Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 531 Look in the mirror!
The Timberwolves lost the first game against the Nuggets very cleanly.

Local Minnesota fans were quite excited about the Timberwolves' victory over the Nuggets.In today's game, Garnett, who has high hopes from Minnesotans, showed good competitive form.

He scored 25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

People who are accustomed to data from the small ball era may not feel much about this data, but in today's era, it is quite remarkable that an inside player like Garnett can obtain such data.

And on the court, Kevin Garnett also completely destroyed the Nuggets' inside combination of Tony Barty and Dean Garnett.

Dean Garnett is a veteran. He is 208cm tall and weighs 102KG. His registered position is center. He is 31 years old.

He was a second-round pick in 1988. In the 88-89 season, after Dean Garnett had a rough year, he couldn't play in the NBA.

It wasn't until the 96-97 season that this guy was discovered by the Timberwolves and reappeared in the NBA. Yes, this old brother's old club was the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With an annual salary of US$25 in the Timberwolves, he averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds per game in the Timberwolves' bad season. After arriving with the Nuggets, he successfully received a contract worth US$180 million.

And the love-hate relationship between Dean Garnett and the Timberwolves doesn't stop there. During the 97-98 season with the Nuggets, he maintained full attendance during the regular season and averaged 7.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Although the Nuggets had an 11-71 record that season.

But Dean Garnett still has a certain value.

Afterwards, the Timberwolves traded this buddy back to the team, but once he returned to the Timberwolves, he was no longer a stable starter.The average playing time per game has also dropped to 20 minutes.

Another Nuggets insider, Tony Barty, is this year's rookie. He was drafted lower than Wu Dao and was the sixth pick in the first round.

Among the Nuggets, he is not the only one. Danny Fordson, who plays the small forward position, is also a rookie this year. He is the No. 10 pick and was selected by the Bucks and then traded to the Nuggets.

In the warm-up match against the Timberwolves, the two rookies from the Nuggets served as substitutes and played for almost two quarters.

The 211cm tall center, Tony Barty and Garnett were separated for almost one quarter, and their performance was quite remarkable, scoring 5 points and 3 rebounds.
Danny Fortson was a little less lucky. He first met Tom and scored 4 points relying on fast break opportunities. Then he met Wu Dao who came on the bench and was blocked by Wu Dao directly. He was also forced by Wu Dao. There were 0 turnovers and 3 fouls.

Danny Fortson, who is 201cm tall, has a very short range. It is too easy to defend such a player.

The Timberwolves management is undoubtedly very satisfied with the result of this game. As a first-round pick this year, Wu Dao's performance is much better than that of the Nuggets' rookie.

The gap between rookies and rookies is not 01:30. The Timberwolves management has seen strong dominance in Wu Dao.

Even if it's just one game, a lot of things can already be seen.

The Nuggets coaching staff also noticed the yellow man who scored as much as he ate and drank in the last quarter.

There is no way, the yellow players on the court can't help but attract attention.

But they comforted themselves that the excellent performance of martial arts was only because their Nuggets surrendered their guns in advance.

But this idea was quickly slapped in the face by martial arts.

After a day's rest, the second warm-up match between the Nuggets and Timberwolves began.

After the Timberwolves' starting lineup finished the first quarter and led their opponents by 21 points at 16:5, they replaced Tom and Marbury and replaced them with Wu Dao and veteran Terry Burt.

When the Nuggets thought that after Tom and Marbury came off the court, their team would have a chance to chase points, the Timberwolves directly launched a 27:13 offensive wave in the second quarter.

森林狼那个黄皮肤的一年级新秀内突外投，单节砍下了17分3板3助1抢断1封盖，直接统治了比赛。

After Wu Dao came on the field, the Timberwolves' defensive intensity increased by half a level, and the team's offensive rhythm also accelerated significantly.

The Nuggets didn't react at all. They just called a hasty timeout and didn't even make any useful adjustments before the team got back on the field.

However, this kind of pause and interruption still failed to interrupt the rhythm of martial arts. The Nuggets still couldn't resist the Timberwolves' mercury-like attack.

