Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The Rockets began to put pressure on the Timberwolves on the defensive end. In the playoffs, the referees also relaxed their whistles. This actually encouraged the players to take action.

Because only in this way will the game be "good to watch" and each team can show its true strength.

For the Timberwolves, relaxing the scale of whistleblowing is actually not an unacceptable thing, because the Timberwolves themselves are a team that plays defensive counterattacks.

In this era, any team known for its defense has an "iron-blooded" style, and the Timberwolves are actually the same.

Although he is just a rookie in martial arts, he also looks fair and clean, looking like a handsome boy who is harmless to humans and animals. But teams that have played against the Timberwolves know that Wu Dao's defensive style and his face are completely different styles.

Jazz actually has a lot to say on this point.

It is precisely under the leadership of a leader with "iron-blooded" attributes like Wu Dao that the Timberwolves' defensive counterattack system can bring them to the first place in the Western Conference.

With martial arts physical fitness and physical conditions, he can still perform well under high-intensity defensive pressure.

But now there is no martial arts figure on the Timberwolves' court.

The team's main scorers are actually Marbury and Tom.

And his problem was exposed as the intensity of the game increased sharply and the number of ball possessions increased.

Without talented outside players like Wu Dao, players like Barkley and Drexler, who possess historical-level quick play abilities, are suddenly in a state of no one.

Starting with the basketball, Tom paused slightly while holding the ball. After quickly observing the Rockets' defense, he followed the right side of the pick-and-roll after Marbury released the ball and dropped the ball.

The Timberwolves' offense failed, and the Rockets retreated quickly to counterattack.

Perhaps his decline was due to acclimatization, but the problem actually lies with Tom himself.

The Rockets decisively chose to shrink their defense after Wu Dao came off the court. Whether it was Marbury rushing in with the ball or Tom rushing in with the ball, they would encounter the threat of double-teaming players. That is, when Sam Mitchell attacked the basket, the Rockets would choose Let the inside players "carry it alone".

The reaction speed of Marbury, Sam Mitchell and others was actually quite fast. The moment the rocket started to pick up speed, they had already accelerated back.

But while he was advancing, the Rockets also quickly switched defenses.

Tom's defensive plan when facing Matt Maloney was to use his body to attack, a "textbook" big fight, but he didn't expect it. When he planned to engage in physical confrontation, Matt Maloney was astute. He hid, and then quickly hit the basketball in Tom's hand from behind.

Faced with Matt Maloney's back-and-forth steal, Tom couldn't make any evasive reaction at all. He could only watch the basketball fall from his hands.

If Tom were not on a new team like the Timberwolves, he might not have gotten so many shooting opportunities on other teams.

Tom has a certain ability to hold the ball, but his ability to combine man and ball is not top-notch.

Originally, Tom would leave the Suns next year because he was dissatisfied with Garnett's super-large contract and was unbalanced. In the Suns' playoffs, under strong defense, his number of shots per game dropped from 17 per game during the Timberwolves period. It suddenly shrunk to 11 times per game.

After the Rockets scored, Marbury hoped that the team could "respond" to the opponent in time, but under the opponent's defense, he was actually forced to stop the ball. Without any hesitation, Marbury quickly handed the ball to him. Tom ran towards him to catch the ball.

The shooting percentage also dropped from 44% to 37%. In 10 minutes of playing time, the average score dropped to points, which is just the quality of a qualified functional rotation player.

The Timberwolves only accumulated a four-point lead in the first quarter. With the efforts of the Rockets, this point difference was quickly eliminated.

As Maloney sent an alley-oop to the elderly Barkley, and under Barkley's powerful dunk, the numbers on the scoreboard on the sidelines also jumped.

Barkley quickly came from the side, took the ball in his hands, and passed Matt Maloney quickly.

Tom's ability is good, but in the playoffs, facing the Rockets' iron-blooded defense, his condition fluctuated greatly.

Although Tom was once an All-Star player, at that time, he was able to have such data because of his personal strength. On the other hand, other than him, there was no one in the Timberwolves who could hit a large number of mid-to-long-distance players. Players who digest the shot.

But on the Rockets' side, Matt Maloney, Drexler, Barkley and others are even faster. Facing the Timberwolves who were returning to defense, they had no intention of slowing down and taking position.

