Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Although these young players of the Timberwolves are battle-hardened, they still feel nervous on a stage like the finals.

This is not to say that the Timberwolves players lack game experience. In fact, every player who can step onto the NBA stage has gone through countless large and small games during the growth process, and the players' mentality should not have any major problems.

However, match experience is not something that a player can accumulate simply by playing more games.

The reason why competition experience is valuable is that it is extremely difficult to accumulate such competition experience.

No one can experience the tension of a competition without being in the environment in person.

This is a feeling that comes from deep within the soul, and the players' bodies will also be affected by this feeling.

Although they won the jump ball, the Bulls scored two points first, which put a lot of pressure on the Timberwolves players.

Between offense and defense, Marbury also got the basketball and slowly moved towards the frontcourt with the ball.

Compared to the Timberwolves' previous games, Marbury played much more cautiously today. The game had just begun, but he had already suppressed the team's offensive rhythm.

This is actually a manifestation of lack of self-confidence. Even someone with a big heart like him would encounter such a situation, which was unexpected by no one.

The Timberwolves fans in the stands did not notice any abnormality from the Timberwolves players, but Coach Philip on the sidelines felt nervous when he saw Marbury dribbling the ball.

He also started out as a player, and although he has become a coach now, he can feel that Marbury is a little different from before.

Even a lone wolf like Marbury would be nervous, so it's hard for Coach Philip to imagine what the other players on the team would be like.

The mentality of the players actually has a very significant impact on the performance of their strength.

When the players are relaxed, they can even play at 120% of their strength on the court. However, when the players are tense and nervous, it is already very good if they can play at half of their level. In serious cases, they can't even hold the ball.

Although Marbury was not nervous to that extent, Coach Philip could see that Marbury's mentality was beginning to affect his technical movements.

"Something doesn't feel right, these kids are a little nervous!"

Coach Philip had a bad feeling in his heart. To be honest, he had never thought of such a problem before the game officially started.

After all, the Timberwolves' young players did not show such nervousness and fear in the previous Western Conference Finals. In his opinion, the conference finals did not affect the players' mentality, and even if they entered the finals, the players' mentality would not be affected.

But he was proven wrong.

As the Timberwolves get closer to their goal, the mentality of these young people is bound to fluctuate, and many players begin to worry about gains and losses.

If it were them in the past, such thoughts would not have occurred to them.

Anyway, there is no hope of winning the championship, so every game we can play in the playoffs is a fight to the bitter end, with a desperate mentality.

But at this moment, the Timberwolves players who reached the finals stage did not think so.

They have never felt that the championship is so close to them. The more they hope to win the championship, the more cautious they become. This lack of composure will cause their technical movements to become deformed.

The players on the field who felt the condition more obviously were the Bulls players.

As an opponent of these Timberwolves players, but sometimes even knows the Timberwolves better than the Timberwolves themselves.

Michael Jordan was an experienced superstar. He could feel Marbury's nervousness just by looking at him a few more times.

"Young man, you are still too young!"

"It's painful to play ball, right? Go home early!"

Michael Jordan is not a tolerant person. When facing the juniors, especially those standing opposite him, he will not say anything nice to guide these young people.

Michael Jordan would just do whatever it took to destroy these opponents.

Supporting young people? What a joke!
The trash talk came out of his mouth, and Marbury, who was dribbling the ball, couldn't help but look up at Michael Jordan.

Although these words were not the strongest fighting power of the trash talk king Michael Jordan, they were still a bit hurtful to Marbury.

Ignoring Jordan, after a simple between-the-crotch dribble, Marbury made a slight adjustment and looked at Wu Dao on the side.

His intention to pass the ball was so obvious that Jordan was not afraid of Marbury's breakthrough with the ball. He quickly stepped forward and blocked the passing route between Marbury and Wu Dao. At the same time, Michael Jordan's breakthrough route on the right was wide open, revealing an obvious flaw.

Although Marbury did not keep a calm mind like in previous games, he would not let go of the opportunity.

