Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

While preparing in the rest area, the Timberwolves players could clearly feel the enthusiasm of the home fans.

And since the players returned to Minnesota, they have been more or less affected by the "battle for the strongest rookies" exaggerated by the media, and the importance they attach to this game is different from previous games.

Even during the pre-game interviews, many players were asked by reporters what they thought about "Wu Dao or Duncan, who is the strongest rookie?" Within the scope of public opinion shaped by the media machine, the Timberwolves players were in a tight mood. Tighten up.

Although the focus of the media is on the "battle for the strongest rookies", with the greatly increased exposure, the Timberwolves players are all ready to move, hoping to perform brilliantly in this game. , get more media attention and get more love from fans.

This is very important to them.

Garnett is in a very excited mood now. After communicating with Martial Arts before and getting Martial Arts's promise, Garnett is now full of fighting spirit. He wants to completely defeat Duncan of the Spurs to prove his talent and ability.

Garnett has always believed that he is the best No. 4 position in the NBA in the future and a top inside player worthy of a big contract.

As long as he can perform in this game, it will greatly increase his bargaining chips when negotiating salary with the management.After all, the Spurs' insiders are Admiral David Robinson, and Tim Duncan, a mature college player who caused the league's collapse and was hailed by the media as the strongest rookie in the past decade.

No matter which one of these two people it is, they are worth defeating!
With such a mood, Garnett eagerly hopes that the game can start soon.

After Wu Dao briefly warmed up on the court for a while, he returned to the rest area early, waiting for the coach to make the final arrangements. His mentality was much calmer than Garnett's.

Wu Dao doesn't care much about the topic debated by the media about "who is the strongest rookie between him and Duncan?"

Rather than proving that he is better than Duncan, Wu Dao needs to prove his value to the team.

Wu Dao doesn't want to be excluded from the team's offensive system when he is on the court, and can only rely on easy quick shots to score.

He needs the ball, a lot of it.

The other members of the Timberwolves also have their own ideas in their hearts. Everyone wants to seize this game that the United States is watching and perform well.

"Om-"

When people are excited and full of expectations, time passes very slowly.

Garnett kept glancing at the timer on the side of the court. After waiting for a long time, the buzzer finally sounded in the middle of the court.

Coach Phillip Sanders heard the sound, stood up from his seat, clapped his hands to attract the attention of the players, and announced:

"Starting team, Tom, Kevin, Stephen, Cherokee, Martial Arts."

"The five of you, come on as the starting team."

"This game has attracted the attention of the whole country. Everyone should show their best energy and not let down the home fans."

"The Spurs' internal twin towers are very strong. In today's game, we focused on outside attack."

"Kevin, you can play low singles, but control the number of times. If you feel difficult, don't force it."

Philip quickly made pre-game arrangements. The regular season schedule was very tight. Coach Philip didn't have much time to study the Spurs. He didn't go in depth. He just made some adjustments in a general direction.

The players whose names were called nodded one after another, and then walked into the stadium one after another.

It can be seen from the appearance of the Timberwolves that the relationship between the Timberwolves' starting players is not very close, and there is not even a team self-encouragement link.

But Phillip was very calm about this and didn't care at all.

When it comes to playing basketball, it's enough for the players to have a tacit understanding on the court. Off the court, there's actually no need to be intimate.

No matter how close they are, it doesn't matter. This is a business league. Sometimes when it's time to stab someone in the back, the players won't be vague at all.

For example, let’s take the “only goat” who lied to his brother that he would stay on the team and asked him to take a salary cut and renew his contract before leaving.

"Wow—"

As the Timberwolves players entered the court one after another, the commentator on the scene also introduced several Timberwolves players to the audience one by one.

When the commentator's name mentioned "Martial Arts", the audience burst into enthusiastic cheers.The cheers were louder than when Garnett and Tom were mentioned before.

People who don't know, would think that Wu Dao is now the top star of the Timberwolves.

The wave of cheers of tens of thousands of people poured into the stadium. This feeling is indeed very different.

Budao looked around and saw some slogans erected in the crowd that were obviously addressed to him, and he was inspired.

The Spurs players also came on the field one after another. Compared to the warm cheers received by the Timberwolves players, the cheers given to the Spurs players were much smaller.

That is to say, when David Robinson was introduced, there were a few screams in the stands, but the other players did not stir up any waves at all.