A very simple strategic contraction, but it curbed the Timberwolves' offensive.

On the other hand, for the Rockets, Barkley, Drexler, and Olajuwon formed a trident, relying on their strong attacks to the basket to constantly attack the Timberwolves' basket.

Although Roberts followed coach Philip's advice and used fouls to try to stop the opponent's momentum, it was a pity that his opponent was not Olajuwon. Although the foul made the game time in the second quarter fragmented, Olajuwon The free throws are still quite stable.

Under the leadership of these old superstars, the Rockets quickly controlled the rhythm of the game.

Just over halfway through the second quarter, the score between the two teams reached 40:34, and the Timberwolves fell behind by 6 points.

Coach Philip was definitely surprised that the situation developed like this.

There is no point in letting the players fend for themselves anymore. Although he has little playoff experience, if he can't see that his team's offensive and defensive system has collapsed after being a coach for so many years, he is not worthy of sitting in the position of coach.

Without any hesitation, after calling a timeout, Philip replaced Tom and the shorter Wallace off the court.

The ones who reappear are naturally Wu Dao and Garnett.

Coach Philip's idea is also very simple. How to sort out the offensive end, let Marbury and Wu Dao solve this kind of thing. The most important thing for the Timberwolves right now is to re-establish their defense.

Budao and Garnett can not only greatly increase the team's average height, but also enhance the team's aerial combat potential.

With such highly mobile talents as Wu Dao and Garnett, it seems that the Rockets will not be able to score goals as unscrupulously as before when pushing the fast break this time.

Back from the timeout, Rockets sideline ball.

The basketball quickly reached Drexler, who was on the left side of the court close to the sideline. The latter took the ball, faced Tom's defense, and took a simple test step to the right. In the gap where Mitchell adjusted his feet back and forth, he quickly dropped the ball and accelerated the attack from his left side.

If it were before Garnett returned to the game, Drexler, who had successfully made a breakthrough, would definitely choose to challenge the Timberwolves' inside air combat capabilities, a glider, or that glider!

But now.
Drexler needs to show some sense.

While passing Mitchell, he noticed Wu Dao who was shrinking the defense line, and also noticed Garnett who was intent on covering up the defense. He wisely chose a mid-range pull-up jumper.

"Shh!"

Drexler has comprehensive skills, and such a pull-up jump shot is the standard scoring method for second-position players in this era.

As the basketball hit the net with a crisp sound, Wu Dao couldn't help but take a second look at Drexler. When the Timberwolves were serving in the backcourt, Wu Dao walked up behind Mitchell, lightly patted Mitchell on the shoulder and said, "I'm going to guard him. Pay attention to Barkley."

After hearing Wu Dao's words, Sam Mitchell turned to look at Wu Dao in shock, with question marks on his face.

At this time, Mitchell's expression was exactly the same as that of Ben Bo'er Ba, who was asked by the leader to "get rid of Tang Seng and his disciples."

"Uh martial arts, me"

Mitchell really wanted to refuse. Drexler was very difficult for him to guard against. Although Glider was older and his explosiveness was at the same level as when he was young, he could not beat a player of Mitchell's level in isolation. Still easy.

Mitchell knew he couldn't guard Drexler, but he knew even more that he couldn't guard Barkley.

Barkley's reputation is bigger than that of a glider, and his big ass is the best in the league.

He wants to defend Drexler more than he wants to defend Barkley
But in the face of martial arts requirements, Mitchell did not express his objections after all.

He had no right to refuse in the face of martial arts.

"I know what you're worried about."

"We won't let you face Barkley alone. Garnett will definitely make up the defense."

"Just be careful not to let Barkley take too many mid-range shots, and try to force him to attack the basket."

The technical characteristics of Drexler and Barkley are somewhat different. Martial Arts believes that in order to curb the Rockets' offensive, it is very necessary to suppress Drexler.

Let Drexler get the ball rolling, and this guy might just transform into Jordan and show the Timberwolves what it means to be a god descending to earth.

The Timberwolves players made defensive adjustments while the offense was advancing. Wu Dao slowly ran towards the Rockets half, waiting for Marbury to dribble the ball into the frontcourt.

