Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 639 Battle in the strong area!
The Timberwolves' management is recruiting strong No. 5 players everywhere, and their ambitions are clear.

In fact, not only O'Neal, but also Karl Malone and his agent received a private email from the Timberwolves management asking for a meeting.

In the Jordan era, there were a lot of stars who never won a championship. The Timberwolves used young stars such as Wu Dao, Marbury, and Garnett as their "signatures" and recruited outstanding fifth positions to help the Timberwolves win the championship.

The Timberwolves' management didn't think their team could be strengthened this season, but they still did it because they wanted to spread the news first.

In this way, if any outstanding No. 5 position wants to compete for the championship in the future, they will be given priority by the Timberwolves.

Even if the Timberwolves fail to make the playoffs this year, as long as the young people in the martial arts show their strength and let others see the potential of the Timberwolves to win the championship, they, the Timberwolves, may be able to receive strong support next season.

There are so many teams in the league, but not every team has the strength to say "We want to compete for the championship."

The vast majority of teams can't even make it to the playoffs, and there are many teams that can't even make it to the playoffs.

The team configuration cannot keep up. Even if there is an outstanding No. 5 in the team, there is still no chance of winning the championship.

In the Jordan era, super insiders such as Ewing, Malone, Uncle Mu, O'Neal, etc. have never won a championship. The only big man to win a championship during the two years Jordan was vacant in the league was Olajuwon.

Therefore, the Timberwolves' move caused quite a stir in the league.

This season, the Timberwolves maintained their outstanding performance in the next few games. After defeating the Los Angeles Clippers at home, they then defeated the Celtics from afar at home two days later.

On January 1, the day the Timberwolves defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 19:120 at home, an industry insider secretly revealed a piece of news to the media.

In the eyes of fans, the Timberwolves' current system is a "system" built around their super star Martial Arts.

For those who have not reached the end of their career, their desire to win cannot overcome their self-esteem.

It is true that the Timberwolves want a super insider, but the Timberwolves will not rebuild the team system around the super insider. On the contrary, the super insider who joins the Timberwolves must adapt to the Timberwolves' current style as soon as possible and integrate into the Timberwolves' system.

It's just that the "wave" set off by the Timberwolves management in the league quickly fell away.

For example, O'Neal is now the undisputed leader of the Lakers, and the same is true for Ewing of the Knicks. They are both the boss of the team and superstars who have been famous for many years. People like them can be the boss of another team. But it is basically impossible to help a rookie.

Of course, the calm of the storm is only superficial. If the Timberwolves successfully enter the playoffs this year and perform very well in the playoffs, I am afraid that there will still be super centers who "take risks", put aside their so-called self-esteem, and use a A championship ring brings a successful conclusion to his basketball career.

So what is the Timberwolves' current system?

In fact, not only the players at the fifth position, but also many outstanding fourth positions in the league have also received emails from the Timberwolves management making appointments to meet.

Team owners with super insiders, such as the Spurs, New York Knicks, and Lakers, all became nervous and began to give reassurance to their players.

This kind of thing is absolutely unacceptable to the superstars of this era. In the league in the 90s, the status of insiders was very high. Those big centers were often the core of the team's first game and the most "expensive" players.

For example, Barkley of the Rockets was somewhat concerned about the invitation from the Timberwolves, and at the same time he also became particularly concerned about the Timberwolves' games.

Many well-known media and football commentators are paying attention to the Timberwolves' search for an outstanding support player at the No. 5 position to compete for the championship.

The host of the Los Angeles Times revealed to the outside world some specific requirements when the Timberwolves recruited the No. 5 position during a phone interview show.

In other words, after the super insider went to the Timberwolves, he did not go to dominate, but to assist the young man. Let's not talk about the team's status. The tactical status will definitely not be the highest.

It is precisely for this reason that the "turmoil" caused by the Timberwolves' management quickly subsided.

The stars are extremely eager to defeat Jordan and win a championship of their own.

