Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 701 The second round of the series!

When the series between the Timberwolves and Rockets came to an end, many teams in this playoffs also ended their playoff journeys one after another.

in the east.

Jordan led the Bulls and swept their opponents 3-0, easily advancing to the next round of the series. As for the other groups of opponents, they all fell into a certain degree of hard fighting.

In the game between the Hornets and the Hawks, the Hornets had an absolute 2-0 lead at the beginning of the two home games, but in the first round of G-3, the Hornets lost the game.

At the same time, the Heat and the Knicks also played in a 2-1 situation. The two teams are somewhat similar in strength. Judging from the current game situation, the outcome of the two teams is unpredictable.

The match between the Pacers and the Cavaliers also ended at 2-1. The Pacers were obviously much stronger than the Cavaliers. Although the Cavaliers were lucky enough to win, anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was no way to compete with the Cavaliers' hard power. Pacers compared.

After the Timberwolves ended their game against the Rockets, they also had a short rest.

However, Coach Philip did not give the players a chance to relax. Taking advantage of a period of free time, Coach Philip gave the players a video lesson.

When Wu Dao and the others were fighting against the Rockets, Coach Philip called some scouts who had a good relationship with the team early and asked them to help them go to other game sites to detect the "enemy situation."

Taking advantage of these few days of free time, coach Philip also plans to let the players deepen their understanding of other playoff teams.

In the playoffs, the strength and team characteristics displayed by each team will be quite different from those during the regular season. A team that shows "dominance" during the regular season may not be able to go all the way unimpeded in the playoffs.

Moreover, playoff teams will spend a lot of effort studying their opponents. Many teams have excellent lineups in the regular season, but they are defeated once they are targeted in the playoffs. There are countless teams like this in the playoffs over the years.

"Although the first round of games has not been completed yet, judging from the current situation, the situation in the Eastern Conference is actually very clear."

"The strength of the Bulls and Pacers is obviously much higher than other Eastern Conference teams."

"If our goal is the finals, one of these two teams will be our opponent."

"I think the Bulls have a better chance of winning."

"Today's Bulls are stronger than they showed during the regular season, and the players are more united."

“They are a legitimate playoff team.”

In the conference room of the Timberwolves Arena, coach Philip was explaining the current game situation to the Timberwolves players.

The small conference room was now filled with people. In fact, not only the players but also Coach Philip's assistants, all the trainers and some people from the management who know about football also gathered together.

Everyone attaches great importance to this "video session". Even owner Glen Taylor specially hired a photographer to commemorate the team's first "playoff video session" and wanted to capture this "team historic event". Lesson 1. Everything is recorded and saved.

Coach Philip did not tell the players about the situation in the Western Division first. Instead, he told the players about the situation in the Eastern Division in a "very ambitious" way.

Obviously, the Timberwolves must win the Western Conference Finals before they can reach those teams in the Eastern Division.

But Philip did just that.

His purpose is also very simple, which is to increase the confidence of the players.

Despising the opponent from a strategic point of view and paying attention to the opponent from a tactical point of view, this is what coach Philip thinks about and does when he takes action at this time.

"Coach, I think your guess is correct."

"I think Michael's Bulls can reach the finals. If we are prepared, we will be ready to face the Bulls!"

Garnett is actually a fan of Jordan in private. Or rather, how many young players of his age are not fans of Jordan?
Although Garnett was madly trash-talking Jordan when the Timberwolves met the Bulls on the court, he also recognized Jordan's strength very much.

He also has a blind faith in the Bulls.

I have to say that Garnett hit the key by accident.

Wu Dao knows very well that in this NBA season, the Bulls led by Jordan can not only successfully break through the Eastern Conference, but can even defeat their opponents in the finals and win the championship, completing the great cause of two three consecutive championship dynasties.

Of course. This is normal.

Now, this is not normal
The Timberwolves, where Martial Arts is based, are the most powerful team in the Western Conference at the moment, and are also one of the "seed" teams that many fans see as being able to win the championship.

