Wu Dao's blocking and continuous scoring finally made Lower Merion High School realize the threat of this player.
During the alternation between offense and defense, Kobe Bryant used the cover of his teammates to quickly cross the martial arts defense line and rush inside. Relying on his excellent personal ability, Kobe deceived one of the Oak Hill High School interior players when he attacked the basket. foul.
Although the strong play failed to send the ball into the basket, this timeout was also very important for Lower Merion High School. Taking this opportunity, Lower Merion's coach immediately called a timeout, intending to let the team Make some adjustments on both ends of the floor.
The pace of games at Laomei High School is very fast, and the coaches almost never sit on the seats. Often during practice matches, the coaches will always stand on the edge of the court, constantly reminding the players that they need to pay attention to this. , pay attention to that.
After Wu Dao came on the court, the situation on the court suddenly changed. By the time Lower Merion's coach reacted, the situation had already tilted heavily towards Oak Hill High School.
"Hurry up, come around!"
Coach Greg Downer shouted loudly to the players. His words also made Kobe and others move a little faster and quickly came to him.
Greg Downer, the coach at Lower Merion High School, is a slightly chubby white man. Just looking at his body and shape, no one could imagine that Kobe would be willing to be "coached" by such a person in high school.
Kobe's father is a professional player. Before coming to the United States, Kobe had been training under his father's supervision, and his strong personal ability made him rarely encounter opponents of the same level.
The young Kobe developed a "self-centered" character early on, and the goal he was chasing was Jordan, who is known as the God of Basketball.
Although in many interviews of later generations, Kobe said that his idol was not Jordan, but in fact, many of Kobe's technical moves were copied from Jordan. Even though the fact is that, as Kobe said, his idol is not Jordan, there is no doubt that his skills were learned from Jordan.
For a person like Kobe who has clear goals, it is impossible for ordinary coaches to control him.
Greg Downer, who doesn't look like an "awesome" coach, is now able to make Kobe obedient, which makes Wu Dao who is watching on the side a little surprised.
For Kobe, I know more about martial arts from his NBA days, and I don’t know much about Kobe’s martial arts in high school.
I thought Kobe would act like a boss both on and off the court. Unexpectedly, he seemed to listen to his coach in high school.
"That yellow man!"
"Don't underestimate that guy."
"Kobe, you need to catch the ball more inside!"
"Watch carefully!"
As he spoke, coach Greg Downer held a tactical board in his hand and laid out tactics for the players. The core point of the tactics he deployed was to allow Kobe to move more and use his off-ball movement to disrupt Oak Hill High School's defense.
From the previous rounds of defense at Oak Hill High School, coach Greg Downer noticed that Wu Dao and his teammates did not cooperate well, and the defensive rotation speed was not fast.
This is actually a weakness that can be exploited. As long as Kobe can seize this weakness and attack fiercely, he believes that with Kobe's ability, he can easily tear apart the defense of Oak Hill High School.
It is true that the yellow man's personal ability is quite terrifying. If Kobe were to have a one-on-one bullfight with his opponent, he would probably lose more than he would win. But basketball is a five-on-five sport. Even a player of martial arts level would never be able to guard against Kobe Bryant who has the cooperation of his teammates.
Hearing the tactics tailored by the coach for him, although Kobe's face was not very pretty, he still nodded, expressing recognition and understanding.
He had just arrived in the United States not long ago, and although Kobe was arrogant at heart, he tried hard to be humble off the court.
Over at Oak Hill, Coach Smith greeted the players who returned to the dugout with a smile.
The water cup in Wu Dao's backpack had been taken out and filled with water at some point. When Wu Dao returned to the rest area, Coach Smith took Wu Dao's cup and handed it to Wu Dao.
Charles, who was sitting on the bench, even threw a clean sweat towel to Wu Dao. Wu Dao did not refuse, wiped his sweat and threw it to Charles: "Thanks, Charles!"
They got along very naturally. Coach Smith waited until Wu Dao drank water and wiped his sweat, and then he took the time to say to the players:
"The opponent has been stunned by the martial arts, and now we have to change our defensive strategy."
"Change to zone defense."
