Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

"Should I give Kobe more opportunities to accelerate his growth?"

Harris watched the game between the Timberwolves and the Lakers off the court, watching the martial arts that shined on the court, and thought to himself.

The excellence of martial arts made Harris couldn't help but reflect. He is one of the more old-school coaches in the league. When selecting players, Harris will give priority to those who have played in the league for one or two years, have some achievements or are... A player who has produced some statistics.

Young players are not that trustworthy to him.

But in terms of strength, Kobe, who is now in his second year, is indeed as good as the starting players of many other teams. Even in the Lakers, Kobe's offensive power on the outside is among the top players on the team.

Even when players were training against each other in private, Kobe was able to suppress Eddie Jones. From the beginning of the Lakers season to now for nearly half of the regular season, Kobe's game statistics when coming off the bench are also quite impressive.

If he were on another team, the young Kobe would undoubtedly be a more superstar player than Eddie Jones and a more valuable player to develop.

But Harris doesn't think so. Even if Kobe has shown such value, he still trusts Eddie Jones more. There is no other reason because Eddie Jones is older. In terms of Harris' "feeling", Older people are more worthy of being entrusted with important tasks.

It was just the emergence of martial arts that caused Harris to waver.

The leader of the Timberwolves is too young. He landed in the NBA as a high school rookie. It is only his first season, but he has already surpassed the team's All-Star substitute Tom and the high draft pick Garner. Special and Marbury became the team leaders.

In Harris' view, this kind of thing is really unimaginable.

But what is annoying is that the Timberwolves' record after using these young people is indeed extremely good. And Wu Dao, who has high hopes from the Timberwolves management, has lived up to the team's expectations and has performed superbly in dozens of games.

He topped the scoring list this season and ranked among the top three in the MVP list. Before Wu Dao, there were only two players, Jordan and Malone.

If Budo's rebounding data wasn't a level lower than these two, the first-year rookie might have ranked first on the MVP list.

The prominence of martial arts also made more people pay attention to the young people in each team. In fact, after the performance of Martial Arts, many teams in the league have already implemented some 'reforms'.

Young players who could only sit on the bench in the past have been given a lot of playing opportunities in recent times.

Obviously, the coaches of those teams also want to confirm the quality of the newcomers in the team, for fear of having a "pearl" covered with dust on their hands.

It's just a pity that what those teams have on hand is not a pearl.
But the Lakers are different. Kobe is really that pearl, but he lacks opportunities to perform!

In the stadium, the game between the Timberwolves and the Lakers continues.

While Harris was thinking wildly, Kobe Bryant on the court finally scored successfully on Wu Dao's head.

Kobe, who was receiving the ball from the outside, once again revealed his intention to play singles with the ball. This time, O'Neal, who was used to squatting, unexpectedly ran to the high post to set a pick-and-roll for Kobe.

Martial Arts, the third position, has a body that is comparable to that of the fourth position or even the fifth position. In one-on-one situations, his size, strength, and speed can all provide him with terrifying combat power.

However, such a large body is not without its shortcomings. His size will make it easy for him to take the screen. After all, his body is large and there is no way to "get through" between the screener and the ball handler.

When faced with an opponent's screen, Wu Dao can only go around the screen or get close in advance, or squeeze the screen to create space for himself.

If the person doing the pick-and-roll for Kobe is a "little weakling" like Fisher, with his strength and size, Wu Dao can easily fly over the opponent and then chase Kobe.

But the person covering for Kobe at this time was O'Neal, who weighed nearly 300 pounds. The martial arts that wanted to chase Kobe was directly "hung up" by O'Neal, and he couldn't keep up with Kobe at all.

After Kobe crossed the martial arts defense line, he reached the Timberwolves' basket, and then "twirled and twisted" under Garnett's defense. He avoided Garnett's block with an extremely twisted posture, and pulled up the lever. The basket sent the ball into the basket.

The Lakers fans were excited to watch the difficult layup. As the basketball hit the net, the fans' cheers also poured into the court.

"Hey, you're so powerful!"

Wu Dao watched helplessly as Kobe passed him and scored at the basket, his face darkened involuntarily.

He also wants to try to get a clean sheet for Nao Nai, so that when his fans brag in the future, he can provide them with material to brag about themselves.

