Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

Chapter 721: Come forward, Peter Pan!

For young players, what kind of opportunity can be considered a good opportunity?

Is it when the team is trailing by a large margin? Or when the team is in a stalemate with the opponent? It can't be when the team is leading by a large margin.
In fact, for most young players in the league, as long as they can play on the court, it can be considered an opportunity.

However, Kobe is different from other young players. He has secured a spot in the Lakers' rotation. His playing time has stabilized at around 20 minutes. For Kobe, the opportunity he wants is not just playing time.

What he needs is a chance to prove that his personal abilities are better than those of starting players like Eddie Jones and Fisher, and what he needs is to replace those guys and become the team's starter.

Right now, this game between the Lakers and the Spurs is a great opportunity for Kobe.

The scores between the two teams were close and the game was tense.

Neither Eddie Jones nor Fisher were able to stand up at such a critical moment to help the team get more points.

This game is also an excellent opportunity to prove one's offensive ability.

Kobe is a confident person and a proud person.

Born into the second generation of football, he has never experienced any major setbacks since childhood and has had a smooth journey.

Not only did he enter the NBA with a high draft pick as a high school player, he also joined the most prestigious Lakers in the league. At a young age, he was already working with top stars like O'Neal and had stable playing time in the team.

If it weren't for the emergence of martial arts, Kobe would still be the youngest All-Star player in NBA history.

All these honors have given rise to a stronger ambition in the young Kobe.
Today, he is no longer satisfied with the identity of the sixth man. What he wants is to become an indispensable starting player for the Lakers and the core of the outside line.

In order to achieve this goal, he needs to step on veteran predecessors like Eddie Jones to get to the top.

Kobe's desire became concrete at this moment.

He looked at Coach Del Harris beside him, his eyes filled with anticipation.

And his coach's subsequent arrangements did not disappoint Kobe's expectations.

Just like in previous series, coach Del Harris substituted Eddie Jones and replaced Kobe on the court.

The Lakers' rotation system has basically been fixed. If the situation of the game is not beyond the control of the head coach, there will not be any major adjustments in the player rotation.

At the same time that Eddie Jones was replaced by Kobe, Fisher, the team's point guard, was also replaced by coach Del Harris. He was replaced by the Lakers' All-Star guard, Nick Van Exel.

As for Robert Horry, Shaquille O'Neal and Rick Fox, there were no adjustments or changes.

Normally, Shaquille O'Neal carries the entire team's pressure in the first quarter and leads the team forward. In the second quarter, he should be given some rest time.

But in such a tense situation, Coach Del Harris did not choose to do so. His substitution adjustment was also intended to replace a group of guards with O'Neal, thinking whether he could open up his team's offensive firepower on the outside in this way.

As for the Spurs, their bench was weak and they didn't even make any substitutions between the first and second quarters. The five starting players continued the game in the second quarter.

As the buzzer sounded in the stadium, the players of the Lakers and Spurs, who had a short break, also walked into the stadium.

As the basketball was sent out from the Spurs' backcourt, the second quarter officially began.

Kobe, who had been in defensive position early, looked at Avery Johnson who was advancing with the ball. After a quick glance, he looked at his opponent Jaren Jackson.

After a quick look, a confident smile appeared on Kobe's face. At the same time as the opponent crossed the center line, Kobe quickly left the three-point line and walked quickly towards Jaren Jackson.

After all, he is a young man. As soon as he came on the court, Kobe showed the vitality of youth. He did not choose to stay on the wing and wait for the opponent to approach, but took the initiative to move forward to defend.

Kobe was full of confidence in his physical condition. Facing Jaren Jackson who had already played for one quarter, Kobe didn't want to give the opponent any space at all.

If possible, Kobe even wants to make the opponent unable to get the ball, even if the Spurs don't attack around Jaren Jackson.
Spurs guard Avery Johnson slowly approached the top of the arc with the ball, looked at Jaren Jackson who was being stuck by Kobe at the time, and then passed the ball to Will Perdue in the paint.