"Wu, your defensive radiation area is very large. This is your defensive area. Don't leave easily."
"This is the first time you and your teammates are cooperating. When defending and pursuing, pay attention to the position of your teammates."
Coach Smith did not make any special arrangements on the offensive end, but only made some adjustments to the defensive formation. He's already anticipating a change in offensive strategy at Lower Merion High School. Therefore, zone defense will be the best way to deal with the opponent's offense.
Wu Dao glanced at the defensive area marked for him on the tactical board and nodded slightly.
Coach Smith arranged for him to guard the 1/6 half-court area from the three-point line to the paint area. The main defensive positioning is in the mid-to-short range radiating out from the basket in a 45-degree direction. The area is very large, but with martial arts' athletic ability, it can still radiate this large area.
only.
With such a zone defense, Kobe will easily have the opportunity to cut into the paint. Although he will be double-teamed by Oak Hill's inside players when he cuts inside, but generally speaking, Budao feels that this defensive method weakens the restrictions on Kobe.
For a ball-carrying core like Kobe, a defensive striker stuck to him can limit Kobe's scoring. It's hard to say what effect zone defense can have on an arrowhead like Kobe.
But Wu Dao didn’t say much about Coach Smith’s decision.
Coach Smith is different from Coach Anxi. One is a "white-haired Buddha" and a half-handed boss. Coach Smith is the head coach of Oak Hill High School. He is new to martial arts. It is not a wise choice to challenge the coach's authority.
The timeout passed quickly, and not long after, the referee blew the whistle to start the game.
Kobe executed the free throw and after standing on the free throw line, Kobe made a simple adjustment and executed his two free throws. Kobe's basic skills are very solid, and his two consecutive free throws passed through the net steadily.
It seems that the pressure of martial arts on Kobe is not enough to make Kobe lose his temper.
I have to say that Kobe is worthy of being a superstar in the future. If someone else were in the same situation, he would be trembling when he stood on the free throw line and lost his usual grace.
"attack!!!"
Without giving Wu Dao too much time to express his emotions, as the basketball came out from the baseline, Xiao Hei on the back line roared, and then quickly ran towards the frontcourt with the ball.
I don't know if it was because of the loud cheers from the surrounding audience, but the Oak Hill defender was very excited.
Soon, he brought the basketball into the frontcourt. Instead of releasing the ball immediately, Xiao Hei actually made a pick-and-roll gesture towards his teammates.
Seeing this scene, Wu Dao didn't hesitate and ran up to do the pick-and-roll.
If he were playing in Shohoku, it would be impossible for Budao to do a pick-and-roll at this time. He would wait for his teammates inside to cover in the high post, while he would go around the corner and then cut towards the basket.
But at Oak Hill High School, Budo changed his playing habits.
The individual abilities of Oak Hill's inside players are better than those of Lower Merion, and the effect of direct pressure on the inside is even stronger.
Often when one's own inside line is weak, it is necessary to use a high pick-and-roll to move the opponent's players away from the inside line.
Wu Dao's pick-and-roll position, Xiao Hei quickly dropped the ball and directly broke through, crossing Wu Dao in an instant. When Kobe saw this scene, he hesitated for a while and then whispered: "Switch defense!"
Then he quickly blocked the onrushing Oak Hill defender.
Blocked by Kobe, the black player from Oak Hill High School showed a bright smile, quickly grabbed the ball and swung it behind him. He also quickly bypassed Kobe without the ball and sank towards the bottom corner.
The basketball was passed, and at this moment, Kobe and the Lower Merion defender both set their sights on Wu Dao.
Wu Dao took the ball with both hands and was directly double-teamed by two people.
"This guy is very good."
Wu Dao raised his eyebrows, glanced at Xiao Hei who had already run out of the space, and passed the ball back directly.
The latter received a pass from Budo in the mid-range, then raised his hand and sent the ball directly.
"Nice pass!"
Xiao Hei threw the ball with a smile on his face. He didn't even look at it after the shot, and directly praised Wu Dao. The next second he turned around, the basketball fell into the net smoothly with a crisp sound.
A simple pick-and-roll directly penetrated Lower Merion High School's defense.