To put it bluntly, if you go to the Timberwolves, you have to deal with a rookie.

As soon as such news came out, super insiders like O'Neal and Ewing who were originally a little bit moved immediately gave up their thoughts.

The young Antoine Walker once again faced the Timberwolves led by Wu Dao, and ultimately lost to the Timberwolves 95:110.

In this game, Walker played for 43 minutes, took 28 crazy shots, and only hit 12 of them. He was 3 of 0 three-pointers and 8 of 6 free throws. He played extremely inefficiently and scored 30 points.

As for the Timberwolves, Wu Dao, who faced Walker, performed "slightly" better in today's game. He played 42 minutes and made 22 of 17 shots, including 4 of 3 three-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws. He scored 44 in total. point.

With their terrifying scoring efficiency, the Timberwolves suppressed the Celtics in all directions throughout the game. The Celtics players failed to find an opportunity for victory from the Timberwolves throughout the game.

Wu Dao is different from many outside players in this era. His performance in every game is quite stable, with almost no ups and downs in his state.

And his stability and terrifying scoring ability also make him highly praised by Minnesota fans.

From the beginning of the season to now, with nearly half of the schedule, no one would still think that Wu Dao is a short-lived player. Through these games, Wu Dao has already established his reputation and worth.

These days, his agent has also received endorsement invitations from some sports brands, and the prices offered are not bad, but martial arts has pushed them away.

It’s not that Martial Arts doesn’t like money, but Martial Arts knows that the time has not yet come.

His commercial value still has a lot of room for growth, and the endorsement fees of a few million dollars are simply not worth mentioning to him. What he has to do now is to play his game well, and money will naturally come to him.

The Timberwolves have won consecutive games and are full of momentum. After the game with the Celtics, the Timberwolves have defeated the Raptors, Hawks, Grizzlies and other teams.

On January 1, the Timberwolves finally met a tough enough opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers.

From the beginning of the season to the present, the Lakers have a remarkable record of 30 wins and 12 losses. They are one of the strongest opponents the Timberwolves have to face in the Western Conference.

At this stage of the regular season, the media and football commentators have made some predictions about the playoff pattern. Teams like the Lakers, Jazz, SuperSonics, Spurs and Timberwolves are often mentioned.

Nowadays, the league's pattern of strong west and weak east is still relatively obvious. With a record like the Lakers', they can only rank third in the current Western Conference.

Above the Lakers, there are two teams, the Timberwolves and the Jazz. Behind the Lakers, the SuperSonics are only three games behind them.

Looking back at the Eastern Conference, except for the Bulls, the other teams have not played any so-called dominance. The Pacers' record is also very beautiful, but fans who watch the game know that the Pacers' hard power is not as good as the top teams in the Western Conference. Teams have no way to compare.

The Timberwolves and Lakers have played against each other more than once, and the players on both sides have some understanding of each other's players.

In the last game against the Lakers, O'Neal was absent due to injury. It was not difficult for the Timberwolves to win, but in today's game, O'Neal has already returned from injury.

Just before the game against the Timberwolves, O'Neal scored 27 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 blocks in the game against the Nets.

Since O'Neal landed in the league as the No. 92 pick in 7, this is already his seventh year in the NBA. Now O'Neal is 26 years old, and his dominance in the interior is getting stronger and stronger. In this game with the Lakers, the Timberwolves are playing away from home.

When the Timberwolves players played, it was a little different from the last away experience. The Lakers' home fans were very quiet.

With the aura of being No. 1 in the Western Conference, the Timberwolves' current team temperament has also undergone great changes.

Under the gaze of the audience, the Timberwolves players walked out of the tunnel with calm expressions. Facing the powerful Lakers, the Timberwolves players behaved calmly.

In the Lakers' rest area, O'Neal was slightly turning his head to look at the Timberwolves entering the stadium. He could clearly feel that the aura exuded by the Timberwolves players was somewhat different from the previous two meetings.

