Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The defeat of the Timberwolves and Sonics game caused quite a stir in the Minnesota fan circle.

This impact was felt most deeply by Coach Philip and Sam Mitchell, who were the parties involved. In fact, not only the two of them, but also other members of the Timberwolves can feel the excitement of the crowd.

Due to the terrifying pressure brought by the fans, the Timberwolves finally couldn't sit still and could only hold a special press conference. Coach Philip bowed and apologized to the fans and friends in front of many local media, and admitted that he was involved in the decision-making. I apologize for my mistakes and ask the fans for forgiveness.

His attitude is quite good and his behavior is quite humble, which is really surprising.

However, Coach Philip's low profile finally successfully eliminated the "sequelae" of this defeat. Coach Phillip's attitude of taking the blame also made Sam Mitchell, who was originally resentful of him, dissipate his frustration.

This defeat was really a storm for Sam Mitchell. He never thought that just missing a ball would cause "commotion", and he was not the first After playing for the Timberwolves for a year, this was the first time he had seen such a scene.

However, in this regard, Martial Arts can more or less understand the source of the fans' indignation. The Timberwolves' previous record was so good that it successfully raised fans' expectations for the Timberwolves.

Now no one in the entire league will regard the Timberwolves as a weak team.

In the eyes of fans, the Timberwolves deserved to win.

Losing is undeserved.

This is just like the national table tennis team that has won the world championship all year round. When the national table tennis team lost the gold medal for the first time, the criticism it aroused was much more severe than what Coach Philip and Sam Mitchell faced.

What others see as a storm is, in the eyes of martial arts, nothing more than an insignificant episode.

Losing to the SuperSonics led by Gary Payton is not something that is difficult to accept in Budo's eyes. It will be fine to fight back next time.

And his calm mentality also smoothly affected everyone in the team. The morale of the entire Timberwolves team was not affected by the loss.

After the game against the SuperSonics, the Timberwolves players finally left home. After just two days of rest, the Timberwolves played against their old rival Warriors on the road and easily defeated their opponents 113:97.

But the day after defeating the Warriors, the Timberwolves met the powerful Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers' Arvydas Sabonis (127kg, 221cm) gave their Timberwolves insiders a solid education with this ball.

The defensive strategy used by the Timberwolves against the big center was the same as the strategy used against the Lakers' O'Neal, but the final results were quite different.

Although Arvydas Sabonis is also a "traditional center", his technical characteristics are completely different from O'Neal. He has a precise long pass. When he gets the ball at the waist, the Timberwolves cannot double-team without scruples like they did with O'Neal.

Moreover, Arvydas Sabonis makes a lot of fake moves when passing the ball, which also makes it more difficult for the Timberwolves to defend in disguise. What's even worse is that "pure" players like Arvydas Sabonis and O'Neal are cheating. people are a little different.

Arvydas Sabonis has a similar playing style to Yao Ming, that is, he likes to raise his position to cover, and his huge body makes his cover quality quite outstanding.

Facing the Trail Blazers, the Timberwolves had a tough time.

This game of Martial Arts still has relatively strict playing time. After all, they are back-to-back games. In such games, Coach Philip pays more attention to the physical condition of martial arts.

But after all, he was facing a strong enemy, and it was impossible for Philippe to let Wu Dao clock out in two quarters like he did in previous games against underdogs.

In the game against the Trail Blazers, Wu Dao played 33 minutes and scored a team-high 36 points. However, unfortunately, the Timberwolves still could not take away the victory from the Trail Blazers.

In the end, the Trail Blazers led the Timberwolves by five points 98:93 and won the game at home.

Arvydas Sabonis scored 27 points and 14 rebounds in a single game, tyrannizing many of the Timberwolves' interior players. Not only that, Isiah Leder and Rasheed Wallace also contributed wonderful performances. Their efforts are an indispensable factor for the Blazers to win.

After the game against the Trail Blazers, the Timberwolves got on the plane again and started catching up. Their next opponent was the SuperSonics, who had just defeated them some time ago.

Now with 47 wins and 15 losses, the SuperSonics are one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference. For this game with the SuperSonics, the Timberwolves team also made some serious preparations in an attempt to wash away the previous humiliation in Seattle's away game.