The Lakers' overall defensive focus was on David Robinson and Duncan.

Compared with these two, Will Perdue, who also plays in the interior, faces obviously less defensive pressure.

The man Shaquille O'Neal was guarding was David Robinson, while the man guarding Wilperdo was Robert Horry of the Lakers.

Robert Horry, who is only over 2 meters tall and weighs less than 100 kg, is far behind Will Perdue in terms of tonnage and physique.

During the break, Spurs coach Popovich also reminded the players to pay more attention to the position of Will Perdue.

In the first quarter, although Wilperdo only got three chances to touch the ball, he successfully scored the ball in all three attacks, helping the team get six points.

If there was one player whose performance was the most surprising in the entire first quarter, that player was undoubtedly Wilpeldo.

It's just that his advantages are easily overlooked.

After all, in the Spurs, the aura of Duncan and David Robinson is too strong.

Wilperdo is a veteran. In the previous regular season, his average playing time was nearly 20 minutes per game, but his team position was to be a role player assisting David Robinson and Duncan.

Most of the time, his responsibilities on the court are defense and rebounding. He is the most popular blue-collar player in the league today.

In the regular season, with an average playing time of 20 minutes per game, his average score was only five points, and even his free throw percentage was only a pitiful 53%, making him a typical player who eats cakes.

However, in this game against the Lakers, this pass-catching player was able to play a different role.

The basketball came into the hands of Wilperdo, who held the ball with his back against Robert Horry, and after being hit once, he quickly turned around and forced a layup.

In previous games, Will Perdue had hardly shown his ability to attack with the ball. It was not until G7 that coach Popovich thought of a surprise move and increased Will Perdue's drama, which gave him the opportunity to attack with the ball.

This sudden surprise really caught Robert Horry off guard.

When defending Wilperdo, Robert Horry didn't even lower his waist and concentrate on defending. His attention was still on players like David Robinson and Duncan.

The huge force hit Robert Horry, causing him, who was a strong player at the No. 3 position but had a body similar to that of a power forward, to suddenly take two steps back and make room in front of him.

Wilperdo, who got the gap, took advantage of the situation and chose to hit the ball from the side near the basket, sending the ball into the net.

As Wilperdo scored the goal, there were some cheers from the stands. The Lakers fans didn't know much about this player, so they all focused their attention on Wilperdo.

"attack!"

On the court, the Lakers players didn't care about Wilperdo's score.

In their view, this was nothing more than a blind cat catching a dead mouse, just a coincidence, and they did not take this role player seriously at all.

As the basketball was sent out from the backcourt, Nick Van Exel quickly dribbled to the frontcourt after receiving the basketball.

After the serious injury, Nick Van Exel's physical function has declined greatly. He is already quite old, and the injury in the middle of the season also shortened his career.

During the regular season, Nick Van Exel averaged 20 minutes of playing time per game and scored around 13 points per game. His personal offensive desire was actually quite strong.

But in the playoffs, Nick Van Exel played much more conservatively.

After approaching the top of the arc, he gathered the ball early and tried to pass it to O'Neal in the paint.

It was just that his intention to pass the ball was so obvious that David Robinson was prepared and quickly went around to defend and interfere.

Seeing that there was no way to pass the ball to O'Neal, Nick Van Exel could only settle for the next best thing and pass the ball to Kobe Bryant, who was waving at him frantically.

Needless to say, the desire to score that Kobe showed after he came on the court far exceeded that of any other Lakers player.

After getting the basketball, Kobe immediately took a quick tentative step. The rhythm and movement of his tentative step were twice as fast as others.

He had no intention of using a tentative step to induce the defender to move.

Sure enough, after a standard tentative step, Kobe quickly dropped the ball with his right hand and passed Jaren Jackson who was defending him in one step. The speed was so fast that everyone in the stadium was shocked.

While David Robinson and Duncan's attention was still on O'Neal at this time, Kobe, who received the ball on the wing, had already passed the defender and quickly rushed to the basket.