"In the East, we actually only need to focus on the Bulls."

"If we can really reach the finals, if our opponent is the Pacers, we can beat them."

"Our tactical system is relatively restrained against the Pacers."

Since it was a small meeting within the team, Wu Dao would also like to use his foresight to remind the members of the coaching staff in advance.

When Philip heard Wu Dao's words, he also had a faint smile on his face, nodded slightly, and began to change the video tapes for the players.

The Timberwolves play defensive counterattack, and the inside players are among the best in the league in terms of assisting defensive capabilities. The Pacers play team basketball. Reggie Miller is undoubtedly a superstar, but his characteristics are somewhat different from those of his contemporaries. Reggie Miller is not very fond of the ball.

The Pacers are the kind of team that relies on high-intensity pick-and-rolls and running positions for offensive rotations.

The Timberwolves' inside players have strong defense capabilities, while Wu Dao and Marbury on the outside are also highly mobile physical monsters. They are actually not that afraid of teams that play team basketball.

What worries the Timberwolves the most is actually the kind of super team with an unsolvable superstar.

For example, the Bulls, a team like the Lakers during the OK era.

Walkers can't climb their Wuzhi Mountain.

This has been proven in the regular season, and coach Philip naturally knows this very well.

"Bu Dao is right. For our Timberwolves, the only imaginary enemy in the Eastern Conference is the Bulls!"

"And for us, what needs our most attention right now is our opponent in the next game."

As Coach Philip spoke, he dragged over the whiteboard, picked up a pen and started writing on it. While writing, he explained to the players:
“We were the quickest to finish here in the West.”

"Several other teams are still competing."

"The SuperSonics and Spurs are currently 2-1. The strength of these two teams is somewhat close, but overall, the Spurs are actually stronger."

"However, it was the SuperSonics who got the match point first, which was beyond our initial expectations."

As Coach Philip spoke, he wrote the names and scores of the two teams on the whiteboard, and continued his analysis to the players:
"They are not in the same division as us. No matter which team advances, they will face the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals." "Judging from the current content of the game, the Lakers' qualification should be a certainty."

"The SuperSonics defeated the Spurs in an upset, and the Lakers should not have any surprises with the SuperSonics."

Assigned to the same quarter group as the SuperSonics and Spurs are the Lakers and Suns.

So far, the score between the Lakers and Suns is 2-1. The gap between the two teams is actually quite disparate. The Suns were able to win the game because of the referees' efforts.

Therefore, it is almost certain that the Lakers can reach the second round.

"What we need to pay attention to next, in addition to the Lakers, are the opponents we may encounter in the next round of the series."

"The game between the Jazz and the Trail Blazers is currently 2-1, with the Jazz leading."

"The difference in strength between the two teams is very small. It is difficult to predict the outcome of the two teams at present. We must prepare in advance."

"I don't think I need to introduce you too much to these two opponents, right?"

"Today's video lesson, in fact, the focus of the study is the game between the Jazz and the Trail Blazers."

Coach Phillip said, picked up the remote control and played the video for the players.

What is playing on the small TV is the game between the G1 Jazz and the Trail Blazers.

The Jazz's starting lineup is all old acquaintances of the Timberwolves players, Malone, Stockton, Greg Foster, Adam Kiefe, and Jeff Hornacek.

There are three All-Stars in the team, two words, luxury.

On the Pioneer side, the players are much younger.

首发控卫达蒙-斯塔德迈尔（1995年首轮第7顺位，178cm/78kg）；布莱恩-格兰特（1994首轮第8顺位，206cm/115kg）；拉希德-华莱士（1995首轮第4顺位211cm/104kg）；老将阿维达斯-萨博尼斯，还有森林狼曾经的分卫伊塞亚-莱德尔。

Compared with the "old" Jazz, the age composition of the Trail Blazers' players is more reasonable.

The two elders and three young players, Grant and Rasheed Wallace, are already 3rd-4th grade players, and their maturity has also increased. What is different from the regular season is that this game with the Jazz In G1, these young people of the Trail Blazers are the team's real assets.

