Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 719: The surprise soldier, the stone Buddha at position three!

As soon as the game between the Lakers and the Spurs started, the defensive tactics that Popovich formulated for the Spurs took effect.

Open guard Fisher missed the outside shot and the rebound was taken by Duncan. Between offense and defense, the basketball was quickly given to Avery Johnson.

The latter took the ball and slowly dribbled across the center line. After waiting for his teammates to enter the frontcourt, Avery Johnson quickened his pace and quickly approached the Lakers' half.

Because the Spurs have three tall players on the court, the offensive rhythm of the entire team is the most popular positional warfare rhythm in the league today.

The Spurs' speed of advancement can reveal Coach Popovich's plan. He should want to use the three tall players on his team to steadily gain some advantages from the inside.

This is what Wu Dao thought when he saw the Spurs enter the Lakers' half.

But in reality, the Spurs' offensive lineup arrangement did not go as Wu Dao expected.

The only Spurs forwards who entered the basket were David Robinson and Will Perdue, while the much-watched Tim Duncan stopped at the elbow one step inside the three-point line, turned sideways and put his arm against Robert Horry.

After gaining his footing, Duncan stretched out his left hand and quickly asked for the ball from his teammate at the top of the arc.

As the Spurs players got into position one after another, Avery Johnson quickly threw the basketball in his hand to Duncan on the wing.

As soon as the basketball was in hand, cheers broke out from the stands.

There were actually quite a few Spurs fans who came to watch today's game. After several previous rounds of games, Duncan, who has just joined the team for only one season, also has a very high position in the hearts of Spurs fans.

Everyone regards Duncan, the No. 1 pick, as the future leader of the Spurs and the successor to David Robinson.

In the Spurs' previous game against the Lakers, Duncan's performance was also quite outstanding, which also earned him more popularity.

As soon as he got the ball, the cheers Duncan received overshadowed the cheers O'Neal received when he took the ball and attacked.

There is no doubt that Duncan has become a star player. His popularity and strength are worthy of his status as the No. 1 pick.

"Is Duncan planning to attack from the outside?"

"Does his face-to-the-basket ability allow him to easily penetrate Robert Horry's defense?"

"If there is no way to break through easily, O'Neal will probably come up to defend immediately."

"The mobility of this fat guy should never be underestimated."

Duncan, holding the ball, bent over slightly with his center of gravity lowered. The basketball in his hand was clamped at his waist. Facing the basket, he showed an obvious desire to attack when facing Robert Horry's defense.

Sakuragi Hanamichi saw Duncan like this on the sidelines, clenched his hands and muttered to himself.

His attention was completely focused on the court. He imagined himself as Duncan on the court now, thinking about how he should choose to attack if he faced such a situation.

Today, Sakuragi Hanamichi has learned to play with his brain, rather than just relying on his physical talents and innate beast instincts.

"Duncan's ability to face the basket should be pretty good."

"He is not a striker who can only catch dunks. Although the position where he receives the ball is a little far from the basket, it should not be a big problem for Duncan."

"Of course, being able to attack from that position is one thing, being able to score from that position is one thing, being able to score efficiently from that position is another thing!"

Wudao, who was sitting next to Sakuragi Hanamichi, watched Duncan's movements on the court, a slight smile appeared on his face, and he spoke.

In the NBA, the standards for evaluating whether a player has a certain ability are actually quite high.

Take O'Neal's three-pointer as an example.

Is O'Neal a player with three-point shooting ability?

Obviously, if you ask ten fans the same question, they will all give you the same answer, which is that O'Neal does not have the ability to shoot three-pointers.

But in fact, O'Neal is a player who can shoot three-pointers with a certain degree of accuracy. In the 21st century when media coverage is extremely widespread, O'Neal has also released some of his training videos.

In various training videos, you can see videos of O'Neal playfully shooting three-pointers, and what may surprise many fans is that O'Neal's three-point shooting percentage is quite good, and it is not a problem for him to make six or seven out of ten.

But can a player be said to have three-point shooting ability just because he can shoot three-pointers?

