Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

There is a huge difference between Ron Harper's weight and Wu Dao's weight, which also means that the two are not on the same level in terms of physical confrontation.

Ron Harper, who tried to cut past Wudao and into the inside, was hit directly by Wudao. The huge force made him stop involuntarily. He staggered a step before he stood firm. This physical confrontation also made Ron Harper lose the opportunity to cut into the inside.

Pippen on the wing held the basketball high in both hands. He had just noticed Ron Harper's intention and was about to pass the ball to Ron Harper who cut into the inside, but he saw that his teammate did not slip away from Wu Dao smoothly.

The passing opportunity was lost, and Pippen quickly withdrew his gaze from Ron Harber. As his right hand dropped the ball, his eyes also looked at Sam Mitchell who was defending him.

Pippen was in a very relaxed state of mind. The one defending him was just an unknown substitute player. The old players who could only get a chance to play in a young team like the Timberwolves and would never get a chance to play in any other team were not taken seriously by Pippen at all.

After a simple dribble between the legs, the basketball cut to his left hand. Pippen tried to drop the ball and break through, and his right body quickly leaned on Sam Mitchell's body.

Although he didn't use his full strength, when Pippen leaned on Sam Mitchell, he still pushed Sam Mitchell back half a step.

Perhaps because of his concern for Pippen's shooting ability, Sam Mitchell left himself a lot of room while engaging in physical confrontation.

This kind of defense also gave Pippen an opportunity to break through.

The opponent seemed to be wary of his shooting, and Pippen naturally thought of how to take advantage of this.

Pippen, who was rushing forward with the ball, suddenly paused, straightened his back, and quickly raised his head to look at the basket, as if he was going to shoot, and his action successfully attracted the attention of Sam Mitchell.

Sam Mitchell did not forget the instructions of his coach before he went on the court. He knew clearly that he needed to defend against breakthroughs and not let go of shots. Therefore, when facing Pippen's fake shot, he did not hesitate at all. He stopped and pounced on Pippen.

With a simple dunk, Pippen attracted Sam Mitchell to jump up for defense, and then he quickly got the ball and rushed towards the Timberwolves' inside. At the same time that Pippen passed Sam Mitchell, Wu Dao, who was at the top of the arc, quickly stepped to the side. In just a blink of an eye, Wu Dao had already reached Pippen's side and reached out to grab the basketball in Pippen's hand.

The top of the arc and the wing are clearly separated by a distance of several meters, but the tall and strong Wudao is able to threaten Pippen's breakthrough in an instant.

"Snapped!"

The sudden appearance of Wu Dao really caught Pippen off guard. Before he could get the ball, it was directly intercepted by Wu Dao and the basketball fell from his hands.

Wu Dao successfully stole the ball, grabbed the basketball, and rushed directly towards the Bulls' half.

Because Marbury was substituted off the court, the Timberwolves didn't have any outside players who could keep up with Wu Dao's fast break speed. Could it be that Garnett, who was originally planning to help defend Pippen in the interior, had the fastest reaction. When Wu Dao was rushing towards the frontcourt with the ball, Garnett also quickly followed.

Ron Harper, who had just come on the court, was full of energy. When he saw Wu Dao dribbling the ball and counterattacking, he quickly chased after Wu Dao. Pippen, who had his ball intercepted, reacted quickly after a brief pause and chased after Wu Dao.

While walking, Wu Dao heard footsteps coming from behind him. He dribbled the ball towards the Bulls basket while turning his head to look at Pippen and Ron Harper who were chasing him.

At the same time, Garnett, who was slightly behind Pippen and Ron Harper, also fell into Wu Dao's sight.

"Not bad, Kevin!"

Wu Dao raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a slight smile, and said secretly in his heart.

As Wudao crossed the center line and approached the Bulls' three-point line, Pippen and Ron Harper were parallel to Wudao. In the blink of an eye, they had bypassed Wudao and attacked him from the front.

Faced with the double-team of these two people, Wudao had no intention of attacking on his own.

Although he should be able to force his way to the basket and score despite the two people's defense with his outstanding physical talent, Wu Dao did not want to risk getting injured in doing so.

This round of the series is crucial, and every tiny mistake will affect the final result.

