Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 724: Whirlwind Attack!

As the players from the Timberwolves and Lakers took their positions on the court, the fans in the stands burst into deafening cheers.

The referee walked quickly into the court with the ball. After signaling the players on both sides to jump ball, he blew the whistle and threw the ball high into the air.

The Lakers' jump ball player was naturally Shaquille O'Neal, while the Timberwolves sent Stanley Roberts to jump the ball.

In fact, from the perspective of physical fitness alone, Garnett's jump ball effect will be much better than Stanley Roberts' jump ball effect.

But Coach Philip has his own considerations in this game. It is possible that starting later will be more beneficial to the Timberwolves.

"Da~"

With a slight sound in the court, just as all the Timberwolves players expected, Stanley Roberts was no match for Shaquille O'Neal in the jump ball. The basketball was hit by the opponent first and flew towards Fisher in the backcourt.

The Western Conference Finals Game 1 officially began, and the Lakers won the jump ball and got the chance to attack first.

After Fisher got the basketball, he pressed at the back of the team and slowly approached the Timberwolves' half with the ball.

At the same time, the Timberwolves players also completed their positions one after another. Wu Dao stood on the right wing, Garnett stood on the left wing, Marbury stood at the top of the arc, and in the inside were Ben Wallace and Stanley Roberts, standing on both sides of the basket.

The Timberwolves' defensive positioning was relatively conventional. On defense, all the outside players stayed close to the three-point line and did not move too far inside. Judging from the Timberwolves' defensive lineup alone, they did not seem to have any targeted defense against O'Neal.

Fisher slowly dribbled the ball toward the top of the arc while observing the Timberwolves' players' positions. At the same time, other Lakers players also took positions on the court one after another. Eddie Jones, who ran into the frontcourt, quickly came to Fisher's side and set a pick-and-roll for Fisher.

With the help of Eddie Jones's pick-and-roll, Fisher broke through with the ball with his left hand.

The Timberwolves' defensive rotation was also relatively fast, and Garnett on the same side reacted very quickly. He immediately caught up with Fisher who rushed in. His footwork was unusually frequent, and his speed of chasing and defending was not at all like that of a player who played the No. 4 position for many years.

When Fisher was halfway there, he was stopped by Garnett. His tall body blocked Fisher's way and Garnett's shadow enveloped Fisher.

A defensive force with a strong sense of pressure.

Although Garnett is an inside player, the pressure he exerts on outside players is extremely strong. With one hand raised high, Garnett also placed his right hand in front of him, hinting at his intention to steal the ball.

It was precisely because of Garnett's defensive style that Fisher, feeling the pressure, did not dare to continue dribbling forward. After an abrupt stop, he took the ball with both hands and quickly passed it to O'Neal, who was in the paint area in front of the baseline and was facing the basket.

The moment the basketball was passed to Garnett, Garnett, who was originally blocking Fisher, quickly turned around and rushed directly towards O'Neal, trying to steal the ball from in front of O'Neal.

O'Neal had just received the ball and didn't even have time to make a move when he saw Garnett rushing towards him. Without any hesitation, O'Neal directly lobbed the ball back to Fisher.

As the basketball was passed, Garnett's double-teaming pace quickly slowed down, and he immediately turned around and chased Fisher. However, Garnett, who was returning to the outside defense, did not move his position too far out. Instead, he took two steps forward and stopped without continuing to pressure Fisher.

Garnett's defensive intention was also very clear at this moment. He did not intend to defend Fisher's high-post shooting, but just did not want Fisher to break into the basket with the ball.

The Timberwolves' defensive focus is actually built around the Big Shark O'Neal in the interior. The defense against outside players is generally relatively loose, especially shooting in low-efficiency areas and three-pointers.

When the opportunity arose, Fisher did not actually spend too much time thinking about whether he should take a shot this time. His body almost instinctively raised his center of gravity, and after a slight adjustment, he directly threw the ball.

"Shh!"