91: 88.

It took a lot of effort for the Jazz to defeat the Trail Blazers at home. In this game, all five of the Trail Blazers' starting five scored in double figures. The one who scored the highest score in the team was the young, small point guard. Damon Stoudemire scored 27 points in a single game, crushing the "old" Lederer's 12 points.

In the small conference room, the Timberwolves players were watching the video and discussing with each other in low voices.

"Leder actually gave up the ball like this? Has he changed his gender?"

Garnett and their old acquaintance Ryder played very reasonably and low-key in this game, which was somewhat beyond the expectations of the Timberwolves players. Tom looked at the game and mumbled as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Isn't it normal for players to grow?"

"And the Blazers obviously want to rebuild the team around young players. Even Sabonis is supporting those young players."

Garnett glanced at Tom and said matter-of-factly. When he said this, Garnett felt a little sad in his heart.

He was drafted in 95. When he came to the Timberwolves, Leder was a star player, but after so many years, Leder has transformed into an "ordinary NBA starter."

Although it is still strong, the team's status is really different from when the opponent was in the Timberwolves.

Seeing Leder's current "position" on the TV, even a young man like Garnett can't help but lament the cruelty and ruthlessness of the NBA.

No matter how meritorious or awesome a player is, one day he will be slapped on the beach by the waves behind him.

But luckily for Garnett, he is now one of the NBA's back wave.

"The Trail Blazers did a pretty good job of restricting Malone in this game. There are a lot of things we can learn from defensively."

"It's just that the Blazers' attack was not that interesting. Damon Stoudemire took such a large number of shots, but the score in exchange was less than 30 points."

"If it were us, the Jazz would have no chance of winning."

As Philip spoke, he changed the video tapes for the players and started showing the G2 game. He also encouraged the players:
"Our offense is far superior to the Trail Blazers. If our opponent in the next round is the Jazz, our defense will revolve around Malone."

"Martial arts, the playoffs are different from the regular season. I hope you can reduce the impact on the basket head-on to avoid being injured."

"Initiate more attacks from the outside. With your shooting ability, we can blast the Jazz."

Phillip's words fell into the ears of all the players. Wu Dao heard the words and knew that this was a kind reminder from Coach Phillip, so he nodded and agreed.

In G2 between the Jazz and the Trail Blazers, the Trail Blazers were beaten away. At 88:89, the Trail Blazers defended the Jazz's last attack. Malone missed the buzzer-beater and the team lost the game.

Listening to the reaction of the fans at the scene, Malone also suffered a certain degree of criticism from the fans, but judging from the state of the Jazz's own players, they were all pretty good.

In this game, coach Philip began to break down the Blazers' defensive strategy to the players.

Basically, Sabonis squats under the basket, Malone is in position, he goes up, and Rasheed Wallace goes in from the elbow area or mid-range. Even when Malone was receiving the ball, the Trail Blazers would consciously double-team and seize the timing very well. They were all stuck in the blind spots for Malone to pass the ball inward. Even if Malone wanted to throw the ball, he could only hit it towards the ball. outside.

The Blazers' head coach is Mike Dunleavy, who has a very flexible mind, and he has trained the Blazers' defensive rotation very well.

Philip also saw a lot of things that his team could learn from.

However, the Trail Blazers' method of dealing with the Jazz is not easy for them to copy, because there is no 221cm Sabonis in their team who can create a terrifying one-on-one pressure on Malone in the low post.

If Malone were to face Wallace, he might not be able to directly attack. Against Garnett, who was fighting and retreating, he would also attack the basket with force.

Therefore, to deal with Malone, the Timberwolves still need to work hard on assist defense and double-teaming.

The video class lasted very late, and Philip analyzed the two teams in detail for the players.

When the Timberwolves players came out of the conference room, although their faces looked a little tired, they all had embarrassing eyes and full of confidence.

Steady!

This is the true inner thought of the Timberwolves players after watching the game video.