Wu Dao would never allow himself to retire in such a crucial game. He would not give the Bulls players any chance.

Don’t think that the Bulls players don’t play dirty. In such a tough era, any player with good defense cannot be separated from the word dirty.

Pippen was not a good guy. The reason he was able to survive in the iron-blooded basketball era and become so famous was not just because of Michael Jordan.

With Michael Jordan, Pippen wouldn't be able to get so many first team and first defense selections.

Wu Dao would not take such an opponent lightly.

While walking, Wu Dao quickly folded the basketball in his hand and threw it directly into the air without thinking. The sudden action made Pippen and Ron Harper unable to react.

Shooting?

It was impossible to shoot with such a posture. Pippen seemed to sense something and looked quickly behind him. Garnett's figure naturally appeared in his field of vision.

But it was not until this time that Pippen realized that it was already a little late for Garnett.

There was no time to stop and defend Garnett. The basketball thrown by Wudao had already hit the front of the backboard and bounced back towards Garnett behind him.

Under the gaze of the players on the court and the fans in the stands, Garnett jumped up, caught the rebounding basketball in the air, and dunked the ball with both hands.

"Bang!"

The loud noise of a slam dunk rang out in the stadium, and the cheers of the Timberwolves fans immediately filled the entire Target Center.

Sometimes a player's strong individual performance is not as shocking as this kind of tacit cooperation.

Different scoring methods give fans different feelings. Garnett's dunk is a display of his absolute talent, and the tacit understanding between Wu Dao and Garnett also gives fans a different sense of pleasure.

Fans are very picky. Not all fans like strong individual singles. Many fans also like tacit and smooth team cooperation.

In the United States, there are even more fans who like the latter style of basketball than the former.

In this day and age, the popularity of the NCAA is even greater than that of the NBA.

As soon as the second quarter started, the Timberwolves contributed such a strong score.

Enormous pressure hung over the Bulls players.

Many players have come to their senses and figured out why Wu Dao, who was clearly playing at the 3rd/4th position, suddenly appeared at the 1st position.

This is probably aimed at Michael Jordan and Pippen. The Timberwolves strengthened their defense in this way.

Replacing Marbury with Sam Mitchell increased the Timberwolves' height and strengthened their perimeter defense.

Judging from this round of offense and defense alone, the effect seems to be quite good.

Phil Jackson had already noticed Coach Philip's intention, but he was not in a hurry to put Michael Jordan back on the court.

Now the difference between the two teams is still only one point. Although the Bulls have become the lagging side, for the entire game, this is just the beginning of the second quarter, and there is still plenty of time. For the Bulls, they must first figure out the advantages and disadvantages of the Timberwolves' skills and tactics.

Only in this way can the Bulls achieve the greatest effect after substituting Michael Jordan on the court. If they were foolish enough to substitute Michael Jordan directly and step into the trap set by the Timberwolves, it might be a disaster for the Bulls.

"Sam Mitchell"

"It's just a scrap. Even if you use martial arts to assist in defense, it's hard to stop Pippen."

"As long as Pippen doesn't rush in from the middle, it will be fine. Or if Ron switches to martial arts, Pippen can get a one-on-one opportunity."

Coach Phil Jackson on the sidelines touched his chin and thought secretly in his mind. He did not rush to remind the players on the field how to play. He believed that an experienced player like Pippen would be able to find a way to deal with it.

Although he was given the title of second in command, this second in command can be given the title of "the strongest".

There was no way a player of Sam Mitchell's caliber could withstand Pippen's attack, not even with the help of martial arts defense.

Between offense and defense, Ron Harper quickly dribbled the ball into the Timberwolves' half.

He did not give up Pippen as an offensive point because of Pippen's mistake. After dribbling the ball into the frontcourt, Ron Harper quickly passed the ball to Pippen. At the same time, Ron Harper also quickly ran to the left wing.

As the offense unfolded, the other Bulls players also began to rotate. Tony Kukoc on the other side seemed to have sensed Ron Harper's intention, and with Tom's defense, he quickly sank to the bottom corner. After entering the bottom corner, Tony Kukoc did not stay there for long, but instead tried to cross the basket and go to the other corner of the court.

With the departure of Toni Kukoc, the left wing of the court is also vacant.

