Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The game between the Timberwolves and the Bulls became increasingly intense, and as the game progressed, the defensive moves of the players on both sides became more and more aggressive.

Although Wu Dao's performance on the court has caused David Stern's position to waver, he cannot make a decision immediately in a short period of time. He needs more time to observe the Timberwolves team and needs some time to evaluate the value of this team.

A small city like Minnesota naturally cannot be compared with a big basketball city like Chicago.

It is difficult for an ordinary team to establish a dynasty even if it wins the championship by chance. Winning the championship in one season does not mean that it will be able to win the championship in the following seasons.

A team that can win a championship needs a combination of strength and luck, and every team that can establish a dynasty needs excellent management operations.

The young Timberwolves obviously do not have such a foundation. David Stern only thinks highly of Wu Dao as a player, but is still not optimistic about the Timberwolves as a team.

As the intensity of the game increases, the referee's presence also becomes stronger.

This kind of foul penalty cut the game into pieces and it was not coherent at all.

The coaches of both teams also often adjusted the players on the court to balance the number of fouls committed by their own players. In such a high-intensity game, Michael Jordan and Wu Dao still performed brilliantly, both using their nearly unstoppable offensive abilities to lead the team forward.

The Timberwolves' players often changed, but Wu Dao still stood on the court without getting any rest time.

When defending Michael Jordan, although Wu Dao had a tough attitude, he also had to use his own defensive moves and control the number of fouls he committed. Whenever Michael Jordan chose to force a shot, Wu Dao would not try to block it. At most, he would stand there with his arms raised to interfere.

However, this level of defense was still a little weak for Michael Jordan, who was in good form.

Ever since Jordan was knocked to the ground by Wu Dao, the referee on the sidelines focused his attention on the matchup between Wu Dao and Michael Jordan in order to prevent a large-scale conflict between the Timberwolves and the Bulls.

Especially when Michael Jordan was attacking with the ball, the sideline referee kept a close eye on Budo. The referee's attention inevitably constrained Budo's defense. As an opponent, Michael Jordan could clearly feel that compared with the previous game, Budo's defense was a little weaker today.

Michael Jordan, who has been in the NBA for so many years, naturally knows why this happened.

In order to protect the stars and avoid injuries that affect the game, the league is often a bit harsh on the defensive players who are against the stars.

Of course, the referees paid more attention to Wu Dao, so the other players naturally had a lot of freedom.

The basket has already turned into a battlefield of bloody fighting.

Ben Wallace and Garnett were physically confronted to the maximum intensity by the impact of Rodman, Pippen and other Bulls players.

In the fierce physical confrontation, when attacking, the basketball was passed to Garnett several times, but Garnett failed to seize the opportunity to put the ball into the net.

As the game progressed, the Bulls took advantage of the Timberwolves' short offensive spells. Led by Jordan, the gap between the two teams narrowed to 2 points.

The Timberwolves' offense stagnated, and in the next offensive round, the basketball was naturally given to Wudao. The gap between the two teams was getting smaller and smaller, and the Timberwolves also needed Wudao to stand up and re-consolidate their team's advantage.

The Bulls obviously noticed the Timberwolves' intention. After Marbury passed the ball from the top of the arc, Ron Harper, who was defending him, quickly adjusted his position. He deliberately stepped one step further towards Wudao's direction, creating a slight misalignment between him and Marbury.

Marbury naturally seized this opportunity and started quickly after passing the ball, intending to bypass Ron Harper and get inside Marbury. Wu Dao also noticed Marbury's movements, raised the ball with both hands and headed in Marbury's direction for a while, made a fake pass to mobilize Ron Harper who was trying to get closer, and then quickly dropped the ball and rushed forward.

Pippen's defense was very experienced. When defending Wu Dao, he noticed the position of his teammates out of the corner of his eye and deliberately moved to the right side of the court in an attempt to force Wu Dao to advance from the middle.

His defensive stance really forced Budo into their trap.

