Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The game between the Bulls and the Timberwolves became more and more intense. Wu Dao's three-pointers put a lot of pressure on the Bulls, which forced the Bulls to stretch their defense to strengthen their outside defense and prevent Wu Dao from continuing to punish them with three-pointers.

The Bulls' defensive strategy also led to an empty inside line. Although the players' running and interspersing often posed a great threat to the Bulls, in the second half of the first quarter, the Timberwolves used the outside influence of martial arts to allow players to frequently break into the Bulls' inside line and score successfully.

Tom and Marbury are the kind of players who are better at breaking through than shooting. With Wu Dao attracting attention from the outside, their breakthroughs become extremely easy.

In addition, Garnett has a good mid-range shot and can assist in mid-range shooting. For a time, the Timberwolves were in full bloom and the Bulls had no way to stop the Timberwolves' attack.

The Bulls strengthened their perimeter defense, which effectively suppressed Wu Dao's offensive, but unfortunately, it did not have much impact on the Timberwolves' overall offense.

Although Wu Dao reduced his shots, the Timberwolves' offense was still unstoppable.

The Timberwolves' offensive efficiency is terrifying. If it were an ordinary team, it would have collapsed under their offense long ago.

Thanks to the outstanding performance of Michael Jordan, Pippen and others, the Bulls managed to hold their ground in the face of the Timberwolves' offensive. The difference between the two teams remained within 5 points and was not widened by the Timberwolves.

As the whistle sounded at the end of the first quarter, the score between the two teams was fixed at 29:24. Wu Dao missed the buzzer-beating 3-point shot and missed the opportunity to further widen the score between the two teams.

Amid the applause of the fans, the players from the Timberwolves and Bulls returned to their respective rest areas.

"Well done, you all did a great job!"

"Keep up this offensive momentum and distribute the ball properly, so that each player's physical energy will not be over-consumed."

"In the second game, can you all still hold on?"

The Timberwolves players were greeted by the smiling face of Coach Philip. The Timberwolves performed very well in the first quarter, and their style of play in today's game was the kind of team basketball that he was very happy to see.

The Timberwolves players did not blindly rely on Wu Dao's personal offensive ability. The multi-point offensive made the game very exciting. From another perspective, the even distribution of the ball can also reduce competition and comparison among players.

This is actually the style of play that Coach Philip has always been pursuing. When he first built this Timberwolves team, he wanted to achieve this effect, but the Timberwolves' offensive operations have not always achieved the results he expected.

In fact, the moment Wu Dao performed well in the Timberwolves, Coach Philip had already prepared himself mentally for the team to play superstar basketball. The early development of the Timberwolves was just as he expected. The ball possession began to be overly concentrated in the hands of Wu Dao, who possessed terrifying offensive capabilities.

But to Coach Philip's surprise, with the development of the team, with the consolidation of martial arts' status, and with his increasing maturity, the Timberwolves have actually gotten rid of the curse of superstar basketball and are transitioning towards team basketball.

The credit for achieving this result goes beyond just Marbury, the No. 1 player who is responsible for connecting the team.

As a star player, being willing to share the ball is also a very important factor.

Of course, what is more important is that Wudao can rely on his own strength to subdue all the players in this team and take away the right to shoot.

First of all, this premise must be achieved so that the team will not have a situation where players of similar levels compete for the right to shoot.

Without martial arts, the Timberwolves would never have the harmony they have today.

In terms of skills, tactics and playing style, the Timberwolves did not show any major problems, and Coach Philip did not plan to make any major changes in this regard.

In the second quarter, the Bulls might have made some tactical adjustments against the Timberwolves' offense, but Coach Philip didn't care at all.

The difficulty in cracking the Timberwolves' offensive tactics is not in "understanding how the tactics work".

The biggest difficulty is actually the defense against martial arts.

If the Bulls try to block Wu Dao's outside scoring by double-teaming, they will inevitably leave the inside empty.

Once the Bulls reduce the defensive strength invested in Wu Dao, Wu Dao will be able to defeat Pippen with his outstanding personal ability.

Previous games have proven time and again that Pippen has no way to defend Wu Dao alone.

This historical defensive expert was also unable to stop the edge of martial arts.

Wu Dao's personal ability has grown to the level of peak Jordan. Although they are players with completely different playing styles, both of them have entered the realm of "unable to be defended alone."

In the current NBA league, perhaps only Michael Jordan and O'Neal are strong players in this sequence. Of course, martial arts must be added to the mix.

Maybe in the future, names like Iverson and Kobe will appear in this sequence, but at this stage, there are very few people in the league who have achieved the achievement of "unable to defend alone."

During the break, Coach Philip did not make any personnel adjustments to the Timberwolves.

As for the Bulls, the players became a little depressed as they were left 5 points behind by their opponents in the first quarter.

Today's game is different from all previous games. The Bulls players are in excellent condition, but Michael Jordan was able to play to his best. Even players like Pippen played at their normal level.

It can be said that today's Bull is in its strongest state.

But even if all the Bulls players tried their best, they still couldn't beat the Timberwolves in the game, which was what made the Bulls players frustrated.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't defeat their opponent. This was the first time they encountered a situation like this since they won the championship ring.

"Phil, what are we going to do?"

"We have no way to stop the attack of the third company. If we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid we will have no chance of turning defeat into victory."

Pippen was a little confused. He looked at the scoreboard, then turned his head to look at the Timberwolves players not far away, and asked in a heavy tone.

"No player can maintain a high level of competition for four quarters under high-intensity defense."

"Don't be discouraged, our defense still puts tremendous pressure on the Timberwolves."

"In the first quarter, that Budo 'only' took 6 shots."

