Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

"Boy, what did you say?!"

When Michael Jordan heard Wu Dao's words, he instantly became furious and shouted at Wu Dao.

Don't think that Michael Jordan is a good-tempered person just because he showed a slightly amiable attitude before the game. His personality has never changed over the years. He is absolutely confident and stubborn.

In terms of personality alone, Michael Jordan is actually more difficult to deal with than Kobe Bryant. He is more paranoid than Kobe, and he will not say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs. If he is dissatisfied, he will vent it directly on the court.

Michael Jordan naturally would not tolerate the ridicule of martial arts.

Michael saw this as a challenge to authority, which was something Jordan absolutely could not tolerate.

"I thought you were just old and in bad shape, but I didn't expect that even your ears were no longer good."

"Didn't you hear what I said? Come up here, don't just stand there like a log."

After Wu Dao said these two sentences, I didn't stay in the half court for long. The media reporters near the court heard Wu Dao's words and looked at him with horror. At the same time, the camera lenses in their hands were already aimed at Michael Jordan.

Everyone in the league, whether players, fans, or media reporters, knows what kind of personality Jordan has.

They all knew that Budo's words would definitely anger Michael Jordan.

Will trash talk turn into a full-blown fight?
If it was another player with a bad temper, maybe, but not Michael Jordan.

Jordan is not a fool, he knows very well what kind of value he has as a player. If he hits a young player because of a few simple trash words, it will not be a good thing for his commercial value.

And Wu Dao is not a soft persimmon, Karl Malone has already proved this with his hospital admission certificate
Michael Jordan had only one way to deal with those who dared to challenge his authority.

That is to use basketball to completely tear the opponent apart, both physically and mentally.

Michael Jordan opened his mouth and was about to speak, but suddenly he thought of something. He turned his head slightly to look at Marbury who was returning to defense, and suddenly a mocking smile appeared on his face:
"A little trick!"

The basketball was sent from the Bulls' backcourt, and after Jordan received the pass from Rodman, he quickly approached the frontcourt of the court. After waiting for all his teammates to enter the Timberwolves' half, Michael Jordan slowly approached the top of the arc.

Glancing at Wu Dao on the wing, Michael Jordan suddenly waved to Pippen.

There are so many conventional pick-and-roll tactics used in NBA games, and there are countless tactical variations that can be coordinated with the pick-and-roll tactics.

The specific tactical evolution to be used is actually directly related to the team's lineup and the opponent's defensive arrangement.

Just like the current game between the Bulls and the Timberwolves, when Michael Jordan calls a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, the player who will do the pick-and-roll for him is often not Pippen on the wing, but Kukoc on the left wing or Rodman in the interior.

This is because the player defending Pippen was Martial Arts, one of the Timberwolves' best players in one-on-one defense.

If Pippen was the pick-and-roll, after the Timberwolves switched defense, Michael Jordan would have to face Bu Dao's defense. This was not a good thing for Michael Jordan who was planning to attack the basket with the ball. Bu Dao's one-on-one defense ability was not comparable to Marbury's, as the two were not on the same level in terms of physique.

Jordan was able to easily get past Marbury by using his confrontation skills, but it would not be so easy if he faced martial arts.

The most fundamental purpose of the pick-and-roll is to play against the mismatch. If Pippen comes up for the pick-and-roll, Michael Jordan's best offensive option is to pass the ball to Pippen who is in the mismatch against Marbury.

But it was obvious that Michael Jordan, who had just suffered a martial arts provocation, would not choose to pass the ball.

When Pippen saw Michael Jordan's pick-and-roll gesture, he could vaguely feel what the other party was going to do. Although he knew that Jordan's next choice might not be very wise, he still obeyed Jordan's instructions and quickly ran towards Jordan to prepare for a pick-and-roll.

As Pippen's pick-and-roll fell into position, Wu Dao, who was defending Pippen, also followed closely to the top of the arc.

Just when everyone thought that Michael Jordan would follow Pippen's pick-and-roll and rush towards Bu Dao's defense zone, Michael Jordan dropped the ball with his left hand, made a fake INOUT, and directly passed Marbury's defense line from the left side.