The last player of the Timberwolves was Wu Dao, who was wearing the No. 2 jersey. Wu Dao ran into the court and calmly high-fived the audience on both sides of the stands. His calmness and strong confidence exuded were something Wu Dao had never possessed before.

We haven’t seen each other for a while, and the Timberwolves players have undergone transformation.

"The Timberwolves feel different."

"Today's game, I'm afraid we will have a very difficult time."

Lakers head coach Del Harris carefully observed the Timberwolves players, with a somewhat dignified look on his face.

When O'Neal heard this, he curled his lips, then stood up from his seat and walked towards the Timberwolves' rest area.

"Shaquille? What are you going to do?"

Del Harris was startled when he saw O'Neal's action, and hurried to pull it.

"Come over and say hello."

"We are all old rivals, so we know each other, right?"

With that said, O'Neal shook off Del Harris' hand and walked towards the Timberwolves' rest area.

At this time, the on-site commentator had just finished introducing the Timberwolves players, and the Timberwolves players were sitting in the rest area, making final adjustments.

"Hey, Timberwolves guys, welcome to Los Angeles!"

O'Neal has a cheerful personality, smiled and greeted everyone in the Timberwolves, and then extended his hand to Sam Mitchell who was nearby.

The way of greeting between black people is sometimes very complicated, and sometimes it is very simple. When Mitchell saw O'Neal taking the initiative to extend his hand, he stood up and shook it vigorously, and then the two lightly touched their shoulders.

When the other Timberwolves players saw this, they all showed respect to O'Neal and stood up one after another to say hello to O'Neal.

In the eyes of the audience, the Timberwolves players stood up and shook hands with O'Neal one by one, just like subordinates meeting their leaders.

When O'Neal arrived in front of Garnett, Garnett didn't even move his butt. He just reached out and shook O'Neal's hand and said:

"Are you here to beg for mercy?"

"Even if you beg for mercy, we will not let you go."

"I'm going to kick your ass hard in today's game."

Garnett is crazy. The Timberwolves have won consecutive games, and his performance on the court is also very good, which makes him even crazier.

This kind of madness did not show any restraint even when faced with O'Neal.

In fact, not to mention facing O'Neal, as a rookie, high school student Garnett met Jordan and dared to talk trash in front of Jordan.

This also directly led to Leder, who was playing against Jordan at the time, being used as a punching bag by Jordan and was beaten severely.

After that, Garnett never had a long memory, and he basically treated his opponents like a fool. O'Neal is very well-known in the league. Garnett regards O'Neal as an opponent and is willing to provoke him.

Garnett's character makes many people hate him, but many people like his straightforward character, so Garnett's popularity is actually not bad.

"Shut your ugly mouth."

"I don't even bother to talk to you!"

O'Neal glanced at Garnett and said sarcastically, but his hand movements were not affected by Garnett's trash talk at all, and he shook hands with the Timberwolves players.

"It's useless for you to have a good relationship with them. You might as well have a good relationship with me."

"As long as you say a few nice words, maybe I will relax on the court."

Garnett said to O'Neal with a smile.

His words made O'Neal's eyelids jump. At this time, O'Neal had already walked in front of Wu Dao. O'Neal stopped, suddenly pointed at Garnett, and said with a smile:

"Hey, Martial Arts."

"I want to have a 'team boss' conversation with you."

"But, it seems that someone in your team doesn't know who is the boss of the team?"

"Aren't you going to teach him a lesson?!"

"That boy who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth."

Don't look at O'Neal's "honest" look with his limbs in a daze. This guy's mind works very fast. He doesn't directly mock Garnett, but secretly makes Garnett feel sick. At the same time, he also uses martial arts. Drag down the water.

Wu Dao, who was tightening his shoelaces, raised his head slightly and glanced at O'Neal's smiling face, with a faint smile on his face:

"You have to let Coach Del Harris and Coach Phillip do the talking between the team bosses."

"Tell me what it's like."

"Aren't you overstepping your bounds?"