original Chinese flavor. You're Chinese, right? The starting center of the Whirlwinds? If you come, you can order whatever you want, it's all free!" The bearded man felt that the tall boy in front of him was a little familiar, and it turned out that he had seen him on TV.

"Yes, I'm the starting center for the Whirlwinds. Sir, do you like basketball too?" mentioned basketball, An Jie immediately came back to his strength.

"Of course, a 20-year-old fan!" the bearded man patted his chest confidently.

After that, the bearded man warmly entertained An Jie, and the taste of the dish was just as the beard said, very authentic. If he hadn't eaten it himself, An Jie wouldn't have believed that such a dish was made by a foreigner. An Jie's Christmas Eve also became lively in the bearded delicious Chinese food and the speculative chatter between the two. Two men, one old and one young, watched the live broadcast of the NBA Christmas Game on TV until late. But for some reason, An Jie's mind always thinks of the wayward girl who is lying in his room at the moment from time to time.

Outside the window, the snow was still falling, and the entire city of Ames seemed to be covered with a white quilt. And at this moment, An Jie's burning heart seems to be gradually melted by a piece of snow.