Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 568 Counterattack, Young Mamba!
  The second quarter between the Timberwolves and the Lakers entered a "white-hot" state from the beginning.

The Timberwolves had the ball, and after being brought into the frontcourt by Chris Kyle, the basketball quickly passed to the hands of Sam Mitchell on the side.

In the Timberwolves, if martial arts hadn't suddenly emerged, Sam Mitchell would have been Tom's first substitute at the small forward position.

Sam Mitchell is a 34-year-old veteran. Although his athletic ability is far from what he was when he was young, his basketball experience can still help him gain a foothold in the NBA.

At the small forward position, as long as Sam Mitchell doesn't meet an All-Star player, he can still compete with the opponent for more than ten minutes.

The impact of age on Sam Mitchell is more reflected in physical fitness and explosive power.

In other aspects, the weakening of Sam Mitchell is actually not too great. He plays with a team. Even at his peak, his solo breakthrough ability is still in the middle and lower reaches in the league.

What he excels at is his defense and sense of conduct.

Starting with the basketball, Sean Lukes, who was facing the Lakers, quickly came up. Sam Mitchell dragged his slow body, dribbled the ball in place and made a slight adjustment, and quickly began to break through.

He shrunk, his center of gravity dropped, and as the ball accelerated, Sam Mitchell's body pressed hard against Eddie Jones's.

Although Eddie Jones is called the "bankrupt version of Kobe", compared with Kobe, he still has some "advantages" on the defensive end, that is, Eddie Jones does not habitually throw his elbows.

He weighed less than Sam Mitchell. When faced with Mitchell's breakthrough, Eddie Jones was very smart and did not choose to resist with his body. Instead, he quickly took half a step back and dodged when the opponent broke through. He caught that powerful and heavy blow, and then followed up with a sliding step.

This defensive strategy prevented Eddie Jones from stalling in the matchup in this round, and he was able to speed up and follow up when Mitchell attacked.

Mitchell drives toward the basket with Eddie Jones at his side. His game experience and reason told him that he could not shoot this ball by himself.

When approaching the paint area, Sam Mitchell found his outside teammate Chris Kyle. The latter took the ball and lifted it a little under Derek Fisher's defense, then quickly moved sideways, and then Step on the three-point ball and shoot quickly.

In the Timberwolves, Chris Kyle is the first teammate of Wu Dao who is willing to cooperate. He is one of the players on the team who has the deepest understanding of Wu Dao's outside skills.

During normal training, Chris Kyle is also strengthening his three-point shooting ability, because he knows that if the Timberwolves build a team with Wu Dao and Garnett as the core in the future, some fancy single-man breakthrough skills will be displayed. is not that important anymore.

There is Garnett on the inside and Martial Arts on the outside. Both of them are the kind of people who can attack with the ball. Let’s not talk about the tactical status of the other players. With the two players occupying a large amount of the ball, on the offensive end The number of times I can touch the ball may not be that many.

Chris Kyle was a second-round pick, and his low start made it easy for him to establish himself.

He knows that if he wants to stay on the court and stay with the Timberwolves, he must become a person who is useful to martial arts, Garnett, and the team.

Outside shooting ability is a useful ability that can help him become a useful person to the team.

"Shhh!!"

As the soft sound of the basketball entering the net resounded in the court, Chris Kyle made a "three" gesture with his hands and raised it above his head, with a smile on his face.

At the beginning of the second half, the Timberwolves took the lead in scoring a three-pointer!

Budao applauded his teammates' goals from the sidelines. After these games at the beginning of the season, Wu Dao's team status is already very stable. Next, as long as he maintains his competitive state, his status will only become more and more stable.

Martial arts that has completed its initial goals will inevitably have higher pursuits now.

Honors such as playoffs and championships have become the goals of martial arts.

But these goals cannot be achieved by martial arts alone.

As strong as Jordan, there is no way to lead the Bulls to win the championship alone. Although Wu Dao has played well in these games, he has not grown enough to feel that he can lead the team to win the championship alone.

For the goal of championship, helpers are indispensable!
  The excellence of his teammates can bring Martial Arts one step closer to his goal!
  On the court, offense and defense alternate.

The courtside scoreboard started pulsing after Chris Kyle scored, 39:21.

As the point difference between the two teams was widened to 18 points, the Lakers players' sense of urgency also increased.

