One Year Left to Play-Chapter 316 - 104: So Completing Tasks Can Be This Simple
"Dunk Master (Bronze) activated, Zhang Hao’s team experiences a morale boost for the next three possessions."
Acting cool as the wind, always with me...
Reggie Miller comes back to receive the inbounds pass, seeing Zhang Hao showing off like this, he’s not surprised at all.
This guy dared to turn and celebrate before the game-winning shot even went in, he’s a show-off.
The Pacers players are also unsurprised by Zhang Hao’s counters. They have a vivid memory of a game this season — it’s actually the most impressive game of the season so far — which was against the Brooklyn Nets.
A one-man fast break, a lonely moment, Zhang Hao returns to the backcourt.
"Ex!"
Van Exel excitedly calls out Zhang Hao’s English name and stretches out his hand as he rushes up.
Zhang Hao extends his hand to high-five Van Exel in celebration.
Back at the basket waiting for Reggie Miller to leisurely advance, Zhang Hao suddenly remembers something — "Seems like when I was with the Brooklyn Nets, there was someone who often rushed up... no, there shouldn’t be, Boss Kenny should be a reserved person."
At this time, Reggie Miller has already advanced, Zhang Hao puts his thoughts away and focuses on guarding the hoop.
This time on offense, Zhang Hao clearly feels the opposing players moving more decisively. He doesn’t know when the adjustments were made, but that’s not important; Zhang Hao quickly analyzes their movements...
When Reggie Miller seeks Antonio Davis for a pick and roll, Zhang Hao shouts, "Press up directly..."
Anthony Piller and Jason Williams, who were switching defense on the pick and roll, momentarily fail to react, and Reggie Miller, after the pick and roll, directly shifts laterally and uses Antonio Davis like a cannon rack to shoot a three-pointer across the brace!
This time, Zhang Hao’s reminder was still a bit late; even if the two reacted, they couldn’t press up, they must prepare for movement in advance, Reggie Miller planned this attack from the start, shooting decisively, and accurately!
Reggie Miller scores a three after the pick and roll!
to 16, Pacers lead by two points again!
Zhang Hao immediately sees the "0 to 1" three-point scoring difference.
The Pacers retreat on defense quickly, and while Reggie Miller is shooting, the others have already started falling back. Dale Davis understands how impressive Zhang Hao’s static strength is, and he focuses on boxing out for rebounds, while Antonio Davis stays outside.
This strict defensive discipline is really hard to deal with. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Zhang Hao quickly runs to the frontcourt, seeing Van Exel advancing, a bit hesitant.
Having played less than 8 minutes in the first quarter, Van Exel has already taken three three-point shots, none of them have gone in.
Fan the Madman, such a pure chucker although lacking in clutch shooting ability, has a low probability of explosive performance, and the more consecutive misses, the more likely he is to lose confidence in shooting.
During the rotation phase, it should be Divac leading, Eddie Jones assisting from the outside... From Zhang Hao’s perspective, it should be Sibaros on the court with three ball handlers on the outside.
Watching Van Exel struggling to break through and hesitating for a long time before preparing to force a shot, Zhang Hao stops moving on the left side of the three-second area, relying on Antonio Davis, and shouted towards Van Exel: "Nick, pass the ball to me!"
Van Exel hesitated for a moment and then quickly passed it out.
A bit unhappy, but thinking that it’s normal for a rookie to want to show off... This thought is amplified, and he breathes a sigh of relief, he was hesitating to build up the confidence to continue chucking. Now that someone carried the load, it’s good.
Meanwhile, the other two Lakers players on the court are thinking — this rookie actually yelled at Van Exel to pass the ball... Damn! He actually passed it!
This is Zhang Hao’s third time receiving the ball in this game, apart from grabbing rebounds. The first time was catching and shooting, the fans booed him, and he missed the shot; the second time was a fast-break dunk, the fans didn’t have time to boo and turned into gasps.
This time, the crowd fell silent.
Zhang Hao drifts out to the high post position, defended by the more mobile Antonio Davis, the Pacers’ defense has strong layers and cooperates well. The top arc area is defended by the guard line, Reggie Miller chases the baseline three, Antonio Davis defends the mid-range, and Dale Davis is under the basket, able to supplement both close and mid-range.
But a high-post back-down is a static offense, Lakers players stop, and Pacers players also stop.
This group actually just stands and watches! Zhang Hao can’t help it, he pushes back with effort...
From the television commentators to the Lakers bench to the fans present, the same thought crosses everyone’s mind — what’s this rookie attempting?
No time to drift off, they see Antonio Davis pushed back half a step.
Then, half step by half step again! Although not as easily as bumping Kurt Thomas, Zhang Hao has a relatively clear strength advantage over Antonio Davis. Compared to the previous encounter with the Pacers, Zhang Hao’s back-down skills have improved; facing these lean and thin interior players, he better utilizes his strength.
After six or seven seconds of slow grinding, Zhang Hao pushes Antonio Davis back an extra step outside the restricted collision zone. Before Dale Davis pinches in and can block the pass route inside, Zhang Hao turns around, jumps, rebounds backward, his body extending to within a step of the free throw line, mid-range shot!
Enough time for adjustment with a long back-down, feeling found, Zhang Hao hits the turnaround fadeaway mid-range shot!
