Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

On October 10.31st, the 1997 NBA regular season officially started.

There are a total of 14 games played on the same day.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a game on the first day of the regular season, and coincidentally, their opponent on that day was the Golden State Warriors, whom they had played against in the preseason!
On October 1997, 10.31, the Minnesota Timberwolves faced the Golden State Warriors at home.

In the previous preseason, the Timberwolves and the Warriors played a total of three games, and the two teams had some basic understanding of the other team.

In the three preseason games, the Warriors won two and lost one. The winning games were all within ten points, and the one they lost was only by three points.

Therefore, when the Warriors players came to the Target Center Arena again, all the players appeared relatively relaxed.

Although preseason games cannot be used as a criterion to judge the strength of a team, the Warriors players still have a considerable degree of psychological superiority in the face of their defeats some time ago.

In the arena, Minnesota fans have occupied most of the seats in the stands, and only a small number of seats are occupied by die-hard Warriors fans.

There were many media reporters around the stadium. In addition to some local Minnesota media, some well-known domestic media were also present. The scene was far from comparable to the warm-up match at that time.

In the court, the players of the two teams were warming up before the game. Garnett, the "star" of the Timberwolves, performed several gorgeous dunks for the audience.

After receiving cheers from the fans, Garnett began to warm up honestly.

Wu Dao was doing simple dribbling to warm up on the sidelines, and then randomly shot shots from various points on the court. After that, he stretched his muscles seriously, which was considered to be the completion of pre-match preparations.

Soon, the Timberwolves, who had finished their warm-up, returned to their rest area and made final preparations.

"Martial Arts, today is your first start, so relax."

"Don't have too much psychological pressure, just do your part."

Different from the previous preseason games, when entering the regular season, the Timberwolves no longer hide and tuck in, and directly put Wu Dao in the starting lineup.

No one on the team expressed an opinion on coach Flip Saunders' arrangement.

Wu Dao himself is a high-ranking draft pick selected by the Timberwolves. He was acquired by the Timberwolves with the fourth pick. Normally, the team will give high-ranking rookies enough playing time to allow the rookies to grow quickly and adapt to NAB competitions. .

What's more, during the team's practice matches and preseason, the martial arts of the high school players showed that they were as capable as anyone in immediate combat.

Therefore, it is only natural to put martial arts on the starting lineup.

In today's game against the Warriors, the Timberwolves fielded the strongest lineup headed by Garnett and Tom.

White center Cherokee Parks, power forward Garnett, All-Star substitute "big boss" Tom Gugliotta, last year's No. 1 pick, Stephon Marbury, who plays the [-] position; and There is this year’s actual No. [-] show, and the essence of No. [-] show is martial arts.

Contrary to what everyone in the Timberwolves expected, Wu Dao was not able to replace Tom's starting No. 3 position, but stood on the same field as Tom as the No. 2 position.

The Timberwolves' lineup seems reasonable, but in fact, the Timberwolves' starting lineup is somewhat deformed.

Although Stephon Marbury is standing on the court as the No. 1 position, his style of play is actually that of the No. [-] position. He is a player who eats the ball very much.

This is even more true for Wu Dao. Although he has excellent three-pointers and strong singles ability, he is also a strong ball-handling player. If Wu Dao is allowed to simply play without the ball, it will be a waste of his offensive talent. With his excellent singles ability.

There is also Tom Gugliotta. Strictly speaking, this guy is also a player who needs to hold the ball.

If Marbury is not the kind of player who can sort out the team's offense, then the Timberwolves' current lineup is prone to stealing the ball.

As the electronic buzzer sounded, players from both sides entered the court one after another.

Looking at the familiar player from the Warriors, Wu Dao couldn't help but murmured: "Is this an internal matter?"

As the team coach, Flip Saunders certainly knew what kind of problems this starting lineup would have. For this reason, he made some adjustments at the time.

And the target of this adjustment is of course the youngest martial artist!

Budao, a player who was accustomed to playing as a ball-handler in high school, needed to try something else at the request of his coach.

The Warriors’ starting five are Madman, Latrell Sprewell (No. 2); Donyel Marshall (No. 3); Bimbo Coles (No. 1, height 185cm, weight 82kg); Joe Smith (No. 4); Eric Dampier (No. 5).

