Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

When Wu Dao began to exert his strength, the Timberwolves played extremely smoothly in the second quarter.

As the score between the two teams began to widen, the Spurs' coach Popovich did not dare to let David Robinson rest anymore. In the middle of the second quarter, he replaced David on the court early.

But David Robinson's appearance failed to bring substantial changes to the Spurs' defensive end.

After the Spurs restored the Twin Towers lineup, Wu Dao also completely took away Garnett's ball rights and began to play a lot of singles with the ball.

Wu Dao's shots are concentrated in the mid-range close to the baseline, as well as three-pointers and high shots from the corner.

In addition to completely penetrating the Spurs' Chuck Person, Wu Dao also gave several assists to Chris Kyle.

Although Chris Kyle's ability to rush forward with the ball is very limited, as a small defender, shooting can be said to be his survival ability.

He may not be able to make Chris Kyle hit three-pointers frequently in high-intensity games, but if he just assists his teammates and shoots three-pointers in open spaces, Chris Kyle will still have a certain hit rate.

After the second quarter, Wu Dao's personal score in the single quarter also reached 18 points. At the same time, Chris Kyle's three-pointer was also 3-2, successfully making some contributions to the team.

Under the Timberwolves' fast-paced offensive, the Spurs' twin-tower lineup was unable to adapt to the Timberwolves' rhythm for a while. David Robinson, who returned to the court, felt a little cold and his shooting rate was still very low.

Duncan's performance is still outstanding. Not only does he limit Garnett's performance on the defensive end, but he also makes many achievements on the offensive end.

If David Robinson hadn't controlled most of the Spurs' finishing balls, the Spurs' situation wouldn't have become so passive.

With a huge disparity in offensive efficiency between the two teams, the previous "balance" between the two teams was also broken.

In the second quarter, the Timberwolves directly beat the Spurs 33:21 in a single quarter, and the point difference between the two teams also came to 16 points.

At halftime, the score on the scoreboard stayed at 56:40.

The fans at the Target Center cheered and applauded the players of Wu Dao and the Timberwolves at the top of their lungs. Wu Dao's outstanding performance in the second quarter was recognized by all the home fans.

That kind of cool and efficient fighting style has attracted a lot of fans in martial arts.

Moreover, against the background of Garnett's sluggish performance, Wu Dao's terrifying scoring efficiency was in sharp contrast to Garnett, so the focus of fans naturally shifted to Wu Dao.

Yes, before Budo came to Minnesota, Garnett, who entered the Timberwolves as a high school student and often performed brilliantly on the court, is the "future" recognized by Minnesota fans.

But after the Timberwolves sent away Leder and Garnett teamed up with Tom and Marbury still failed to bring hope to Minnesota, Minnesota fans had already had different ideas in their minds.

Since Garnett joined the Timberwolves, the team has failed to enter the playoffs for two consecutive years. Although the team deliberately failed last season, in the eyes of fans, the team's failure to enter the playoffs is an indisputable fact. fact.

And this year, with the arrival of martial arts, the strength displayed by the Timberwolves is obviously what a playoff team should have.

Simple fans would take it for granted that this change was brought about by the rookie Wu Dao.

Garnett + Marbury + Tom = missed the playoffs.

Martial arts + Garnett + Marbury + Tom = a strong team in the playoffs.

Once the simple formula is converted, doesn't Budo become the person who brings hope to the team?

And judging from Wu Dao's performance in these games, how could the Timberwolves choose a rookie?This is a thigh choice!
Fans are mostly simple and pure creatures.

When they follow a player, they usually don’t follow him because of how handsome he is or whether he can sing and dance rap.There is often only one reason to be a fan of a player, and that is that he is strong enough!
Under the premise of "strong", things like being handsome and having a good personality will become bonus points.

If the number of fans of a player is determined by his personal qualities, then 95% of the players in the NBA do not even deserve to have fans.

During the break, the Timberwolves players returned to the rest area one after another, and coach Philip happily gave the players high-fives one by one.

The team actually beat the Spurs with David Robinson like this in the second quarter, which far exceeded Coach Philip's expectations.

In order not to destroy the team's momentum, coach Philip did not use his "art" of coaching to make blind substitutions in the second quarter.

Of course, when the team has established a lead of nearly 20 points, he, the coach, needs to do something.

"Bu Dao, you played very well in the second quarter."

"The team has such a big lead, which is inseparable from your efforts, which is great!"

"You have a good rest first, and I will send you out later."

