Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The appearance of players such as Marbury and Garnett will definitely add a different color to the Timberwolves' offense.

If the Lakers hadn't realized this, the outcome of this game wouldn't have had to go until the third quarter, but would have been decided at the end of the second quarter.

But the Lakers are a playoff team after all, and even without the reminders of the coach on the sidelines, these NBA players are very capable of adjusting.

As the Timberwolves successfully scored this attack, the Lakers players spontaneously gathered together during the offense to discuss defensive strategies to deal with the Timberwolves' attack.

In previous games, Wu Dao, as the main attacker, always had one or two players assisting in the attack.

Garnett, who has excellent pick-and-roll ability, and Marbury, who has outstanding personal ability, are the other two weapons of the Timberwolves.

In the G1 game, the Lakers were defeated by this group of three shots.

Therefore, when Marbury and Garnett came back to Wu Dao in this game, the Lakers players also felt a lot of pressure.

In the previous pre-game preparations, the Lakers actually made some plans to deal with such a situation.

Now the Lakers players are gathered together just to communicate in advance to prevent the players from lacking corresponding tacit understanding when playing defensive tactics later.

Soon, Nick brought the ball into the Timberwolves' half.

O'Neal was in the interior with his back to the basket. Cherokee Parks, who was defending him, was forced to retreat step by step under O'Neal's strong force and was actually pushed back into the paint by O'Neal.

At this time, O'Neal was also standing on the side of the paint area in front of the baseline, raising his hands high and asking Nick on the outside for the ball.

Sam Mitchell was responsible for defending Kobe. He was much older than Kobe and had the physique of a heavy forward. Knowing clearly that he was at a disadvantage, Sam Mitchell did not get too close to Kobe. Instead, he stood inside the three-point line, keeping a distance of nearly half a meter from Kobe.

In a classic move of letting Kobe shoot but not break through, Sam Mitchell selectively let Kobe do what he wanted outside the three-point line.

On the other side of the court, Wu Dao came in front of Robert Horry. At this time, Robert Horry, who had been pressed to the third position by the Lakers, actually eliminated his own advantage.

When Robert Horry plays the power forward position, he can use his three-point shooting ability to pull the opponent's inside players to the outside to defend.

But once he actually goes to the three position, Robert Holly's ball-handling ability is not enough to maximize his threat.

Once a dedicated player comes up to defend, a player of Robert Horry's caliber will not be able to rely on his own personal abilities to tear through the opponent's defense.

The Lakers' substitution was actually a bad move. Their use of a three-in-the-field lineup was actually not beneficial to the team.

Nick at the top of the arc saw O'Neal's inside opportunity and quickly lobbed the ball.

Cherokee Parks tried to defend from the front, but his movements were precisely controlled by O'Neal. The fat man just moved his ankle slightly and easily trapped Cherokee Parks behind him.

"Snapped!"

As the basketball fell into O'Neal's hands, Garnett on the other side decisively let go of Campbell and rushed directly towards O'Neal.

The first thing O'Neal did when he got the ball was to look back at the Timberwolves' inside defensive arrangement. Naturally, he noticed Garnett letting go of Campbell who was going forward to make up for the defense.

Instead of choosing to attack by himself, O'Neal grabbed the ball with his right hand and hooked it behind him. The basketball hit the side of Cherokee Parks and bounced back to Campbell on the other side along the baseline.

A very thoughtful and creative pass.

Garnett, who was about to steal the ball from O'Neal, was caught off guard and had no time to turn around to defend Campbell. He could only watch Campbell jump up with the ball after a drop, and slam it into the basket with both hands.

"Dangdang!"

The loud noise of the dunk echoed throughout the stadium, and the powerful slam dunk made the already powerful Lakers even more motivated.

"They played an excellent offense today!"

When Wudao saw this round of attack by the Lakers, his heart skipped a beat. Even he, as an opponent, felt that the Lakers played very well today, not to mention the Lakers fans watching the game in the stands.

Everyone could feel that the Lakers played at their best this season today.

All players can play their value when they are on the court.

And when O'Neal returned to the court, all the Lakers players gathered around him, completely elevating the team.