In the stadium, the players are in position.

Amid cheers from the audience, the referee kicked off the ball after a whistle and threw the basketball into the air.

"Snapped!"

With a soft sound, the basketball was pushed directly to the backcourt by the Warriors' Eric Dampier. The Warriors' center is about the same height as their Timberwolves' Cherokee Parks, but Dampier, the black brother, has more explosive power. Stronger.

The jump ball failed, and the Timberwolves' players retreated quickly.

As Bimbo Coles advanced with the ball, the Warriors quickly positioned themselves to prepare for the attack.

"Although today's mission will be relatively monotonous, it should be interesting if the opponent is Madman Sprewell."

As the Warriors players entered the frontcourt, Wu Dao immediately came to Latrell Sprewell. Looking at the face in front of him, Wu Dao's center sank slightly and retreated to the three-point line. Play positional defense.

"Ok?"

"That rookie from the Timberwolves?!"

"Let a boy like you defend me?"

"What's wrong with you Timberwolves?"

After Latrell Sprewell entered the frontcourt, he settled in the corner outside the left three-point line.Unlike ordinary players, Sprewell's shooting percentage on the left side is greater than that on the right side.

And when Latrell Sprewell saw that the rookie guarding him was actually the Timberwolves rookie, a sarcastic smile suddenly appeared on his face, and his contemptuous words penetrated into Wu Dao's ears.

"."

"He's also a bad-mouthed guy."

"Are all black players in the NBA this way?"

Unable to get the respect he deserved from the other party, Martial Arts couldn't help but murmur.

Black people, all.

There is nothing wrong with the two words alone, but when these two words are put together and put into a not-so-good context, sensitive players will immediately become angry.

"Discrimination! You kid actually dares to discriminate against black people?!"

"Yellow-skinned monkey, didn't the forest wolf teach you the rules properly?"

“Don’t you know how to write respect?!”

Muttering in his mouth, Latrell Sprewell turned sideways slightly and waved to his teammates.

The next second, the basketball quickly flew into the hands of Latrell Sprewell. After taking possession of the basketball, Latrell Sprewell quickly swept the ball and stood still, staring at the martial arts in front of him with bright eyes.Wu Dao didn't know which of his words stimulated the black brother in front of him. Sometimes you really have to sigh. The "politically correct" environment here has made too many people become too stressed. I would like to emphasize the black classmates. .

Although Martial Arts couldn't understand Latrell Sprewell's brain circuits, Martial Arts could still understand his body movements.

This is about being single on your own.

Wu Dao quickly turned his head and paid attention to see if there was anyone behind him who was setting up a pick-and-roll. At the moment when Wu Dao's attention was distracted, Latrell Sprewell quickly dropped the ball low and the basketball fell. At that moment, Latrell Sprewell had already taken a big stride and was approaching Martial Arts in an instant.

Fortunately, Martial Arts fully respects the opponent's "first step explosive power" when defending, so that the opponent will not be passed by in one step.

After entering the NBA, the level of opponents Wu Dao encountered was also different. There were too many freaks in this league, but any outstanding scorer who could be named in this era would always have one or two unbeatable goals. Absolutely irresistible.

And the madman's absolute best is his explosive first step.

In this way, Latrell Sprewell didn't know how many defenders he had executed. In his opinion, the rookie in front of him was the next defender to be executed!
"Oh!"

There was a muffled sound, and a figure suddenly appeared in the path of Latrell Sprewell with a sliding step, and Sprewell's side was directly pressed against Wu Dao's body.

The huge repulsive force caused Sprewell to stumble. At the same time, the tall figure of Martial Arts suddenly appeared in front of Latrell Sprewell, and slapped him directly with a long arm. Sprewell's basketball.

"Pa~" Sprewell only felt that his hands were empty. The next second, the power coming from his body suddenly increased. The martial arts directly squeezed Sprewell's body, and with a sprint, he dropped the ball that fell to the ground. He grabbed the basketball in his hand and quickly rushed towards the front court.

"ohhhhh!!!"

The moment the steal occurred, a burst of astonishing cheers erupted from the Target Center Arena.

No one expected that the Timberwolves rookie would steal the Warriors' Latrell Sprewell cleanly!
Even Sprewell himself was a little dazed for a moment.

what the hell! ?
What just passed in front of me?
How could such a tall "thing" be so fast and keep up with his own breakthrough?