The basketball quickly switched to his left hand, and Marbury quickly stepped forward with his right foot and passed by Michael Jordan, trying to break into the inside.

But at the same time when Marbury's position was offset from Michael Jordan's, Michael Jordan, who had originally taken a side step forward, suddenly retreated, and his right hand suddenly slapped the basketball in Marbury's hand.

Marbury staggered while walking and barely managed to keep his footing, but the basketball in his hand remained where it was and was intercepted by Michael Jordan.

Steal, and another steal.

In the end, Marbury fell into Michael Jordan's trap. How could Jordan's defense be so easily exposed?
This was just a trap to force Marbury to break through with the ball after talking trash.

Michael Jordan likes to taunt his opponents during games, but it is not entirely due to his personality. Part of the purpose is also to provoke the emotions of his opponents in this way.

In order to win the championship, even a player like Michael Jordan will still use such tricks.

These things are all part of the game. If young people cannot adapt to such a competition environment, it is not the opponent's problem, but their own problem.

Jordan picked up the basketball and was about to rush forward, but a black shadow suddenly jumped out from the side and blocked Michael Jordan directly.

At the same time, Jordan also noticed that the other party was reaching out towards the basketball in his hand.

It was so fast and so sudden that even Michael Jordan was unable to react in time. The ball was snatched away by the opponent and fell to the ground.

After the basketball was stolen, Jordan finally saw the person coming. It was Wu Dao who was originally on the wing outside the three-point zone.

It was as if Wu Dao had anticipated that Marbury would make a mistake. At the same time that Michael Jordan stole the ball from Marbury, he also rushed to the top of the arc and made up for another mistake of Marbury.

The basketball was in hand, and without any pause in his movements, Budo dropped the ball with his left hand and quickly pressed his body against Michael Jordan.

Jordan reacted and was about to take a step forward to chase, but suddenly he found that there was another Marbury behind him on the right.

Although Marbury just realized what happened and had no time to gain a foothold to set a pick-and-roll, his presence alone was enough to delay Michael Jordan's pursuit.

The reason why Wudao chose to break through from this direction was that it took Marbury's position into consideration.

As Wu Dao quickly passed by Marbury, Michael Jordan was firmly trapped by Marbury's position and had to stop.

Instead of attacking the basket, Wudao moved to the mid-range, and one step before the free throw line, he directly took the ball and jumped up to shoot a jump shot.

The basketball flew out of Wu Dao's hand, and under the gaze of everyone under the basket, it hit the front of the basket and bounced out. "Oh——"

"Missed? He actually missed?!"

Wu Dao's mid-range hit rate is very high, and this impression has long been engraved in the minds of every fan. In their impression, Wu Dao is likely to make mistakes only when he is forced to shoot against the defense, and he will basically not miss in such a wide open position.

Therefore, when the basketball hit the rim and bounced out, there was a sigh of regret from the stands. The Timberwolves fans also cried out in surprise and looked at the court in disbelief.

"rebound!!!"

Michael Jordan reacted quickly, and even he thought that Wu Dao could easily score this shot. Although he did not expect Wu Dao to miss the shot, he was highly concentrated and immediately shouted to his teammates on the court. At the same time, he quickly rushed to the inside to grab the rebound.

But before Jordan could run two steps, he found that Wu Dao's figure had come in front of him and occupied a better position.

Everyone thought that Wudao would not miss this shot, but only Wudao himself knew clearly that something didn't feel right at the moment he shot the ball.

Although he tried his best to adjust his condition during the rest time, it was not an easy thing to do.

However, Wu Dao's situation is much better than that of Marbury and other players. As the game progresses, he can quickly adapt to the court and his concentration will gradually increase.

Actively fighting for rebounds at this time is a reflection of your increasing concentration.

Wu Dao's speed was extremely fast, and the angle at which the basketball came out of the rim was also very good. Although he was not originally under the basket, he got a better position by rushing down the backboard.