By the time David Robinson under the basket reacted and wanted to jump to block Kobe, Kobe had already held the ball in the air, his body rising to the highest point, and he dunked the ball into the net with one hand.

"Dangdang!"

As the basketball was dunked into the net by Kobe, the Lakers fans in the stands burst into amazing cheers.

After watching the Lakers and Spurs grinding for so long in the first quarter, the Lakers fans suddenly saw Kobe's energetic dunk, which immediately ignited the enthusiasm of the Lakers fans.

Even Sakuragi Hanamichi, who was sitting next to Takeshi, couldn't help but clap his hands and cheered excitedly.

"That's right! That's the right way to play!"

"What are you shooting from the outside? You can't make the shot."

"Just rush to the basket. Even if you can't score, there is a possibility of committing a foul."

"If we draw those defenders away from Shaquille, we'll have a chance!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi shouted excitedly, Kobe's playing style was to his liking. Watching the first quarter of the game between the Lakers and the Spurs also made Sakuragi Hanamichi hold back for a long time.

He likes to watch the Lakers' games because of O'Neal's unstoppable "Shaq Dunk". However, in today's game against the Spurs, O'Neal was not able to fully display his abilities.

The appearance of Kobe also filled the disappointment in Sakuragi's heart.

When watching a game, a dunk is always exciting, no matter whether the player doing the dunking is O'Neal or Kobe, it makes no difference to Lakers fans.

"If only it were that simple."

Wudao glanced at Kobe on the court, heard what Sakuragi Hanamichi said beside him, shook his head slightly, and spoke lightly.

At this time, the Spurs quickly switched on the court and launched a fast break against the Lakers. Relying on his excellent rhythm, Duncan dribbled the ball into the basket, attracted the defense of the Lakers players, and then passed the ball to David Robinson near the free throw line. The latter directly took an open jump shot from mid-range and steadily put the ball into the basket.

Kobe just scored two points through that gorgeous dunk, but the Spurs used this simple team basketball to completely eliminate the advantage he had just established.

If we compare the Lakers and the Spurs, and ask which team's style of play is more flamboyant, then there is no doubt that the Lakers are more flamboyant and more able to attract the audience.

But the Spurs' solid team basketball has another flavor.

In terms of efficiency alone, it is actually difficult to say which style of these two teams is better.

The Spurs seemed to be speeding up, and the Lakers were also stepping up their pace. Nick Van Exel saw that Kobe had played well on that shot, and that O'Neal had not yet been able to occupy a better position to receive the ball in the interior.

Without much hesitation, he passed the ball to Kobe on the wing again.

Nick Van Exel also has his own little thoughts. He gave Kobe so many opportunities. Kobe's excellent personal ability is only one reason. More importantly, he hopes that Kobe can attract the attention of the Spurs defenders through his offense, thereby creating better scoring opportunities for himself.

After getting the basketball, Kobe swept the ball towards the basket, suddenly straightened up, grabbed the ball with one hand and raised it above his head, and after a fake shot, his center of gravity dropped again.

His fake shot action exactly replicated Jordan's fake shot action.

It's just that maybe because Kobe has smaller hands, his fake shot movements don't seem as smooth and easy as Jordan's in martial arts eyes.

But Kobe achieved his goal after all. Jaren Jackson, who was defending Kobe, was obviously wary of Kobe. As soon as Kobe raised the ball, he involuntarily raised his center of gravity.

As the defender revealed a flaw, Kobe once again dropped the ball with his right hand and quickly broke through from the strong side.

But this time Kobe did not choose to go to the basket again, but chose a mid-range jump shot.

As the basketball flew out of Kobe's hands, under the gaze of the players on the court, the basketball shot by Kobe also fell into the net, making a crisp sound.

In his early years, although Kobe had learned 7% of his basketball skills from Jordan, what he relied on most on the court was actually his excellent physical fitness.

It is Kobe's physical fitness that gives him extremely strong offensive power on the court.

The Lakers fans in the stands burst into cheers, and Kobe, who scored the goal, opened his arms to greet the fans' cheers, full of energy and vigor.