Slam Dunk: My Study Abroad Career in Northern Hunan

A sharp whistle sounded in the stadium. Hearing the referee's decision, the martial arts players on the field also raised their hands.

His steal on Michael Jordan turned into a foul, a call that drew howls of disappointment from Timberwolves fans.

Most of the fans were far away and didn't see clearly the action when Wu Dao stole the ball from Michael Jordan. But the fans in the inner court were close enough to see clearly whether Wu Dao's stealing action was a foul.

Although the Timberwolves fans who saw the martial arts moves were very dissatisfied with the referee's decision and their curses were heard in the stadium, there were too few people and the emotions were not passed on to other fans.

Most people just thought it was a fair decision and the fans didn’t care too much about it.

The Bulls had a sideline ball. When the Bulls player served the ball, the noisy audience quieted down. The basketball passed from Michael Jordan to Ron Harper. As Ron Harper took the ball, other Bulls players also began to run offensively.

This time, Michael Jordan did not choose to stand on the right wing and wait for his teammates to pass him the ball, but took the initiative to try to cut into the basket. The fast-moving Michael Jordan got help from Pippen, and after a simple off-ball screen, Wu Dao, who was originally chasing Michael Jordan, also fell behind.

However, Ron Harper did not pass the ball to Michael who was cutting into the inside in this situation. Although there was a difference in body position between Wu Dao and Michael Jordan, the risk of passing the ball over Wu Dao's head was too great.

Michael Jordan seemed to have noticed Ron Harper's struggle. After cutting into the basket, he saw that the basketball had not been passed out for a long time, so he immediately changed direction and ran back to the left wing and out of the inside.

At the same time, Ron Harper quickly passed the basketball in his hand to Michael Jordan who had already run to the middle distance. After the basketball was shot, Ron Harper quickly ran to the three-point line on the left wing, providing Michael Jordan with a fulcrum for passing the ball.

Luke Longley in the inside seemed to know what Michael Jordan was going to do, and wisely gave up the position leading to the basket, while Pippen on the other side also quickly penetrated and reached the mid-range in front of the left baseline.

The Bulls' offensive movement was very coordinated, and the Timberwolves' defensive rotation was also very fast.

Garnett found Pippen immediately. Although Wu Dao had no way to stop Michael Jordan from catching the ball, he still successfully got behind Michael Jordan at the moment the opponent got the basketball without revealing any flaws.

For a moment, the rotation of players on the court stagnated again, and everyone's attention was focused on the matchup between Michael Jordan and Wu Dao.

Everyone looked at Michael Jordan, who was standing with his back to the basket and holding the ball in front of his chest, and everyone knew that he was going to prepare for a one-on-one game.

The mid-range area about two steps inside the three-point line is Michael Jordan's sweet spot. In this position, Michael Jordan can attack the basket when he goes forward and choose to shoot from the mid-range when he retreats. For an offensive kaleidoscope like him, this distance can maximize all his offensive techniques.

"Snapped!"

As the basketball fell, Michael Jordan, standing with his back to the basket, tried to back-attack Wu Dao, with his broad back pressed directly against Wu Dao's chest. Wu Dao raised his hands slightly, and although he had seen Michael Jordan's falling action clearly, he did not attack rashly like he did just now.

There is a gap between Michael Jordan's physique and martial arts. Without the impact of running, Michael Jordan's physical confrontation has no way to shake martial arts.

With just a small step back, Wu Dao was able to gain a foothold in the back-to-back attack by Michael Jordan.

"Snapped!"

The basketball fell again. After being hit twice in a row, Michael Jordan realized the huge gap in strength between himself and his opponent. He did not choose to be hit again. Instead, he took the ball one step closer to the three-point line and quickly turned around to face the basket.

Michael Jordan's turning movement was very fast, and the moment he turned around, he revealed his intention to rush to the right. Wu Dao was also affected by Michael Jordan's movement. His center of gravity suddenly sank, and he pulled his right foot back, preparing for a sliding pursuit in advance.