After the second quarter, the Timberwolves led the opponent by 48:29, a huge advantage of 19 points, and handed the verdict to the Nuggets in advance.

This game, because it is the middle period, is when the team competes most intensely.

Budo's performance immediately caught the attention of Minnesota's home fans.However, just when the fans wanted to see what else this rookie could do, the Timberwolves put Wu Dao on the bench and hid it.

In the next two quarters, Marbury and Tom took turns taking over the ball, killing the game with a score of 87:71.

Flip Saunders staggered the playing time of Tom, Marbury and Garnett in the second and third quarters, and more often let Anthony Pillar and Sam Mitchell stay on the court to play.

Therefore, although the Timberwolves won the game, they also saved enough face for the Nuggets.

In two consecutive games, the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets with ease. Such a hearty victory made everyone in the Timberwolves feel a little unreal after a bad season.

Although the Nuggets are the bottom team in the league, no matter how they are at the bottom, they are still an NBA team.

Garnett and others felt it was unreal, but Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders felt it was very normal.

The reason why the Nuggets are so weak is mainly because the opponent's offensive arrow, Rafonso Ellis, is not in very good condition.

在96-97赛季，身高203，体重109kg的拉方索·埃利斯能够贡献场均21分7篮板的出色数据。

It's just that Rafonso Ellis tore his Achilles tendon in April this year and has been resting until now, so he can only play less intense games.

In the warm-up match against the Timberwolves, Rafonso Ellis basically played one or two quarters. Compared with the 96-97 season, his competitive state declined very obviously.

Budo also had a matchup with Laphonso Ellis in the second quarter of the second game. The opponent's strength was good, but his explosive power and speed were not good, and he was directly stared at by Budo on the court.

It can only be said that injuries can destroy a player too easily.

After two warm-up games, the Nuggets also left Minnesota and returned to Denver.

After they left, the Timberwolves faced the Golden State Warriors from afar at home.

It's different from the Nuggets, whose camp is full of injured players and whose main force is weak.

The Warriors are one level above a team like the Timberwolves!
The Warriors' star player at this time was the legendary Latrell Sprewell.

A total of 4 All-Stars in the future, NBA First Team in 94, and All-Defensive First Team.

Nicknamed Madman, he dared to choke the coach during training. At the same time, he will form a three-headed wolf super division with Garnett and Sam Cassel in the Timberwolves in the future.

This guy just scored a career-high 1 points against the Dallas Mavericks at the end of January this year.

At the end of March this year, Latrell Sprewell scored his first career "triple-double" against the Phoenix Suns, with 3 points, 31 rebounds, and 11 assists.Latrell Sprewell is 11cm tall and weighs 196kg. He is a relatively standard and typical team core.

Maybe some young fans are not very familiar with his name.

But there is a saying that young fans may not be unfamiliar with.

"Without 1000 million, I can't support my family."

Sprewell is the creator of this meme.At that time, he dismissed the three-year, 3 million contract offered by the Timberwolves and said this.

then
Then I retired and took care of myself.
Wu Dao is actually quite familiar with the Golden State Warriors. Of course, he is familiar with the Warriors team that captured a certain superstar who loves to drink bathwater.

He really doesn't understand the warriors of this era.

However, I still know something about Latrell Sprewell's name and martial arts. After all, he is also a "king of jokes". Even if I don't know it at first, I will naturally understand it after hearing too many jokes.

Today, Latrell Sprewell is 27 years old and in his prime.

Speaking of Buddhism, there really was no problem with Latrell Sprewell around 2000 asking for a 1000 contract. Of course, the premise was to put aside the off-field factors of this buddy and only consider the value of the field. in the case of.

But at that time in 05, a 35-year-old veteran who wanted such an expensive pension contract was still a guy who had a lot of shit. If he were a martial artist, he would have told the other party to get out.

Three years and 2100 million was considered a sincere price for Latrell Sprewell at the time.

Speaking of facing an opponent like the Jinzhou Warriors today, Wu Dao was slightly excited.

