Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 676 The flaws of a strong team!

Blocking the communication between the Timberwolves players and letting the Timberwolves players fight independently is the way Stockton came up with.

The Timberwolves' outside attack point is Wu Dao, and their inside attack point is Garnett. When these two players of the Timberwolves can cooperate with each other, the Timberwolves' overall offense will become extremely smooth.

And this was also the biggest defensive difficulty the Jazz faced in the first quarter.

Garnett is the Timberwolves' inside midfielder. When the basketball is given to Garnett, the young player can rely on his excellent vision and physical condition to deliver the ball to the right offensive player.

While martial arts possess excellent personal abilities, they also have extremely powerful transmission abilities. With the efforts of these two people, all the Timberwolves' players were revitalized.

It is difficult to defend in a one-on-one environment, and it is even more impossible to defend against the Timberwolves' offense when the Timberwolves' entire team is more active.

Stockton is very familiar with the abilities of the Jazz's own players. He knows very well that it is simply impossible to limit the Timberwolves' players by relying on their personal abilities.

What they can do is divide the many players of the Timberwolves, and then rely on good defensive rotations to block important scoring points.

Of course, it is unrealistic to completely block the Timberwolves' scoring points, but for the Jazz, as long as it can affect the opponent's offensive efficiency, it can bring hope to the team.

Stockton's thoughts are obviously those of head coach Jerry Longs as well.

Coach Jerry Longs also knows that it is impossible to limit every player of the Timberwolves. At this point, the situation he faced was the same as that faced by coach Philip of the Timberwolves before.

The coaches of these two different teams are surprisingly consistent in their defensive choices.

On the other side of the court, the Timberwolves' dugout.

Coach Philip was holding a tactical board and deduce to Martial what might happen on the court in the future. The Timberwolves are a team whose main offensive system is defensive counterattack.

In Coach Philip's mind, defense is more important than offense.

The rest time between the first and second quarters was also used by coach Philip to explain to Budao what he needed to do on the defensive end.

After the first quarter, the Timberwolves made no substitution adjustments. The points difference between the two teams was relatively close, and the players were in good physical condition, so there was no need to make substitution adjustments.

And with the referee's whistle, the short rest time also passed.

As the players from both teams returned to the court, enthusiastic cheers from the audience erupted in the stands.

Like the Timberwolves, the Jazz made no substitutions in the second quarter. Coach Jerry Longs and Coach Phillip, once again, are on the same page.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Timberwolves had the ball.

Marbury received the serve from his teammate in the backcourt and quickly dribbled the ball into the frontcourt. The Timberwolves' ball-handling personnel changed from Chris Kyle to Marbury.

After the change at the No. 1 position, Coach Phillip still did not take Chris Kyle off the court.

Chris Kyle is a three-point threat. In this situation, staying on the court can still be effective. It's just Martial Arts' adjustment to Coach Philip in this section. He doesn't understand. In his opinion, the Timberwolves need to improve the mobility of their inside players.

Although Garnett is exceptionally good, Garnett is only one person after all. Compared with the big center Cherokee Parks on the court at this time, Ben Wallace is more mobile. It can strengthen the defensive strength of the Timberwolves inside, which also has a certain restrictive effect on Malone.

This is the difference between martial arts and Coach Philip’s philosophy.

Coach Philips hopes that Wu Dao can strengthen his defense against Malone. Wu Dao hopes to enhance the mobility of inside players and increase the threat to Malone. He does not want to let go of the opponent's outside players easily.

Judging from the first quarter of the game, the Jazz's outside touch is pretty good.

But thinking about it is just thinking after all. He is not the coach, and he has no way to make substitution decisions.

Putting away the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Wu Dao quickly focused on the court. At the same time, Marbury also dribbled the ball close to the top of the arc.

Stockton's defense was still very active. When Marbury approached the top of the lake, he immediately got close to him. The martial arts from the side saw Stockton's movements. He also rushed towards Marbury quickly, intending to set up a pick-and-roll for Marbury.

Marbury's reaction was also very quick. When Wu Dao made a move, he also held the ball in his right hand and actively moved the ball to his right side.

After successfully getting Stockton to let go, Marbury didn't wait for the martial arts to be completely in place. He immediately changed his rhythm, held the ball and changed direction, and instantly passed Stockton, who was standing on the right, and went to the center. Cut straight to the basket.