However, Michael Jordan turned around and faced the basket and suddenly passed the ball. This was with a low center of gravity breaking through, and then he directly jumped up and shot a fadeaway jump shot. His excellent core strength allowed Michael Jordan to reach the highest point in a short time, and the basketball flew out from his fingertips.

The connection between Michael Jordan's fake moves and shots was so smooth and fast that even young men with physical talents like Wu Dao couldn't react and could only raise their arms to try to interfere.

However, this kind of defense was too stress-free for Michael Jordan. The basketball flew directly over Wu Dao's head and fell steadily into the basket under the gaze of all the players.

"Shh!"

The crisp sound of the net hitting the goal rang out in the stadium. The Bulls fans who saw Jordan score immediately cheered. This was the Michael Jordan they were familiar with.

Agile and gorgeous, scoring points against the opponent is as easy as eating and drinking.

The state that Michael Jordan showed in this ball was completely different from the struggles he showed in the previous two games against the Timberwolves.

Warm cheers filled the stadium, and as Michael Jordan retreated to defense, a hint of a smile finally appeared on his serious face.

He finally got his playing feel back.

The crisp sound of the ball hitting the net elevated Michael Jordan's entire state.

Between offense and defense, the Timberwolves quickly launched a counterattack.

After several passes, the basketball was handed to Wudao on the wing.

Marbury's idea was actually very simple. Michael Jordan had just scored a goal over Wu Dao's head, and he hoped that Wu Dao could recover.

This is what Marbury expects, and it is also what the Timberwolves fans expect.

Compared with competition between teams, fans prefer to see confrontation between superstars.

Like Michael Jordan before him, Bu Dao used the back-to-the-basket approach to catch the ball, even though he was outside the three-point line at the time.

Of course, it was Pippen, not Michael Jordan, who was defending Budo.

But even though it was Pippen who was defending Bu Dao, the fans' enthusiasm did not diminish in the slightest.

It was almost the same move as Michael Jordan's. After getting the basketball, Wudao dropped the ball with his left hand, and the right half of his body was directly on Pippen's body. At the same time, Wudao, who was shooting from the side, also looked at Michael Jordan at the top of the arc with the corner of his eye.

Seeing that Michael Jordan had no intention of double-teaming, his second physical confrontation was also quickly directed at Pippen.

However, what surprised Wudao was that when Wudao came into contact with Pippen's body for the second time, Pippen actually gave up on resisting Wudao and quickly took a step back to make room.

Wudao would naturally not miss such an opportunity. Holding the ball in his left hand, he quickly turned around to face the basket. Just as he was about to accelerate from the left side to break into the basket, Pippen behind him suddenly turned sideways and fell directly on Wudao's path. Wudao, who was accelerating to break through, had no time to react and was directly tripped by Pippen.

At the same time when he lost his balance, Wu Dao passed the basketball to Garnett in the paint. "Bang!" Wu Dao's body directly pressed on Pippen, but what made everyone feel wrong was that the referee's whistle did not sound at this moment, and the game did not stop.

Since Wu Dao's body had lost its center of gravity when he passed the ball, the speed of the pass was also very slow, which gave Toni Kukoc a chance to steal the ball.

With Kukoc's sudden rush out, the Bulls got the basketball in their hands. Kukoc, who had grabbed the ball, threw it directly to the frontcourt. Ron Harper and Michael Jordan, who were advancing, got a two-on-one opportunity in the frontcourt.

Ron Harper broke into the Timberwolves' basket and made a fake shot, fooling Marbury who was chasing him, and directly passed the ball to Jordan who was following behind him.

Michael Jordan got the basketball and immediately jumped up and dunked the ball into the basket with one hand.

Cheers rang out around the stands. Wu Dao, who had quickly stood up and chased halfway, saw Michael Jordan successfully attack the basket and score. He turned his head to look at the scoreboard and also looked at the linesman with a solemn look on his face.

Something is wrong. The referee's decision today was very wrong.

Martial Arts has already felt it.

