One Year Left to Play-Chapter 344 - 108: What If We Win?
This feels just right!
This is the Roaring Celestial Venerable that Zhang Hao is familiar with!
Seeing this expression, Zhang Hao nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the away team’s bench.
Rashid Wallace stared wide-eyed and flaring his nostrils: "???"
Originally, Rashid Wallace was very lively, but tonight he was heavy-hearted, about to face the strongest player of his cohort.
Just now, he looked very quiet, but in fact, he was always paying attention to Zhang Hao, who unexpectedly walked right over to look at him! Unlike his sneaky glances, Zhang Hao was blatantly obvious.
Zhang Hao returned to the bench, looking at Chris Webber in a suit on the Bullets’ bench... For the Lakers, this was a lucky situation, but for Zhang Hao, quite unfortunate.
The 1993 top draft pick, Chris Webber, who averaged 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.8 steals in the first 15 games of the season, announced a season-ending injury a few days ago. Earlier, the all-star + best team star Mark Price they had acquired at great cost, was also out for the season at the start.
The Bullet’s Michigan twin towers had just acclimatized after a season, and after introducing Mark Price, they were expected to achieve results this year, only to collapse.
However, in Zhang Hao’s opinion, this was also an opportunity for Rashid Wallace. If Webber hadn’t been out for the season, the Celestial Venerable wouldn’t have emerged.
"Juwan Howard, 23 years old, 206 cm tall, 105 kg, ability rating 87, offense 90, defense 67, passing 79, three-point 39, mid-range shot 92, layup 93, speed 85, strength 87... averaging 23 points, 8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.4 blocks..."
Looking at the ratings of the opponent’s strongest player, Zhang Hao was puzzled—wasn’t this the slow, unreliable mid-range shooter, the stride-walking drag on Yao and McGrady’s team from his memory?
Scout reports aren’t recorded in such detail, and reports for players often have biases. Western Conference teams they face a few times a year are more detailed, as are expected playoff opponents. But for non-championship-contending teams, reports about Eastern Conference teams are usually not detailed, just mentioning a player’s scoring characteristics.
Mid-range shooting is definitely Juwan Howard’s strength, but looking at his player scouting report, his physical quality was rather impressive! And he plays the small forward position!
More surprising to Zhang Hao was Rashid Wallace’s ability rating.
"Rashid Wallace, 21 years old, 211 cm tall, 99 kg, ability rating 72, offense 80, defense 59..."
The defensive center of the Detroit Pistons, partnered with Ben Wallace as a rim-protecting gate, with a defensive rating of 59!
In terms of offensive skills, Rashid Wallace could almost do everything, just not yet proficient.
Neither of them were the Bullets’ centers; their center was 7-foot-7, the tallest player in NBA history, Gheorghe Muresan. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Looking at Gheorghe Muresan’s 137 kg weight, and defensive data of 2.3 blocks per game, with the fourth-lowest defensive efficiency among starting centers in the league.
"I don’t get it..."
...
Not getting it is one thing, but at 5 PM, the game started right on time.
With a day’s rest, the Lakers were in much better shape compared to playing the Clippers, winning that game by such a margin because the Clippers were terrible and also wanted a high draft pick in next year’s draft, not because the Lakers, apart from Zhang Hao, were in outstanding form the other night.
But playing against another team with weak interior defense like the Clippers gave the Lakers experience on how to handle this type of team, and Del Harris precisely judged that the entire opposing frontcourt was easy to exploit, continuing with the strategy of attacking the inside.
Defense was hard to come by; Juwan Howard’s skills were comprehensive, mid-range shots precise, and footwork flexible, while Rashid Wallace could even step out to shoot threes. However, without defensively strong teammates, their impact was even negative. They didn’t even have Nowitzki’s rim-protecting ability.
Despite Juwan Howard’s impressive performance of 18 shots, making 10, with 4 out of 5 free throws, scoring 24 points, with 7 rebounds, and 7 assists, the Bullets scored 107 points as a team.
However, the Bullets conceded 115 points!
Gheorghe Muresan may have the league’s tallest height, but his rim protection is really lacking. Zhang Hao, Sibaros, George Lynch, and others would cut to close-range spots or throw from just outside the three-second area, and Gheorghe Muresan couldn’t keep up.
If Gheorghe Muresan moved early, then the area under the basket was completely open, and he couldn’t return in time.
Zhang Hao truly felt for the first time that a center’s stats could be completely meaningless!
Gheorghe Muresan delivered a performance of 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks but seemed insignificant; as a center, he only grabbed 4 defensive rebounds—a decisive stat. Even though he got 4 offensive rebounds, each converted into points, his defensive rebound ability and positioning were insufficient, rendering his contribution almost pointless.
Rashid Wallace, who caught Zhang Hao’s attention, had few opportunities tonight. Playing only 19 minutes before being substituted, he was overly eager to show his worth, but only shot 1-for-5, scoring just 4 points and 1 rebound. In a game where the point difference wasn’t large, he rushed his shots on offense and was a defensive liability, leading Bullets’ coach Jim Linham to withhold more playing time for him.
Zhang Hao played 31 minutes tonight, with scoring concentrated at close range, shooting 9-for-14 from the field and perfect on free throws, scoring 23 points with 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block effortlessly.
