Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Not long after the game between the Timberwolves and the Lakers started, the Timberwolves took the lead.

Although Garnett's scoring does not look tough, scoring is scoring after all. For the Timberwolves, this is a good start.

The Lakers' counterattack is not fast. Their starting lineup is obviously focused on the inside. The first core of the offense is O'Neal. No one else can replace O'Neal's position in the Lakers.

Therefore, the progress of the entire Lakers team is closely centered around O'Neal, and the team's advancement speed is determined by O'Neal's position.

If O'Neal is fast, the rest of the Lakers will be fast. If O'Neal is slow, the rest of the team will be slow.

At this time, the game has just begun. O'Neal has not yet fully entered the state, and his forward speed is not too fast.

"Go around and defend!"

"Ben, don't stand behind the shark, go forward and defend as much as possible, don't let him catch the ball easily!"

As O'Neal passed through the crowd and settled in the left half outside the Timberwolves' paint area, Coach Philip loudly reminded Wallace on the court.

At this time, under the basket of the Timberwolves' half court, O'Neal turned his back to position, his broad back pressed against Wallace's chest, squeezing out enough space for himself to receive the ball.

O'Neal has been in the league for so many years, and these teams in the league have already summed up a lot of experience in dealing with O'Neal.

Of course, a historical superstar like O'Neal can definitely not be prevented just by relying on so-called "experience". But the purpose of the Timberwolves' defense against O'Neal is not to block him.

The original plan of the Timberwolves was to suppress O'Neal's scoring efficiency to the greatest extent possible.

In Philip's mind, as long as O'Neal's score can be suppressed to less than 25 points in today's game, it will be the success of their Timberwolves defense!
To deal with a dominant center like O'Neal, it would be a bit slow to wait until he gets the basketball and start to double-team him.

If you want to limit such a character, you need to interfere with the opponent before he receives the basketball in the low post.

In recent years, the Lakers have rarely encountered the so-called "firepower problem" in games. If the Lakers have any tactical difficulties in the game, it is that they need to find ways to pass the ball to O'Neal.

The biggest problem that the Lakers team needs to solve is how to get the ball to O'Neal.

As long as this problem can be solved, the Lakers will basically not lose.

The existence of people like Eddie Jones and Kobe is not to hope that they can score many points on the court. Their biggest role is to help O'Neal attract a sufficient number of defensive players. However, they are to find ways to get the ball to O'Neal.

Kobe and Eddie Jones played alone. This is actually the "impression flow" of many fans. Kobe played alone during the early OK team period, and Eddie Jones was also the kind of scorer who could pass the ball.

In fact, among the four major shooting guards at that time, Iverson was more unique in his game, with high scores and low efficiency. There is another one, Tracy McGrady during the Rockets period.

Although McGrady often lobs to Yao Ming, or often relies on his teammates' pick-and-roll pull-ups, in fact, he has many unreasonable three-point pull-up options, and in sports battles, McGrady's passing is also very good. Very little.

His desire to attack the basket is far from comparable to that of Kobe and Iverson in the early and mid-term.

Even though the Yao-Mai duo shouted loudly, anyone who actually watched the Rockets games back then would be able to recognize that the two of them actually played each other more often than not.

Yao Ming sets up a stick for singles in the inside, and McGrady sets up a stick for singles on the outside, or uses the cover of his teammates to make one-step three-pointers.

The chemistry between these two people is far inferior to that of the OK group.

Why is it said that Yao Ming missed out on the championship because he did not go to the Lakers to join forces with Kobe Bryant? !

Is it because McGrady's pure strength is not as good as Kobe's? Let the two of them play one-on-one at that time, and it's hard to say who would be better. I'm afraid McGrady, who has more physical talent, has a higher winning rate.

But the difference between the two players is that Kobe is used to working with big centers, while McGrady’s style of play cannot create space for his teammates. Cooperating with those dominant big centers only means sharing the ball at best, which is 1+1=2 the result of.

O'Neal also worked with many outstanding scorers in the early days, and the "habits" of those scorers were actually not much different from McGrady.

On the contrary, Wade, who O'Neal worked with after leaving the Lakers, is the same person as Kobe.

When the Sharks can't stand up, I stand up and hold the ball, which can create countless opportunities for the inside.