As the basketball fell into the net with a crisp sound, the Lakers took the lead after the opening and scored the first two points.

"it is good!"

O'Neal, who was inside, clapped his hands as he watched the ball go into the net, and shouted encouragement to Fisher. As soon as he played against the Timberwolves, O'Neal actually realized that the opponent's defense was aimed at him.

Players of his level not only have explosive personal abilities, but are also very accurate in judging the situation on the field.

O'Neal clearly understood that if he wanted to win today's game, his outside teammates had to be able to play well. Only when his teammates played well could he find some scoring opportunities in the Timberwolves' tight defense.

The Lakers and the Timberwolves have played against each other many times, and O'Neal has a clear understanding of the strength of players like Garnett, Ben Wallace and Stanley Roberts.

Roberts was his college teammate, Garnett was also one of the Timberwolves' star players, and Ben Wallace, although only a substitute-level player, was also very famous.

After all, he was the one who took Ma Long to the hospital.
The sword-wielding guards around the stars often receive more attention because of the stars' own fame.

What's more, Ben Wallace's defensive ability is also very good.

In fact, in the league, players like Ben Wallace who have clear functions and dare to fight are players that every team will reserve.

Take the Lakers' Eddie Jones and Ben Wallace for example. When Eddie Jones' offensive firepower decreases with his age or his condition fluctuates, Eddie Jones' contract will fluctuate greatly.

But Ben Wallace is different. Maybe his age and condition will affect his personal ability. But the most important point for him to gain a foothold on the court is not his strong ability, but his courage to fight.

It's fair to say that, if things go as they should, a player like Ben Wallace would be more likely to find a job than a player like Eddie Jones.

It is precisely because O'Neal knows these inside players of the Timberwolves well enough that he will be more cautious when confronting the Timberwolves.

Judging from this attack, Fisher should be in good shape today, which is good news for O'Neal.

The offense and defense alternated on the court, and the basketball was passed from the backcourt to Marbury's hands.

Amid the cheers of the fans, the Timberwolves quickly advanced forward.

Except for Stanley Roberts, all the other five Timberwolves players are highly mobile players. Even inside players like Ben Wallace and Garnett still have quite good running ability. On the offensive end, the Timberwolves selectively marginalized Stanley Roberts in order to speed up the overall offensive and defensive rhythm.

The ultimate goal of speeding up the pace is to wear down O'Neal.

It may not be very respectful to players like Eddie Jones to say this, but the fact is that the Timberwolves have never taken players other than O'Neal seriously.

In the eyes of the Timberwolves players, all they need to do to defeat the Lakers is defeat O'Neal.

The Lakers' All-Star players are just leg accessories to the Timberwolves.

Marbury's pace was very fast. Before he even got close to the top of the arc of the Lakers, the basketball in his hand had already been passed to Wudao on the side. After the basketball was shot, Marbury quickly ran in the direction of Wudao, pretended to do a reverse roll, and then went straight to the bottom corner.

After receiving the ball, Wu Dao also dropped the ball with his left hand. While Marbury was running, he and Marbury intertwined and ran back towards the top of the arc with the ball.

Wu Dao's presence on the court was so strong that Rick Fox, who was defending him, didn't even look at Marbury who was running to the corner. Fisher, who was supposed to defend Marbury, also moved towards Wu Dao when he saw Wu Dao moving horizontally with the ball.

Although Marbury's previous fake pick-and-roll was not in a good position, if Fisher ignored Wu Dao and went directly to chase Marbury, it would also give Wu Dao a brief shooting gap.

In the eyes of the Lakers' outside players, Wu Dao, who possesses all-round shooting ability, is too threatening. They dare not relax at all.

Two people double-teamed Wu Dao, and Marbury in the corner was directly left with an open space.

Taking advantage of his height and wingspan, Wudao jumped lightly and passed the basketball in his hand quickly to Marbury in the corner. The ball was passed so fast that in the eyes of the fans on the sidelines, the basketball seemed to turn into a red light and flashed before their eyes.

