Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Many fans are beginning to be confused about the game trends between the Bulls and the Timberwolves.

The team's style of play that these NBA fans are most familiar with is - give the ball to the stars.

Then all you have to do is sit quietly in the stands and watch the performance of the star players. As long as the team has an offensive superstar, all the skills and tactics will revolve around that star. The star player of the team is naturally the player who has the most ball.

But in today's game between the Timberwolves and the Bulls, both teams played very well as a team.

Both sides were concerned about the other's defensive pressure, so when on the court, Michael Jordan rarely took shots. Most of the time, he used his personal ability to break through and pass the ball to create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Michael Jordan is not a selfish player. He is willing to pass the ball to his teammates when he has a choice and does not get carried away.

Moreover, the Bulls' Kukoc played very well today. Whether it was breaking through or shooting, his success rate was very high. The Timberwolves did not impose many restrictions on this player.

As for the Timberwolves, under the double-team of Pippen and Michael Jordan, Wu Dao had few good opportunities to shoot. And because of the difference in technical characteristics between him and Michael Jordan, the Bulls started to increase their intensity when defending Wu Dao, even outside the three-point line.

Such huge defensive pressure was poured on one player, Wu Dao, and also gave other Timberwolves players better scoring opportunities.

The Timberwolves even have more scoring points than the Bulls. Even if Martial reduces his shots and Garnett faces close defense from Rodman, Marbury and Tom can still help the team open up the situation.

As the game progressed, the situation on the field became more tense and the gap between the two teams did not widen.

23: 22.

The Bulls are temporarily leading by one point.

The main attackers of both teams are not the team's star players. Although the players in auxiliary offense are quite efficient, under the huge defensive pressure, the mistakes of both teams also increased.

Although Kukoc is a player with good offensive ability, his ball-handling level is far from comparable to Michael Jordan. Under Tom's defense, he made quite a few mistakes.

However, the Timberwolves have the same problem as the Bulls. The huge defensive pressure in the playoffs makes it impossible for young players like Marbury and Tom to perform at their best.

Under the defense of the Bulls players, these Timberwolves players also made frequent mistakes.

At the end of the first quarter, the difference between the two teams was only one point.

During the break, coaches from both teams were thinking about how to adjust the next lineup. After carefully observing the two teams' game for a full quarter, Phil Jackson chose to replace Michael Jordan with Ron Harper to continue playing the number one position.

However, his suggestion made Michael Jordan very unhappy. This was the finals, and Michael Jordan did not want to sit on the sidelines and leave the team's victory or defeat entirely in the hands of his teammates.

This is his bottom line, no one can cross it no matter who it is.

Phil Jackson obviously knew Michael Jordan's character very well. After substituting Jordan, he gently patted Jordan on the shoulder and leaned over to whisper in his ear:
"Don't worry, Michael. I'm just substituting you out to give you enough rest time."

"The difference between our two teams is only one point now, but this is also an advantage."

"While the situation is still quite tense, you should take a rest."

"At the crucial moment of the final, you are needed to lead the team on the court."

"I won't give you too much time to rest. You must be ready to go on stage at any time."

Phil Jackson's soothing words also calmed Michael Jordan down. Even in the first quarter, when facing Marbury, Michael Jordan did not expend too much physical energy, but facing the coach's arrangement at this time, he did not refuse.

Michael Jordan would not fail to understand the simple truth of using limited physical energy when the team is about to win.

And when the Bulls started rotating, the Timberwolves would inevitably start rotating as well. Among the Bulls' starting players, only Michael Jordan came off the court. Relying on the other players, they should be able to maintain the situation.

At worst, it will be enough for him to get back on the court.

The Timberwolves are an opponent that the Bulls take very seriously. When facing the Timberwolves, even when entering rotation time, they did not make too many adjustments to the team's main lineup, and did not even replace Kerr on the court.

As for the Timberwolves, Philip also clearly felt that Marbury was extremely weak when facing Michael Jordan.

If Marbury was unable to score on offense, it would be acceptable to Coach Philip because the Timberwolves had a lot of offensive players, and as long as they could make good use of the team's strength, it would not be difficult to break through the Bulls' defense.

But Marbury's biggest problem on the court is that he became the team's breakthrough point.

When facing Marbury, Michael treated him as a road and passed him whenever he wanted. Marbury's defensive loophole also created a huge loophole in the Timberwolves' defense.

The other Timberwolves players had to give up their own opponents to defend Marbury and clean up after him, which was something Coach Philip could not accept.

The Bulls' decision to let Michael Jordan play the point guard position really gave the Timberwolves a headache.

While thinking, Coach Philip also looked at Wu Dao:
"Budo, if I ask you to play the number one position, are you capable of doing it?"

Coach Philip's words surprised the Timberwolves players. All the players looked at Coach Philip. No one expected him to say such a thing.

In the team's practice games, Wu Dao has played in the 2, 3, and 4 positions, and he can even play in the position occasionally. However, among these player positions, the only position that Wu Dao has hardly ever tried is the position.

The players thought Coach Philip was crazy for making such an arrangement on the stage of the finals.

In the minds of the players, their coach is a rather rigid coach, and such a strange move should not have come from the mouth of Coach Philip.

The risk is too great. In the finals, even if it is two points or three points, players need to fight for it with all their might, because this score may be the one that determines the outcome of the game, and no one dares to take it lightly.

"Number one?"

Wudao was in deep thought for a moment, still unsure whether he could play well at the No. 1 position and be competent for the job required of him.

The finals stage is not high school basketball. If this were a high school competition, Wu Dao could even confidently say that he could play from position one to position five.

But alas, this is the NBA.

Being stubborn has its price.