Marbury wanted to intercept, but just as he took a step sideways, he was hit by Michael Jordan. The huge force pressed down on Marbury and nailed him to the spot.

Wu Dao, who was supposed to defend Pippen, quickly went around from behind Marbury and blocked Jordan in front.

All of these defensive changes by the Timberwolves were within Michael Joe's expectations.

There was no intention of passing the ball back to Pippen. Jordan took advantage of the huge gap between himself and Wu Dao because he needed to bypass Marbury, and directly chose to make a quick stop jump shot, shooting directly one step inside the three-point line.

Wu Dao, who came to assist in defense, had no time to jump up before the basketball flew over his head and headed towards the basket.

"Uh-huh!!!"

As the crisp sound of the ball hitting the net rang out in the court, Michael Jordan waved his right hand, looked at Wu Dao with excitement, and shook his clenched fist in front of himself, responding to Wu Dao's previous provocation in this way.

There is no need to say anything, Michael Jordan's attitude can be expressed through basketball.

With a disdainful look at Budo, Michael Jordan quickly returned to defense after scoring the goal.

Will Jordan fall for the low-level provocation?

In fact, considering Michael Jordan's character, if this was not the finals, he would definitely be fooled. But this is the finals, and in order to complete the feat of winning two consecutive three-peat championships, Michael Jordan does not mind making some concessions on certain things.

If it were him in the past, facing Wu Dao's provocation, he would definitely find a way to clear his name by scoring points against Wu Dao.

But at this time, in order to win, Michael Jordan chose a relatively reasonable way that could also demonstrate his strength.

In the stands, the Bulls fans had already exclaimed, Michael Jordan was in very good shape today, better than in all his previous playoff games.

Watching Michael Jordan play today is like watching Michael Jordan play in his prime.

Scoring a goal is as easy as eating and drinking. The shooting movement is graceful and comfortable, as if he doesn't feel any defensive pressure at all.

The most shocking thing is that from the fans' perspective, Michael Jordan was facing Bu Dao's defense.

As the Timberwolves reached the finals under Wu Dao's leadership, his offensive and defensive abilities have long been recognized by the fans.

Tough and bloody, Budo's defense is full of the characteristics of the top defenders in the 90s. In the minds of fans, his sense of oppression is actually very strong. But Michael Jordan can still score easily even against such a super rookie, which is something that all Bulls fans did not expect at the beginning.

Jordan is old. Although Bulls fans are reluctant to admit it, it is an indisputable fact.

In the regular season, the Bulls struggled against the Timberwolves, and Jordan did not perform at the level of the best player in the league when facing off against Martial Arts. Therefore, at the beginning, the Bulls fans did not have high expectations for Michael Jordan's personal performance.

They believed that the Bulls could win, but in the eyes of the fans, the key to the Bulls' victory did not lie with Michael Jordan, but with Pippen.

But now it seems that Jordan's ability is beyond their understanding.

Between offense and defense, Marbury was already advancing the frontcourt. Wu Dao, who was positioned on the outside of the three-point line, thought that Michael Jordan, who had just been provoked, would come to defend him, but unexpectedly, it was still Pippen who was defending him.

Michael Jordan seemed unmoved by his previous provocation and had no intention of disrupting the team's established defensive tactics because of such provocation.

The plan failed, and Wu Dao also threw away the last bit of hope.

As Marbury dribbled the ball into the frontcourt, Wu Dao pushed Pippen aside with one hand and stretched out his hand toward Marbury at the top of the arc, ready to ask for the ball.

The basketball flew out of Marbury's hands quickly. Jordan glanced sideways, moved quickly, and headed towards Wu Dao. As Jordan left the spot, Marbury finally regained his confidence and cut directly to the Bulls basket from the middle.

The Timberwolves began to attack in a coordinated manner. At the same time as Marbury cut into the basket, Garnett quickly pulled out from under the basket and went to the mid-range along the baseline. Rodman looked at Marbury who cut in, and then looked at Garnett who was in the open space, and finally chose to make a move towards Garnett.