Amid the cheers of the fans, Wu Daoyilong, who completed the steal, entered the Warriors half. Then, amid the cheers, he stepped on the free throw line, jumped up, glided and dunked with one hand, and poured the ball in. into the basket.

The bottom line media drove their cameras and focused on Wu Dao who made steals and dunks, and screams of exclamation came one after another.

"Oh, shit! Free throw line dunk!"

"Oh God! What kind of devilish talent does this young man have?"

Martial Arts' dunk boosted the enthusiasm of the audience. Minnesota fans cheered and screamed, all seeing the bright future of their hometown team.

"I can already think of what kind of photos our local media will use as the front page tomorrow."

"I just wanted this kid to defend Sprewell as much as possible and assist the team with three-pointers. Unexpectedly, as soon as the game started, he turned himself into a star."

On the sidelines of the court, coach Phillip Sanders applauded and said with some "melancholy".

On the sidelines of the court, team owner Glen Taylor's palms were already red and his face was full of excitement.Glen Taylor is a nostalgic person, and he is also the biggest fan of martial arts.

"Hey, Afro."

"What makes you think that you can break through my defense with just a few pieces of meat?"

When the returning martial artist reached the midline, he looked at Sprewell not far away and said provocatively.

From the mid-year draft to now, Wu Dao's height has basically stagnated at around 207cm, but his weight has naturally increased to 107kg, and Wu Dao has strong physical strength and terrifying explosive power.

When he blocks the 196cm, 86kg Sprewell with his body, it becomes a real wall.

Three ounces of meat.

Saying such words from a martial artist is really not an insult to Sprewell, let alone the NBA. Even for ordinary people, the 21kg weight difference is a huge gap that is insurmountable.

Tall, strong, fast, and explosive.

Sprewell, who was provoked by the martial arts, has now regained his consciousness. Yes, the boy in front of him is a rookie.

But his physical fitness is far beyond that of many veterans.

With speed and confrontation, it was obvious that he couldn't defeat the kid in front of him. At this moment, Sprewell was already thinking quickly about ways to concoct martial arts.

The Warriors defender quickly pushed the ball into the frontcourt.

Sprewell moved two steps and asked for the ball from his teammates.

When the basketball came into his hands again, Sprewell was no longer "reticent". He waved towards the inside and pointed at Wu Dao's side.

"Call a pick-and-roll?"

"Can you give me some help, you weakling?!"

When Wu Dao saw the opponent's actions, he immediately said something dirty.

For those who call themselves yellow-skinned monkeys, martial arts must not only attack the opponent physically, but also attack the opponent psychologically.

Joe Smith's pick-and-roll came up quickly. After noticing the opponent's movements, Wu Dao shouted "Mark his own man" and raised his head, forcing him in front of Sprewell, preventing Joe Smith from having any chance. Hang on to your chances.

When Garnett came out in pursuit, he didn't hesitate when he heard this and guarded his opponent.

When the pick-and-roll was in position, Sprewell also quickly moved laterally with the ball. Wu Dao was delayed by Joe Smith before catching up.

Although the pick-and-roll failed to catch Wu Dao, for Sprewell, he felt that he had gained space!

Taking two quick steps along the three-point line, Sprewell suddenly paused and shot a three-pointer directly from the ball.

Sprewell has always played like this. If there is a person in this era who can fit the style of play of the small ball era, Sprewell must be one of them.

"Bang!!!"

However, just when the basketball flew up to a height of nearly half a meter, a figure suddenly flew out from the side of Sprewell, and a big hand slapped the basketball hard.

With a deep sound, the basketball bounced directly to the ground, hit the floor, and rebounded into Marbury's chest.

Marbury subconsciously caught the ball, then quickly rubbed his chest in pain, and quickly dribbled the ball toward the frontcourt.

But at this moment, no one looked at Marbury, who was about to get off alone. Everyone's eyes were focused on Wu Dao, who fell back to the ground.

The exaggerated blocking height just now was done by this rookie of the Timberwolves.

"Can you escape my defense with this kind of 'low-altitude shooting'?!"

Martial Arts clenched a fist with one hand, looked at Sprewell, and said in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)