Obviously, such simple standards do not apply to evaluating a player in the NBA.

Only abilities that have been tested on the field will be recognized by the fans.

For example, Jordan's jump shot, Curry's three-pointer, and James' true three-step layup are the "abilities" that are widely recognized by fans.

Abilities that have not been tested in competition have no value.

Duncan's long-range face-to-basket attack was an ability that had not been tested on the court. The Lakers and Spurs played until Game 7. He tried to attack from such a position under the instruction of coach Popovich.

Of course, Wu Dao did not doubt that Duncan had the ability to score in this position, but scoring once or twice occasionally was of no use. It could only serve to scare people. What the Spurs needed was Duncan to score steadily in that position.

Just as Wu Dao was thinking this in his heart, Duncan on the court also took action. After a simple tentative step, the basketball in Duncan's hand fell quickly. He put his left hand on Robert Horry's body and dropped the ball with his right hand, forcing a breakthrough.

Duncan and Robert Horry's bodies collided with each other, and the huge force directly hit Robert Horry, causing the relatively thin Robert Horry to be pushed back a step by Duncan.

Duncan, who had gained an opening through physical confrontation, suddenly paused, and then, in front of everyone's astonished gaze, he actually made a quick stop and jump shot.

"???"

Seeing Duncan actually shoot the ball in this way, Wu Dao, who was watching the game on the sidelines, couldn't help but hold his breath and looked at the basketball in the air with some disbelief.

Under Wu Dao's astonished gaze, the basketball went straight into the net with a crisp sound.

The basketball went into the net, and deafening cheers rang out from the stands. Wu Dao, who was sitting in the audience, felt the seat shaking violently, and correspondingly, his heart also shook violently.

Unexpectedly, Duncan's choice of attack was really beyond Wu Dao's expectations.

Duncan's shooting position just now was only two steps inside the three-point line, which was still quite a distance from the basket.

In previous games, when Duncan received the ball in that position, he would only shoot when he was open, but he almost never made a quick stop jump shot while moving like he did now.

Wu Dao actually has a very deep understanding of Duncan. The players he knows best are Yao Ming, Kobe and their opponents.

Duncan and his Spurs were naturally one of the teams that Wu Dao knew the most about, even though the Spurs' games were rarely broadcast on television back then.

The Duncan in Wudao's mind and the Duncan he saw in front of him had completely different skills. At least the Duncan in Wudao's impression would not make such an offensive choice!
"He actually scored a goal? And he actually scored the goal in this way?"

"Is he going to switch to small forward? High-profile Garnett?"

Wu Dao clenched his fists and looked at Duncan who was returning to defense on the court, his eyes revealing a deep interest.

For an outside scorer, ball-handling ability is important, but it is not the most important ability.

There are many abilities that are actually much more important than ball-handling ability, including shooting ability and the ability to switch between static and dynamic situations.

Shooting ability enables the scorer to have excellent scoring ability in low-efficiency areas, while dynamic and static transition ability and ball-holding ability are the same, which both create a better shooting environment for the scorer.

Holding the ball, shooting, and switching between movement and stillness, these three things are equivalent to the three wheels of a tricycle, which can stabilize a player's lower limit.

Although Duncan only showed a little bit of his skills on the court, this one skill alone was enough to make everyone take it seriously.

On the court, the Lakers' Fisher received a pass from his teammate in the backcourt and began to advance with the ball.

While advancing, he would occasionally look at Duncan who was returning to defense. Obviously, even he, an old opponent who had played so many series with the Spurs, was shocked by Duncan's recent operation.

Unlike the surprise of the Lakers fans, the cheers of the Spurs fans in the stands continued for a long time.

The surprise that Duncan's shot brought to the fans was different from all the abilities Duncan had shown in the series before.

Duncan gave Spurs fans a glimpse of possibility.

Maybe Duncan can become a super scorer like Jordan.

For a scorer, a wide offensive area and rich offensive means are very important.

If Duncan's offensive area is not limited to the small area under the basket, the possibilities contained in this player will shock everyone.