Therefore, at such a serious moment, even a player like Wu Dao who was full of self-confidence shook his head:

"I have hardly ever played the point guard position. If I played the point guard position, I'm not sure if I could connect the team well."

"Coach, why did you let me play point guard? To guard Michael Jordan?"

"If that's the plan, someone still has to guard Pippen."

"Who should defend? It seems that there are only a few players on our team who can defend Pippen."

Wu Dao didn't say it clearly, but Coach Philip naturally understood what Wu Dao meant. Pippen is also one of the top players in the league. Although the title of the second-in-command often underestimates his offensive ability, his offensive ability should never be underestimated, and he can barely enter the first echelon of the league. Pippen's offensive skills are very comprehensive. He can attack the basket, make mid-range shots, and three-pointers. Except that his scoring efficiency will fluctuate due to the individual player's condition, he has almost no major weaknesses.

If you want to compete against such players, you must have excellent physical fitness and good game experience.

Of these two aspects, physical fitness is even more important than competition experience.

There are not many players in the Timberwolves who can compete with Pippen. Tom can just barely be a background player, but Garnett can. His displacement and physical condition are exceptionally good, and he can compete with a talented player like Pippen.

"Um?!"

Thinking of this, Wu Dao's thoughts suddenly became clear.

Because this team has a big problem, Rodman, Rodman doesn't attack!

If you want a defensive player like Garnett, it is not a wise choice to keep a close eye on a player like Rodman. Although Luc Long is excellent, the Timberwolves do not need to double-team this big center. They need a power player like Stanley Roberts to use physical confrontation to affect the opponent's shooting percentage.

In this way, Garnett's defensive strength can be freed up.

If Budo could limit the opponent's performance in the matchup with Michael Jordan, then Garnett only needed to help defend Pippen. With Garnett's help, even sending an old player like Sam Mitchell could still stop Pippen's offensive.

When Garnett was in the interior, the player defending Pippen only needed to focus on defending the opponent's high-post shooting and three-pointers. If Pippen broke through with the ball, someone would naturally come to teach him a lesson.

All the key points are based on the fact that martial arts can defend against Michael Jordan.

"I understand."

"I can give it a try."

The Timberwolves have very few available players, and the coach needs to reasonably arrange and allocate tasks among the limited players.

Hearing Wu Dao's agreement, Coach Philip showed a gentle smile on his face, patted Wu Dao's arm gently, and smiled and comforted him:
"Don't worry and don't stress too much."

"If it doesn't work, I'll make adjustments immediately."

“Try to minimize the impact.”

"But today's game will be hard for you. I need you to keep putting pressure on the Bulls players on the court."

"You have to learn to allocate your energy. The Bulls and Pacers just experienced a Game 7. Their players' physical reserves are not as rich as ours."

“This is one of our strengths and we need to take advantage of it.”

As he spoke, Coach Philip walked up to Marbury and explained earnestly:
"You have to understand my decision, it is to help the team to get the final victory."

"But you don't need to be discouraged. You will have a chance to perform."

"But when you get back on the court, I need you to be able to step up and help the team score on the offensive end."

“Can you do that?!”

In response to Coach Philip's question, Marbury nodded heavily and agreed.

He is not a fool and can understand the coach's intention at this time.

The rest time was very short. As the buzzer sounded in the stadium, players from both sides returned to the court.

The Bulls did not make any major adjustments, only replacing Michael Jordan, and the same was true for the Timberwolves, with Marbury being replaced by Sam Mitchell and Cherokee Parks being replaced by Stanley.

Coach Philip did not substitute Ben Wallace because facing the high risk of Luke Longley, Ben Wallace's height disadvantage was too great.

Sam Mitchell was given the task of defending Pippen, which seemed impossible at first glance, but the Timberwolves were very confident in Coach Philip's arrangement.

Wu Dao was moved to the number one position. He knew clearly that he was not suitable for the number one position, but since the coach had given him this task, Wu Dao would do his best to do his part.

In the NBA, there are more than just point guards.

In addition to defense, Budo has already thought about what to do with his offensive abilities.

However, when these Timberwolves players came on the court, they found that the Bulls had already replaced Michael Jordan.

Although somewhat surprised by the Bulls' adjustments, the Timberwolves players quickly realized that the team's opportunity had come.

The basketball was sent from the backcourt and given to Ron Harper who had just entered the court.

His body seemed a little cold, and he deliberately slowed down his pace when dribbling to give himself more time to adapt to the court.

However, Wu Dao naturally would not give the opponent such an opportunity. When Ron Harper crossed the center line with the ball, Wu Dao quickly crossed the three-point line, took two steps forward, and got into position early.

His defensive position was very high, even somewhat detached from the team's defensive system, but it was this kind of defense that put a lot of pressure on Ron Harper who had the ball.

"How is this guy going to defend me?!"

"Playing the No.1 position?!"

"What the hell!"

Ron Harper saw Wu Dao stop in front of him, and his expression became extremely interesting. He had no intention of continuing to stick to the ball, and directly threw the ball to Pippen on the wing.

Bu Dao's one-on-one defense ability obviously holds a certain place in Ron Harper's mind.

This actually forced him not to hold the ball for a long time, which was something Wu Dao had not anticipated at the beginning. He did not expect Ron Harper to be so timid.

"Don't you want to try to fight?"

"My defensive ability is actually not that strong. With your ability, you should be able to break through."

Wu Dao slightly turned his head to look at Pippen not far away, then turned back and smiled at Ron Harper in front of him.

But there was no smile on Ron Harper's face. After passing the ball, he started quickly and tried to pass by Wu Dao and cut into the inside. However, facing Ron Harper's attack, Wu Dao just moved his feet and lightly touched the opponent, causing Ron Harper to lose speed instantly.

The huge force made Ron Harper's chest hurt.

(End of this chapter)