One Year Left to Play-Chapter 157 - 49: Young People Don’t Play by the Rules!
The fans at the scene had the strongest sensory experience. Just as Dale Curry made a dunk, Zhang Hao mysteriously appeared under the opponent’s basket and completed his dunk.
And those who noticed Zhang Hao surpassing the opposing guard Antoine Lyles and leaving Antoine Lyles far behind were even more amazed, feeling as if they were seeing things!
Zhang Hao can jump, as many people know, especially since he was selected in the NBA lottery. A few months ago, during the high school dunk contest, he was repeatedly mentioned by the media after being selected, making more NBA fans aware of this. Brooklyn Nets fans are naturally well aware of their team’s rookie winning the dunk king title in high school.
However, Zhang Hao grew a few centimeters after being selected, and according to the Brooklyn Nets’ published physical data, Zhang Hao has the height and wingspan of a real power forward. Perhaps his jumping ability wouldn’t be greatly affected, but his speed should be impacted by growing taller, right?
But seemingly not at all! Even though they don’t know how fast Zhang Hao was in high school, now with this speed, if height affected it, just how fast was he in high school?
Just now, Zhang Hao’s fast break acceleration was excessively fast! Calling it outrageous wouldn’t be a problem.
After finishing the dunk, Zhang Hao quietly ran back to the backcourt to prepare for defense.
He truly wanted to stay low-key; the switch-hand in midair was just because he was worried about the impact on his right-hand dunk feel.
His teammates had seen his dunk during a training game and also thought this dunk was pretty low-key.
But his opponents and the fans at the scene didn’t think so...
The players on Hornets saw Zhang Hao’s impressive fast-break action and became interested, while the fans gave more recognition to their rookie who graduated high school.
Ten years ago, Dale Curry was a well-known college genius. Had it not been for a freshman year fracture, Dale Curry would have had the chance to be selected for the All-American first-team in football, baseball, and basketball. However, even though he gave up football, in baseball and basketball, he was selected in the top rounds of the most prestigious leagues. To this day, fans occasionally mention him when talking about geniuses.
Zhang Hao is a rookie, a high school rookie, challenging Dale Curry in a shootout. If Curry seems serious, how could Brooklyn Nets fans not be excited?
A preseason game, Zhang Hao stirred the atmosphere, making fans feel as if it were a playoff—those unaware might think two stars were going head-to-head; when it’s two shooters, one of whom is a rookie...
Zhang Hao, besides shooting while running, worked hard to defend, meticulously observing Dale Curry’s style and habits, gradually identifying the positions to be in and when to double-team. Even when Dale Curry was prepared, he was still disrupted by Zhang Hao’s help defense.
After all, Dale Curry was only part-time as a point guard; he was at his best catching and shooting off the ball, penetrating. He developed towards this over the years. His ball-handling skills were relatively average—it was fine against Kenny Anderson, but against Chales, he struggled; let alone, Zhang Hao was aiding.
Fans at the scene are pleasantly surprised to find Zhang Hao not only competing with Dale Curry but also slightly taking the upper hand!
Dale Curry is the top sixth man, the league’s premier off-ball shooter!
As for Dale Curry struggling when holding the ball for one-on-one plays... Brooklyn Nets fans don’t care!
When Zhang Hao was to shoot, Chales was there to assist, but Dale Curry’s current teammates, it’s all up to him. Hornet’s coach changes easily, anyway his players aside from a few starters have limited skills. As the team’s top scorer wanting to play around, their coach Alan Bristol lets him.
Bristol joined the Hornets as an assistant in 1988 and later became head coach. Dale Curry transferred to the Hornets in 1988 also, their relationship very amicable; Bristol would give Curry such face.
However, as the game progressed, Dale Curry’s playing became increasingly disheartened!
Defending Zhang Hao wasn’t good—defending against off-ball shooters was inherently tough; his teammates on the floor were poor at defense, all fringe players thinking they could tackle Chales and Gilliam, well-known players, leaving Zhang Hao free to shoot happily.
On the other hand, Dale Curry faced Chales’ solo defense + Zhang Hao’s double-teaming; Curry couldn’t handle it!
If he had Boggs, would he fear Zhang Hao? Yet Boggs was out injured, while Zhang Hao had Chales!
Dale Curry was quite aggrieved!
"Young people nowadays have no morals!"
...
By the second-quarter official timeout, the scoring gap between Zhang Hao and Dale Curry gradually increased!
Moreover, due to Zhang Hao’s easy scoring, Brooklyn Nets’ overall scoring became simpler. As Hornets players on the court began to notice Zhang Hao’s precise mid-range shooting, focusing more on defending him, Gilliam, who hadn’t been substituted, seized the opportunity to repeatedly attack the basket. As the scoring gap between Zhang Hao and Dale Curry widened, Brooklyn Nets overtook the lead.
By halftime, Brooklyn Nets led 62 to 54, surpassing Hornets by 8 points going into the intermission.
Zhang Hao played 18 minutes in the first half, scoring 25 points with 11 of 18 shooting, grabbing 4 rebounds, blocking 2 shots, and making 1 steal, all while holding the ball for only 26 seconds and dribbling only twice; not making plays, just two bounces of the ball!