After Fisher dribbled the ball to the top of the arc, he withdrew his gaze from Duncan on the wing.

Although Duncan's performance surprised him, it did not affect the Lakers' own offensive operations.

The basketball was passed from Fisher's hands again and passed to O'Neal on the side of the paint area in front of the baseline.

Although O'Neal failed to attack the basket directly in the last round of offense, the opportunities he created with the ball were exactly what the Lakers needed.

The failure of the previous round of offense was not due to O'Neal, but because he himself missed the shot.

"Snapped!"

O'Neal caught the ball like he was catching a chicken. With his big hands and strong strength, he even caught the ball so hard that it was obviously deformed.

The basketball in his hand fell quickly, and this time, O'Neal did not choose to pass the ball to his teammates.

While Duncan, who was coming back to double-team him, was not too close to him, O'Neal directly shot the ball from behind and slammed his body hard into David Robinson.

Under O'Neal's attack, even David Robinson couldn't withstand such a tonnage. His upper body tilted back, his feet felt weak, and he couldn't help but take a step back, directly leaving the area he occupied.

After finding the gap, O'Neal held the ball with both hands, turned around, and easily broke into the basket. Then he jumped up. O'Neal's huge body once again came into close contact with David Robinson's body. After pushing David Robinson away, he flew up for a dunk.

But at this moment, Duncan, who was originally on the wing of the free throw line, actually rushed back to the basket in time, jumped into the air behind O'Neal, and pressed the basketball in O'Neal's hands with both hands.

From a martial arts perspective, he could clearly see that Duncan's hand had touched the ball in O'Neal's hand.

But what surprised him was that O'Neal's sudden rise had no effect at all, and the basketball was directly pushed into the basket by O'Neal.

"Dangdang!"

The loud noise of a slam dunk rang out in the court and echoed in all directions.

"Oh!!!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was watching the game with great immersion, clenched his fists, jumped up from his seat, and cheered excitedly when he saw O'Neal's slam dunk.

I can’t believe this guy is actually a Lakers fan.

On the court, O'Neal, who scored a two-handed slam dunk, let go of the basket and fell back to the ground, looking at David Robinson who was knocked away by him, and taunted him: "No one can stop the Big Shark today!"

"Don't stand in front of me with your weak defense. This is not a job for an old man like you."

"Back off and don't get hurt!"

You know what, O'Neal is a nice guy. He even cares about Robinson, an "old man".

David Robinson has long been accustomed to O'Neal's funny personality. O'Neal is a typical player who curses when the wind is in his favor and keeps silent when the wind is against him.

In this respect, O'Neal and Garnett are somewhat different.

No matter whether the wind is in his favor or against him, Garnett always curses and never learns to shut up!
In today's game, whether it is the Spurs or the Lakers, the main players of both teams were in excellent condition.

Soon, the Spurs launched a counterattack.

The basketball was still given to Duncan on the wing. It seemed that Popovich really used Duncan as the third position.

This time, Duncan did not show his personal outside singles ability. After calling a pick-and-roll, as David Robinson moved forward, Duncan also broke through. After using the pick-and-roll to get a certain gap, Duncan still chose a mid-range pull-up jump shot.

Maybe his luck had run out, or maybe Duncan's ability to pull up and shoot was not as perfect as he had shown in the previous attack.

This time his shot hit the rim and he failed to score, and the rebound was caught by Robert Horry of the Lakers.

After several passes, the basketball came into Fisher's hands and the Lakers counterattacked.

He watched Duncan's attack carefully and attentively. He found that although Duncan's movements were quite skillful, there was a short delay in the transition between movement and stillness, which gave people the feeling that the rhythm was not very smooth.

Previously, due to the physical confrontation, this shortcoming was not very obvious, but this time Duncan made an open jump shot after the pick-and-roll, and the change in rhythm was also revealed.

"It seems that such an attack is also a surprise attack."

"If that's the case, the Spurs won't be able to overcome the Lakers relying solely on Duncan's outside shooting ability!"

"The key to victory in the end is still the victory or defeat of the inside offense and defense."