Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

In the first quarter of the game, the Timberwolves and Lakers played to a tie. This situation somewhat surprised Minnesota fans.

Many Timberwolves fans have watched the previous games between the Timberwolves and the Lakers. In the United States, there are many more options for broadcasting NBA games than there are domestically.

Domestically, after Dayao entered the NBA, most people could watch basically TV broadcasts of Rockets or Lakers games. Even if you want to watch other games, you have to look at the mood of the TV station. It depends on whether others will broadcast it or not.

Fans who watched football in that era either watched Rockets or Lakers games. If they wanted to watch other games, they could only watch text broadcasts.

But in the United States, for any Timberwolves game, even if Minnesota fans can't go to the away game to cheer, they can still watch it in front of the TV.

When they played against the Lakers before, O'Neal was still in the Lakers' team, but even then, the Timberwolves were still able to fight against the Lakers led by O'Neal, and were even able to suppress the Lakers for a time and win the game.

But in today's game, the Lakers clearly lacked an inside super pillar, O'Neal, but the Timberwolves were not yet able to gain an advantage over the Lakers.

Such a gap is difficult for fans to accept for a while.

It was like this when O'Neal was here, and it was like this when O'Neal was away? What is O'Neal's dish? Or have the Timberwolves changed?

So the question is, is O'Neal good?

The answer to this question is too obvious. It's not that the Lakers are stronger than before, but that the Timberwolves are weaker than before.

Sometimes fans are so naive when watching games. In their opinion, star plus star equals a championship, and they don't think about whether those stars can produce a chemical reaction when they come together.

The sport of basketball is not as simple as one plus one.

The Lakers with O'Neal are strong, but without O'Neal, the Lakers won't be any weaker.

What's more, the Timberwolves' style of play has obviously changed a lot compared to the previous games.

Ordinary fans cannot understand such a change, but senior fans can understand the thoughts of players and coaches like the Timberwolves.

The regular season is a competition for playoff spots, but at the same time, it is also an excellent opportunity for each team to experiment with their lineups and playing styles.

For a playoff team, checking for leaks and filling in gaps is far more important than constantly "win, win, win."

On this point, the Warriors in the 15-16 season must have a strong say.

Right? 73 wins overall runner-up!

The fans were dissatisfied with the Timberwolves' performance, but Coach Philip's mentality was much better.

This is another attempt from the beginning of the season to strengthen the team's regular offensive methods, rather than putting the treasure on a single martial arts player and de-starring him. This is what any aspiring coach wants to do.

The risk of relying on the star's absolute isolation is too great.

And a huge problem will arise is that the team's coaching staff and management can easily be "kidnapped" by the stars.

This was what Philip had been trying so hard to avoid.

It's just that the previous game taught him a bit of a lesson, which made Philip restrain his thoughts. But in today's game against the Lakers, after Marbury independently controlled the ball ratio of the players on the court, Philip saw it again. A little hope.

In the second quarter, Philip comforted Martial Arts and said good things about Martial Arts while replacing the team with a substitute lineup.

However, his adjustment was not too big. He only replaced Garnett and Wu Dao with Cherokee Parks and Chris Kyle. He also moved Marbury to the No. 2 position. , Tom naturally became the No. 3 position.

Wallace inside also became the No. 4 position.

Before the players took the field, Philip asked the players to pass the ball more, and also asked Wallace to play more pick-and-rolls, providing better opportunities for Chris, Marbury and Tom.

For the Lakers, as Wu Dao took a rest, the larger Robert Horry also took a rest. He was replaced by Kobe Bryant. At the same time, Lakers center Elden Campbell was also replaced by substitute center Sean Luke. Replaced by Si (208cm/110kg, third overall pick in the second round in 1992).

O'Neal's absence also gives other inside players more opportunities to perform.

It is worth mentioning that this Lakers substitute, Sean Lukes, once played for the Timberwolves for two seasons and was teammates with Garnett and others.

It's just that after Garnett gradually grew up, Sean Lukes' role became less important. After all, he is a traditional No. 5 position, but his height and strength have no advantage at all in the No. 5 position. .