But unexpectedly, O'Neal, a "lazy guy", actually came out to set a pick-and-roll for Kobe. This was beyond his expectation.

It's a bit abnormal for O'Neal's "I'm the biggest" character to actually set up pick-and-rolls for the substitutes instead of squatting for the ball.

But this is the stereotype of O'Neal in martial arts.

Although O'Neal does have the kind of "I am the best in the world" temperament, his desire for victory will never lose to anyone.

During the OK period of the Lakers, no matter how much the relationship between O'Neal and Kobe broke out in private, on the court, the two men could work together for victory.

After leaving the Lakers, when O'Neal, who was used to being the boss, went to the Heat to join forces with Wade, he would also say to Wade, "This is your team. I will be your bodyguard. I hope you will carry the banner. I plan to We won one, two, maybe seven championships together.”

The Timberwolves led by Wu Dao not only put huge pressure on Kobe, but also put huge pressure on O'Neal, completely arousing O'Neal's desire to win that was buried deep in his heart.

Wu Dao turned his head slightly and looked at O'Neal, who was pretending to rub his chest and making teasing remarks, and was speechless for a while.

"Annoying guy."

The Lakers players began to retreat. Wu Dao murmured and ran quickly towards the Lakers' frontcourt. The power of the OK combination had begun to show signs. He needed a goal to help the team stabilize its position.

Marbury entered the frontcourt with the ball and saw Wu Dao asking for the ball. Just as he was about to release the ball, Fisher slipped in front of him and blocked the passing route between Marbury and Wu Dao.

Although the pass was blocked, Fisher's defense against Marbury also had huge holes.

Marbury quickly collected the ball, dropped the ball in front of him, started quickly with the ball with his left hand, and quickly passed Fisher. When he was about to approach the free throw line, he saw the "crouched" O'Neal showing his intention to make up for the defense, and immediately got up After a pause, a small throw was released quickly.

The basketball hit the edge of the frame and bounced out. The backboard was caught by O'Neal in his hands, and the offense and defense could easily change.

The Lakers' advancement was not fast, and after landing in position, Fisher actually handed the ball to Kobe again. Seeing the basketball fall into Kobe's hands, Wu Dao couldn't help but turn his head slightly and looked at O'Neal's position. Wu Dao was concerned about O'Neal's pick and roll just now. However, taking advantage of the moment when Wu Dao observed O'Neal's position, Kobe launched the ball drop. Wu Dao started half a beat slower and quickly intercepted Kobe. The two took a few steps, and Wu Dao suddenly noticed a huge figure out of the corner of his eye. Falling on his own path.

In an instant, Wu Dao quickly stopped in front of O'Neal. At the same time, Kobe also quickly passed by Wu Dao, and with a single jump, he directly swayed Stanley who was chasing O'Neal forward. Roberts then hit the board with a small left hook right at the basket.

"Bang!" The basketball lightly hit the backboard and bounced into the basket with a soft sound.

The stadium was immediately flooded with cheers from Lakers fans.

Kobe Bryant scored continuously on Wu Dao's head, igniting the fire in the hearts of the fans. Lakers fans watched a few of Kobe's games, and suddenly felt that Kobe was a kid that was pleasing to their eyes.

Aren't you, the Minnesota Timberwolves, just lucky enough to pick up a young superstar? Don’t we, the Purple and Golden Lakers, have any young superstars of our own? !

At this time, Kobe's performance on the court was considered by fans to be a "competition" with the Timberwolves' martial arts.

"well done!"

"My little brother is really good, he didn't waste my pick-and-roll screen." Seeing that the Timberwolves' defense was broken, O'Neal looked at Kobe who was scoring consecutively, a bright smile appeared on his face, and he extended his hand towards Kobe.

Although he didn't like O'Neal's title of "little brother", Kobe still high-fived O'Neal after scoring the goal.

He knew very well that he was able to score these two goals so easily because of O'Neal's pick-and-roll screen.

If he is allowed to attack the martial arts defense line by himself, let alone whether he can score, even if he takes action, he will probably suffer serious interference.

The fans cheered.

Kobe didn't show any complacency on his face. He was a pure person. He didn't think that he had defeated martial arts. The young Kobe also had a "chivalry spirit" that he longed for in his heart. It is the ability to defeat martial arts "alone" and "front-on".