As the ball accelerated, Wu Dao's right half of his body leaned on Pippen's body. A huge force poured down on him. Pippen, who was well prepared, rooted his feet into the ground. He actively exerted force before Wu Dao approached him. Under the fierce confrontation, he only took a half step back and stood firm.

Pippen, who took the initiative in defense, did not fall into an absolute disadvantage in the confrontation. While Wudao accelerated forward, he also quickly slid to follow up, and there was no substantial misalignment between the two positions.

When Ron Harper saw Wu Dao accelerating to break through, he double-teamed him directly. At the same time, Michael Jordan on the wing left Tom open and moved towards Marbury to intercept. Several Bulls players in the interior instantly tightened their defenses.

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Everything on the court was seen by Wu Dao. He had excellent dynamic vision and was observing the positions of the defensive players on the court even when he was breaking through.

After crossing the three-point line and taking two steps into the inside, Wu Dao suddenly paused, took the initiative to confront Pippen, held the ball with both hands, and took a step back to instantly distance himself from Pippen and Ron Harber.

Wudao's movements were so fast that not only Pippen, who had just been confronted and barely able to stand, couldn't react, but even Ron Harper, who was attacking from both sides, couldn't react.

The two defensive players were directly pulled away by Wudao, and they watched Wudao raise the ball and shoot long shot from half a step inside the three-point line.

"rebound!"

The Bulls players on the sidelines shouted loudly to the players on the field, but soon the shouts stopped abruptly.

Under the gaze of the players on the court, the basketball thrown by Wu Dao spun at high speed in the air.

As a crisp sound of the net hitting the target was heard in the stadium, the Timberwolves fans in the stands were stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into amazing cheers.

From the start of the second quarter to now, Wu Dao has seized all scoring opportunities and successfully scored every shot. His condition is even better than in the first quarter. He can maintain such stability in such a high-intensity confrontation, which not only surprised the fans, but also surprised the Bulls players.

"wtf?!"

When Coach Phil Jackson saw this scene on the court, although he tried his best to remain calm and composed on the surface, he couldn't help but curse in his heart.

Wu Dao’s performance in this game reminded him of Michael Jordan during his team’s heyday.

This defense can be broken through, and no matter how intense the physical confrontation is, it cannot affect the opponent's offense.

Budo has done what Michael Jordan did in his prime.

Coach Phil Jackson sat in the dugout with his hands clenched into fists. After glancing at the scoreboard not far away, he also looked towards the court with a rather nervous expression.

At this moment, he felt tremendous pressure from Wu Dao. Facing such a player, he didn't know whether the old arms and legs of the Bulls could withstand it.

The game has entered the second quarter. If Wu Dao can maintain this performance in the next two quarters, the old men of the Bulls may find it difficult to keep up with them.
"Should we completely leave the Timberwolves' Stephen Marbury alone?" "Will it be too risky to focus all our defensive efforts on just one player, Wu Dao?"

After a brief thought in his mind, Coach Phil Jackson stood up and walked to the sidelines. He tried to see the situation on the court more clearly in this way.

On the court, offense and defense alternated.

The Bulls quickly launched a counterattack, still using the familiar triangle offense. The Bulls' players with stronger scoring abilities all went to the strong side on the right side of the court.

Pippen, Jordan, and Kukoc, these three players rebuilt the framework of the new triangle offense. At the top of the arc, Ron Harper quickly passed the ball to Michael Jordan after crossing the center line.

Jordan got the basketball without any hesitation, and directly passed the ball to Pippen who was in the mid-range position on the side of the paint area.

It was Garnett who was protecting Pippen. The moment Pippen received the basketball, Garnett quickly distanced himself from his opponent by about a fist, put his left hand on Pippen's back, and slightly lowered his center of gravity.

The Timberwolves and the Bulls have played so many games that Garnett has already figured out Pippen's offensive characteristics. He is a player who is better at facing the basket than his back-to-the-basket ability, and compared to the opponent's shooting threat, what needs to be guarded against is Pippen's breakthrough pass.

This is one of the important means for Pippen to survive.

