The Way of the Center

Chapter 17 : People abroad

Under Divac’s guidance, Anjie, Asakin, and Morris made rapid progress. Because of this, the Iowa State University Tornado team has become an alternative in the entire league. Now there are not many teams playing around centers. This is an era when guards and small forwards are rampant. Centers are about to become a knockout for modern fast-paced basketball. Excellent centers have almost disappeared in the NCAA and NBA leagues.

Whether you admit it or not, Hakim Olajuwon, one of the greatest legendary centers in the NBA, once said, “Centre? Does that kind of thing still exist in the NBA?”

Back then, Alonzo Mourning’s center coach also acquiesced in the decline of the center.

However, Iowa State University is just such a maverick team. They attack the center with one-of-a-kind positions. In this era of the decline of the center, only the Tornado team still insists on the glory that belongs to the center. Those who get insiders get the world, which is still Ricard’s creed to win.

Divac’s training is getting deeper and deeper, and he even began to personally demonstrate the skills of small moves and fouls. He also gave a USB flash drive to each of the three of his staff and told them to study the contents.

An Jie thought that there would be some detailed demonstrations of steps and technical tasks on the USB flash drive, but when he opened the video to learn, he was shocked by the content of the video.

The screen shows a collection of Divac’s tricks and tricks on the court. The methods are extremely versatile. Flops, dark elbows, pulling, trash talking, and small movements are simply his dirty records. And with such a video, Divac actually asked his disciples to study it carefully.

The next day Divac asked Anjie what they thought and gained from the video tutorial last night, and none of the three of them could say anything. Even Morris, the most dishonest person on the basketball court, felt that the actions in the video were simply so bad.

“I’m not kidding, you really need to learn these things. There is no such thing as a good husband in this league or even the NBA. Whether your name can be remembered by people does not depend on whether you play the game honestly or not. It depends on whether you can become the final winner. John Stockton can be said to be one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, but instead of hating him, people stand for him outside the Salt Lake City Arena. A statue is up. This is the world of basketball, understand? As long as you can win, others won’t care what you use.” Divac said seriously.

So Anjie and Morris, in addition to their usual training, also spent a lot of energy on doing bad things. But Asakin’s character made him still unable to agree with this view, so he became the only center under Divac who did not become a demon.

With a style that is incompatible with this era, the Cyclone team continues to march towards the crazy March.

On December 10, the Iowa State University Cyclone team played against the Texas Catholic University Horned Frogs. The Horned Frogs are also the bottom of the league for many years, and for the current Tornadoes, this opponent is simply vulnerable.

Anjie’s performance is very stable. In this game, he scored a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Morris and Taylor also scored 15 points and 17 points respectively. The Horned Frogs were completely unable to parry the offensive of the three tacit cooperation, and the Tornado team finally defeated their opponents 53 to 72.

On December 18, the unstoppable Cyclone team, which had won five consecutive victories, swallowed its first defeat since the start of the regular season. Their opponent, the Red Killers of Texas Tech University, is actually not strong, but the performance of the Tornadoes on the court is like sleepwalking.

Their aggressive positioning, complex and tacit off-the-ball pick-and-rolls, and consistent shooting percentage all disappeared in this game.

“When are you dissatisfied with winning! When are you qualified to despise and laugh at your opponents!” Ricard roared loudly in the locker room during the intermission. Everyone felt Ricard’s feelings. Kind of anger.

Although the Cyclone players awakened in the second half after being scolded, the head coach of the Red Killer team was not an expert in psychological adjustment. The confident and confident Red Killers team became more and more courageous. The audience also saw a wonderful match with anxious scores in the second half. But before the final whistle sounded, the Red Killers finally held their advantage. 68 to 72, Iowa State University defeated Texas by a quarter.

When you win, everyone will lift you to the sky. But once you fail, those who were still holding you will leave you cruelly, and then stomped a few feet on your body.