马刺这边首发的五人分别是5号位的大卫·罗宾逊（216cm/113kg），4号位的蒂姆·邓肯（211cm/110kg），3号位的蒙蒂·威廉姆斯（203cm/102kg），2/3摇摆位的肖恩·埃利奥特（203cm/93kg），以及一号位的艾弗里·约翰逊（178cm/79kg）。

The Spurs' average height is excellent, but from a visual perspective, the "weakness" is obviously their point guard Avery Johnson.

As soon as the players from both sides settled down, Marbury, who was standing in the backcourt, turned his attention to Avery Johnson on the opposite side with a faint smile on his lips.

Isn't this game very easy to play?

"Is this person the super rookie of the Timberwolves?"

"So strong!"

Standing next to Wu Dao is Sean Elliott of the Spurs. He weighs just over 90kg and is obviously smaller when standing next to Wu Dao. The difference in stature between the two is quite large.

Looking at the solid muscles of Martial Arts, Sean Elliot blinked, and an unpleasant feeling arose in his heart.

"Beep!"

However, Sean Elliott was not given a chance to think about it. As the players from both sides took their positions on the court, the referee signaled the players on both sides to jump in the middle after a whistle, and then threw the ball into the air.

"despair!"

As the basketball was pointed toward the backcourt by David Robinson, the game between the two teams officially began.

The ball fell into the hands of the Spurs. After the Spurs' "little guard" quickly entered the frontcourt with the ball, David Robinson, who had just entered the paint area from the center, quickly lifted it up and gave his little guard a Pick-and-roll screens.

The Timberwolves' Cherokee Parks was a little slow to follow up. At the moment the Spurs pick-and-roll was formed, guard Avery Johnson had already cut in from the center.

Seeing that Marbury failed to get around the pick-and-roll immediately, Cherokee Parks did not hesitate and moved towards the inside to make up for it, but he did not see it. At this time, David Robinson was already moving smoothly. Entered the paint area.

The basketball flashed before the eyes of Cherokee Parks, who was returning to the inside from defense. Just as he turned around, he saw a black shadow rising into the sky, grabbing the ball with both hands and pouring it into the basket.

"Oh!"

At the same time, Robinson's "crotch" also pressed against Cherokee Parks, pushing the latter several steps away. "Good pass."

After scoring the goal, Robinson encouraged his teammates, grabbed Avery Johnson's head and shook it, with a smile on his face.

Duncan, who had a small strength contest with Garnett under the basket, showed a gentle smile to Garnett before returning to defense, and then quickly ran towards the frontcourt.

"The Spurs' cooperation is excellent."

"David Robinson seems to be in his 30s, and he is still so mobile."

"Cherokee's movement speed can't keep up at all, so he can't defend himself. He can only wait for his opponent to come in."

After one round of offense and defense, Budao saw the biggest weakness in his team.

There is no doubt that this man is Cherokee Parks.

The Timberwolves are actually very good at other positions.

Although Tom grabbed the ball for himself, I have to say that Tom is an excellent player. The Spurs opponent, Monty Williams, was the 94th pick in the second round of 2, and his performance on the court has also improved over the years. , there is no way he can be Tom’s opponent.

As for Martial Arts, it's not that Martial Arts underestimates the opponent, but based on Sean Elliott's thin body, Martial Arts is confident that he can "kill" the opponent.

And Marbury, who has always been the Timberwolves' defensive shortcomings, now meets a guard shorter than himself, and he is not weak at all. He suddenly became the "leading soldier" in perimeter defense.

As for the inside line, there is currently no obvious gap in the matchup between Garnett and Duncan. Both of them are "super giants." Although one is a top super giant and the other is a super giant goalkeeper, Martial Arts does not think that the current How big a gap they have.

Even if Garnett is not as good as Duncan, he is not necessarily too weak.

The shortcoming of the Timberwolves' current team is undoubtedly Cherokee Parks. This white center who is known to play well will probably be bombed against the Admiral, one of the four major centers, even if David Robinson has now He was past his prime, but his abilities were still beyond the reach of Cherokee Parks.

Wu Dao looked at Robinson who was leaving quickly, thinking about changing his style of play.

Data is valuable, and victory is even more valuable.