But when the Timberwolves and Sonics actually played against each other again, the result was far beyond everyone's expectations.

Garnett and Marbury seemed to be a little acclimated, and their performance against the SuperSonics was very weak, and they always gave people a feeling of being constrained on the defensive end.

The SuperSonics' home referee also has a clear bias in blowing penalties. In the first quarter, when Marbury was helping to defend Gary Payton of the Sonics, he was given a body hair whistle. An illegal defense.

In just three minutes, Wu Dao was given two penalties, which frightened coach Philip and quickly replaced Wu Dao.

And this kind of whistleblowing standard also makes the Timberwolves feel even more uncomfortable.

Without help from the outside, Gary Payton opened up directly, and was always able to easily tear apart the Timberwolves' defense on the offensive end.

Using the "body hair whistle" standard for a team like the Timberwolves that specializes in defensive counterattacks will cause considerable trouble to the Timberwolves.

In the first quarter, the two teams played 26:27, with the Timberwolves only trailing by one point. After Wu Dao's teammates were unfairly punished and protected by Wu Dao's leadership, they were also excited. Their morale skyrocketed, and they clung to the score.

But in the second quarter, just two minutes after Wu Dao came on the court, he was called for an offensive foul when he broke through with the ball.

A few minutes later, the referee called a start move for Budao when he broke through with the ball.

At this time, not to mention the players on the field, even the fans watching the game couldn't bear it anymore and started shouting and cursing at the referee on the field.

It's just that Seattle fans are not vegetarians. Under the boos of Timberwolves fans, they all clapped to show their support for the referee's decision.

Carrying 4 fouls.

There was no other way, so Philip could only return the martial arts to the rest area.

On the bench, Wu Dao also looked at the game on the court with a solemn expression, feeling very unhappy.

With the blessing of the home whistle and the early exit of Wu Dao in the second quarter, the Timberwolves suddenly collapsed in the middle of the second quarter.

80:114, this fight that many fans expected, ended in such a farce.

After the game, Coach Philip also complained loudly when being interviewed by the media, pointing out the unfairness of the SuperSonics home referee's call.

Although his words were supported by many Timberwolves fans, the game was over after all, and no matter how much he complained, it was of no use.

Budo also hit a career low in this game, with 5 points in a single game. However, Wu Dao's gaffe did not make fans lose confidence in Wu Dao and the Timberwolves.

The game against the SuperSonics made every Timberwolves player hold a breath in their chests.

In this state, the Timberwolves returned to the Target Center home court in the middle of the month on March 3 to face the Jazz who came from afar. Utah Jazz.

One of the favorite teams to win the championship this season has achieved a record of 47 wins and 16 losses so far, and the star of the Jazz is also a familiar old opponent of the Timberwolves.

Malone, Stockton.

These are old enemies.
After the All-Star Game, the relationship between Wu Dao and Malone eased slightly, but it was only an ease.

When the two were on the same team, they could show magnanimity in front of the media and in front of the fans, regardless of past grudges. But now that the Timberwolves and Jazz are rivals, who should the magnanimity show to?
Will Jazz fans blame Wu Dao, or will Timberwolves fans blame Malone?

Therefore, before this game even started, many sports media reporters were hyping it up. The media are all interested in watching the excitement. The game between the Timberwolves and the Jazz, these media just hope that the more exciting scenes happening on the court, the better.

If the whole martial arts show was directly staged, there would be no need to worry about the sales of newspapers at all.

"Beep——"

The buzzer sounded in the Target Center Arena.

Under the watchful eyes of fans, players from the Timberwolves and Jazz entered the court.

In Tom's absence, the Timberwolves' current starting lineup has become Chris Kyle, Marbury, Wu Dao, Garnett and Cherokee Parks.

Cherokee Parks' position as the starting five is actually not very stable. Coach Philip will adjust his team's starting five according to different opponents.

Sometimes it's Cherokee Parks, sometimes it's Ben Wallace, and sometimes it's Stanley Roberts.