“Don’t talk about the NCAA, now how many NBA teams will play around the center? This is the trend of modern basketball development, and coach Ricard’s backward basketball thinking will eventually cost him. He can get it in the first place. The five-game winning streak was because his opponents didn’t understand the Tornado team. Once their opponents had studied the Tornado team’s play, the Tornado team would still be as vulnerable as before.” This is a certain newspaper. Part of an article written by one of the commentators after the Tornado team lost. You must know that two weeks ago he still praised how wise coach Ricard was and how promising Anjie was. It’s no wonder that most coaches will kindly call commentators “idiots who don’t understand shit”.

Wu Hua is one of the few reporters on the side of the Tornado team, not only because there is a Chinese player in the Tornado team, but because he feels that a loss in a game does not explain any problems. 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 for victory and is willing to work hard for it.

A week later, the Tornado team finally had no games. To be precise, there is no game in the entire NCAA league, because the time comes to December 25th, Christmas. In the West, this is a festival comparable to the Chinese New Year, so all schools have also started holidays.

During the one-week Christmas holiday, An Jie’s mother also thought about asking her son to come home to rest for a few days. An Jie also wanted to return to China very much. She had not seen her parents for more than three months and could not return to her familiar room. I haven’t been able to breathe a breath of the motherland’s air. Besides talking to his parents and friends, An Jie hasn’t spoken Chinese to anyone for a long time.

“I will come back if I miss home. I can just go home after New Year’s Day together.” The mother’s tone on the phone showed infinite yearning.

“No mom, a round-trip air ticket for Christmas costs more than 2,000 US dollars. It is not easy for you to send me here to study. If we can save the money, I will save it.” More than 2,000 US dollars, which is almost an ordinary The net income of Chinese households who do not eat or drink for a whole month, some households can’t even reach this figure.

“Oh, don’t worry about this, just come back if you want, you don’t need to worry about this.”

But Anjie is not a kid anymore, he should always consider the actual situation of the family. Anjie also hopes that his parents can live comfortably in the country, and does not want them to increase the burden for some of their high expenses.

“Okay mom, let’s not talk about it, let’s start the video.”

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

Divac also temporarily returned to China this week, and there are still many things waiting for him to deal with in his hometown. It is said that Divac has received an invitation from the Serbian government to be a humanitarian consultant in Serbia. The evil guy on this court is a charitable humanitarian in his life.

Ricard also invited An Jie to spend Christmas together at his home. An Jie originally wanted to agree, but when he learned that Ricard had no children, he didn’t want to disturb the coach and his wife’s sweetness. It’s night.

In this way, after a short video call with his parents, only An Jie was left in the entire bedroom. Due to the team’s holiday, An Jie completed what he needed to practice during the day, and Divac repeatedly asked him not to over-loss his body, so An Jie did not plan to soak in the basketball hall at night. If you are celebrating the holiday today, it is better to go out and find a restaurant to comfort yourself, and you can count yourself as having a Christmas. As for the nutritional recipe, let’s put it aside today.

………………..

There are no people on the streets of Ames. This is a quiet town. Today, most people spend Christmas Eve at home. As a result, there are only a few pedestrians on the street.

An Jie walks around without a goal, but most restaurants are closed these days, which makes him feel a little disappointed. Not knowing how long he had been walking under the snowy night sky, An Jie suddenly found a restaurant that was still open. The appearance of this restaurant is ordinary, and there is nothing special in comparison with the neighboring shops. The name of this restaurant is even simpler, but this simple name completely attracted An Jie’s attention. The red light tube spelled out three Chinese characters on the restaurant’s door: Chinese food.

In the past few months in the United States, An Jie has not eaten authentic Chinese food once. With anticipation, An Jie opened the door of this slightly shabby restaurant.

Just as the door was pushed open, a girl in an apron rushed up from behind the bar and bowed to An Jie.

“Hello!” This girl speaks very bad Chinese.

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

“May I ask if you are here for dinner?” In the subsequent dialogue, the girl spoke entirely in English. It seems that her Chinese proficiency is just that she can say “Hello”.