"It is precisely because of our restrictions on him that the Timberwolves need other players to step up and score offensively."

"Guarding the rebounds is our first priority."

"As far as offense goes, as long as we focus on Michael, we can still score."

"Continue to use the three-two zone to suppress the Timberwolves' perimeter, pay attention to protecting the basket and positioning."

“Opportunities will arise.”

In such a situation, coach Phil Jackson behaved unusually calmly and indifferently. It was his demeanor and expression that gave the Bulls players great confidence.

As a qualified coach, no matter what the situation is, you can't show too strong emotions. Whether it's disappointment or anger, you have to hide it in your heart.

No matter how bad the situation on the field becomes, the coach must never let his condition affect the performance of the players.

Phil Jackson, who can be called a legendary coach, is naturally able to control his emotions.

Did he make any changes to the Bulls?
Actually not.

From his point of view, he actually can't think of any good way to help the Bulls change the current situation. The game between the Bulls and the Timberwolves has reached this point, and the so-called surprise moves can have little effect.

He just hopes that the players can hold their ground under the Timberwolves' offense, wait for the Timberwolves to reveal a flaw, and then turn the tables in one fell swoop.

What can affect a team's ceiling is often not the techniques and tactics they use.

No matter what sophisticated techniques and tactics are used, they need players to execute them. The stronger the players' personal strength and the deeper their understanding of tactics, the stronger the team will be.

Among all factors, the players' condition and their on-the-spot performance often determine the outcome of the game.

This is the case with the Bulls at this moment. Instead of relying on any strange tricks or clever moves, it is better to stabilize the emotions of the Bulls players so that they can continue to maintain their excellent form in the next game.

Only players who can remain calm in desperate situations can grasp that glimmer of hope.

Coach Phil Jackson's words were naturally heard by the Bulls players. Michael Jordan silently took the towel and water handed over by the substitute players and did not comment on Coach Phil Jackson's technical and tactical arrangements.

He has 100% trust in coach Phil Jackson. It is because of Phil Jackson's presence that the Bulls were able to win the championship in the previous world competition.

Michael Jordan has a clear understanding of his own identity. A player is a player and he will not interfere with the coach's decision.

Coach Phil Jackson has been observing the expressions of the Bulls players and how much they sweat.

Overall, in the first quarter, the Bulls players' physical energy consumption was maintained within a normal range. However, Phil Jackson made a substitution before the team went on the court. He chose to replace Kerr and put Ron Harper back on the court.

"Beep——"

The buzzer sounded in the stadium, and players from both teams walked towards the field.

Before Ron Harper stepped onto the court, Coach Phil Jackson grabbed this disciple, walked up to him and whispered:
"When you're guarding Steph, try to provoke him as much as possible."

"This is the Timberwolves' breakthrough point, we must seize it."

"You can hold the ball more often and single him out, crush him with your body, but be careful, if Kevin Garnett doesn't leave the basket, you absolutely cannot attack the basket."

"What you're trying to do is to provoke Stephen in this way."

"Use trash talk to distract him, make him lose his mind and attack without thinking."

As he spoke, Coach Phil Jackson patted Ron Harper on the shoulder. After hearing Coach Phil Jackson's arrangement, the latter nodded with a look of understanding in his eyes.

He was indeed the dominant side in the matchup with Marbury. His physical condition was better than Marbury's, and he could easily get past Marbury's defense with his body.

Marbury's defense is not weak, and he can fight against players of the same level. However, when facing players who are obviously bigger than him, his physical disadvantage makes his defensive flaws worse.

Phil Jackson found this weakness quite accurately.

In previous games between the Bulls and the Timberwolves, they would often call on Marbury through offensive rotations, but that role of calling on Marbury had always been played by Michael Jordan.

现在
Coach Phil Jackson gave him a certain amount of power over Ron Harper.

At the start of the game, the Bulls served the ball from the backcourt.

After Ron Harper received the ball in the backcourt, he quickly dribbled across the center line and pressed into the Timberwolves' half.

He kept coach Phil Jackson's instructions in mind and did not pass the ball immediately after entering the frontcourt. After a while of running and rotating, the Bulls players found that Ron Harper at the top of the arc had not passed the ball yet, so they stood still and stopped running and rotating, waiting for the organizer to give instructions.

Ron Harper also leaned his back against Marbury's body.

"Oh!"

"Bang!!"

With two consecutive back-to-the-basket shots, Roharper pushed Marbury across the three-point line.

Marbury tried to steal the ball, but Ron Harper noticed the opponent's action and turned around with the ball, passing Marbury in an instant. After taking two steps to get close to the free throw line, he saw Garnett rushing towards him, and the basketball in his hand was quickly thrown towards the bottom corner.

There, Pippen had been waiting for a long time.

The basketball is in hand and the knife falls.

Pippen made a steady 3-pointer from the corner, and as the Bulls fans in the stands cheered, the gap between the two teams narrowed to 2 points.

"Hey, Stephen, you must be very happy playing for the Timberwolves."

“I’m really lucky to be able to play with a player like Budo.”

"That young man is amazing! I'm afraid he can be compared to young Michael."

"I'm so lucky to have such a young man as my idol."

"A No. 1 player like you doesn't need to do anything to win."

Ron Harper was full of praise for Martial Arts, and his words elevated Martial Arts to the same level as Michael Jordan.

Although it was a compliment, it sounded a bit harsh to Marbury.

Hug your thighs?
Lucky?

Marbury never thought of himself as a clinging figure. He felt that he and the Timberwolves complemented each other. Wu Dao's ability was indeed very strong, but if he did not exist, Wu Dao would not have been able to perform like this.

Marbury realized that

Ron Harper is making fun of himself!
(End of this chapter)