This is the first goal after Budao and the others return to the court. Marbury intends to give the ball to Budao.

Approaching the top of the arc, the basketball was quickly given to Wu Dao. As soon as Wu Dao caught the ball, Barkley quickly stuck to Wu Dao's body, his stocky figure firmly pressing against Wu Dao's body.

Even though he was as strong as Wu Dao, he was pushed back by Barkley. He was about to lose his balance and fall backwards. The basketball in Wu Dao's hand also fell down.

Barkley thought an opportunity had arisen. Taking advantage of the imbalance in martial arts, he leaned towards the basketball point.

But just when Barkley made a move, Wu Dao stepped back with his right foot, slightly delaying Barkley's movement with his body. At the same time, he quickly grabbed the ball with his right hand and made a back move. Then he immediately accelerated and passed Barkley's ball in an instant. line of defense.

"Oh!!"

In the stands, the fans who saw Wu Dao's action let out a low cry, and amidst the low shouts of the fans, Wu Dao quickly headed towards the Rockets' basket.

The Rockets, who were deeply wary of martial arts, actually never thought about letting Barkley and martial arts one-on-one from the beginning.

Everyone knows that a player like Wu Dao cannot be guarded by one person. At the same time as Wu Dao broke in, Olajuwon quickly moved up to cover the defense. His position was relatively forward, only three or four steps away from Barkley's defense line.

The timing of the martial arts kombat was chosen very early. The rhythm of his feet was weird when he used the high kombat. The impact speed was obviously very fast, but the long stride after the kombi felt a bit slow.

In the first step of the ball, Wu Dao raised the ball in "slow motion" and actually deceived Olajuwon into the ball. In the second step, he passed Olajuwon's side, and then jumped over From the start, a light lick sent the ball into the net.

Wu Dao's take-off position was quite far away from the basket, but when Wu Dao made a layup, his hands were still level with the basket and sent the ball into the basket. This terrifying bounce was recorded by reporters' cameras. .

"Shh!"

Wu Dao fell back to the ground, the basketball fell from the net and rolled to his feet. Amid the cheers of the fans, Wu Dao ran back towards the Timberwolves half court.

So far in the second quarter of the Timberwolves' game, this is actually the first time they have had a decent personal offense.

And the fans looked relaxed and comfortable when watching Wu Dao score, and they had a clear understanding of Wu Dao's strength.

"The rhythm of the layup was weird."

"It's like a European walk, but a little bit different."

In today's NBA, although there are not many rhythm players, there are still a few. But more players often rely on speed or bounce to attack when attacking the basket. Any more changes are just to adjust the height of the shot to avoid defense.

There are not many players like Martial Arts who use feints while traveling and extraordinary changes in rhythm.

The Rockets are accustomed to the martial arts of attacking the basket with force. At this time, facing the change of rhythm, they are somewhat uncomfortable.

However, this method of attacking the basket is actually not very durable. Once the opponent is familiar with the rhythm of martial arts, the slowdown of martial arts will not only fail to bring benefits to him, but will affect his own impact.

Wu Dao scored on the field. Although the score difference between the two teams had not been narrowed, the Timberwolves fans who were originally worried about falling behind quickly settled down at this moment.

Martial arts has long since grown into the true backbone of the Timberwolves.

As long as Wu Dao is still on the court, fans will not lose hope in the Timberwolves. On the contrary, no matter how many points the Timberwolves are behind at this time, Minnesota fans also firmly believe that Wu Dao can lead the team out of the predicament.

The emotional changes of the fans in the stands are actually very external, which can be heard from the cheers of the fans.

Of course, the martial arts in the stadium can also be felt clearly. After settling down, I looked at the stands around me. My heart, which had been restless, calmed down a little at this moment.

Playing in the playoffs for the first time, it also took Martial Arts a little more time to adjust my mentality.

Although the previous excitement and enthusiasm did not affect his performance, his mood would affect other team members.

A calm, calm and confident leader sometimes puts teammates at ease.

To mobilize the team's emotions, Garnett is enough.

The Rockets launched a counterattack, and Wu Dao slowly ran in front of Drexler, stretched out his arms, and stopped in front of Drexler:
"Now, let me be your opponent!"

"Mr. Glider!"

(End of this chapter)