He knows very well that the strength of the Warriors is not at the same level as the Nuggets they have played against before.

Martial Arts still hopes to show its value in front of stronger opponents.

Therefore, on this day, Budo also expressed his request to team coach Phillip Sanders that he wanted to play a little longer.

Of course, in the face of Wu Dao's unreasonable request, Philip Sanders decisively refused.

Are you kidding, you are a newbie, how dare you make demands? !
If I agree to your decision, how can I lead this team? !

Flip Saunders has not been the head coach of the Timberwolves for a long time, and the Timberwolves have not yet achieved any results in his hands.

It is just a joke to say that martial arts is too demanding.

In fact, Flip Saunders has his own considerations. His position as head coach is still uncertain and he must consider the ideas of other players.

At the same time, Phillip Saunders also secretly blamed Wu Dao, a young man, for being ignorant. Of course, if he wants playing time, he should talk about it in private!

It's not that Wu Dao doesn't have emotional intelligence. He has played a lot of campus basketball in the past few years and has always been smooth sailing. Moreover, the coaches he has met are all coaches who follow him and dote on him.

This made Martial Arts subconsciously leave behind the "good habits" he had developed in his previous life.

The environment in which he grew up was somewhat similar to that of Ah Tan from outside.However, when Ah Tan joined the team, the coach still spoiled and licked him.

But Flip Saunders is a little different. After all, his position is not obtained by martial arts. Although there are certain factors of martial arts, the most important thing is his old teammate, who is the executive chairman of the team.

After being rejected by Phillip Sanders, Wu Dao also saw the look Phillip Sanders gave him, and understood immediately without saying anything else.

Minnesota Target Center.

A lot of fans came to watch the warm-up match today, and some local sports media also came.

Generally speaking, preseason games in this era are not broadcast live. The few games that are broadcast live are often against extremely influential teams on both sides.

Although the Timberwolves have players like Garnett and Tom, the team's record is poor. Except for some local media, not many people come to watch or report.

If you are not the favorite to win the championship, how can you get so much attention in the preseason? !

Although the impact of this game is not great, the ticket sales are still good.Relying on the golden name of Garnett, the Timberwolves are not afraid that local fans will not buy it.

What's more, the previous two games between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets finally allowed Minnesota fans to experience what a "hearty" victory is.

Therefore, fans' expectations for today's game are relatively high.

They hope that the Timberwolves can perform better against the Warriors and give them hope of making the playoffs!

Although the Warriors missed the playoffs last year, they won more games than their own team!

It can be said that the Warriors are the goalkeepers of the playoffs.
Among the teams in the Western Conference that entered the playoffs last year, the Kings were the worst with 34 wins, while the Warriors had 30 wins.

And compared with last year, this year's Warriors' main force has not undergone major changes, and the bench has been greatly expanded. This is obviously a team aiming for the playoffs. Therefore, saying that the Warriors are the goalkeepers of the playoffs does not mean anything. question.

In the Target Center Arena.

The buzzer sounded sharply, and players from both sides began to enter.

On the Jinzhou Warriors' side, they sent two big ones and three small ones.

Latrell Sprewell (sg/sf), Donyel Marshall 206cm, 99kg2 (SF), Eric Dampier 211cm, 120kg (C), Jim Jackson 198cm, 100kg (pg/ sg), Joe Smith 208cm, 102kg (sf/pf).

In fact, it can’t be said that there are two majors and three minors. Strictly speaking, this is an early star.

In other words, this was the "small ball era" that died on the beach. The Warriors' head coach at the time was PJ Carlesimo.

As for the Timberwolves, in addition to the standard three-piece set of Garnett, Marbury, and Tom.

There is also center tank Stanley Roberts, and forward Sam Mitchell.

In terms of height, the Timberwolves and Warriors are actually not much different, and even the technical characteristics of the opposing players partially overlap.

The Warriors are like a mirror to the Timberwolves.

For example, Joe Smith, Garnett's opponent, was once called "Little KG."

Wu Dao sat off the court, watching the players entering the court, quietly waiting for the game to start.

(End of this chapter)