Eddie Jones and Kobe are on the court at the same time, and the Lakers undoubtedly intend to attack from the outside.

After Derek Fisher dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, he simply glanced at the Timberwolves' defense and quickly gave the ball to Kobe on the side.

After the ball was released, Derek Fisher quickly ran towards Kobe and set a pick-and-roll for Kobe who was holding the ball.

As Derek Fisher settled down, Kobe dribbled with his left hand and took two steps toward the top of the arc. Chris Kyle, who was guarding Fisher, and Doug Way, who was guarding Kobe, were guarded by the Timberwolves. The two of them exchanged positions.

Seeing the Timberwolves switching defense, Kobe made a simple floating dribble with his left hand, then lowered his center of gravity and pretended to break through.

Chris Kyle was alert. When chasing, he did not stick very closely. Instead, he took a step back inside the three-point line.

At this moment, Kobe quickly put the ball together and shot a three-pointer directly.

Kobe's core strength is very strong and his jumping is also very good. This physical talent makes his two-stage shooting action very stretched and beautiful. In order to reduce the interference of opponents, he also uses 6 to 7 degrees of tension when shooting. Lean back.

When Chris faced Kobe's jump shot, he just raised his hand symbolically and couldn't block it at all.

The basketball flew over Chris Kyle's head and quickly fell into the net.

"Oh?"

When Chris Kyle saw the basketball entering the net, he murmured softly, and a look of astonishment flashed across his face.

Judging from his expression, he seemed not to have expected that Kobe would choose to respond to the Timberwolves with a three-pointer.

When the team falls behind by a big score, the players' mentality will always be a little unstable.

The most important reason why Chris Kyle dared to shoot that ball just now was that their team was leading by a big score. Otherwise, he would not have chosen to take the shot himself, but would have given the ball to his teammates who were suitable for attacking.

Kobe dared to ignore the remaining ten seconds of attack time and shoot a three-pointer when his team was lagging behind.

I have to say, this substitute is very confident!

The Lakers returned the favor, and there were some cheers from the Staples Center.

The team is too far behind. Kobe's three-point response is very powerful, but for the Lakers, it does not quench their thirst!
  The Timberwolves quickly launched a counterattack after their defensive failure. However, in this round, the Timberwolves' Sam Mitchell reached the basket and made a strong shot that was interfered by the defending Eddie Jones, and the basketball collapsed out of the frame.

The rebound was collected by the Lakers, and the Lakers quickly launched a counterattack.

The Lakers' attack was very fast. Sam Mitchell was too deep, and his "old arms and legs" simply couldn't keep up with the pace of the young people.

On the Lakers' side, Eddie Jones, Kobe Bryant, and Fisher came down quickly, forming a three-on-two frontcourt.

Fisher faked a layup while running, and when he took off, he passed the ball to Kobe who was assisting the fast break from the side. The latter exploded the ball, then quickly attacked the Timberwolves basket and scored with a one-handed dunk.

The powerful slam dunk made the fans in the stands get excited and cheered much more enthusiastically than before.

Perhaps because the team was leading too much, the Timberwolves' attack back was a bit sloppy.

Mitchell gave Chris a pick-and-roll, and the latter used the pick-and-roll to drive directly into the Lakers basket without hesitation. Then, with Sean Lukes blocking the defense, he forced the basket and shot, and the basketball directly hit the Lakers basket. It hit the edge of the basket and bounced out.

Kobe, who was rushed immediately, got the backboard. The Timberwolves, who learned their lesson from the previous round, quickly returned to defense this time.

But although they fell into position early, the Timberwolves' bench strength pales in comparison to the Lakers.

Eddie Jones relied on his youth. After receiving the pass from his teammates, he focused on dribbling the ball at a fast pace, frequently mobilizing Sam Mitchell's defensive steps.

After three or four seconds of cooking in place, Eddie Jones took advantage of Sam Mitchell's opportunity to adjust his steps again. Eddie Jones directly broke through, passed Sam Mitchell and then went to the basket. After Cherokee Parker Under Si's defense, he used a difficult lever to send the ball into the basket.

As the basketball hit the net, the point difference narrowed again.

At 39:25, the Lakers chased back four points in just a few minutes at the beginning of the second quarter.

Although the score difference between the two teams was still very large, the audience at Staples saw that the Lakers were clearly on the rise. At this moment, they did not hesitate to use their own voices and began to cheer for the players.