During the regular season and the playoffs, O'Neal, who was defeated by the Timberwolves, Bulls, Jazz and other teams, has now adjusted his mentality. He is no longer restricted by the title of "the most dominant center."

When he is on the court, he knows how to share the ball and will not rely on his strong personal abilities to act recklessly.

The consecutive defeats to strong teams also made O'Neal realize that it is impossible to win the championship by relying solely on his own strength.

Between offense and defense, the Lakers players returned to their own half early to defend.

Facing the Timberwolves' three-gun attack, the Lakers chose a life-and-death defensive approach, with 1 inside and 4 outside, placing all the pressure on the outside, leaving only O'Neal alone to guard the basket.

Campbell and Robert Horry, one behind and the other in front, blocked Wu Dao's way.

The first line of defense the five players face within the three-point line is Robert Horry, and less than two meters behind Robert Horry stands Campbell.

These two players with broad builds formed two lines of defense against Wu Dao. If Wu Dao attacked with the ball, he might even be attacked by O'Neal. In a split second, Wu Dao might be besieged by three Lakers players.

At the top of the arc, Nick defended Marbury alone, while on the other side Kobe Bryant defended Sam Mitchell alone.

In the interior, O'Neal is responsible for Garnett and Cherokee Parks. These two players actually have certain mid-range shooting capabilities. Of course, Garnett's mid-range shooting ability is better.

When the Lakers put out such a defensive lineup, Garnett also realized that his opportunity had come. When he got into position, he sank directly to the baseline on the right and did not choose to enter the basket.

Campbell was wary of Garnett's position. When he was in defensive position, he was wary of the elbows and used his body to block the connection between the top of the arc and Garnett.

But Campbell's defensive strategy is too easy to break.

As the basketball passed from Marbury's hands to Wudao's hands, Wudao, facing Robert Horry's defense, directly dropped the ball and made a strong breakthrough. His strong body directly hit Robert Horry, causing him to stagger and move out of his way.

At the same time when Wudao was forcing his way past Robert Horry, Campbell, who was in a forward position, also blocked Wudao directly. Together with Robert Horry who was chasing after Wudao, they formed a pincer attack on Wudao. Not only the two of them, but even O'Neal left the paint area and looked at Wudao who had already broken through.

"Ohh, the Lakers' attention is all drawn to Wu Dao's breakthrough!"

"Everyone is double-teaming us. There's no possibility of a breakthrough!" The Timberwolves fans in the stands exclaimed in surprise when they saw the Lakers' defense. These die-hard fans have a good understanding of basketball. The moment the Lakers' defense rotated, the fans knew that Wu Dao had no way of attacking the basket.

At this time, Wudao's offensive route was blocked. If he wanted to force a breakthrough to the basket, he had to get past the two lines of defense of Campbell and O'Neal.

Both of these two are power forwards. If they choose to use force to push forward, it may affect their own impact force. However, if they choose to go around from the side, such a small double-team area may not allow Wu Dao to move freely.

At this time, Wu Dao actually has only two choices. One is to choose to make a quick stop jump shot in the low-efficiency area, and the other is to pass the ball to other teammates.

Yes, even when double-teamed by three people, Wu Dao still had opportunities for mid-range shots.

Why is the CIC called God’s weapon by fans?
It's not just because the mid-range shot is Jordan's best offensive method, but also because this offensive skill can be used in countless occasions without worrying about whether the opponent's defense is too strong.

There is only one thing that limits a mid-range shooter, and that is his touch.

What outside scorers fear most is not the opponent's double-team, but the fact that they have the opportunity to shoot but miss a lot of shots and cannot get the ball into the net.

I'm afraid players like Kobe and McGrady have a lot to say about this.

Although Kobe's fadeaway jump shot is beautiful, the sound of the shot missing is also very distressing to the fans.

Although McGrady's three-point pull-up shot is elegant and graceful, every time the rebound is taken by the opponent, his own players don't even have a chance to grab the rebound. I'm afraid the fans want to kill him.

When faced with double-teaming, Wu Dao did not blindly trust his mid-range shooting touch, or he also hoped that his teammates could help him share some of the offensive pressure at this critical moment.

