One Year Left to Play-Chapter 333 - 106: Is 40+ Really So Easy That No One Can Miss It?
However, when asked about scoring 40+, the urge to show off couldn’t be suppressed.
Zhang Hao feigned a look of sudden realization: "40 points? I didn’t notice, because I’ve done it a few times before. It’s the first time since joining the Lakers, which is worth celebrating."
He mentioned it’s worth celebrating, but there was still no expression on his face.
The Sports Illustrated reporter wanted to hit him! If it weren’t for their good relationship with the Lakers, they would’ve wanted to bash Zhang Hao.
After taking a deep breath, the reporter continued to ask: "Zhang, apart from you, who among your rookie class could score 40 points in their first season?"
This question, surely no room to show off, right?
But this reporter underestimated Zhang Hao.
"Shouldn’t many be able to score 40? Is 40 points hard?"
"..."
Is 40 points not hard?
Everyone there wanted to hit him! This is the NBA! Many players never have a chance to score 40 points in their lifetime.
But considering Zhang Hao has played just 16 games and already has 3 times 40+...
...
...
That night, Del Harris arrived at the Lakers’ training facility at Time Warner Arena for overtime.
From a business standpoint, he is absolutely professional, and takes his job seriously.
Except his personal preferences often influence his use of rotations. If not for Starbucks’ financial pressures, he’d definitely disregard the management’s opinion and suppress Zhang Hao’s playing time, even though Zhang Hao is excellent.
But since he has to use him, he has to use him well.
These days, when showering, he would pull out a handful of hair...
He wasn’t alone working overtime; Logo Man was also working late. When Logo Man was leaving at 1 AM, he noticed the light in Del Harris’s office was still on and knocked on the door.
"Come in... Jerry, why are you still working? Isn’t the trade already done?"
"I’m thinking about how to match you with a better lineup, so you’re not so troubled, making you adapt to Aix’s offense might be too challenging."
Logo Man’s words seemed sincere.
Del Harris shook his head: "No, playing offense doesn’t trouble me; it’s Aix’s defense that’s problematic. He’s more suited to defend under the basket. How to allocate his and Elden’s playing time is what’s bothering me now."
Del Harris naturally knows the major issues in the attacking lineup. He’s not a third-rate coach and recognizes the league’s trend is toward defensive battles, but these are the people he has.
One must not act without foresight, but only having foresight and disregarding the present equates to castles in the air.
For now, we should use whatever is available, win the games we can win first, and adjust, those things take time anyway since they have nothing to do with the championship.
Del Harris organized his thoughts and directly expressed the dilemma he faced: "The current problem is that Aix is better suited defensively under the basket, he’s aggressive in positioning himself, which is his strength. Players his age might only focus on grabbing rebounds for good stats.
He’s also strong enough, facing most inside players he can help teammates secure defensive rebounds by boxing out.
Moreover, his stamina is good, as long as he doesn’t recklessly counterattack, controlling consumption, defense under the basket consumes less, he can play 40 minutes a game.
But for now, Elden is the better player..."
Del Harris paused for a moment, then continued: "Furthermore, Aix is still too young, do you know why I don’t like using very young players?"
Logo Man was already surprised by Del Harris’s words, and now even more so.
Not waiting for Logo Man’s answer, Del Harris continued: "Earlier on, I didn’t resist Aix joining us. I was fully cooperating with you because you said to trade Cedric for Aix. I thought after he joined, playing 20 minutes per game is enough to slowly develop him. After his three-year rookie contract ends, he’d still only be 21.
And at that age, he’s very prone to injury... Of course, you traded Vlade for him, I still don’t like him."
Logo Man could see that even now, a week later, Del Harris still resisted Zhang Hao’s inclusion, but adhering to professional ethics, he was still working hard.
Without arguing about whether he liked Zhang Hao, Logo Man felt it was pointless, and asked: "In terms of coaching, you’re more knowledgeable than I am, have you thought of a solution yet?"
"Still considering..." Del Harris said, suddenly making a joke: "Actually, if you had convinced the Brooklyn Nets to trade Vlade and Elden, with us keeping Eddie, there’d be no issue now. We could focus on developing Aix, I’d only have to develop Aix, and still have a chance at the playoffs."
Logo Man’s eyes flickered: "No, Elden’s size is too suitable for defending against O’Neal. Our goal is to build a championship team and to deal with O’Neal, Elden needs to stay."
"Oh, I forgot about that, O’Neal, that guy is simply a monster. Have you heard? Stern is planning an NBA 50th-anniversary celebration and wants to select 50 NBA historic stars, O’Neal has played for less than 4 years and was selected into the candidate list."
"That’s really exaggerated... By the way, Aix right now is only suitable for basket defense because he’s still young, right? We could focus on adding collaborative defense training to his regimen to strengthen his perimeter defense."
"Aix actually has very good perimeter defensive talent, his movement isn’t bad, and his judgment of opponents’ offensive paths is quite good, unfortunately, lacks experience."
"No worries, we have the time. Do you think having James teach Aix defense would work?"
"Mismatch defense? That seems good, James’s mismatch defense eight years ago in the finals could be compared to Rodman..."
"Then I’ll handle this matter."
Leaving Del Harris’s office, Logo Man didn’t rush home; in the middle of the night, decided to stay at a nearby hotel.
Getting James Worthy as a trainer for Zhang Hao must be done, but trading Campbell shouldn’t be, so other solutions have to be found...
