Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

"The Timberwolves' first-year class is really at stake."

"If it weren't for that kid, the Timberwolves would have been defeated by us!"

The first quarter of the game between the Timberwolves and the Bulls ended, and the players from both sides left the field one after another and returned to their respective rest areas.

When Ron Harper returned to the dugout, he took the towel handed by his teammates, wiped the sweat from his face, looked at the dugout on the other side of the court, and complained.

The Bulls played very smoothly in the first quarter, and Ron Harper believed that this was the best state the Bulls could produce. Jordan felt hot, and the other players played very actively. Now that Pippen is unable to play, the Bulls are already firing on all cylinders.

But even so, they still failed to get benefits from the Timberwolves, which Ron Harper did not expect.

"It's not surprising that if you can't guard against the person you should guard against, you will have such a result."

When Rodman heard this, he glanced at Cook and said sarcastically. He still has the qualifications to say this! In the first quarter of the game, Garnett, who was facing him, only scored 4 points. At the same time, in the competition for rebounds, there was no difference in the number of rebounds between Rodman and Garnett. Garnett had points. Rodman also had four rebounds.

And under Rodman's defense, Garnett never grabbed an offensive rebound from the Timberwolves. In Rodman's view, he had perfectly fulfilled the tasks required for his role.

Of course, Kukic heard Rodman's sarcasm, but he just lowered his head and did not refute anything.

Rodman is a notorious villain, and Cook did not want to quarrel with him. Of course, the more important thing is that, as Rodman said, he did not do what he should do in the face of Rodman's sarcasm. , Kukqi really couldn’t get hard.

"Okay, it's useless to say all this."

"Just keep our rhythm going."

"That kid has already been beaten by me. He had a good touch in the first quarter. What about the second quarter? What about the third quarter?"

"I will suppress him. If it doesn't work, Tony and I will switch defenses later. I will never let that first-year boy continue to be arrogant."

Jordan clapped his hands gently and did not let the argument between Rodman and Kucic escalate further. At the same time, he also noticed that Kuqi's face was not good-looking, so he comforted him.

In the Bulls, Jordan's status is positive and special. After he came forward to smooth things over, Rodman still gave Jordan a face. Without saying anything else, he just glanced at Cookic coldly, with a look of contempt in his eyes.

Rodman looked down on Kukic, the player who hugged Jordan's thigh. In other words, in the entire Bulls, Jordan was the only player who could make Rodman open his eyes.

Even Pippen, one of the Iron Triangle, was looked down upon by Rodman. He was just a "child laborer". How could he be compared with him?

"Michael, do you need a break?"

"Or should we continue playing in the second quarter?"

"Based on the Timberwolves' past style, that young man should have taken off the field and rested for half a quarter."

"Would you like to take a break too?"

Seeing that the team members had become quiet, Zen Master took a quick look at the remaining rest time and asked Jordan with a smile.

Throughout the Bulls, Jackson only had a gentle face when talking to players such as Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman. When talking to other players, he always had a serious look of "I have the final say."

"I don't..." Jordan subconsciously wanted to refuse, but then he thought about it and immediately changed his words: "Let's take a rest."

"I trust my teammates."

Jordan's physical fitness is quite abundant, but at this time, he also accepted the Zen Master's kindness and planned to take a rest for a while.

Seeing Jordan agree to take a rest, Zen Master also showed a smile on his face. Then, while turning to look at the rest area to greet Cole, his eyes were also on the Timberwolves rest area in the distance, and he quickly glanced at the bench where he was already sitting. martial arts.

Although Jordan didn't say it, Zen Master knew that Jordan also cared about the first-year player from the Timberwolves, and in Jordan's heart, he had already identified that Kukqi couldn't hold down the young man, and he had already made a decision in his heart. Plan to do it in person.

Jordan didn't care as much about the Timberwolves' freshman class as he said.

In the Timberwolves rest area, coach Philip did not change his established tactical system because the scores between the two teams were similar.

