Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 715: The tough guy who gambles everything!

Wu Dao's powerful attack into the basket and successful scoring immediately attracted warm cheers from the fans in the stands.

With just one goal, his dominance on the offensive end was clearly demonstrated.

Being able to score even when double-teamed by NBA-level players, Wu Dao's personal ability has undoubtedly reached the top level in the league.

For these fans in Minnesota, the emergence of martial arts has become a spiritual comfort for them.

Before the Timberwolves rose to prominence, Minnesota fans had a really bad time watching games.

That feeling is just like the young fans in China watching the young masters play basketball.
But now, the Timberwolves have undergone a complete transformation, and the strength they have shown is completely different from that of last season.

Having successfully scored, Wu Dao quickly returned to defense amid the cheers of the fans.

The Jazz players did not dwell on their recent defensive defeat.

This was not the first day they had played against the Timberwolves. They were very clear about Wu Dao's personal ability. In the absence of Malone, their inside line would be breached by Wu Dao, which was also expected by the Jazz players.

It is precisely because they were mentally prepared that even when this situation really happened, the Jazz players did not show too much surprise.

Between offense and defense, Stockton had already received a pass from his teammate in the backcourt and quickly advanced to the Timberwolves' half.

For the Jazz, Malone's absence is not only reflected on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end, the Jazz have been greatly affected by Malone's absence.

Stockton, holding the ball and approaching the top of the arc, waved his hand and made a pick-and-roll gesture to his teammate on the wing. At the signal from his teammate, Jeff Hornacek quickly came to Marbury's side and made a pick-and-roll for Stockton.

With the help of his teammates' pick-and-roll, Stockton quickly passed the ball with his left hand and quickly broke through in the direction of Jeff Hornacek's pick-and-roll.

Marbury and Tom of the Timberwolves quickly switched defense. Tom moved his feet sideways quickly, followed Stockton's advance, and blocked Stockton's route.

It was an excellent defensive rotation. Just when the Timberwolves thought that Stockton would carefully consider reorganizing the offense under their high-pressure defense, Adam Kife, who had been standing in the inside, quickly moved forward and directly blocked Tom's retreat route.

Correspondingly, Stanley Roberts of the Timberwolves failed to keep up with Adam Kife at this moment, and was unable to fill in the position as soon as Tom was screened, giving Stockton an open opportunity.

As Stockton made an emergency stop near the basket and quickly threw the basketball in his hand, the Timberwolves turned their heads and looked at their own basket.

"Shh!"

As the basketball went into the net, the numbers on the scoreboard on the sidelines jumped, and the Jazz easily caught up to two points.

"The defensive rotation speed can be faster."

"Pay attention to protecting the basket."

"Don't just sit there like an idiot."

"Everyone, be nervous and don't take it lightly."

On the sidelines, when Coach Philip saw the Timberwolves lose the ball so easily, he immediately stood up, clapped his hands and shouted loudly to the players on the field.

Perhaps because Malone was not on the court, the Timberwolves' two inside players showed some slackness to a certain extent.

The absence of Garnett and Ben Wallace did have a certain impact on the morale of the Timberwolves.

But because the Jazz are also missing Malone, and the Timberwolves have a super scorer like Wu Dao, the Timberwolves players are still full of confidence in this game.

This confidence is so strong that it even reaches the point of being conceited.

This is not a good sign, and Coach Philip will never allow the players on the field to develop such a mentality.

The playoffs are different from the regular season not only because of the intensity, but also because their opponents are completely different from those they encounter in the regular season.

These people will never miss any flaws revealed by their team during the game.

Those old guys who are eager for the championship will show unparalleled willpower in this kind of game.

In order to win the game, these old guys can bet everything, which has been reflected in the previous game between the Timberwolves and the Jazz.

Even in this game, the Jazz lacked Malone in the lineup, but Coach Philip still did not dare to take it lightly.

Their team is already missing two key players. If anything unexpected happens in this game, any injury to a main player will be a disaster for the Timberwolves.

Although the Timberwolves have had a smooth journey since the playoffs, in fact, they are now driving to the edge of a cliff. If they are not careful, they will fall into the abyss. In that case, all their previous efforts will be burned to ashes.