The small guys who break into the basket may not be able to pose much of a threat to the Bulls' inside line.

After all, they still have Luke Longley under the basket.

Wu Dao raised his hands and the basketball went straight towards Marbury. The Bulls players really underestimated him. This lone wolf could not be easily put into the basket.

After getting the basketball, Marbury did not pause at all. Facing Luke Longley's defense, Marbury grabbed the ball with his right hand and lightly hooked it, then made a high-arc small lob shot. Luke Longley had already moved in front of Marbury, but still could not stop Marbury's shot.

Under the gaze of the Bulls players, the basketball bounced off the backboard and bounced into the basket with a slight sound.

"nice shot!"

"Nice throw!!"

All offensive point guards must master the scoring technique of lob shots, and only this shooting method can make up for the huge physical talent gap between inside players and outside players.

When the Timberwolves fans in the stands saw Marbury score a goal, they cheered.

Although Marbury had made many mistakes before, with his goals, the fans have long forgotten those mistakes.

A basketball game ultimately comes down to which team scores more points. For fans, as long as their team can continue to score points on the court, any mistakes can be tolerated.

The ultimate goal of all techniques and tactics is to get the basketball into the net. As long as Marbury can help the Timberwolves score, the fans' tolerance for him will become very high.

As the game progressed, the competition between the Bulls and the Timberwolves gradually became more intense.

Both the Timberwolves and the Lakers made mistakes, but under the leadership of their star players, the team's overall offensive efficiency was still good.

The Bulls poured most of their defensive strength on Wu Dao, which also gave Marbury ample room to play.

His goal did not attract Michael Jordan's attention too much, because in Michael Jordan's view, it was normal to score such a goal. Even if Marbury scored successfully, it did not mean that there was a problem with the Bulls' defense.

In Jordan's view, as long as they can limit Wu Dao's performance, the Bulls will be able to achieve the final victory.

This was also the tactic the Bulls formulated before the game.

Phil Jackson already knew that facing a team like the Timberwolves, there was no way to stifle all the players. Their defense had to be selective and focused.

The Bulls' defensive strategy is to focus on defending Wu Dao on the outside and Garnett on the inside.

It's just that Marbury's performance became better and better. When he had the chance, he would either break through or pass the ball, and he skillfully mobilized Tom on the outside.

Under the light of martial arts, Tom, who was once an all-star player, seems to have become less famous.

But don't forget that he is now in his prime. Although the Timberwolves have shifted the team's offensive focus to Wu Dao, Tom's personal ability has not deteriorated. On the contrary, because of Wu Dao's appearance, this young man is also greatly motivated.

The intensity of normal training is even greater than in early years.

And when opportunities arise, Tom is often able to seize them.

Pippen and Michael Jordan both needed to pay attention to Wu Dao's position at all times. Rodman in the interior was always moved away from the basket by Garnett, who had excellent shooting ability. This also meant that Luc Longley often had to take into account Marbury and Tom who were cutting to the basket.

At the same time, he also needs to deal with the Timberwolves' center.

If the Bulls' center who blocked the ball was O'Neal, Yao Ming or Duncan, they might be able to handle it. Even if it was Gasol, he would be able to deal with such a dilemma.

But Luke Langli is still a little bit short of it.

Therefore, when Wu Dao was restricted by the Bulls, the Timberwolves' overall offensive efficiency still maintained a high level.

As for the Bulls, Michael Jordan showed his advantage in the one-on-one match with Marbury. With a defensive loophole like Marbury, the Timberwolves' defense could easily be affected by Jordan's breakthrough.

This also made the Timberwolves, who were known for their defense, vulnerable to the Bulls. In addition to Pippen and Rodman, other Bulls players also scored points, and among these players, it was Kukoc who scored the most.

Tom often had to help defend Marbury, which allowed Kukoc to always get opportunities.

I'm afraid no one would have thought before the game that Kukoc would become the Bulls' main offensive force.

(End of this chapter)