Under this kind of defensive pressure, teammates often have a better chance to score easily.

Wudao's eyes quickly swept to Garnett in front of the baseline. As he stopped and jumped, the basketball in his hand was thrown directly at Garnett in front of the baseline.

Wudao's jumping ability was excellent and his passing speed was also very fast. Although Campbell predicted the direction of Wudao's next pass, he had no way to stop Wudao's pass.

The basketball flew directly past Campbell and into Garnett's hands.

The latter took the ball, made some adjustments, and shot directly at zero degrees.

The basketball flew almost close to the backboard and fell steadily into the net with a slight sound.

As expected of him, "Iron Jump Shot Garnett" even this kind of shot is not too difficult for him.

"Beautiful, Kevin!"

"Well passed on, martial arts!"

Both Wu Dao and Garnett were very happy to be able to help the Timberwolves score points, and they praised each other almost at the same time.

After a loud high-five, the Timberwolves players quickly retreated.

There was not much time left in the second quarter and there was no so-called score difference between the two teams.

At this point in the game, the Lakers became very cautious in every attack.

After dribbling into the frontcourt, Nick did not choose to pass the ball immediately. Instead, he glanced at the timer on the side of the court and began to control the ball to delay time, thinking about extending his offensive time and trying to maximize the benefits of each of his moves.

The Lakers players seemed to understand Nick's intention. As the offensive time was running out, the players did not make any extensive runs.

Kobe symbolically made a breakthrough to the right corner, and Nick at the top of the arc also dribbled the ball with his left hand and moved to the left along the three-point arc.

The entire left area became very empty. If the court was divided into left and right sides, at this time there were only two players, Nick and O'Neal, in the left half of the Timberwolves.

"Want to play one-on-one against Marbury from the outside?"

"No, it's about O'Neal taking on Cherokee Parks."

When Wu Dao saw the Lakers' movement, he immediately analyzed the opponent's intention.

If we were to say what kind of offensive method of the Lakers has the highest success rate, it would definitely be O'Neal's one-on-one play in the interior.

At this critical moment of the game, no one is more trustworthy than O'Neal.

Sure enough, when the Lakers had only ten seconds left to attack, O'Neal under the basket used his excellent physical fitness to block Cherokee Parks and quickly reached out to the outside for the ball.

Nick seemed to be prepared. He had already passed the ball before O'Neal reached out his hand. As soon as O'Neal stretched out his hand, he happened to catch the ball.

As O'Neal got the ball, Nick, who was originally on the left wing, quickly sank to the left corner. Robert Horry, who was on the right wing, also quickly ran towards the left wing, apparently intending to go to the same side as O'Neal to provide support to O'Neal.

At the same time, Kobe Bryant in the right corner quickly moved up to the three-point line on the right wing.

As the Lakers' offense rotated, the Timberwolves' defensive lineup also began to rotate.

Wu Dao, who was in the inner half of the three-point line, retreated quickly. While retreating, he frequently turned his head to look at O'Neal who was holding the ball behind him.

The basketball court seemed very small to ordinary people like them. With just a few steps, Wudao was less than two meters away from O'Neal. His arrival also caused tremendous psychological pressure on O'Neal.

O'Neal, who lost his composure, passed the ball directly outside the three-point line.

And at the moment the basketball flew out of O'Neal's hands, Wu Dao, who had originally revealed his intention to double-team, quickly quickened his pace and pounced towards Robert Horry.

Faced with the aggressive martial arts, Robert Horry did not dare to choose to shoot directly from a three-pointer.

A ground pass directly gave the ball back to O'Neal in the interior. With little time left in the attack, O'Neal had no time to hesitate. He held the ball in his right hand, made a back-to-the-basket shot, and then half-turned around to shoot a small hook shot.

However, just as the basketball flew out of his hands, Garnett suddenly rushed out from the side, jumped high and grabbed the basketball with both hands.

"f**k?!"

When O'Neal saw this scene, his eyes twitched and he cursed under his breath.

Garnett's bounce was enough to block his hook shot, which O'Neal did not expect at first.

(End of this chapter)