Before the Jazz's inside players could make any move, Marbury immediately grabbed the ball with one hand and shot directly from the high post.

Marbury played very decisively and shot very decisively. Neither of the Jazz's two insiders could come out to interfere with Marbury.

As the basketball hit the net, bursts of cheers erupted from the stands.

Marbury took advantage of the martial arts screen and faked a single shot to score.

The difference between him and Chris Kyle is that even when facing a troublesome defender like Stockton, Marbury will become cautious, but he will never dare to make moves because of fear of making mistakes.

Marbury is a first-round pick, and he has always played well with the Timberwolves. He has the capital and confidence to make mistakes.

Facing the tough Jazz, he dared to fight even more.

If Chris Kyle handled the same ball like this, it would be fine if he scored. If he failed to score, Coach Philip's face off the court would probably become extremely ugly.

There is still so much offensive time. As the No. 1 position, there is nothing wrong with trying to find opportunities steadily. But a goal like Marbury's is completely considered a star goal.

The Timberwolves' players began to return to defense, and the Jazz were not impatient when they saw the Timberwolves scoring the first goal.

The opponent that Wu Dao defended was still Jazz's base. As Stockton dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, the latter took the initiative to move closer to the right sideline, leaving the center position completely vacant.

With his displacement, the Jazz's offensive formation also changed slightly, still using Malone's high pick-and-roll as the offensive signal.

When Wu Dao saw this scene, he quietly distanced himself from Ji Fei in front of him, retreated to the mid-range, and was ready to return to the basket anytime and anywhere.

At the same time, he and Kife also maintained a distance of less than two meters. At this distance, Wu Dao was able to step forward and block the opponent the moment he caught the ball and planned to shoot.

Of course, this is also based on his terrifying explosive power.

But the risk of such a defense is actually very high.

such as
Stockton, who was at the top of the arc, took advantage of Malone's defense to break through, and Malone, after giving a delay, cut through and entered the basket.

Garnett chased Malone back and let go of Stockton, who was close to the three-point line and had a small gap in the high post.

At this moment of opportunity, Stockton did not show off his scoring ability by taking a shot. Instead, he grabbed the ball with one hand and flicked it to Kiefe who was in the bottom corner.

As soon as Kee Fei took possession of the basketball, he quickly raised his hands above his head.

At the same time, Wu Dao, who was two and a half body lengths away from him, immediately took action. He suddenly exerted force on his feet and quickly pounced on Ji Fei.

Just as Wudao's center of gravity suddenly rose and he accelerated to fill in the defensive position, Jifei, who had the ball above his head, quickly received the ball. After a fake shot to lift Wudao's center of gravity, he dribbled the ball with his left hand and quickly approached the basket.

Then with Garnett's active defense, Kiefe grabbed the ball and went up into the air. The basketball in his hand fell down the moment he entered the air, and then he lifted the ball from his left hand and sent it low to the open space. Malone's hands. “Bang!!!”

As the sound of dunks rang out from the stadium, the fans in Salt Lake City cheered.

The defensive risk of martial arts is here.

In order to double-team Malone, Wu Dao followed Coach Philip's instructions and opened up space with Kife.

Although Jifei's shooting is still within the interference range of Wu Dao, because the distance between the two is too far, even if Wu Dao wants to interfere with the opponent's shooting, he often needs to fully unleash his explosive power. In this way, there is no room for exertion. .

It is not easy to stop instantly and turn around to pursue.

Anyone who has run a switchback may have this experience. When sprinting with all your strength and about to turn back, you often need to slow down in advance, otherwise, you will not be able to stop.

The martial artist who was inspired by the opponent looked somewhat embarrassed at this moment.

After the defensive failure, Wu Dao took a deep breath, adjusted his mentality, and ran towards the frontcourt with steps. The basketball court is sometimes like this. Many things cannot be controlled by a player alone, especially things like defense.

After all, it is a sport of five people. If any one person has a flaw, it will cause a flaw in their team.

In the NBA, the "unsolvable" position of a certain position can often bring huge help to the team.

Jordan of the Bulls dynasty, O'Neal of the OK dynasty, and even Malone of the Jazz in front of us, all belong to that kind of player.

Of course, Martial Arts himself is also that kind of person!