Wu Dao was replaced and Chris Kyle was moved to the No. 1 position. At the same time, the Timberwolves' "big center" Cherokee Parks was also replaced, and Ben Wallace gained precious substitute playing time.

On the Bulls' side, Cole was naturally moved to the No. 2 position after he came on the court. Although Cole's ball-handling and offensive ability is very different from Jordan's, if it is just used for transition, there will be no problem. .

During the period when Jordan is not on the court, Luke Longley inside will become the first end point of the Bulls' offense. At the same time, Tony Cookic will also get a certain number of shots. Together with Cole, the three of them will divide the shots that will be left vacant when Jordan is away.

After a short break, as the buzzer sounded, members of the Timberwolves and Bulls teams entered the court one after another.

As the Bulls delivered the ball in the backcourt, the second quarter of the game between the two teams officially began.

On the Bulls side, it was still Ron Harper who was holding the ball, but in the second quarter, his main opponent was Chris Kyle. As for Marbury, he was staring at the Bulls. Steve Kerr (191cm/81kg, 88th overall pick in the second round of 2) came on as a substitute.

Cole's NBA career is actually quite lucky. Fans will hear this name in the future. To be honest, they really need to thank Jordan.

If he hadn't been in the Bulls, if he hadn't been by Jordan's side, it would have been difficult for players like Cole to be remembered by fans. Even though he won two championship rings with the Spurs after leaving the Bulls, in fact, his popularity is largely due to his "fame."

At the top of the arc, Ron Harper, who was holding the ball, saw the Timberwolves' inside players adjust. The Timberwolves player opposite Luke Longley was a black player that he had no impression of. His body is not very strong, and he is not a "honest" player. At the same time, Wallace's height has no advantage at all compared to the 218cm Luke Longley.

Such a matchup made Ron Harper feel that this was an offensive opportunity for their Bulls.

The basketball was quickly lobbed from Ron Harper's hands towards the inside, and soon fell into the hands of Luke Longley who was holding the ball with his back to the basket. Facing Ben Wallace, who was not as tall as him, Luke Longley also played very smartly, using the standard strategy of hitting high and high. After catching the ball with his back to the basket, he quickly exploded the ball and quickly raised the ball high and turned to face the frame. While turning, Luke Longley's body also directly collided with Ben Wallace's body, and then Luke Longley hit the ball from the left With his foot as the pivot foot, he quickly stepped forward with his right foot towards the left, and his body collided with Ben Wallace. After a simple physical confrontation, Luke Longley took the ball with his left hand and quickly blocked it with his right hand. Wallace raised his arm and casually sent the ball to the basket.

He is tall and has long hands, and Luke Longley didn't have any obvious warning when he took the shot. He just tiptoed with his feet and the ball was sent out smoothly. The shot was very fast.

The side of the basketball scraped against the board and then fell into the net with a crisp sound.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bulls took the lead, and the score between the two teams was tied at 33.

"Kevin, pay attention to your defense and double-team if necessary!"

Michael Jordan was not on the court, but Garnett's style of play did not change immediately. When Luke Longley singled out Wallace, Garnett did not immediately come up to help defend.

The reason why Philip communicated that he would arrange for Wallace to defend Luke Longley and keep Garnett on the side was to use Garnett's jumping and mobility to make up for the defense in a timely manner.

Luke Longley's height is difficult for the Timberwolves to touch. Even if Garnett is defensive, if he guards Luke Longley, he will inevitably be hit on the body and the height difference will be hit.

But with help from the side, Garnett can use his bounce to make up for this gap.

Moreover, the Bulls' Rodman offensive ability is better than none, so there is no need to regard it as a threat.

It is precisely because of this that Philip immediately reminded him when he saw the Timberwolves' defensive failure.

On the court, Garnett understood what Coach Phillip meant and nodded towards Coach Phillip on the sidelines while running towards the front court.

Between the alternation of offense and defense, the Timberwolves quickly launched a counterattack.

Chris, who just came on the field, was very active, using his "young legs and feet" to continuously change directions and swing, and finally found a slight gap in Ron Harper's defense, and forced a breakthrough. The opponent caught up with him, but Chris didn't stop for a moment and forced a shot directly from the high post.