“Correct.”

“Please here.” The girl is still very polite.

“Hee hee, what do you need, sir?” At this time, the woman brought a glass of water on the table, and also handed An Jie a large menu.

An Jie opened the menu. The names of the dishes in it all had Chinese and English names. An Jie didn’t know what to order, so he just pointed out one on the menu. “Just it.”

“Weird fried rice, wait a minute, and the rice will be ready soon.”

While the woman was going to cook, An Jie turned and looked around the restaurant. Apart from the menu and signboards, there is nothing with Chinese characteristics here. After a while, the woman walked out of the kitchen with a plate of rice.

“Your weird fried rice, please use it slowly, sir.”

An Jie spooned a big mouthful of rice into his mouth with expectation, but he almost vomited it out after only a few mouthfuls. What kind of weird fried rice is this? This is obviously just the result of frying all the leftover vegetables and a bunch of messy condiments. Even if it is not regular Chinese food, it shouldn’t be so unpalatable. Such things are simply discrediting Chinese food. An Jie was a little angry. He went out to look for food on Christmas, but found such a dish. He put the money on the table, ready to leave the restaurant.

“Sir, where are you going!?” The waitress yelled in panic when she saw An Jie preparing to leave.

“I have put the money on the table.” The decoration is so careless, maybe I shouldn’t have hope for this restaurant at the beginning.

“But you haven’t finished your meal yet.” The waitress pointed innocently at the steaming fried rice on the table.

“Tell your chefs, don’t fool people with such things in the future. I am an authentic Chinese, but even I can’t get used to the unique taste of your store at all.” An Jie was not angry. Come, but it’s not good to get angry with a little girl, and can only implicitly express his dissatisfaction.

“You mean, this plate of rice is not delicious?” The girl changed her polite attitude at first, she stared at her big blue eyes and stared at An Jie fiercely.

oh, complain about your dissatisfaction with the service, are you still not happy?

“Why are you so angry, I just asked you to convey my true opinion to the chef.”

“Whether the chef does not cook, I made this plate of rice! You criticize me so much, it’s horrible!” The girl now made it 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 pestering a little girl, he opened the door and was about to turn around and leave.

Just when An Jie just opened the door, a middle-aged man with a big beard suddenly walked in and almost bumped into An Jie.

“Oh, I’m so sorry this gentleman, the snow outside is too big, I didn’t notice someone at the door and broke in.” The bearded man repeatedly apologized to An Jie.

“Dad! What do you apologize to him, this guy actually insulted my craft!”

“Dad?” An Jie’s mind is completely messed up You first go back to my room and go to Catherine. “Looking at the bearded man’s reaction, this girl shouldn’t be the first to treat guests like this.

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

“I’m sorry, guest, this girl has become more and more willful since her mother left. What did you just order? I promise to make you the original Chinese flavor. Are you Chinese? Are you from the Tornado team? Starting center? If you come, you can order whatever you want, all for free!” Bearded always felt that the tall boy in front of him was a bit familiar, because he had seen him on TV.

“Yes, I am the starting center of the Tornadoes. Sir, do you like basketball too?” When it comes to basketball, An Jie immediately regained his enthusiasm.

“Of course, a 20-year-old football fan!” The beard patted his chest confidently.

After 　　, Beard warmly entertained An Jie, and the taste of the dishes was as authentic as Beard said. If it weren’t for eating it by himself, An Jie couldn’t believe that such a dish was made by a foreigner. An Jie’s Christmas Eve also became lively amid the delicious Chinese food with the beard and the speculative chat between the two. Two men, one old and one young, watched the live broadcast of the NBA Christmas War on TV until very late. But for some reason, An Jie always thinks of the wayward girl lying in his room from time to time.

Outside the window, the snow is still falling, and the entire city of Ames is covered with a white quilt. And at this moment, An Jie’s hot heart seems to be gradually melted by a piece of white snow Book friends are welcome to visit and read, the latest, fastest and hottest serial works are all on Mobile phone Users please go to read.