Wade will not be like McGrady, who makes a lot of unreasonable pull-ups and plays his own basketball regardless of the center's touch.

The Lakers players know exactly how they should play, and the Timberwolves players also know that the Lakers will try their best to open up O'Neal's offensive point.

Therefore, when O'Neal was trying to gain position with his back to the basket, Tom on the same side quickly turned around and turned to cover O'Neal. At the same time, Wallace also moved his steps and pressed hard on O'Neal's body, trying to get around him. Go in front of O'Neal and prevent the opponent from passing the ball.

Defending around the front is miraculous in dealing with big insiders who are clumsy and cannot jump high.

But O'Neal's level of physical talent can minimize the impact of forward defense on him.

When Ben Wallace exerted his strength, O'Neal first took the initiative to give Wallace a back-to-back confrontation, and then quickly turned his back toward the baseline, instantly leaving Wallace behind and hitting the basket. Down.

At the same time, Fisher, who was holding the ball in the high post, also anticipated O'Neal's actions, threw the ball towards the basket with both hands, and sent an alley-oop.

The moment Fisher threw the basketball, Garnett seemed to have noticed it. He quickly let go of his opponent and chased into the basket. Just as the basketball was falling and O'Neal jumped to prepare for an alley-oop dunk, Garnett Te's figure quickly rose into the air in front of O'Neal, and he actually grabbed the ball in his hand and picked it off.

The terrifying physical talent allows Garnett to take off as high as O'Neal in terms of absolute height. O'Neal can catch such a pass, and Garnett can naturally catch it.

"Snapped!"

After landing, Garnett gathered the ball hard and quickly threw it to Wu Dao who came up to respond. After throwing the basketball to Martial Arts, Garnett turned his head with a relaxed look on his face and looked at O'Neal, who also fell back to the ground, and said with a smile:
"This is a no-fly zone!"

"Don't even think about a fly flying over my head!"

Garnett seemed quite happy to pick up the alley-oop pass from the Lakers, with a smile on his face and taunted O'Neal.

"Tsk."

"Three against one!"

"If you fight like this, I will crush you all!"

O'Neal smacked his lips. Under the tight defense of the Timberwolves, he was not angry, but said harsh words. O'Neal is not the kind of naive person who would not stupidly say that it is unfair for three players to defend one player. This is basketball. For those superstars, it is appropriate for the opponent to send two or three players to defend them.

At this time, what the stars have to do is not to complain about their opponents' lack of martial ethics. What they have to do is break through the opponent's defense and lead the team to win!

O'Neal is such a person. What he is thinking about now is to kill these defensive players of the Timberwolves!
The Lakers retreated quickly. Wu Dao's original intention was to hit the Lakers for a counterattack, but he found that the Lakers players returned to defense very quickly, so he gave up decisively.

The game had just begun. When both teams were full of energy, the Lakers were able to react to the Timberwolves' offensive and defensive transition rhythm.

When he realized that the fast break opportunity was lost, Wu Dao quickly gave the ball to Marbury, and then trotted towards the frontcourt.

Marbury approached the top of the arc with the ball, and Fisher, who was guarding him, quickly got up and put pressure on Marbury.

While Fisher was putting pressure on the defense, other Lakers players also joined forces. Rick Fox, who was defending Wu Dao, also quickly approached, not wanting to give Wu Dao a chance to catch the ball comfortably.

The Lakers planned to intercept Marbury's passing route and force Marbury to make a mistake.

Wu Dao immediately understood the opponent's intention. After Rick Fox came up, Wu Dao had no intention of quickly getting rid of the opponent's defense. After a simple trial run, Wu Dao quickly left the elbow area and headed towards the baseline. Travel quickly.

As Wu Dao left, Marbury, who was holding the ball at the top of the arc, instantly understood Wu Dao's intention.

Let him do it by himself!

Marbury's dribbling is already excellent. Although Fisher's defense is very tough, it is still unrealistic to intercept Marbury. Moreover, Marbury's physical confrontation is also good. Under Fisher's defense, he can still Able to do it with ease and not stop the ball.

With two consecutive crotch swings, Marbury suddenly exploded the ball, took a small jump, spread his arms and made a feint, then quickly hit Fisher from the right.

While Marbury was advancing, Garnett was already leaving quickly from the inside. When Marbury was approaching the free throw line, Garnett had already thrown away Campbell and went to the high elbow area where Wu Dao was before.

