The world of basketball

Chapter 28 Fighting the Timberwolves
Since Jeremy Lin beat the Warriors with his logo in an away game, the next opponents the Spurs faced were the Pelicans away, the Grizzlies at home, and the Pacers away. A wave of seven consecutive victories shows that the team is in good momentum. It was not until back-to-back home games against the Bucks that they lost by three points.

After the Spurs defeated the Bulls in an away game, the Spurs ranked third in the West and fifth in the league with 20 wins and [-] losses in the first [-] games.

Mu Xiaobei played 29 games in the first 21 games, averaged 13 minutes per game, scored 6.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 50.00 assists and 40.00 blocks, and his shooting percentage was as high as [-]%. Hit [-], hit rate as high as [-]%.

In fact, Mu Xiaobei's data in the first few games of the season was even better, and then it gradually deteriorated, which is reflected in a slight decrease in shooting percentage and scoring reduction.

But Mu Xiaobei didn't care, because he played very comfortably, and the deterioration of his statistics didn't mean that Mu Xiaobei's role in the Spurs would decrease, on the contrary, his role would become more and more important.

With the integration of the Spurs team and the tacit understanding of the players, Aldridge played more and more comfortably. During the seven-game winning streak, Aldridge averaged 26 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. All the independent attacks were launched.

Mudiay's shooting and Kuzma's defense are also improving every day, and this youth army is developing in a good direction.

No.20 In a game, the Spurs ushered in an away game against the Timberwolves. In this game, the No.14 pick of the Spurs this year will play as the team's starting No. [-]. Mudiay will be the No. [-]. Jeremy Lin will return to the bench.

"Good morning, netizens. Welcome to Penguin Sports' NBA regular season game between the Spurs and the Timberwolves. I am very happy that the studio invited Teacher Yang Yi and Xiaoyi to watch the game with everyone." This game is Thomas again. As a commentator, Meng talked about the game for the fans.

"Mr. Yang, in the past nine games, the Spurs have achieved eight wins and one loss. With the return of Lonnie Walker in this game, the Spurs will usher in a verification lineup. What do you think of this group of young players?" Wang Meng asked.

"I think the Spurs deserve to be the Spurs. Although the Spurs were in a precarious situation last season due to the fact of Leonard, and sending Leonard was indeed something they had to do, but they completed the next transaction well. Very good." Yang Yi commented.

"Yes, I believe everyone can see the performance of Mu Xiaobei and Kuzma in the Spurs. The spirituality and rapid progress shown by the two on both ends of the offense and defense are incredible, including Mudiay, who was originally in the Knicks. I didn’t play well, and now I seem to have found my position in the Spurs, and Shu Hao, who averaged 14.4 points per game in the Spurs, now the data may increase after the bench.” Wang Meng continued.

"What do you think is the highlight of this match?" Seeing that the national anthem was still being sung, Wang Meng asked another question.

"First of all, it's the matchup between Mu Xiaobei and Towns. Everyone knows that Towns was selected as an All-Star last season. We can use the matchup to see the difference between the two. The other thing is to look at starting as a shooting guard. Will Lonnie Walker, who played on the field, be able to integrate into the Spurs, and can he strengthen the impact of the Spurs." Yang Yi said.

"There is also Butler. Butler's farce this season does not know when it will end, but Butler's performance in the game is still tough. It is said that Butler and many teams have trade rumors. We can look at this game. Butler's performance."

"Okay, the whole game started, the two sides jumped the ball, and Mu Xiaobei helped the Spurs get the offensive ball in the game." Wang Meng entered the state of commentary.

Mudiay dribbled the ball and found Lonnie Walker first. Lonnie Walker faced the defender Butler. Lonnie Walker did not dribble easily, but passed it to Kuzma who was running.

Kuzma accelerated past Wiggins and made an emergency stop jumper facing the empty penalty area.

"Good shot, Kuzma, the combination of sudden shots of this ball is already very skillful. It seems that Popovich made Kuzma switch to the third position. Kuzma's small forward skills have been well practiced." Wang Meng laughed dryly twice.

"Well, Kuzma is really good." Yang Yi can only praise.

But only Kuzma, who hit the opening ball, was a little confused. It is reasonable to say that after an acceleration, the defender will follow up, pass the ball to Aldridge himself, and Aldridge singles.

But just now Wiggins didn't keep up, and there was nothing in front of him, so he took advantage of the opportunity to shoot.

Thinking of this, Kuzma, who returned to defense, took a sneak look at Popovich, saw that Popovich nodded slightly at him, and didn't mean to blame him, so he secretly stuck out his tongue, and quickly returned to defense.

Wiggins, the No. 14 pick in 21 years, his physical fitness is against the sky. He is known as the strongest No. [-] pick since James in the [-]st century. He attacks the basket with various explosions, and his single defense is also good. After being traded to the Timberwolves by the Cavaliers, he has always been regarded as the hope of the Timberwolves. Star.

The data in the first year is good, averaging 17 points per game, but the shooting percentage is not high, especially his position in the long-range shot is indeed iron.

In the second year, the team selected the No. [-] pick Karl-Anthony Towns. The two No. [-] picks formed a twin star. The Timberwolves felt that their future was bright.

Last season, the Timberwolves got Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, and Ty Gibson to form a luxurious lineup on paper, plus the super sixth man Crawford, and Derrick Rose who joined halfway, but the Timberwolves finally But it is also qualified to enter the playoffs, the last round.

In the 16-17 season, their offensive firepower was the top in the league. How top is it?It can be compared with the Cavaliers and the Warriors, but their defense is the bottom of the league.

Even if they have coach Thibodeau who does the best defensive tactics.

The joining of Jimmy Butler last season made many people think that the Timberwolves' defense will be greatly improved and become a strong player in the Western Conference. However, Butler's good defense is only one person, and the team's culture has not been formed. There are no defensive issues that can change the team.

Wiggins stepped back and missed a jumper, Mu Xiaobei blocked Towns to protect the rebound and handed it to Mudiay.

"Give the ball to Wood," Popovich ordered.

Mu Xiaobei held the ball, pushed it back, dribbled the ball back, but Downs stepped back.

As the No. [-] pick, Downs has a very strong physical fitness. His speed is relatively top-notch for the fifth position, and his strength is not at a disadvantage against most of the fifth positions. Although Mu Xiaobei has never slackened his strength training, But he didn't think that he could beat Downs after just a few months of training.

Mu Xiaobei pushed back again, and realized that Downs was just careless just now, but this time was when Mu Xiaobei really wanted to attack. He used Downs' strength to turn and jump forward, then leaned back and pulled Opening up space, he held Downs with his left hand, pushed the ball out with his right hand, and hit the board head-on.

"Good shot, Mu Xiaobei. It is said that Mu Xiaobei studied with Duncan in San Antonio, and Duncan was also teaching Mu Xiaobei some footwork and skills. It was once one of the commonly used scoring techniques.” Yang Yi said.

Turning around, Butler squeezed away Lonnie Walker and hit the basket, facing Mu Xiaobei's supplementary defense and missed a layup, Mu Xiaobei received the rebound again.

Looking at Butler's envious eyes, thinking about the defense of Wiggins and Towns just now, combined with Butler's farce in the summer and the wonderful contract he signed with the Timberwolves, Mu Xiaobei felt that he seemed to understand why the lineup was luxurious and talented. The full record of the Timberwolves has been unable to improve.

(End of this chapter)