Such a player is too replaceable. Not to mention that the Timberwolves' inside line was full of talents at the time, but they could only give Sean Lukes a few minutes of substitute playing time.

In the Lakers, Sean Lukes can usually get 10 minutes of substitute time, and his position is usually counted as the 4th position.

It's just that in today's game, he appeared in the No. 5 position again.

As the whistle sounded, the Lakers served from the backcourt. Nick Van Exel, who was holding the ball, slowly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt. Just as he was approaching the three-point line, Kobe Bryant, who had just come on as a substitute, crossed over on the wing. At the three-point line, without the ball, he quickly turned his back and leaned on Marbury to prepare to catch the ball.

And just when Marbury lowered his center of gravity and planned to use his body to withstand Kobe, Kobe turned around without the ball and passed Marbury cleanly in an instant. When Kobe passed Marbury, Nick was approaching the top of the arc. ·Van Exel also quickly passed the ball to Kobe.

The latter took the ball, blasted the ball and then entered the paint area. He threw the ball high and easily passed Wallace's block.

"Shh!"

The basketball lightly rubbed against the backboard, and then fell steadily into the basket with a crisp sound.

Kobe Bryant, who scored the goal, ran back toward his own half, and when passing by the Timberwolves rest area, he hooked his fingers at Wu Dao who was sitting on the bench, looking provocative.

Kobe's actions were also seen by the Minnesota fans. Some fans in the front row were startled at first, and then they started to greet Kobe.

This is the case for fans in a "small rural city" like Minnesota. There are many standard "rednecks" among them, and their tempers are also very bad. For a while, the entire arena became noisy.

"Oh, look! That young man from the Lakers is provoking Wu!"

"If I were Coach Phillip, I would replace Wu immediately and tell that kid to shut up!"

The two commentators at the home court laughed and talked about "cross talk" after noticing Kobe's actions. They didn't have much respect for Kobe.

There is no way, even though Kobe is one year older than Wu Dao, he entered the league a year earlier.

But there are already many differences in the status of the two players.

Kobe is a substitute for the Lakers. Although he has been playing very well as a substitute, a substitute is a substitute. In the Lakers, I don’t even know what the ranking is. In the eyes of the fans, Kobe is undoubtedly He's just a "little brother" following O'Neal, Eddie Jones and others.

But martial arts are different.

Although he is only a rookie player and is not yet 19 years old, Wu Dao is the team boss of the Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves are now No. in the Western Conference. Wu Dao even suppressed Jordan, Malone and others in the scoring list. Veteran superstar.

Coupled with the "grievances" that Wu Dao had with Malone, Jordan and others during this period, fans seemed to place Wu Dao in the position of "star".

One is a small substitute; while the other is the boss of the Timberwolves who competes with the superstars. The status of Wu Dao and Kobe are completely different. Fans felt that Kobe's actions were arrogant and overestimating his abilities, but Kobe himself had no such "consciousness" at all.

This is a young man who dares to say to Jordan: "I can knock you out, Michael." He treats successful celebrities like that, and treats martial arts, so don't expect Kobe to have any "awe" .

On the basketball court, even if you bully Kobe, he can still say "I don't accept it."

Your character is like that, and others can't change it at all.

Faced with Kobe's provocation, Wu Dao was not angry. Instead, he grinned and asked Coach Philip sitting next to him:

"Coach, can you tolerate this guy?"

"I can't bear it anyway."

Hearing what Wu Dao said, Philip covered his head and shook it gently. He was speechless and could only say with relief:

"Don't worry, martial arts."

"If you accept all the provocations from cats and dogs, then you won't have to rest for the rest of the game."

"Leave it to your teammates."

"You are the wolf king of our forest wolves, so you should have some airs, right?"

Philip flattered Wu Dao and said Gong Wei's words. He doesn't want to send Budo on the field at this time because he wants to test the lineup. But it is obviously not a good thing to let martial arts hold back, so that can only be said.

He only meant half of what he said.

"Stephen!"

With that said, Phillip shouted to Marbury on the court. Seeing that Marbury's attention was attracted, Phillip said loudly:

"Shut up that boy!"

With that said, Philip pointed at Kobe.