The Lakers' consecutive scoring has already brought out the team's momentum. Kobe's goal brought the two teams closer to the score. The Lakers players worked hard on the defensive end.

Fisher seemed to have found a way to defend Marbury. When he stood slightly sideways, he focused on intercepting the passing connection between Marbury and Wu Dao. His right defensive zone was wide open, allowing Marbury to break through.

The person who makes up for Fisher's defensive loopholes is O'Neal inside. O'Neal's presence prevents Marbury from easily getting to the basket and scoring even if he can break through Fisher's defense.

Roberts of the Timberwolves does not have the ability to involve O'Neal in the paint.

"Stephen!"

At this time, Garnett quickly moved up and asked for the ball from the basket near the side of the paint area. After hearing Garnett's shout, Marbury quickly accelerated and rushed forward, flipping his left wrist as he went. The ball quickly passed to Garnett's hands.

As soon as the latter took possession of the basketball, he made a "standardized" turn-over jump shot with a back-to-the-shoulder cover. However, under the pressure of the Lakers defenders, Garnett missed the shot and the basketball crashed out of the basket.

The rebound was once again caught by O'Neal.

Garnett plays the fourth position, but his offensive methods are actually biased toward the three position. Garnett's iron-blooded jump shot is difficult for many players at the same position to guard, and when Garnett's touch comes, , and indeed "unstoppable".

But the shortcomings of this style of play at the fourth position are also obvious. If you put up that iron-blooded jump shot in the fourth position, what about the rebounds?
Do you expect the team's No. 5 position to grab two of them?
It's not realistic.

It is precisely for this reason that Garnett's style of play is actually difficult to digest a large number of shots. Although his career efficiency is good, his scoring has never been able to "explode" in any season.

Although he is an MVP-level player, his scoring method means that he will not be able to become a super core like Jordan and Kobe to lead the team to win championships. He must be assisted by outstanding outside scorers.

This is why Garnett is called "the boss most suitable to be the second boss."

After taking possession of the basketball, the Lakers tried to counterattack with a quick push. The basketball was thrown forward by O'Neal and was held by Eddie Jones.

After the latter got the ball, he immediately accelerated towards the Timberwolves basket, but the moment he grabbed the ball and stood up for a dunk, Garnett's figure came out from the side, and a big hand directly pressed hard on the basketball in Eddie Jones's hand. .

It is true that if Garnett is used as an offensive core, he has huge flaws.

But there are no serious flaws in Garnett's defense. Apart from being unable to deal with a super center like O'Neal one-on-one, Garnett is fully capable of guarding from position one to position five.

After acquiring Garnett, the Green Kais built a defensive system around Garnett, transforming from a poor defensive team into the league's premier defensive team.

Chasing risks is nothing to worry about for Garnett!
The basketball fell rapidly. Wu Dao, who was also chasing Eddie Jones back to the court quickly, had quick eyes and quick hands. He directly used his body to squeeze away Kobe who was trying to grab the ball. Then he turned around and quickly ran towards the frontcourt with the ball.

But just as Wu Dao crossed the center line, Kobe quickly chased from behind and quickly pressed towards Wu Dao. He planned to put pressure on martial arts and force martial arts to make mistakes.

For a player of Budo's height, it is easy to make mistakes when holding the ball for long distances.

But
Martial Arts is different from other players.

After realizing Kobe's intention, Wu Dao instead increased his speed. When Kobe was close to him, he took the initiative to fight and directly pushed away Kobe. Then Wu Dao dribbled the ball without any pause and was close to the three-point line in an instant. .

Seeing the menacing appearance of martial arts, O'Neal quickly stepped forward to defend.

However, what O'Neal didn't expect was that the tall and powerful Wu Dao was able to complete a high-quality change of direction in front of his body while traveling at high speed. He passed O'Neal cleanly in an instant and passed O'Neal and entered from the left. Wu Dao under the basket dunked with his back, and poured the ball into the net with both hands.

And as Wu Dao scored a slam dunk, the Timberwolves fans who had been suppressed for a long time suddenly cheered.

"OK combination, right?"

"KO you!"

(End of this chapter)