"Snapped!"

Marbury in the corner grabbed the ball steadily, lowered his body, looked straight at the basket, completely ignoring Robert Horry who was coming up from the inside, and quickly threw the basketball in his hand.

"Shh!"

The basketball flew over Robert Horry's head, drawing a beautiful arc in the air. With a crisp sound of the net, the basketball hit the basket steadily and went into the net.

“ohhhhh!!!”

The moment the basketball went into the net, the Timberwolves fans in the stands burst into cheers. The game had only just begun, but these fans were already excited and full of passion.

"nice shot!"

This is the kind of ball-holding guard. Although he is good at passing the ball, he is best at attacking with the ball. Whether it is breaking through or shooting, he has mastered these offensive skills very comprehensively.

If Marbury could be a few centimeters taller, he would have a good chance of growing into a super No. 2 player like Kobe.

His core style of play has been suppressed in the current Timberwolves, but in today's game, the Timberwolves will try to fully unleash Marbury's scoring ability!
The game has entered the playoffs, and the teams have a very deep understanding of each other.

Often in this kind of game, a conventional style of play is unlikely to help the team win the final victory. Coach Philip has great confidence in the team's previous star style of play centered on martial arts, but a team cannot have only one style of play.

That would be too easy to target, just like the Lakers today.

The Lakers' core playing style is centered around O'Neal, and O'Neal's personal shortcomings will become the shortcomings of the entire Lakers team.

This Lakers team does not have a second system that can be effective in the playoffs.

If they had, they wouldn't have had such a hard time against the Spurs.

Between offense and defense, the Lakers launched another attack. The basketball rotated among the Lakers players. O'Neal was double-teamed twice when he touched the ball and was unable to attack the basket with the ball. Garnett and Ben Wallace posed a great threat to him.

As the offensive time elapsed, the Lakers chose to pass the ball to Robert Horry who was in a relatively open position after rotating the ball for nearly 20 seconds, and Robert Horry finished with a mid-range shot.

"Dang~"

But what was somewhat surprising was that Robert Horry's small open shot did not successfully send the ball into the net. The basketball hit the edge of the basket directly and bounced out.

Under the basket, two strong men, Stanley Roberts and Ben Wallace, sandwiched O'Neal on the left and right. The two players' movements were very big and their strength was very strong, which forced O'Neal to push the two men hard to maintain his position.

As the basketball fell, O'Neal, who was covered in heavy weight, had no way to jump. He could only watch Wu Dao, who was in position on the outside, rush back to the basket and grab the ball right in front of Robert Horry.

"Quick attack!"

Without any hesitation, Wudao grabbed the rebound and threw the ball directly to the frontcourt. At this time, Marbury had already stepped on the accelerator and ran quickly towards the Lakers' half.

On the Lakers side, only Fisher and Eddie Jones could keep up with Marbury's moves.

Marbury, who got the ball in the frontcourt, was also the first to rush forward, not afraid of the two Lakers defenders chasing behind him. At the same time when Eddie Jones tried to bypass him, Marbury also crossed the free throw line with the ball, quickly gathered the ball and took a big step to the basket.

After two steps, Marbury took the ball and jumped, and his body collided directly with Eddie Jones who was chasing him. Under the fierce physical confrontation, Marbury was still able to maintain his stability in mid-air. He hooked the basketball in his hand, and it directly hit the backboard and bounced back into the net.

While Marbury scored successfully, O'Neal and Robert Horry just barely crossed the center line, while the Timberwolves' Wu Dao had already crossed the Lakers' three-point line.

If Marbury had not chosen to force his way forward, and had noticed Wu Dao behind him, the Timberwolves would have had a high probability of scoring in this attack.

From the start to now, in just a few rounds of offense and defense, the Timberwolves have perfectly demonstrated the team's characteristics.

To deal with this positional team led by O'Neal, the Timberwolves have obviously decided to use the "whirlwind fast play". If the Lakers can't come up with a good response, the game may be decided before the final quarter.