Doesn't Garnett want to prove himself?Give him a chance!
Doesn't Tom want to increase his worth?Give him the ball!
In the court, Wu Dao, who quickly entered the frontcourt, went directly to the corner on the right side. After settling down, he had no idea of ​​continuing to move.

After Garnett crossed the center line, he quickly sank toward the low post. Duncan, who was facing him, had no intention of going around to defend. He just leaned on Garnett's back and looked at the horse holding the ball on the outside. Bree.

Seeing that Garnett had successfully entered the low post with his back to the basket, Marbury didn't hesitate at all and passed the ball directly into the paint.

Garnett grabbed the ball with both hands, straightened his upper body slightly, and looked sideways at Duncan behind him.

"I'm going to blow you up, newbie!"

"What can college students do? I entered the NBA and played in high school. I am the power forward who is more worthy of being expected!"

Garnett dropped the ball and hit him behind the ball, while saying dirty words. Facing Garnett's strength, Duncan just pressed Garnett with his chest.

After several consecutive impacts, Garnett barely stepped on the sideline of the paint area.

Seeing that Sean Elliott, who was defending the Spurs high position, was about to turn around and double-team, Garnett also decisively took a shoulder cover, then turned around and took a fadeaway shot.

The moment the face frame took off, a Chinese-character face appeared in Garnett's eyes. Duncan's big hands moved towards Garnett's face.

Duncan bounces very well, follows up very promptly, and has a strong sense of defensive pressure.

"Dang~~" As a crisp sound of iron sounded, Duncan quickly turned around after landing, jumped up quickly and grabbed the ball in his hands.

Duncan grabbed the ball with both hands, raised it above his head, glanced at Garnett, and quickly passed the ball to Avery Johnson, who came to receive the ball.

"f**k!"

"Good luck, you bastard!"

Garnett noticed Duncan's gaze, which was not reserved at all. The game had just started and he had already begun to give Duncan "intensity".But when faced with Garnett's mother-hunting trash talk, Duncan looked calm and not angry at all.

At this time, Avery Johnson, who got the ball, also slowly advanced with the ball and began to counterattack.

Budo, who had settled down early, saw Garnett still chattering after returning to the defensive position. He understood that Garnett was starting to get "serious."

The Spurs' offensive rhythm is very slow. After all, with the existence of the Twin Towers, they don't need to play fast with their opponents. They just need to play steadily and handle every ball well.

Avery Johnson was still holding the ball at the top of the arc, and Robinson quickly moved up to pick and roll. This time, Cherokee Parks learned a lesson and did not choose to follow up. Instead, he chose to squat inside.

However, David Robinson, who quickly set up a pick-and-roll for his teammates, quickly received the pass from his teammates in front of the free throw line. He stretched out his arms, tipped his feet slightly, and shot the basketball in his hand.

Robinson's shooting posture is very strange. When shooting, his arms are very straight, and when shooting, his body leans forward slightly, giving people a sense of "this guy can't play".

But this slightly weird shot is one of Robinson's outside weapons.

Leaning forward is to find body resistance, and straightening the arms is to maximize the use of arm span.

Although the posture is strange, it is very practical.

"Shh!"

With a soft sound, the basketball hit the net.

"Beep beep beep beep beep~"

After a 4-0 start, the Target Center Arena fell silent for a time.But as the basketball was played, the sound effects of the attack sounded from the speakers above the head.

Marbury's pace of dribbling couldn't help but speed up a little, and he soon came to the frontcourt. After glancing at Garnett who was asking for the ball in the low post, Marbury chose to give the ball to Tom on the side.

The latter took the ball half a step inside the three-point line, made a simple feint to the right, and then quickly dropped the ball and rushed from the left, quickly heading towards the paint area. At the same time, Tom also noticed Robinson coming out from the inside to make up the position. .He quickly paused, turned around with the ball and faced the basket, then grabbed the ball with one hand and hooked it toward the basket.

The smooth breakthrough movement made the young Monty Williams unable to guard at all. He could only watch the basketball fall into the basket with a soft sound.

"ohhhh—"

As Tom scored the ball, enthusiastic cheers erupted from the stands.

On the sidelines of the court, Philip also happily started rubbing his hands like a fly, very satisfied that Tom could stand up in this situation.

That's right!

This is the ability of the great hero of the Timberwolves!

Phillip has already thought about it. After today's game, if he wants to change Tom, he will have to pay more!