Garnett stopped one and a half steps inside the three-point line, and Campbell, who wanted to pursue Garnett, quickly turned aside and blocked Marbury.

Big open space on the outside.

Marbury didn't hesitate. He flipped his wrist while walking, and the basketball immediately flew to Garnett on the outside.

Garnett caught the ball in the high post, and a huge hole appeared in the Lakers' defensive rotation. Garnett, who was in the open position, adjusted his posture slightly and then threw the basketball in his hand.

"Uh-huh!!!"

Garnett's shooting percentage has always been very good, and Garnett's playing habits are hugely different from the ordinary fourth position in this era. He also made a lot of high-post shots in past games.

This guy's shots within 10 to 15 feet of the basket are far better than any player at his position in this era.

It is precisely because of his offensive characteristics that many fans call him the No. 4 who plays the No. 3 position.

Since Wu Dao entered the Timberwolves, Garnett's playing style has been forced to transform. All shots in the inefficient zone have been taken over by Wu Dao. Like him, there is an All-Star striker, Tom.

This has also led to a significant decline in Tom's data this season. However, Garnett has improved his scoring and shooting percentage compared to last season after eliminating the inefficiency zone and increasing the number of shots near the basket. A slight improvement.

In today's game, Wu Dao tried to attack around Garnett, so he deliberately gave up some ball rights. He wanted to see if it was possible for Garnett to play his best in scoring data. The Lakers' O'Neal is equally impressive.

As the basketball entered the net, the point difference between the two teams widened to 4 points.

Garnett's two consecutive attacks were successfully scored, making Garnett even more excited. He felt that he was quite good today and was fully able to shoulder the offensive burden of the team.

O'Neal was obviously a little annoyed when he saw Garnett score again, and he ran toward the Timberwolves half court faster than before.

The Timberwolves players noticed that the Lakers' pace had accelerated, and they also mentioned the speed of returning to defense.

The Timberwolves played a 23 zone defense in this game.

Tom is responsible for the left area of ​​the court, and Budo is responsible for the right area. The coach did not assign the two of them to specifically target who they were responsible for, but just let the players adjust and rotate according to the opponent's running situation.

In this attack, the player who appeared in front of Wu Dao was the Lakers' Rick Fox. A fairly good ball-handling scorer, capable of sudden three-point play and full of power.

However, Wu Dao's understanding of Rick Fox is still based on the previous few games. Except for the few games they played against the Lakers, Wu Dao does not have a deep understanding of the "marginal" players of the Lakers.

Just as Wu Dao was distracted and looking at the matchup between O'Neal and Wallace on the inside, Rick Fox suddenly accelerated past Wu Dao and rushed towards the inside.

After Fisher noticed the actions of his teammates, he quickly sent the ball inside with a ground pass.

At the same time, Rick Fox also quickly caught the ball. After just two steps, Wu Dao's figure quickly appeared from Rick Fox's side and raised his hand to cover Rick Fox's eyes.

Realizing that Wu Dao was chasing after him, Rick Fox didn't show any obvious pause. He just hugged the ball with his right hand and made a backward movement. He quickly distanced himself from Wu Dao with a side step, and then he was less than one step away from the free throw line. His left hand suddenly grabbed the ball and raised it above his head.

Rick Fox's operation was a bit beyond Wu Dao's expectations. He was half a beat late and Wu Dao took off to block the shot. However, Rick Fox blocked the shot with his right hand on the arm of Wu Dao blocking the shot, and quickly threw the ball towards the basket with his left hand. go out.

Under the gaze of all the Timberwolves players, the basketball hit the board head-on and bounced into the basket with a crisp sound.

As the basketball entered the net, O'Neal opened his stance under the basket and held up the Timberwolves. O'Neal, who could barely maintain his position with two others, his eyes lit up. He stopped his stance and shouted to Rick Fox:
"What a ball!"

"Rick!"

"That's it, let the newcomer know how awesome you are!"

"Shit 'Young Michael', let me kick his ass!!!"

Rick Fox's difficult goal made O'Neal very excited and praised loudly. At this time, Rick Fox looked at Wu Dao's face slowly darkening, and the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.

To shut up
Please shut up!
Rick Fox looked at Wu Dao's face and screamed in his heart.

(End of this chapter)