"And Chris, you played very well, and those two three-pointers were very beautiful! Like Wu Dao, you should take a rest for the time being."

"Kevin, you defended very hard and very well, but you also played two quarters. Let's take a rest for now."

After Coach Philip praised these players by name, he clapped his hands. After attracting everyone's attention, he continued:

"In the third quarter, Tom, Marbury, and Cherokee Parks took turns."

"Tom, the Spurs' perimeter skills are average. You play well and help the team maintain this advantage."

"Unless the Spurs give up the game, otherwise, this quarter will be the toughest battle in the game. I believe in you, Tom!"

Phillip walked up to Tom with serious words, grabbed Tom's hand, and said sincerely.Tom, who was entrusted with an important task by the coach, looked into Phillip's eyes and nodded heavily.

Wu Dao was chatting with Chris at this time, and he was already sitting on the bench. The relationship between the two of them was pretty good, and the reason was very simple. When Chris was on the court, Wu Dao played very comfortably. Who would refuse to accept one? What about the "seniors" who pass the ball crazy to me?

The same goes for Chris. Although Wu Dao is a ball-holding core, Wu Dao has a very good passing vision. As long as he can run out of space, Wu Dao will often send the ball to his hands. Chris only needs to hold it. If you have an open opportunity, you can add something to your data panel.

"As long as I embrace martial arts, I can become the starter!"

Chris has already thought about it. He must develop a tacit understanding with martial arts, and he must strengthen his three-point shooting practice when he has free time.It is only a matter of time before Wu Dao becomes the team's starter and the core of the team. If Chris becomes the one who has the best cooperation with Wu Dao in the entire team.

He can also take the starting position.

Garnett sat next to Chris. When he saw Tom happily stood up and stretched after being coaxed by Coach Philip, Garnett had a complicated expression.

On the Spurs side, Popovich obviously had no intention of giving up and was only 16 points behind.

In the NBA, it is not unusual to be down 16 points at halftime and come back to win.Even if we are trailing by 16 points in the final quarter, we still have a chance to win.

The Spurs will have a day off after today's game.This schedule gives Popovich some room to operate. He plans to fight in the third quarter. If the point difference can be reduced to 8 points or less, he will defend and let Duncan and Robinson wait. The main players fight until the end of the game!
With this idea in mind, Popovich did not choose to make substitutions.

Soon, with the sound of the buzzer, the two teams returned to the court.

Timberwolves possession of the ball.After Marbury received the ball in the backcourt, he quickly brought the ball to the frontcourt.

Popovich was relieved for no reason when he saw that the Timberwolves did not keep the rookie on the court.

When the Spurs' Chuck Person saw that his opponent had been replaced by Tom, he was secretly happy, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Well?"

Seeing the unreasonable smile on Chuck Person's face, Tom, who had entered the frontcourt early and took up his position, murmured softly, and his face became a little ugly.

What does this laugh mean?
What does it mean!
Naked ridicule!It seemed to Tom that Chuck Person was mocking him.

"Stephen."

Tom's heart warmed, and he quickly got rid of Chuck Person in a sway and ran towards Marbury. As he ran, he shouted at Marbury and reached for the ball.

Marbury didn't hesitate at all and quickly delivered the ball to Tom's hands. After releasing the ball, he quickly ran towards the left side where Tom was originally located, vacating the top of the arc and giving Tom plenty of room to play.

Tom took the ball and made an emergency stop. During Chuck Person's pursuit, he quickly dropped the ball on the left side, and then accelerated his advance. Chuck Person, who had been trained by the martial arts army for a period, was nervous and noticed Tom's breakthrough. In an instant, he followed up with a sliding step and blocked it.

Tom didn't even take two steps with the ball when he was forced to stop by Chuck Person's powerful force.

Chuck Person only felt that Tom's rushing speed and impact force were too friendly. When he blocked Tom, he grinned even more. For the first time, he felt that defending Tom was such a happy thing.

Tom, who stopped suddenly, had no chance to hit the basket. He raised the ball and then passed the ball back to Marbury.

There is no way, Chuck Person's movements are very good, and his follow-up is very beautiful. It is not a wise choice to force the shot.

Marbury caught the ball from the outside, clicked it, and quickly jumped from the side to the middle. He paused while traveling, raised the ball with a fake move and missed the chasing Avery Johnson, and then Shi Shiran made a mid-range shot.