Amid Coach Philip's roar, the basketball was passed from the backcourt to Marbury's hands.

After receiving the ball, Marbury slowed down his pace and slowly dribbled the ball across the center line.

Stanley Roberts and Cherokee Parks are two different inside players from Garnett and Wallace.

The two inside players on the court now are not as fast as Wallace and Garnett. In order to take care of the speed of these two players, Marbury has to control his own speed.

With the presence of Wu Dao and Tom, Marbury can certainly speed up and use violent offense to suppress the morale of the Jazz. But in this way, Stanley Roberts and Cherokee Parks will be excluded from the team's offensive system.

After several fast-paced rounds of attack and defense, these two people might fall behind and have no intention of running actively.

In the long run, this is not a good thing.

Marbury knew very well that in order to win this game, players in every position needed to play their due roles.

Only by uniting all the players and working towards the same goal together can the Timberwolves have a chance to overcome the Jazz.

Marbury is no longer that kind of rookie point guard. Although he is confident in the strength of his team, he also knows that it is difficult to win a basketball game by relying on one or two people.

Marbury held the ball and pressed at the back of the Timberwolves team. Only after all the players moved to the Jazz's half court did he leisurely carry the ball to the top of the arc.

After a series of crotch dribbles, Marbury suddenly changed his rhythm, made a breakthrough, and leaned his body against Stockton.

The moment their bodies touched, Stockton's elbow unconsciously hit Marbury's waist. The severe pain directly stopped Marbury who was about to speed up.

Using the flesh on his waist and abdomen to resist Stockton's elbow, the one who would suffer would be Marbury, who took the initiative to exert force.

When facing Stockton, although Marbury was younger, faster and more explosive, he was unable to fully utilize his abilities.

It's not because of any other reason, it's because of Stockton's "good elbow".

Marbury suddenly stopped while breaking through, and quickly passed the basketball in his hand to the side and back. Wudao, who was originally on the wing, quickly moved towards the top of the arc the moment Marbury started to break through.

At the same time Marbury passed the ball, Wu Dao had already reached the top of the arc and successfully caught the ball.

Brian Russell's defense came right after, Wu Dao dropped the ball with his left hand, took a step forward in the direction of movement, then quickly dribbled the ball behind his back, stopped suddenly and turned around.

In just a blink of an eye, Wu Dao and Brian Russell who was chasing him had opened up a distance of nearly two meters.

Wu Dao, who fell back to the top of the arc, successfully found an open space, adjusted his body slightly, and then shot a jump shot close to the three-point line. Although Brian Russell tried his best to defend, the two of them were too far apart. In addition, Wu Dao's height, wingspan, and jumping ability were far superior to his. Facing Wu Dao's shooting, Brian Russell had no way to stop him.

The basketball flew over everyone's heads and landed steadily in the net, making a crisp sound.

After scoring the goal, Wu Dao raised his fingers to the sky with a confident smile on his face.

"Come on, you almost guarded me."

Facing Brian Russell who was trying hard to defend, Wu Dao was not stingy and encouraged Brian Russell.

But his kindness was not accepted by Brian Russell.

After hearing Wu Dao's words, Brian Russell's dark face became even gloomier and darker.

The game between the Timberwolves and the Jazz gradually entered a white-hot stage as the game progressed.

Although the Timberwolves were missing two key players, Garnett and Ben Wallace, thanks to Wu Dao's outstanding performance, they still maintained a strong scoring efficiency on the offensive end.

In the first quarter of the game, Wu Dao controlled nearly 70% of the Timberwolves' offensive possession, either by breaking through or shooting, and used his personal ability to tear apart the Jazz's defense, making Brian Russell, who was facing him, completely autistic.

However, the Jazz also discovered the defensive loopholes in the Timberwolves.

Targeting Stanley Roberts and Cherokee Parks, who moved more slowly in the interior, the team kept playing high-post pick-and-roll around Adam Kife.

This made Stanley Roberts a target for the Jazz's offense, and the opponent frequently scored on Stanley Roberts.

Adam Kife is actually a small forward. Although he is not comparable to traditional power forwards and centers in terms of offensive rebounding and rim protection, he also has his own advantages on the offensive end.

