Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

The home game didn't start well, and the Bulls starting players who returned to the dugout were very quiet at this moment.

An uneasy atmosphere permeated the Bulls' dugout.

Although the Bulls players had played against the Timberwolves many times before, they knew that the enemy they were facing today was not a weak team.

On the stage of the finals, the Bulls players had long lost any sense of luck, and no one thought they could win the game easily.

However, the development of the game as it is now is beyond everyone's expectations.

The strength displayed by the Timberwolves in today's game was even better than their performance in G1. In the first quarter alone, the difference between the two teams was almost double digits.

This situation also put a lot of psychological pressure on the Bulls players. As expected, as a championship team like them, their momentum seemed a little low at this time.

Coach Phil Jackson saw the depressed expressions of the players and glanced at the scoreboard. Phil Jackson did not dare to waste time. He stood in front of the players with the tactical board and called on the players to gather around him.

The first quarter of the game has just ended, it is too early to give up at this time.

The strength gap between the two teams was not that great. At least in the opinion of coach Phil Jackson, the Bulls fell behind only because the players had poor touch and did not make the shots that they should have made.

As long as we adjust the team's skills and tactics appropriately to delay the game situation and allow the players more time to adjust, the opportunity to win will always appear.

"Michael, if there is no problem with your physical condition, please continue to stay on the court in the second quarter."

"We can't let the Timberwolves widen the gap any further. We have to ensure the success rate of our offense."

"Increase the pick-and-roll coordination, don't choose long-distance shooting, and use breakthroughs to cause damage."

"The Timberwolves only have a few good players in the interior defense. Kevin Garnett has to assist the Timberwolves' offense and also help with defense."

"He is responsible for a large part of the Timberwolves' defense. As long as this player is sent off the court, the Timberwolves' defensive and offensive capabilities will be downgraded."

"This is our opportunity."

Coach Phil Jackson did not say much about the detailed technical and tactical arrangements. The Bulls under his command are a mature team and there are many things that do not require him to say much.

Sometimes, as long as you grasp the general direction and make some simple personnel adjustments, the players on the field will find the tactical play that best suits the current situation.

Coach Phil Jackson made some adjustments to the Bulls' lineup during the break. Michael Jordan, who played for the entire quarter, was not substituted out and remained on the court by Coach Phil Jackson.

However, in contrast, Luc Longley was replaced by Kerr, and Rodman was replaced by Toni Kukoc.

The Bulls' lineup became Jordan, Ron Harper, Kerr, Pippen, and Toni Kukoc.

There is no big center in the team at all, and the overall height has also dropped a lot.

No one knows what coach Phil Jackson is thinking, but judging from his substitutions, the Bulls' scoring points seem to have increased a lot in one go.

Under the instruction of coach Phil Jackson, Toni Kukoc and Pippen temporarily acted as inside players. Of course, he also gave some requirements to Michael Jordan, intending to let Michael Jordan support the inside more and protect the backcourt rebounds.

When Phil Jackson gave the substitution instructions, no Bulls player objected.

Even with such an anachronistic death lineup, no player was surprised.

As for the Timberwolves, Coach Philip did not make major adjustments to the Timberwolves' tactical system, and he was not as radical as Coach Phil Jackson, who did not keep Budo, the starter who performed well in the first quarter, on the court.

Now their Timberwolves are still in the lead, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take this opportunity to let Wu Dao take a break.

Tom replaced Wu Dao. At the same time, Garnett was replaced by Ben Wallace, and Marbury was replaced by Tribert, who is also a veteran who has won All-Star honors.

Before Wu Dao joined the Timberwolves, he was the first substitute after Marbury.

In last season's games, he had a stable playing time of nearly 20 minutes.

It's just that he suffered some injuries during the interruption of the regular season this year, and his condition declined after recovering from the injury. Naturally, his playing time was shared by Chris Kyle, who has a relatively good relationship with Wu Dao.

Triebert is a veteran himself. Born in 63, he is 36 years old this year. At the end of his career, Triebert no longer cares about the length of his playing time.

The reason why he was willing to stay in the Timberwolves was simply because he saw that the Timberwolves had the potential to win the championship, and he hoped that he could help these young people of the Timberwolves win a championship ring at the end of his career.

When Coach Philip replaced him on the stage of the finals, Tribert was excited and looked at Coach Philip with gratitude.

When these players were substituted off the field, Cherokee Parks was replaced by Stanley Roberts.

Coach Jackson felt that the time had come and re-activated Tom and Roberts who had made mistakes.

However, when using these players, coach Phil Jackson didn't even look at Sam Mitchell, as if he completely ignored this player.

Coach Philip treats these Timberwolves players who made mistakes differently. Tom is an All-Star level player and is at his peak. Not to mention that his attitude towards correction is quite good, even if Tom shows an attitude of complete disobedience, Coach Philip will find a way to guarantee his playing time.

As for chips, even if you have to throw them away, you have to maximize the value of these chips.

As for Stanley Roberts, his level is completely not on the same level as Tom. It is even a question whether he can find a good next home after leaving the Timberwolves. To deal with such a player with no way out, giving him a sweet treat is enough to tame him and establish his authority as a coach.

Sam Mitchell
Players at this level are just right for Philip to establish his authority. Sam Mitchell is a rotation-level player who needs to prove his worth with his performance on the court. Reducing his playing time is equivalent to cutting off Sam Mitchell's future.

Although Sam Mitchell's attitude of admitting his mistakes was very good, Coach Philip felt that he needed to let the other party know how much say he, as a coach, had.

The rest time was very short. With a whistle in the stadium, the players of both teams returned to the field.

The fans' relatively enthusiastic cheers died down when the Timberwolves players came on the court.