However, as soon as the basketball was thrown, Duncan quickly made up for it under the basket and jumped up to block Marbury's shot.

"Da~"

Duncan jumped very high. Although he did not block Marbury's shot, his fingertips still successfully reached the basketball.

A clear sound reached his ears, and Duncan immediately turned around and entered the basket.

"Dang~" As the basketball crashed out of the basket, Duncan suddenly raised his palm and grabbed the ball in his hand. He pressed the ball with both hands and collected the rebound.

"ohhh~~"

After interfering with the opponent's shot and then turning around to grab the board, Duncan's strong athletic ability caused the surrounding reporters to scream.

The Timberwolves who failed to attack also retreated quickly.

Duncan also passed the ball to his teammates, and then slowly ran towards the frontcourt.

In the third quarter, there was no "hard special" on the Timberwolves' side, and the Spurs' twin-tower lineup began to really show its effect.

When the team was so behind, David Robinson no longer chose his so-so efficient mid-range shot, and began to prepare to kill the basket.

After passing the ball several times, the basketball was successfully passed into the hands of David Robinson. The latter took the ball and took a deep step directly to the basket. He raised the ball to deceive Roberts, then directly raised the ball and poured it in with one hand. in the basket.

Although the Timberwolves quickly organized a counterattack, as Tom's shot failed and the iron hit, the counterattack failed.

The Spurs were still playing steadily against the Timberwolves. The basketball was handed to Duncan who was pulling out of the basket. After a back-up shot, the latter quickly turned around and passed the slower Cherokee Parks. After entering the basket, he stood up. It's a two-handed dunk.

Following Robinson, Duncan also began to wreak havoc on the basket.

These two goals also became the tone of the third quarter.

Don't look at the height of Cherokee Parks and Stanley Roberts of the Timberwolves, who are not much worse than the Spurs, but these two players are extremely traditional players with average athletic talent.

Unfortunately, David Robinson and Duncan not only have sufficient height, strong strength, but also excellent agility.

Facing the Timberwolves, these two forward players who cannot get out of the basket and are slow, it is really easy to deal with them.

The Timberwolves' small forward Tom is also focused on how to score. On the defensive end, he doesn't take care of his teammates under the basket at all.

Duncan and Robinson, who got the ball in the low post, didn't have to worry about Tom's help at all. In the third quarter, the two turned into wild horses, raging on the court. The Timberwolves had no way to stop these two people.

The Timberwolves were completely beaten on the defensive end, and they were also stumbling on the offensive end.

Tom felt very uncomfortable playing under Chuck Person's defense. Chuck Person didn't have to think about offense at all in the third quarter, he only focused on how to defend.

And Chuck Person also played very smart. He didn't expect to be able to block Tom at all. His goal was to interfere with Tom's shooting as much as possible.

Chuck Person's defensive method failed to work on Budao, because Budao's dribbling speed was fast enough, and his speed and explosive power were strong enough to get rid of him.But facing Tom, Chuck Person's defensive method achieved excellent results.

Give Tom "[-] million points" to fight against, and Tom's shooting percentage becomes quite low when shooting.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Spurs beat the Timberwolves to a 14-6 spurt.

The point difference between the two teams was actually reduced to 8 points.

Seeing this situation, the first person who couldn't help it was not the coach of the Timberwolves, but the fans of the Timberwolves. The disappointed wailing, angry curses, and calls for Garnett and others to play became more and more intense.

Coach Philip's face turned dark when he saw this scene. After calling a timeout, he sent Garnett back to the court and replaced Stanley Roberts.

Although Wu Dao did not play, during the timeout, Philip asked Sam Mitchell to let go of the player he was guarding at the right time and go inside to fill the position.At the same time, Marbury was instructed to increase his sudden advances, share the opponent's attention, and create opportunities for Garnett.

After some arrangements, the Timberwolves' massive loss of points was finally stopped.

At the end of the third quarter, the score between the Spurs and the Timberwolves reached 26:19 in a single quarter, and the point difference reached 7 points.

At the end of the quarter, Coach Philip thought again and again, but still did not substitute Wu Dao. He planned to use this lineup to continue playing with the Spurs. Judging from the situation in the second half of the second quarter, the Timberwolves still held the key to victory.

As for the Spurs, seeing that the point difference had narrowed to 7 points, Popovich also decided to give it a try.

Popovich's tactics are also very simple. Give the ball to David Robinson and frantically dig into the Timberwolves' inside line!
And this game has finally reached the decisive stage.