Ron Harper obviously noticed the threat posed by Wu Dao to Pippen, and he moved directly to the left zone by involving Wu Dao's defense.

With the help of his teammates, Pippen also got a one-on-one opportunity with Sam Mitchell.

A bright smile appeared on Pippen's face. After a simple dribble between the legs like before, Pippen readjusted his ball-holding posture. While dribbling the ball in mid-air, he quickly stepped forward with his left foot to prepare for a breakthrough.

Pippen's offense with the ball is actually very good, but because of Jordan, Pippen's personal offensive ability is not often demonstrated in many games.

During the time when Jordan left the Bulls, Pippen tried to take on the main responsibility, but his technical characteristics did not allow him to play like Michael Jordan.

Compared to Michael Jordan, Pippen's offensive skills have obvious flaws.

His face-to-basket offense cannot be compared with Michael Jordan. When facing the defensive player directly, it is difficult for Pippen to make that kind of fast-paced front-body transformation.

However, facing a player of Sam Mitchell's level, the opponent did not need any fancy breakthrough techniques. He simply accelerated the ball and Pippen directly confronted Sam Mitchell physically.

But this time, Sam Mitchell seemed to be prepared. He leaned forward slightly and directly pushed Pippen. After the physical confrontation, Sam Mitchell didn't care and rushed directly towards Pippen.

He didn't seem to have any intention of defending Pippen's breakthrough, and there were many loopholes.

Although there was no possibility of shooting in such a body push, he was able to easily break through Sam Mitchell's side by maintaining his position.

As Pippen accelerated with the ball again, Sam Mitchell was left behind by Pippen.

But just as Pippen was about to attack the basket, Garnett, who was originally defending Rodman in the interior, had already walked out of the paint area and came in front of him.

Under the defensive pressure from Garnett, Pippen chose to make a quick stop jump shot from mid-range.

But his choice is not the best solution at the moment.

Pippen took the ball and jumped. Garnett also rushed in front of Pippen and jumped up, covering Pippen's face with his hands. Pippen, who wanted to shoot, had no basket in front of him. He could only rely on his normal shooting feeling and force the shot.

At the same time that Pippen shot, in addition to defending Ron Harper, Wu Dao had also returned to the basket, ready to assist his teammates in grabbing rebounds.

Although he was assigned to the number one position, he will not forget the task of protecting the basket.

"Dang~~~"

Garnett's defense interfered with Pippen's shot, and the basketball went straight out of the basket.

As Wu Dao jumped up and grabbed the rebound, the Bulls lost two consecutive attacks.

The Bulls fans in the stands howled. The two performances after the opening made the fans feel that the Bulls were generally at their average level. Many fans had already lost patience with the players on the field and hoped that Michael Jordan would return to the court to lead the team.

The fans in the stands are sometimes more perceptive than the coaches on the field.

"Come on, play steady and score another goal!"

Wu Dao, who started out as a basketball player, did not choose to launch a fast break this time. Instead, he called on his teammates to engage in a positional battle.

It’s not that Wu Dao didn’t want to play fast break, it was mainly because the Bulls were wary of him. After the attack failed, these Bulls players quickly returned to defense, and the speed was so fast that Wu Dao was a little surprised.

This is the first time that Timberwolves fans have seen Budo play the point guard position on the court.

Although they didn't understand why Coach Philip made such arrangements, when Wu Dao dribbled the ball towards the frontcourt, the fans in the stands still burst into warm cheers to cheer for Wu Dao.

Holding the ball and slowly approaching the three-point line, Ron Harper, who was defending him, opened his arms, looked left and right at the positions of other Timberwolves players, and became alert.

"It's going to be a sudden break, maybe he's trying to copy Michael!"

Ron Harper thought so in his heart, and his eyes fell on Wu Dao's handsome face.

Under Ron Harper's gaze, Wu Dao, who was about 1 meter away from the three-point line, suddenly gathered the ball and shot.

The sudden three-pointer stunned everyone on the court.

"Isn't it a position?"

"Isn't it number one?"

"What kind of operation is this?"

Ron Harper turned his head in astonishment and looked towards the basket. Under his gaze, the basketball fell steadily into the net with a crisp sound.

(End of this chapter)