Marbury received the ball in the backcourt and quickly came to the frontcourt. This time, he did not attack by himself. Instead, when he was trying to break through, he saw Wu Dao running back and leaving a certain open space, and then gave the ball to Wu Dao in the mid-range on the wing. .

The moment Wu Dao caught the ball, the Jazz immediately began to double-team. While Kife behind him was pressing Wu Dao's body, Malone on the inside also quickly came out from the inside, intending to give Wu Dao a dumpling.

However, Malone's movement was noticed by Wu Dao, who turned around with the ball and faced the frame. Wu Dao used his long arms to hit the ball from Kife's side and passed it to Garnett inside.

The Jazz's defensive rotation was timely. When Malone left the inside, Jazz's Foster immediately stepped forward. Facing Foster, Garnett didn't have any psychological pressure at all. After getting the ball, he faced Fox in front of him. The special face is strong.

Not only did he successfully score the ball, he also tempted Foster to commit a foul on him.

"Beep——"

As the basketball enters the net, the referee's whistle sounds.

Garnett was very excited and roared at Foster in front of him. His passionate look greatly stimulated the Timberwolves fans, making the cheers in the stands even louder. point.

"Shh!"

Garnett made a free throw and successfully made it a three-pointer.

Amid the cheers of the fans, the Timberwolves players began to retreat quickly.

"Cut off the interconnection between Timberwolves players."

"It's a very simple sentence, but it's a bit unrealistic to achieve it."

"Wudao has excellent vision and outstanding physical condition. Even when facing double teams, he can still hit the ball reasonably."

"For us, we not only need to seal Stephon Marbury, but we also need to defend Kevin Garnett and Wu Dao."

"but."

"If we can block the transmission of these three players at the same time, then what team can't we guard?!"

On the sidelines of the court, coach Jerry Longs covered his head and laughed to himself. Thinking of his and Stockton's naive thoughts before, he felt a little stupid.

If the connection between the Timberwolves players is cut off, why do the Jazz only cut off the connection between the Timberwolves players? Isn't it good to win the game with a 20-point lead? !

Coach Jerry Longs finally understood that the Jazz simply couldn't guard against the Timberwolves' offense.

What they can do is to increase the intensity of the game, affect the opponent's shooting percentage, and then do a good job of defensive rotation and offense.

After all, basketball is a game about who can score more points. Just defense without offense is not enough!

On the court, the Jazz still used Malone's high pick-and-roll as the clarion call for offense.

This time, Stockton's strong attack and Malone's cutback after the pick-and-roll attracted the attention of the four Timberwolves players. They all gathered around the basket, not wanting to give the Jazz a chance to make a shot at the basket.

But Stockton's broad vision actually allowed him to find Jeff Hornacek outside the seam in a sports battle, and the latter directly shot an open three-pointer from the outside and scored.

In the following games, the two teams made successive supply-side rotations, both of which gave full play to their team characteristics.

The Timberwolves' small-scale cooperation and excellent player abilities make them almost invincible on the offensive end.

As for the Jazz, the team basketball offensive system built around Malone and Stockton has also blossomed more, defeating the Timberwolves.

The fans were dizzy watching the high-intensity and fast-paced offense and defense transitions.

Just when the fans thought that the game could be played at such a pace and the game needed to end, the Jazz took the lead in making substitutions halfway through the second quarter.

Kiefe and Stockton were taken off the court to rest.

"Ho ho."

In the Jazz's lounge area, Kiefe and Stockton were sitting on the bench, breathing heavily with exhaustion on their faces.

Of the two of them, one is the starting point of the team's offense and the core of outside defense, while the other is facing the young ace leader of the Timberwolves.

The two of them consume their physical energy much faster than other Jazz players.

Stockton is no longer young
When the two of them came off the field, the game between the two teams was still going on in the stadium.

After nearly twenty minutes of competition, Wu Dao's eyes were still bright and clear. His opponent was replaced by the "black and strong" Brian Russell.

But facing such a defensive player, Wu Dao still played very actively and resolutely.

On the court, Wu Dao, who was catching the ball with his back to the basket from mid-range on the wing, used his solid back to push against Brian Russell, digging in every step.

After sensing that Malone inside had the intention of double-teaming, Wu Dao suddenly put his hands together with the ball, turned his back and shot a fadeaway jumper.

Under such physical confrontation, he still maintained a very good posture, and the basketball flew into the net.

The situation of the game has gradually turned towards the Timberwolves.