As Wu Dao rose up, Michael Jordan was finally shrouded in the shadow of Wu Dao.

Michael Jordan, whose explosive power was not as strong as that in his peak period, was unable to burst forward like Wudao. He could only stand behind Wudao and watch Wudao grab the ball with both hands and dunk it into the basket.

The Bulls' two inside players were focusing on their respective opponents at this time. Both Luc Longley and Rodman failed to block the players coming from mid-range, which gave Wu Dao an opportunity.

"Bang!"

As a loud bang sounded in the stadium, the Timberwolves fans who had just sighed cheered. Although Wu Dao's shooting was smooth and gorgeous, it was this kind of dunk that could ignite the enthusiasm of the fans.

"Good! Kill the bull!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

The Timberwolves fans in the stands let out rhythmic shouts after cheering. I don’t know what nation’s way of celebrating victory is, but the rhythm is quite strong and the momentum is great.

After the basketball was dunked, Wudao breathed a sigh of relief, and the tension that had been pent up in his heart also dissipated a lot at this moment.

As long as he can score goals, he will play better and better.

"concentrate!"

"Defense!!"

After scoring the goal, Wu Dao did not indulge in joy. As the team leader, he was actually always paying attention to the status of his teammates. Naturally, he noticed Marbury's loss of composure.

After clapping his hands and shouting to his teammates, Wu Dao took the lead and accelerated his pace to run back to his own half of the court to take up defensive position.

His goal obviously had some motivational effect on the Timberwolves players.

Marbury, who had made consecutive mistakes, took a deep breath, patted his cheeks, and forced himself to concentrate.

As Garnett ran back, he let out a strange cry.

This was his way of venting the tension in his heart. Among the young players of the Timberwolves, the two players who adjusted their mentality the fastest were Budo and Garnett.

Garnett is a lively and outgoing person, and his big heart was activated at this moment.

While the players in the forest were retreating, the Bulls were also quickly switching between offense and defense.

Wu Dao and his team had just gotten into position when Michael Jordan had already driven the ball towards the three-point line.

The one defending Michael was Marbury. The Timberwolves did not arrange a one-on-one defense. Their defensive formation was relatively fixed and they adopted a zone defense.

But before making this plan, Coach Philip did not expect Michael Jordan to switch to the number one position.

哪怕是摇摆人，一般也是2/3号位摇摆，或者是3/4号位摇摆，亦或者是4/5号位摇摆。

It is obviously a rather strange thing for a shooting guard to change to a point guard.

This is the NBA stage. You can't just practice for a few days and then become able to play the point guard position.

The responsibility of the number one position is to be the brain of the team and to connect the offense of the entire team. Players at any position need to have a calm attitude towards the game, an excellent overall view and vision, as well as an excellent pass.

To be honest, Jordan may be a top-notch No. 2 player, but if he were to play point guard, it would be a waste of his offensive talent.

unless
Michael Jordan dribbled the ball into the frontcourt without any intention of passing the ball to other teammates. Instead, after coming in front of Marbury, he hooked his finger at Marbury, signaling Marbury to come forward and defend.

"Boy, come up!"

"I'll teach you how to attack!"

"You know, your breakthrough just now was like a piece of shit. Even if I didn't move, you couldn't break through me."

"Aren't you coming up!?"

Seeing that Marbury was unmoved, Michael Jordan stopped talking nonsense, quickly dropped the basketball in his hand, and directly hit Marbury with his body.

There are no fancy disguised moves, only simple and pure physical confrontation.

Michael Jordan easily pushed Marbury away and rushed directly from the middle to the inside, and his breakthrough also attracted Garnett's help defense.

With Michael Jordan's fake shot and real pass, Dennis Rodman under the basket also scored successfully.

"Wood, like a piece of wood!"

"Useless! Find someone who can move to defend me!"

Michael Jordan was also in an extremely excited state at this time, chattering incessantly.

And Marbury, who was playing against him, became even more silent amid Michael Jordan's trash talk.

(End of this chapter)