There is no so-called qualitative difference in the abilities of their three big centers. They just have different functions on the court and different "use" scenarios.

In the game against the Jazz, coach Philip felt that Cherokee Parks, who had a softer touch, would be more effective.

The Jazz's starting lineup can't be said to be star-studded, but it definitely cannot be underestimated.

Karl Malone (206cm/113kg, 34 years old), even though this guy is already 34 years old in this era of hard-core basketball, he just averaged an MVP-level performance of 27 points per game last season.

Malone's performance this season is comparable to last season's.

even
Since his game against the Timberwolves, he was kicked to the hospital by a martial arts kick. After recovering and returning to the court, his overall competitive state has improved again. His performance this season is even better than last season.
John Stockton (185cm/77kg, 35 years old), an "old" guard with reduced speed, lighter weight and no height. But looking at his appearance and the bones of his body, it is difficult for you to label him with the word "evil man".

Although John Stockton's statistics have deteriorated, no one can underestimate him on the court.

People who underestimate him have probably already suffered from his flying kicks.

Jeff Hornacek (191cm/89kg, 34 years old), a veteran defender who was an All-Star player in the early 90s; Greg Foster (211cm/109kg, second round in 90 No. 8 overall pick), he is just years old. He is a human shield-type insider in his prime. His scoring ability is not good, but his playing ability is definitely strong enough.

Adam Keefe (206cm/104kg, the 92th pick in the first round of 10, 27 years old), a No. player in his prime. His talent cannot be compared with that of a player like Wu Dao, but he is better because of his diligence and ability to step into the game. Complete various tasks assigned by the coach in a down-to-earth manner.

Malone, Stockton, Hornacek, Foster and Kiefe made up the Jazz's starting lineup.

The starlight seems dim, but when those role players and second-round picks surround Malone and Stockton, the power that can burst out is beyond anyone's imagination.

The players from both sides took their positions on the court under the watchful eyes of the fans. Wu Dao’s opponent was the white man No. 3 Adam Keefe. This guy didn’t look very tall, but when he stood in front of Wu Dao, he exuded A strong breath.

People have aura.

People can feel the aura of others.

This kind of thing is not illusory, but actually exists.

Wu Dao looked at the senior in front of him. This was the first time he faced off against Adam Keefe. In the previous game against the Jazz, he remembered that his opponent was a strong man with a strong body.

Thinking of this, Wu Dao glanced at the Jazz's rest area, where Brian Russell was holding his fists on his chin, looking at Wu Dao on the court with a fierce look on his face.

acquaintance.

Wu Dao grinned at Brian Russell on the bench and laughed silently.

"Beep—"

A short whistle quickly drew Budo's attention back. On the center line, the referee threw the ball high into the air.

The centers on both sides of the center line jumped up and headed towards the basketball.

Cherokee Parks was less explosive than his opponent. He and the opponent took off almost at the same time, but the opponent reached the highest point earlier than him and moved the ball to the backcourt.

Jazz's Stockton took the ball and began to slowly advance the ball towards the frontcourt.

The Jazz had the ball, and Wu Dao's eyes just glanced at Stockton, and he quickly returned to the court in front of his opponent.

At the same time, Chris Kyle stopped in front of the three-point line.

When Stockton approached the top of the arc, his dribbling rhythm suddenly changed and his speed increased. Chris was alert, and when he was sliding sideways, Stockton suddenly slammed the basketball in his hand toward the floor beside Chris' right foot.

The basketball hit the ground directly and flew towards Malone, who was cutting inside at this time.

A beautiful pass that no one expected.

It was not until after Stockton passed the ball that Budo looked back towards the infield and discovered Malone, who was about one and a half meters away from Garnett at this time.

Great little opening opportunity!
Malone caught the ball near the basket. He quickly grabbed the ball with his arm, but his feet didn't stop for a moment. He feinted after receiving the ball and directly hit Garnett. Then he entered the basket and scored with a one-handed dunk.

The basketball seems to have wisdom in Stockton's hands, specifically drilling into the gaps in the Timberwolves' defense.

Such a small opportunity was actually successfully seized by the other party.

"9 consecutive assists king, so scary."

(End of this chapter)