All the fans did not expect that Coach Philip would be so arrogant to replace so many substitute players at once.

Among the Timberwolves' players, Tom is probably the only one with outstanding offensive ability. Although Chris Kyle has played as a substitute for a long time, he is not the kind of player who can create scoring opportunities by himself, and he needs the help of his teammates to score.

As for Tribert, this player did have pretty good scoring ability in his prime, but now this guy is 36 years old, and it is still unknown how much of his strength he can exert against the Bulls' championship players.

The Timberwolves' paper strength is completely different from that of the Bulls.

In the eyes of fans, even if the Timberwolves had a lead of nearly 10 points, they shouldn't have been so wasteful.

This is the stage for the finals.

While the Timberwolves fans were worried about their home team, the Timberwolves bench was very calm. Coach Philip's rotation arrangement was not a big problem in Wu Dao's opinion. Even if Tom and his players were suppressed by the Bulls, it was nothing more than that their main players would return to the court earlier.

The task that the substitute players need to undertake is just to kill the game time and give the main players more rest time.

The basketball was sent from the Timberwolves' backcourt, and Tribert received the ball and slowly moved forward with it. The veteran who had been selected to the All-Star team knew very well what he should do on the court.

He didn't even expect that his team could perform well against the Bulls led by Michael Jordan. He just hoped that the score gap could be narrowed more slowly.

With this thought in mind, Tribert dribbled the ball across the center line. He seemed to be deliberately trying to kill time. He did not organize an offense after crossing the center line and was nearly two meters away from the three-pointer from the top of the arc.

Tribert was dribbling the ball slowly at the top of the arc. The Bulls' defensive players didn't seem to understand his intentions and still stood inside the three-point line waiting for the opponent to take the initiative to attack.

Half of the offensive time had passed, and during this period, the basketball had only been passed back and forth once between Tribert and Tom on the wing.

In the eyes of fans, the Timberwolves seemed to be unable to find the defensive loopholes of the Bulls and were therefore hesitant.

Of course. In fact, it is true.
But Tribert was not in a hurry, as if the amount of time left in the attack had nothing to do with him.

With only 8 seconds left in the Timberwolves' offense, Tribert finally made a move. Facing Kerr's defense, he directly shot the ball. At the same time he made a move, other Timberwolves teammates rushed to the inside and completely ignored Tribert who was playing alone at the top of the arc.

Cole's confrontation was even weaker than Tribert's. After Cole was pushed away a little, his opponent took advantage of the flaw and broke through him.

After breaking through, Tribert shot a shot right before the free throw line.

Perhaps because he hadn't played in a long time, Tribert's shot in a wide-open position missed the target and the basketball bounced out of the basket.

However, at this time, the Bulls' basket was crowded with Timberwolves players.

Stanley Roberts and Ben Wallace, two muscular guys, forced their way into the inside, and Pippen and Tony Kukoc had no way to stop these two guys.

As the basketball fell, the rebound was directly caught by Ben Wallace.

Ben Wallace, who grabbed the rebound, jumped up and tried to dunk, but Pippen quickly let go of Stanley Roberts, passed the ball from the side and back of Ben Wallace, and slapped the basketball hard, knocking it out of the baseline.

"Beep——"

The baseline referee blew the whistle and made a gesture.

The Bulls fans in the stands cheered when they saw Pippen deliver such a big block.

Pippen's defense also made the fans extremely excited, and they felt that their home team's performance improved instead of declining in the second quarter.

"What did you want to do just now?!"

"Can anyone dunk on our Bulls' basketball hoop?"

Pippen is also a guy with a foul mouth. After all, he is the man who left behind the famous meme "The postman is off work today". Pippen was not polite at all to Ben Wallace who was blocked by him.

Facing his opponent's ridicule, Wallace simply turned his head slightly and glanced at the other party, without any anger on his face.

But this time the attack was disrupted by the opponent, but the ball was still in the hands of the Timberwolves.

It’s not a loss anyway.

Timberwolves sideline ball.

After the basketball was passed several times, it returned to Tribert's hands again. The old guy who got the basketball again pretended to make a tactical gesture. After seeing his gesture, the Timberwolves players also ran for their positions.

However, Tribert, who was holding the ball at the top of the arc, had no intention of passing the ball, even though Tom had already got the chance to get the ball thanks to his teammates' off-ball screen.
The Bulls fans in the stands were puzzled. They just thought that Tribert's passing skills were not good enough and he could not seize this fleeting opportunity to pass the ball to his teammates.

For a moment, boos rushed from the stands to the field.

In the stadium, facing the boos from away fans, Tribert remained calm and was not moved at all.

It has to be said that veterans are knowledgeable and have a stable mentality.

In the Timberwolves' rest area, Coach Philip did not show any worry when he saw the Timberwolves players hesitating in attacking. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He turned around and said to the uneasy young players with a smile:

"Old Terry is really steady!"

"You little guys should learn more. Although his physical functions are not as good as before, his competition experience is a valuable asset to you!"

"Especially you, Stephen."

"You have an outstanding talent. Even when Terry was at his peak, he didn't have the ability like you."

"But he reads the game better than you do."

"Stephen, do you know what Terry is doing?!"

Coach Philip seemed to want to use this game to teach Marbury a lesson, and there was a hint of "profundity" in his eyes when he asked the question.

"Delay the game."

"Reduce the number of offensive and defensive rounds, prevent the score difference from being quickly narrowed, and give the main players off the court more rest time."

Marbury is not a rookie either. In response to Coach Philip's question, he answered thoughtfully.

After hearing this answer, Coach Philip nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile:

"You really have great talent!"

"Stephen, you're right."

"You discovered Terry's intention, but the Bulls didn't!"

"The longer they delay, the less likely they are to win!"

(End of this chapter)