The basketball flew out of Chris' hands quickly despite the defense's strong shot. However, what was unexpected was that Chris actually made the shot in front of him.

As the basketball entered the net with a crisp sound, the point difference was pulled to two points.

In the following rounds, the Bulls frequently used Luke Longley, a tall man, as a pivot to launch attacks. Not only him, but also Ron Harper, Tony Cook, Steve Kerr and others successively There is a move.

Under the interference of Garnett, Luke Longley's shooting percentage in the inside was not very high, while the Bulls' outside player, Tony Cook, frequently attacked the inside and occasionally scored, while Steve Kerr got There were several open three-point opportunities and several hits.

Overall, the Bulls' offense still followed its own tactical rhythm. Although its offensive efficiency cannot be compared with Jordan's "god to earth" state, it is still quite outstanding.

As for the Timberwolves, after Chris Kyle came up, he hit a ball and scored a goal, which was a bit floating. After several attempts, it was just that the goddess of luck would not always favor him. After hitting a few goals in a row, Ke Reese also learned the lesson and started to help other teammates.

Marbury played quite comfortably in the face of Cole's defense, using his personal ability to make several outside shots. Although Cole's defense was useless in front of Marbury, the biggest enemy Marbury had to face was actually It's himself.

Marbury's outside shooting percentage is not high, but his sudden ability has caused some trouble for the Bulls. In order to stop Marbury, Cole did not hesitate to use "tough tactics" to defend.

So not long after the second quarter, Cole got two fouls.

Led by Marbury, the Timberwolves were also fully activated on the offensive end. For a while, the two teams were fighting back and forth, and it was difficult to tell the winner.

Off the court, Wu Dao quietly watched his teammates who were fighting against the Bulls, and from time to time he would cheer for his teammates' outstanding performance.

While paying attention to the situation on the field, Philip was also secretly observing Wu Dao's expression and state. Seeing that Wu Dao was in a calm mood, he thought about letting Wu Dao rest for a while.

However, about 5 minutes into the second quarter, the Bulls, who were trailing the Timberwolves by 44 points 47:3, took the lead in making adjustments. Cole was taken down and Jordan returned to the court and played more than a quarter at the same time. Tony Cookic was also replaced by Scott Burrell (201cm/99kg, 1993th overall pick in the first round of 20).

Philip had no intention of substituting, but took advantage of the opponent's timeout to quickly adjust the players' defense.

Philip guessed that Jordan would return to the court, so he made a bold decision, which was to let Garnett guard Jordan from the outside.

As the timeout ended, players from both teams returned to the field.

As Philip expected, Jordan returned to the game.

But what Zen Master didn't expect was that the Timberwolves still kept martial arts on the bench.

He glanced at the Timberwolves rest area with some confusion. Zen Master thought that the Timberwolves were up to some conspiracy.

After Jordan came on the court, in the first attack, he used his trademark sudden stop and retreat to complete the shot under Garnett's defense. Although the basketball was shot out, Jordan quickly found his form.

The offense and defense alternated, and the Timberwolves' Tom missed a mid-range shot, and the ball returned to the Bulls' hands.

But this time, facing Garnett's hot defense, Jordan caught the ball with his back to the basket in the mid-range, and the ball was hit. After a beautiful back-up move, he quickly turned around and shot a fadeaway jumper. The basketball fell steadily into the net. .

In the few minutes after the second quarter, Jordan maintained an excellent competitive state and frequently hit mid-range shots under Garnett's defense. Compared with when he faced off against Martial Arts, the audience could clearly feel that Garnett was Jordan's play under defense has become what they are familiar with.

Easy and freehand, every shot can even be included in the shooting textbook.

Compared with the various twisted shooting postures under martial arts defense, the current Jordan is the Jordan that fans are most familiar with.

Jordan's completely different state in the two quarters also reflects the gap between Wu Dao and Garnett's single defense capabilities.

(End of this chapter)