The Lakers and Lakers fans, who had been silenced by martial arts, were somewhat revived by the outstanding performances of Kobe Bryant and Eddie Jones.

"Well"

"Kobe Bryant from the Lakers is really good."

"I also entered the league as a high school student. Although not as good as martial arts, I am still much better than the other players."

"And he's very talented!"

"Give him a few years to grow up and become an independent outside player."

On the sidelines of the court, Philip saw the team being chased for points continuously. He was not anxious at all. Instead, he had time to evaluate Kobe.

"Coach, do you want to strengthen our offense?"

"My physical condition is actually pretty good."

"In yesterday's game against the Suns, I actually didn't have much energy."

Wu Dao also sensed that the Lakers were gaining momentum and took the initiative to ask coach Philip.

Hearing Wu Dao's words, Coach Philip smiled indifferently and said with relief:

"Have you only rested for a few minutes?"

"Get some more rest."

"Martial arts, you must also learn to trust your teammates."

"There are still many games in the regular season. How can you stand it if you play 40 minutes every day?"

"Combination of work and rest."

"We're still ahead, so there's no need to worry."

Just as Wu Dao and Coach Philip were talking, there was another crisp sound of basketball hitting iron in the court.

The Timberwolves entered the round, and Cherokee Parks missed a hook near the basket. Sean Lukes gave the Timberwolves' white center some "some" confrontation when defending.

Taking advantage of the home whistle, Sean Lukes' controversial defensive action was not called at all.

As the rebound was caught by Sean Lukes, the Lakers launched another counterattack.

The Timberwolves returned to defense very quickly. Fisher, who wanted to play fast, stopped when he was approaching the top of the key while taking the ball.

Just when Fisher was about to adjust and organize his position, Kobe broke away from Doug West who was guarding him and drove to the basket.

Doug West, who is [-] years old this year, is not as explosive as a young man like Kobe. After being caught without the ball, he was even less able to catch up.

Fisher hit the ball and passed it. After Kobe caught the basketball in the mid-range, he forced his way to the basket and made a strong shot against Stanley Roberts' defense.

The moment Kobe shot the basketball, Stanley Roberts' palm also slapped Kobe's hand.

At the same time, the referee's whistle also sounded.

Kobe's basketball hit the board and Stanley Roberts gave him a free throw.

Kobe, who successfully scored 2+1, clenched his fist with one hand and looked excited. He glared at Stanley Roberts fiercely from behind and walked towards the free throw line.

"." Kobe's actions were a bit provocative. Stanley Roberts glanced at Kobe a few more times without saying a word.

As Kobe sent the ball into the net with a free throw, the point difference between the two teams was reduced to 11 points.

"Coach, do you really don't need to substitute someone?"

Budao glanced at the score that was about to return to double digits and couldn't help but ask.

No matter which NBA team it is, once it goes smoothly, it is a terrible thing.

What's more, the current Lakers are very strong, a team that won 9 consecutive victories at the beginning of the season!
  O'Neal is not here, and the Timberwolves' inside line is worn like this, which is not a good sign.

"Don't panic, hold on."

Coach Phillip pressed his hand and replied.

Although he said so, Philip was obviously dissatisfied with the players' performance. He walked to the sidelines and shouted to the players on the court:
  "Move! Stanley, raise your position to set up a pick-and-roll for Chris!"

The players on the court could also feel Philip's emotions, and he was obviously playing more cautiously in this round.

Chris quickly broke through after getting a high pick-and-roll from his teammate, and Stanley Roberts also followed.

The two played a decent match, and then Stanley Roberts finished the game with a layup.

As the Timberwolves scoreboard jumped, the Timberwolves, who had been forced to play several goals, finally broke the scoring drought.

"Look, your teammates played pretty well, didn't they?"

Phillip turned around with a smile and said to Martial Arts consciously and humorously.

And just as he was speaking, the Lakers actually chose a fast start. Kobe dribbled the ball and rushed upfield. When he was approaching the top of the arc, he paused and then lowered his center of gravity.

Although Doug West, who was half a body behind, wanted to make up for it, Kobe, who started quickly, quickly got rid of Doug West. Under the pursuit of the latter, he easily made a reverse layup. The ball is put into the basket.

Coach Phillip's face became a little stiff, Wu Dao shrugged and said: "If you don't let me play, at least let Tom play."

"That guy seems to have got it right."

(End of this chapter)