What Oak Hill High School took advantage of was Kobe and others' overemphasis on martial arts. This weakness was actually accurately grasped by Oak Hill's defender.
At this moment, Wu Dao couldn't help but look at his opponent. Putting aside his skills, his teammate's ability to read the game was really terrifying.
"What's your name?" Wu Dao ran to Xiao Hei's side when he returned to defense and asked aloud.
"Jamel Stannie."
A name he had never heard of before, Wu Dao nodded slightly and didn't care.
Even at a historically strong basketball school like Oak Hill High School, NBA-level players are not available every year. The name Jamel Stannie is very unfamiliar to martial arts. I am afraid that he will be like most high school students in the future and will not be able to ascend to a higher level stage.
Shortly after Budo and the others returned to defense, Lower Merion High School made a breakthrough. After entering the frontcourt, Kobe directly ignored the martial arts, quickly crossed the martial arts, and penetrated into the inside.
Since Oak Hill's defensive strategy was a zone defense, Wu Dao ignored Kobe and looked at the player at the top of the key while keeping an eye on the opponent in the corner.
After Kobe cut into the inside, Oak Hill's two inside players also slightly adjusted their positions. When Kobe crossed the paint area from the right and reached the mid-range position on the left baseline, the Oak Hill defender finally made a move and gave the ball to Kobe's hands.
Oak Hill reacted very quickly. The power forward guarding the basket directly made up for Kobe. However, facing the defense, Kobe quickly dropped the ball and directly accelerated the breakthrough. After invading the basket, he directly made a layup. After a fierce physical confrontation with the Oak Hill power forward, Kobe leaned back slightly in the air, lifted the ball with his right hand and sent it toward the basket.
The mid-air shooting after the physical confrontation and the strong personal ability made everyone look at him.
"Snapped!"
"Uh-huh!"
After a soft sound, the basketball fell directly into the net.
After Kobe scored, he clapped his hands and applauded himself to encourage himself. At the same time, he quickly ran towards his own half, quickly crossed the center line with his teammates, and returned to his own half to defend.
In the following rounds, both Wu Dao and Kobe showed their strong offensive capabilities. Wu Dao's offense mainly focused on mid-range shots and long-range shots, but maybe it was because he got off the plane and sat in the car for a few hours. Because of the relationship, Wu Dao's shooting feel is not very good, and his shooting percentage is not very stable.
There was a lot of blacksmithing.
After Oak Hill High School changed its defensive tactics to a zone defense, Kobe seemed to have become a wild horse, competing with martial arts on the offensive end. He relied on his excellent physical confrontation and his "good waist" to send the ball to the basket in various ways by staying in the air.
The two inside players at Oak Hill High School were scrambled by Kobe and had no good way to deal with Kobe's sudden advance. Wu Dao thought about leaving his position to cover up the defense, but he seemed to have forgotten that Kobe was not a fool. When the three of them were double-teamed, Kobe did not force himself.
Instead, he chose a more reasonable style of play and passed the ball to an open teammate.
Although the players from Lower Merion High School are not star players who will be "famous" in the future, their basic skills are quite good, and their shooting percentage in open shots is very high.
As the game progressed, Oak Hill High School began to gradually fall into a disadvantage.
Today, Wu Dao's mid-range and long-range shooting percentage is probably only about 45%. Although it is a pretty terrifying hit rate, it is not Wu Dao's best state.
At halftime, the score between the two sides reached 48:44, and Oak Hill High School was 4 points behind its opponent.
Wu Dao played for more than ten minutes and scored 16 points individually. Although this is an excellent statistic, compared with when Wu Dao played in Neon, his performance today was really average.
When he returned to the rest area, Wu Dao was sitting on the bench, his expression not very good.
However, Coach Smith is quite satisfied with Wu Dao's performance. Wu Dao's performance today has exceeded his expectations.
He also knew that he had just come to the United States after a long journey of martial arts, and he was very satisfied to be able to fight like this today.
During the intermission, Wu Dao and Kobe looked at each other at the same time. When their eyes crossed, they both saw a strong fighting spirit in each other's eyes.