In the entire second quarter, Zhang Hao made 7 out of 11 shots, hitting 5 mid-range shots, two dunks, and 3 out of 4 free throws, erupting for 17 points!
Scoring 17 points in a single quarter, even though it’s just a preseason game, the fans in the arena were thrilled!
This rookie has something!
The morale of the Brooklyn Nets was lifted by Zhang Hao, and they played with increasing enthusiasm.
Compared to the Hornets, who didn’t care about winning or losing in the preseason, Dale Curry played 18 minutes in the half, scored 15 points and made 4 assists, and was teased by his teammates on the way back to the locker room. The Brooklyn Nets players were also smiling, but they were discussing how to play the second half because they wanted to win!
The Brooklyn Nets players didn’t care about winning or losing because they rarely had a chance to win. Last year, even with Coleman, they only had a 30-52 record. Without Coleman, and with Coleman being traded for a bunch of useless players, the media predicted the Nets would win less than 20 games in the new season, and they were strong contenders for the top draft pick. So, they naturally had an excuse for losing, with no pressure from wins and losses.
But whenever there’s a chance to win, even if it’s just the preseason, the Brooklyn Nets players want to win! 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Randy Whitman seemed to sense that the team had changed a little bit, seemed to be more positive, more motivated, no longer like last season’s complete stagnation.
Obviously, this change was brought by Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao’s enthusiasm for the game was palpable even to Randy Whitman, the assistant coach.
However, this change is still very small, so small it’s almost negligible because it can only be seen when they’ve taken the lead. After all, this is just an ordinary preseason game.
In Randy Whitman’s opinion, Zhang Hao played very well in the first half. As an assistant coach, he knew very well that this was because the team’s two main point guards were helping Zhang Hao. Other positions on the team weren’t great, but the point guards were definitely outstanding. Looking across the entire league, their point guard lineup was top-notch, and the opponents hadn’t been seriously defending since the official rotation began after the first timeout.
Considering these factors, plus Zhang Hao’s excellent mid-range shots and decent awareness, led to his impressive performance.
In the second half, Randy Whitman didn’t plan to let Zhang Hao continue hogging the spotlight. In real games, constantly feeding Zhang Hao the ball and letting him shoot alone clearly wasn’t a good thing, especially not for the development of Zhang Hao’s playing habits. An off-ball shooter should do what an off-ball shooter is supposed to do.
More than half of the third quarter had passed when Zhang Hao was substituted in, assisting Kenny Anderson, running along the baseline, or controlling the mid-range area to help his teammates score.
At this time, what Zhang Hao "disliked" about "knowing too much" came in handy, especially in his learning of defensive coordination, playing an essential role.
He found that knowing more about running lines was useful in analyzing the opponent’s movement tendencies!
If there’s a bright spot somewhere, Zhang Hao felt that knowledge would always be useful. It’s just a matter of patience and finding the opportunity to apply it.
With this style of play, Zhang Hao’s shot opportunities decreased, and of course, his stamina consumption also reduced. An off-ball shooter’s opportunity creation could come through off-ball screens from teammates, teammates’ drawing defensive attention, or by using speed to elude opponents at the right time. Zhang Hao often found the third method effective. When prioritizing team play over creating his scoring opportunities, his energy consumption naturally decreased.
With less energy spent on offense, he could put more effort into helping defend... Dale Curry!
Whenever Dale Curry was on the court, Zhang Hao would relentlessly pursue him.
Despite their overall defense being weak, having a simple target allowed him to keep up with the footwork, not caring about others and only predicting Dale Curry’s movements... He did pretty well!
Dale Curry and Zhang Hao didn’t have any personal grudges, but as they played, they both got competitive. However, in the second half, Curry didn’t have many good chances. Considering he played significant minutes in the first half but less in the second, he only managed 4 shots, making 1 out of 3 three-pointers, and had one close-range floater disrupted by Zhang Hao, scoring only 3 points.
Seeing Zhang Hao, after scoring 20+, devote himself to defense and tenaciously defend against him, Dale Curry felt both anger and frustration!
The rookie on the other team had an obvious intention: to outperform him, the veteran shooter! A power forward defending beyond the three-point line was too blatant!
The game situation also favored the Brooklyn Nets as it progressed. The competition became serious with the Nets’ rotation of 9 main players, but despite this, the Hornets didn’t care, as their head coach Alan Bristol just experimented with different lineups, unconcerned about their performance. Their regular wins were reliant on their main players.
With the two teams putting in unequal efforts, the Hornets replaced all six core players by 4 minutes and 27 seconds into the fourth quarter, by which point the Hornets were trailing 82 to 101, down by 19 points.
After playing for 27 minutes, Dale Curry finally had 18 points and 6 assists. Watching the team lose by almost 20 points... wasn’t important. What mattered was that the rookie on the opposing team, in 30 minutes, shot 13 of 22, with 5 out of 6 free throws, amassing 31 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, and 2 steals!
"Too despicable! Absolutely shameless!
Just wait for me, next time I won’t let you get away with it... Wait, I’m so much shorter than him, and with that shameless defense... Damn it!
You rascal, you’ll get yours sooner or later!"