When Philip signaled to Marbury, Chris Kyle, who was slowly dribbling the ball across the center line, also heard this and without hesitation, he quickly gave the ball to Marbury on the side without even getting close to the top of the arc.

Chris Kyle doesn't have many other advantages, except that he knows what's going on.

"Snapped!"

The basketball started. Marbury quickly made a test step, and then dropped the ball with his left hand and quickly rushed from the left. Kobe's reaction speed was quite fast, and he did not mess up his rhythm because of Marbury's test step. Although Marbury was faster. It took half a beat, but Kobe was also experienced and immediately provided some physical confrontation.

Kobe's power also slowed down Marbury's sudden advance. This delay also allowed Kobe to smoothly slide in front of Marbury.

The advance route was blocked, Marbury quickly changed direction in advance, trying to break through Kobe, but Kobe, who was nimble in his feet, quickly adjusted, and at the same time, he secretly poked Marbury's waist with his right hand, directly intercepting Marbury. down.

Marbury knows that he has no chance to break through Kobe in this round of offense and defense. He has already crossed the three-point line and has no depth to accelerate. In this position, unless he uses his footsteps to dodge the opponent's shot, he wants to get inside. , the opponent's inside players will definitely be able to react.

The basketball quickly hooked back, and Marbury passed back to Chris Kyle. The latter took the ball, swayed, and dropped the ball. After affecting Nick Van Exel's defense, he quickly pulled up and made a three-pointer. Shot release.

It's true that he is a sensible person, but if his teammates cannot pass the ball back after the ball is played, then he will not be polite! Bad timing of attack? So what?

The purpose of playing as a substitute is to be able to perform in order to get rid of the status of substitute! .

"Dang~~~"

Chris was not very lucky. The basketball hit the inner edge of the basket and bounced straight out.

Wallace forcefully pushed past Rick Fox, who was trying to grab the rebound, and took the ball directly into his hands. Then he quickly got up, deceived the defender, and then made a low layup and sent the ball into the net.

The Timberwolves scored smoothly, and although the process was a little bumpy, it was a good start to the second quarter.

But the Timberwolves players didn't have time to be happy for long. The Lakers launched a counterattack. Kobe once again caught the ball within one step of the three-point line. After receiving the basketball, Kobe quickly dropped the ball and took a big step laterally, and then completely ignored it. Marbury's pursuit was blocked and he made a jump shot from a high position.

Kobe's shooting position is undoubtedly an inefficient area, but his shot timing is quite good. There is a big gap between Marbury's height and Kobe's. If he is half a beat slower, it is even more impossible to stop him. Kobe's shot.

"Dang~~~"

The little blacksmith seemed to be showing off his strength, and Kobe's jump ball hit the basket.

But Kobe himself seemed to have expected it. After shooting, he did not stand still and watched, and then quickly entered the position under the basket. The moment the rebound appeared, he happened to be holding it in his hand.

Starting with the basketball, Kobe dribbled the ball and turned his back gracefully, avoiding Marbury who was rushing from behind. Then he followed the baseline and shot from the 10° direction of the backboard.

The basketball hit the net directly and made a crisp sound.

After scoring the goal, Kobe completely ignored Marbury and turned his head to look at Wu Dao on the bench not far away. The meaning in his eyes was self-evident.

"Haha, this kid."

Mitchell warmly hugged Wu Dao's shoulder and sighed with a smile.

The Timberwolves around him also looked at Kobe on the court in a funny way, as if they were watching a monkey. It was obvious that not only Coach Philip, but also none of the Timberwolves players put Kobe in their eyes.

In other words, in their opinion, the "nobody" from the Lakers is not even qualified to challenge martial arts.

Wu Dao really wanted to play at this time, but he also felt Phillip's thoughts, so he didn't say much.

The coach praises you so much, so it’s unreasonable not to give him face.

But being pushed off the court all the time and letting Kobe show off and show off is not an option.

"Coach, let Wallace guard him on the outside."

"The Lakers' inside strength is not very strong in this quarter."

"Cherokee Parks should be able to handle it."

"Give that boy some strength!"

(End of this chapter)