The physical contact between Pippen and himself just now was actually quite obvious. Even if it was a missed call, it shouldn't be so outrageous. The Timberwolves fans in the stands were all in disbelief at the referee's decision just now, but the sporadic voices of doubt had been drowned out by the cheers of the Bulls fans.

It's just that Michael Jordan had already scored a dunk at this time, and the scoreboard on the stadium had already recorded Michael Jordan's 2 points. Even if it was a wrong call or a missed call, it could not be changed at this moment.

"Hey, kid, you look ugly?"

Pippen appeared beside Wudao at some point, glanced at Wudao beside him, put his hands on his hips, and spoke casually with a smile on his face.

Blocking foul?!
Of course Pippen knew about that kind of thing, and it was precisely because he knew it that he was so happy at this moment.

In fact, Pippen had some guesses in his mind about the foul that Michael Jordan committed when he stole the ball from Pippen. He guessed that the referee seemed to be targeting the Timberwolves in today's game. It was precisely for this reason that Pippen took the risk and used this method to measure the referee's bottom line.

The result was very obvious. He guessed correctly. The referee was indeed on the side of the Bulls.

Pippen, who has been in the NBA for so many years, would not be so foolish as to think that the referees are fair and just.

He has experienced the playoffs countless times in his career, and the so-called fair and just penalties do not exist in Pippen's eyes.

Why is he able to become a first-line defense? Testing the referee's penalty scale is such a simple thing that it is too easy for a player like him.

These referee decisions also let Pippen know that the young man from the Timberwolves was no longer effective in front of him.

No matter what the game goes like, Pippen wants to let the fans know that his defense is far better than Jordan's. He wants to prove through this game that he can do better than Michael Jordan.

What does it mean that he can defend players that Jordan couldn't defend? Isn't it obvious enough?

The linesman seemed to have realized that the penalty he had just made was a bit too obvious, and his eyes quietly shifted away, not daring to look Wu Dao in the eye.

The cheers of the Bulls fans gradually died down, and as Tom and Marbury passed the ball, the doubts of the Timberwolves fans also gradually died down. However, this unfair penalty also accumulated in their hearts and affected the emotions of the fans.

Marbury had a solemn look on his face as he dribbled the ball. There was something wrong with the referee's judgment today, and even he had sensed it.

Marbury is not a rookie. Not to mention that this is not his first day playing in the NBA. Before entering the NBA, he also played in many high school and college leagues. So many years of basketball experience have made Marbury sensitive to some things on the court.

Because of this, Marbury's dribbling speed also slowed down and he became obviously more cautious.

In this attack, Marbury did not choose to give the ball to Wu Dao. Instead, he called a pick-and-roll, completed a round of cooperation with Garnett, and gave the ball to Garnett who was in a mismatch with Jordan.

It’s not appropriate to say it’s misplaced.

Although Garnett is a power forward, he does not have much of an advantage in physical confrontation with Michael Jordan.

Michael Jordan is also a veteran in the court. From the offense and defense in these rounds, Michael Jordan also grasped the referee's penalty standards. When facing Garnett, he had no intention of holding back at all, and Garnett was directly blocked and could not move.

Under such defensive intensity, Garnett could only choose the offensive method he was best at.

Iron-blooded jump shot.

Garnett turned around and shot a jump shot at the free throw line.

However, Michael Jordan's high-intensity defense put great pressure on Garnett. Garnett failed to fully exert his core strength in his turnaround jump shot. This shot was a complete miss, and the basketball was directly "passed" to Luke Longley's hands.

"Oh--"

The Bulls fans in the stands booed, but when they saw Garnett's poor shooting, they all smiled and looked very happy.

As the Bulls launched their attack, the Timberwolves fans immediately shouted for defense.

But their cheers seemed to be of no use.

The gap between the two teams widened further as Luke Langli made a half-turn hook shot in the paint.

The Bulls began to slowly build up their advantage in the first quarter.

The power of the referees has been demonstrated on the field, and their judgments are also dominating the course of the game.

Coach Philip naturally saw everything that happened on the court, but unfortunately, he had no way to deal with it.

(End of this chapter)