Although Garnett is young, his ability to read offense is his innate talent. He can make some defensive adjustments on the court without being reminded by others.

Pippen could not feel the pressure coming from behind. After getting the ball, he held the ball with both hands in front of his chest and leaned back slightly before finding Garnett's fulcrum.

Directly behind.

Although post-up play is not Pippen's most comfortable offensive method, he still had to try it after receiving the ball. After posting the ball, Pippen's body leaned backwards.

However, Garnett behind him had no intention of confronting Pippen. Facing the attack, he took a step back and maintained his position.

After being hit twice in a row, Pippen went deep into the basket. When he was confronted with the ball, Garnett finally stopped backing down and stood firm with his arms raised high.

Players like Michael Jordan and Cook ran quickly when Pippen was hit, and after the Bulls players took turns to set screens, Ron Harper got a brief open opportunity.

As for Michael Jordan, he was closely watched by Wu Dao. Even with his teammates' off-ball screens, Marbury chose to fill Jordan's brief gap at the first opportunity. After making sure that Wu Dao's defense was up, he turned to Ron Harper.

But Pippen failed to seize Ron Harper's open opportunity at this moment. The continuous back-to-the-basket shots made him think that Garnett was weak. After entering his own shooting area, Pippen dribbled the ball again and chose to turn around and jump shot.

Just at the moment when he raised the ball above his head in front of the basket, the tall Garnett instantly appeared in front of him, jumped high, and used his long arms to accurately block the basketball in his hand.

"Bang!!"

It was a solid block and the basketball was directly knocked away by Garnett.

Pippen, who was standing unsteadily, was knocked to the ground by Garnett's slap, and the basketball was grabbed by Tom with his quick eyes and hands.

"Quick attack!"

Tom got the basketball and threw it directly to the frontcourt, where Wu Dao had left Michael Jordan behind and quickly crossed the center line.

Wu Dao slowed down a little and grabbed the ball in his hand. When facing Michael Jordan who was coming around, he didn't pause at all and directly accelerated the ball. The two bodies were directly pressed against each other. Michael Jordan, who was experienced, naturally didn't want to give Wu Dao the chance to kill the basket.

During the confrontation with Wudao while moving at high speed, he simply lay back and instantly stood in front of Wudao.

The sudden scene caught Wu Dao off guard. His foot tripped over Michael Jordan's body, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

The referee on the sidelines saw Michael Jordan's obvious blocking foul but did not intend to blow the whistle. Before the ball landed, Wu Dao quickly passed the basketball in his hand to Marbury in the middle. The next second, his body fell directly on Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan prepared for the impact by taking protective action early on.

"Bang!!"

Michael Jordan and Wu Dao, who fell on the court one after another, immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the stands. At this moment, there were not even fans watching the game, and everyone focused their attention on Wu Dao and Michael Jordan.

The cameras in the hands of the media reporters were also pointed at the two of them, recording this "intimate" scene verbatim and broadcasting it live.

The referee did not blow the whistle, so the Timberwolves' offense would naturally not stop.

Marbury crossed the free throw line under the pursuit of Ron Harper. He grabbed the ball with one hand and made a strong jump shot after a fierce physical confrontation with Ron Harper.

The basketball hit the side of the backboard and bounced directly into the basket, making a slight sound.

In today's game, not only were the Timberwolves in top form, but Marbury's performance on the offensive end was also far beyond his previous performances on the court.

This guy is also an iconic big-game player.

The greater the pressure of the game and the bigger the scene, the more Marbury adapted.

Garnett's performance on the offensive end declined seriously due to the intense physical confrontation, but his enthusiasm did not diminish. Knowing that his offense was not working, Garnett also focused on defense.

It was the solid wall of the interior built by Garnett and Ben Wallace that caused the Bulls players to repeatedly hit a wall.

Aside from Michael Jordan, no other Bulls player had the ability to break through this defense.

Between offense and defense, the gap between the two teams widened to six points.

The balance of victory once again tilted towards the Timberwolves.

(End of this chapter)