Adam Kife's physique seems a little thin compared to other power forwards, but this physique also gives him outstanding displacement ability. Under Stanley Roberts' defense, Adam Kife can use his speed to frequently mobilize opponents inside and outside.

And like Karl Malone, Adam Kife also has excellent shooting ability.

Although his impact when attacking the basket was far less than Malone's, it was enough to make white centers like Cherokee Parks feel defeated.

What's worse is that Adam Kiefey was once affectionately called Little Bird by fans in Salt Lake City. Although this title was inherited from his college days, he was still recognized by fans after entering the NBA, which shows his playing style and personal abilities.

When facing Adam Kiefer, the Timberwolves players did not dare to double-team him easily.

Therefore, on the offensive end, the Jazz played extremely smoothly, and the smoothness of this offense was even much smoother than in the previous games when Malone was there.

It was thanks to the efforts of Jazz players such as Stockton and Adam Kiefey that they were able to hold on under the strong offensive of Martial Arts.

31: 27.

At the end of the first quarter, the Timberwolves only had a four-point lead, and the full-fire martial arts failed to help the Timberwolves quickly widen the score.

As the whistle sounded to end the first quarter, the players of both teams returned to their respective rest areas.

“They all played well.”

"Stanley, don't think too much. You have tried your best. It's very good."

Coach Philip stood on the sidelines, welcoming the returning Timberwolves players. The team did not have a big lead in the first quarter, but Coach Philip was already very satisfied with the team's current results.

The average age of the Jazz players is older than that of the Timberwolves. As the game progresses, the Jazz players will inevitably have physical problems, and the Timberwolves have a huge advantage in this regard.

This is the experience gained from the previous games against the Jazz. As long as they can maintain the current momentum, this game is a sure win for the Timberwolves.

The further the game goes, the higher the Timberwolves' winning rate becomes, and the less hope the Jazz have of a comeback.

Coach Philip was very happy that we were able to play like this even without two defensive gates.

"Take a good rest, Sam Mitchell, you will come on as a substitute in the second quarter."

"Just pay attention to protecting the rim. If the opponent shoots a mid-range shot, just interfere as much as possible."

"The main thing is to guard the rebounds."

"In this game, the key to our two teams' victory or defeat is the protection of rebounds."

"Everyone kept my words firmly in mind."

During the break, Coach Philip made some adjustments to the Timberwolves' next players. Stanley Roberts, who was regarded as an offensive breakthrough by the Jazz, was replaced by Sam Mitchell.

At this moment, Sam Mitchell, who is less than 2 meters tall, was forced to the fourth position by Coach Philip.

To be honest, Coach Philip's arrangement was not the wisest.

Because in today's Timberwolves, compared to Sam Mitchell, Wu Dao is actually more suitable to replace the power forward position.

Regardless of height or weight, his martial arts physique is fully capable of handling this position.

But Coach Philip did not do so. In his opinion, Wu Dao's outside threat was far beyond the reach of other Timberwolves players.

Instead of sending Wu Dao to the inside, it would be better to replace him with Sam Mitchell or let Tom go to the inside to take the blame.

The atmosphere in the Timberwolves' rest area was lively after they made substitutions, while the Jazz's rest area was dead silent.

Even though they were not far behind in the first quarter, the morale of the Jazz players was a little low.

"Let me go."

Malone slowly stood up from the bench and spoke to coach Jerry Longs, who had a worried look on his face.

All the players looked at Karl Malone who stood up at this time, with expectations and surprise on their faces.

"Your body."

Coach Jerry Longs felt his heart tighten when he saw Malone with bruises all over his face.

After working together for so many years, he and players like Karl Malone have long become good friends and partners.

He knew very well that Karl Malone had not fully recovered, and according to the doctor's advice, Karl Malone needed to rest for at least half a month.

but now
The Jazz, who were on the brink of life and death, seemed unable to provide Malone with such a favorable environment for recuperation.

"fine!"

Ma Long pounded his solid chest lightly and smiled as he comforted his teammates.

His smile also affected the wound on his face, and the pain made his smile extremely ugly.

(End of this chapter)