Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

No player with a strong sense of self-esteem would be willing to admit that his victory was due to the contributions of others.

Hug your thighs.

His words were a naked insult to a player like Marbury. Although he knew it was a provocation from the other side, Marbury still felt a nameless anger in his heart.

Clinging to someone?! He would never admit that he got to where he is today by clinging to someone, nor did he think that he got to the finals by clinging to someone.

The Timberwolves need Marbury. Without him, the Timberwolves have no way of reaching the finals. This is the truest thought in Marbury's mind at this moment.

Ron Harper's trash talk was very damaging to Marbury, let alone a young player like Marbury who had only been in the league for a few years. Even Pippen, who had been in the league for many years, probably couldn't accept someone mocking him for being a "cocky guy."

For a player, he may be able to reluctantly admit that his contribution to victory is not as great as that of other players, but he absolutely cannot allow anyone to deny his contribution.

There is a huge difference between 0 and 1.

Marbury believes that the Timberwolves' current results are the result of teamwork. He can admit that Wudao is better than him, but Marbury does not think that the Timberwolves can get to where they are today by just changing a point guard.

On the court, Ron Harper noticed that Marbury's expression changed several times and a faint smile appeared on his face.

After successfully assisting his teammates to score, he was contented and began to run back towards the Bulls' half court to defend. He did not expect that his words would be so useful. Marbury's mentality was obviously affected and fluctuated.

"very good!"

Marbury's abnormality was also noticed by Zen Master Phil Jackson. Seeing Marbury receiving the ball in the backcourt and advancing towards the Bulls' half court, Coach Phil Jackson's attention was all focused on Marbury. He wanted to see how Marbury would perform next.

The Timberwolves are a very strong team, and every point in the team is above average.

From No. 1 to No. 5, among these players, perhaps only the No. 5 position seems a little weak.

To be honest, before the Timberwolves made it to the finals, at the beginning of the season, Phil Jackson really didn't take this bottom-ranked team seriously.

But unexpectedly, in just a few months, the Timberwolves have grown to this point, and even the Bulls find it difficult to deal with them.

Even Phil Jackson was not sure whether his team could win based solely on hard power.

This was the first year that such an idea appeared. Before that, coach Phil Jackson had never doubted the strength of their Bulls.

Even during the two years when Michael Jordan was absent, he was still very confident in his team's ability to compete for the championship.

After Michael Jordan returned to the court, Phil Jackson felt that no one could pose a threat to the Bulls.

The appearance of the Timberwolves was far beyond his expectations.

The growth rate of these young players far exceeded his imagination, and the power that these players could unleash when they were integrated together even surpassed their Bulls.

If you want to break through such a Timberwolves team, you must start from within their team.

The collapse of every strong team starts from within. When there is disharmony in the team, the cohesion and the power that the team can burst out will also decline.

Coach Phil Jackson initially set his sights on Garnett. Any coach who knew Garnett a little knew that this player had a hot temper.

But Garnett's hot temper is just on the surface. He is actually a very calm player. It is not easy to provoke his emotions on the court. In fact, Garnett's trash talk often affects his opponents.

Garnett, who came from the streets, has seen all kinds of situations. As a trash talker himself, he also knows the essence of trash talk.
It is precisely because of this that coach Phil Jackson had to change his goal.

Of course, the best case scenario is that it can directly affect the competitive state of martial arts, which is most beneficial for the Bulls.

But this is actually a very, very difficult thing to do, because the competitive performance of martial arts is so good that even Michael Jordan cannot suppress his opponent.

When is trash talk most useful?

Trash talking to someone when he is stronger than you will only make people laugh at him. Trash talking to someone when you are stronger than him will only hurt him.

Obviously, Marbury is the best target in the Timberwolves' defensive zone.

Having said that, is it only Wu Dao who deserves the credit for the Timberwolves' achievement of reaching the finals?

That is of course impossible.

Players like Marbury, Garnett, and Tom are indispensable. Each of them has his or her own unique value on the court. The team can look for players of the same type to replace them, but this does not mean that the team can lack a certain type of player.

Take the current Timberwolves for example.

If Marbury and Chris Kyle were to swap positions, the Timberwolves would most likely not be able to make it to the finals, and might even be beaten by the Jazz.

If Garnett is replaced with another No. 4 player, the Timberwolves will most likely not be able to beat the Rockets. The aging Feizhu and Olajuwon can bring out the Timberwolves' inside line.

It is precisely because the players in every position of Forest are good enough and can produce chemical reactions when the players are combined that they can reach where they are today.

If the team lacks any one of them, they will not be able to maintain their current strength.

Coach Phil Jackson is well aware of this, and that is why he is looking forward to Marbury's next performance.

The outcome of this game no longer lies in the hands of Michael Jordan and Budo.

It's Marbury and Ron Harper. If Marbury can withstand the pressure, maintain his stable performance, honestly connect the team, and not abuse his individual singles, the Bulls may not be able to bite off a piece of meat from the Timberwolves.

But if Marbury loses his mind, Michael Jordan will soon let his opponents know what a championship-level team is!

At this point in the game, the competition is about which team makes fewer mistakes.

The team that makes fewer mistakes can often make it to the end!
"Hey, pass the ball to Wu Dao!"

"You are just a pendant of martial arts. Hurry up and give him the ball."

"To be honest, Wu Dao is the only player in your Timberwolves whom I think highly of."

"Stephen, you have to know yourself and don't do anything rash." When Marbury dribbled the ball towards the top of the Bulls arc, Ron Harper, who was standing in front of him, waved at the opponent and spoke excitedly.

