One Year Left to Play-Chapter 223 - 75: I’m Still Just a Kid!
Zhang Hao blocks Alan Houston's breakthrough floater head-on!
After landing from the block, Zhang Hao also took two steps back due to the impact, but Alan Houston landed on his butt on the floor.
Watching Jason Williams excitedly rush up to high-five Zhang Hao, Alan Houston thought—are you kidding me?
He managed to push Zhang Hao back, but it was because he charged that Zhang Hao got pushed back, yet he himself lost balance and ended up on the floor!
This rookie, with a build like a defensive expert, turned out to be a rim-protecting big man!
Seeing the situation wasn't right, Pistons' head coach Doug Collins called a timeout.
Their lineup has an advantage, with two main scorers on the outside, but having two of their three attacks blocked was a huge hit to their morale.
Doug Collins regretted not being bolder and directly using the 8th pick to choose Zhang Hao instead of trying to acquire Edith Soper while also selecting Zhang Hao, swapping the 8th pick for the 18th and 19th picks. This rookie could have been theirs.
No matter how Zhang Hao performs the rest of this match, just the talent shown in these few rounds seemed perfect to pair up with Grant Hill!
Seeing Zhang Hao surrounded by his teammates on the other side, Doug Collins looked at his brother with eyes full of blame.
When his brother lifted his butt, Scott Collins knew whether his brother wanted to poop or fart.
He looked at his brother innocently— I didn't expect this either! He improved rapidly back then, but I didn't expect he'd get this good so quickly!
He really didn't expect Zhang Hao's talent to be even better than he realized! In the NBA, he's top tier talent!
Looking at his innocent brother, Doug Collins could only silently sigh—brother is always brother.
During this timeout, Doug Collins didn't make too many arrangements, their strategy was correct, defense was already in place, their offensive synergy was also good, but the players got a bit complacent after realizing their substantial improvement over last season during the first half of the first quarter.
The issue now was the other side's momentum was overwhelmingly high, whereas their own had dipped significantly after being blocked by Zhang Hao twice, so they called a timeout to regroup.
On the other side, Randy Whitman didn't expect such quick results either...
Because Zhang Hao still has a lot to develop on the offensive end, the coaching staff didn't plan to have him hone his defense intensely for now. Since he was just 18, there was plenty of time in the future, so they only wanted him to defend to the best of his ability this season, mistakes were acceptable.
Who knew Zhang Hao could protect the rim!
As a coach, Randy Whitman approached players from a different perspective compared to them and arranged everyone's responsibilities accordingly, which was definitely correct.
But sometimes, simply seeing from a perspective like PJ Brown did, whether a teammate could do certain jobs, was also a way to solve issues.
Against teams with strong interior players, Randy Whitman thought it was risky and reluctant to let the under-19 Zhang Hao defend those powerful interiors, better to let Jason Williams handle those tasks.
But against the Pistons, without strong interiors, Zhang Hao was perfect for defense!
Furthermore, Zhang Hao utilized his turnaround fadeaway in the match, showing no fear facing Grant Hill, regarded as the strongest new-generation forward!
Randy Whitman made adjustments, substituting Vaughn Fleming in for PJ Brown, giving PJ Brown a rest while Charles, Edwards, Jason Williams, and Zhang Hao continued on court.
Not stubbornly reinforcing defense because of Zhang Hao's defensive progress, but choosing to strengthen offense instead.
Because he knew, reinforcing defense wouldn't change much, but incorporating a pick-and-roll combo along with Zhang Hao could trigger the team's offensive rhythm, which mattered more for their Brooklyn Nets.
…
Back on court, Zhang Hao felt like he was already in his groove.
Even with PJ Brown out, as the tallest player on his team on court, Zhang Hao accepted his fate.┗( T﹏T )┛
Grant Hill looked at Zhang Hao, really recognizing Zhang Hao's strength after this timeout.
This rookie, who was trembling right before the match began, he thought was scared, now he knew, the rookie was shaking with excitement!
Both being young, Grant Hill also wanted to have a good match up with Zhang Hao.
Timeout over, Pistons continued attacking, frontcourt ball, with 9 seconds left on the offensive clock.
Grant Hill started to exert effort, directly breaking through against Vaughn Fleming's defense, only changing direction with a lateral drag after encountering Jason Williams' help, easily leaving them behind and attacking inside leaning on Zhang Hao for a board shot layup!
Don Reed has power, height, and arm length but lacks technique and drive; Alan Houston has drive but lacks height, arm length, and is poor in under-the-basket offense, whereas Grant Hill possesses power, speed, height, arm length, drive, and under-the-basket offensive skills all together!
A truly versatile forward guard capable of scoring, rebounding, passing, and defending!
Unstoppable! 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
Zhang Hao knew how strong Grant Hill was, possibly understanding it better than others, otherwise their Brooklyn Nets wouldn't have failed to realize the Pistons' significant improvements this season.
If he couldn't stop him, then start with offense.
Once in the frontcourt, Zhang Hao continued to position and move in sync with his teammates, calmly and without hurry.