Ron Harper's words were meant to provoke Marbury, yes, but these were also what he really thought.

If he were to talk about the player on the Timberwolves team who impressed him the most, it would naturally be Wu Dao, the team's main attacker.

There are not many players in this arena who can compete with Michael Jordan and even suppress Michael.

Maybe there is a player who can perform well in front of Michael Jordan in a certain game, but there has never been a player who can score high points in front of Michael for several consecutive games like Bu Dao did.

But judging from the current public opinion environment, many media have placed martial arts on the same level as Michael Jordan.

There were even some outrageous remarks some time ago, saying that Michael Jordan's regular season MVP should be given to Wu Dao, because it was Wu Dao who led the Timberwolves, a bottom-ranked team that couldn't even make the playoffs, to the finals.

Fans will not make excuses for the Timberwolves' poor performance last season. They don't care whether the Timberwolves management is deliberately playing badly. In their eyes, not making the playoffs means not making the playoffs, and making it to the finals means making it to the finals.

This is the result, who cares about the cause and effect?
"."

Under Ron Harper's instigation, Marbury's face became extremely ugly, but he did not act on impulse because of Ron Harper's words. After entering the frontcourt, he quickly passed the basketball in his hand to Wudao on the side.

Marbury knew the other party's intention and he was trying hard to control his emotions.

"Snapped!"

After getting the basketball, Wu Dao glanced in the direction of Marbury. He also heard some of Ron Harper's trash talk to Marbury, but because he heard it intermittently and received incomplete information, he did not pay too much attention. After getting the basketball, he focused his attention on Michael Jordan in front of him.

With just a simple sweeping shot threat, Michael Jordan in front of Wu Dao was forced to take a half step back under pressure and quickly distanced himself from Wu Dao.

Wu Dao's breakthrough threat and shooting threat are both very strong, and such well-rounded players are often the most difficult to deal with.

The top players in this league are often those who can perfect the triple threat. On the contrary, players with fancy breakthrough moves often fail to perform to their full potential on the court.

The triple threat is the most efficient means and is the foundation of every scorer.

Why are the domestic back line players so weak? Because strictly speaking, no player has a qualified triple threat.

Those who have breakthroughs don’t have baskets, and those who have baskets don’t have breakthroughs.

When these players threaten to sweep the ball from outside the three-point line, they have no way to effectively shift the opponent's center of gravity, because the opponent is not afraid of your sudden pull-up shot. For both offense and defense at the same level, isn't it very easy to defend a player who only has breakthrough ability?

Similarly, defending a player with only shooting ability is also a simple matter.

There are many spot shooters in China, but there are very few players who have both shooting and breakthrough abilities.

In the CBA arena, technical moves such as pull-up jump shots or back-to-the-back fadeaways are rarely seen.

In fact, it is also the result of domestic coaches blindly pursuing tactical positioning and ignoring the players' individual singles.

After all, in the eyes of some coaches, Curry doesn't play reasonably.

During his growth experience over the years, Wudao was not bound by any rules and regulations. When he was playing at Xiangbei High School, Coach Anxi never restricted his shots. After coming to the United States, Coach Smith of Oak Hill High School also gave Wudao unlimited shooting rights.

Even after joining the Timberwolves, Wu Dao quickly established his position in the team with his personal abilities in a limited number of games. Once his abilities were recognized by the players and coaches, no one could limit Wu Dao anymore.

Michael Jordan sensed the threat of Wu Dao's breakthrough, so he stepped back half a step and deliberately put some distance between them. But as Wu Dao returned the ball over his head, Michael Jordan had to step up and quickly move towards Wu Dao.

There is no way, Wudao’s breakthrough is very fast, but his three-pointer is more threatening.

If Michael Jordan does not change his defensive stance accordingly, martial arts will definitely find loopholes.

But
Michael Jordan's step forward actually played into martial arts's hands.

At the same time when Michael Jordan raised his center of gravity and moved forward, Wu Dao, who was holding the ball, quickly dropped the ball, lowered his body and rushed forward with the ball.

The extremely fast first step made Michael Jordan's face change. He slid forward quickly and grabbed Wu Dao's clothes with his right hand. If he wanted to block an opponent of this level, small movements of his hands were inevitable.

An upright defense? !

Then Michael Jordan would not have any chance at all to withstand the impact of martial arts.

Sure enough, Michael Jordan's pulling had some effect, and the speed of the martial arts in the fast movement was also reduced, giving Michael Jordan a chance to chase.

As Wudao crossed the three-point line, Wudao, who was attacking with the ball, suddenly paused and quickly looked up at the basket.

"Is it a fake move?!"

Michael Jordan had a premonition and did not raise his center of gravity, but only raised his arms. However, in the next second, Wu Dao, who had stopped abruptly, suddenly gathered the ball and made a quick stop and fade away jump shot.

The high-post shot one step inside the three-point line is totally inconsistent with the later magic ball theory.

Such a star-studded move is definitely a superstar shot, but it is such an "irrational" shot that allows Wu Dao to get a scoring opportunity in front of Michael Jordan.

"Uh-huh!!!"

As the basketball passed over Michael Jordan's head, it fell steadily into the net in front of the fans.

The fans in the stands suddenly burst into amazing cheers, and Coach Philip on the sidelines also raised his arms with a smile on his face.

Reasonable play?
Every player who can stand on the NBA court understands what kind of playing style is reasonable.

But can reasonable basketball win on such a court? !
No, in this game, scorers strive to be able to score the ball even at unreasonable shooting timings, and only such a team has the potential and ability to compete for the championship.

(End of this chapter)