Chapter 23: Punching out at halftime?
For a pitcher like this, in the eyes of these professional scouts, only this one ball is needed to see how solid Zhang Hao's basic mid-range shooting skills are!
The players on the field also felt it, and Team A immediately understood that as long as Zhang Hao was given the opportunity to receive the ball and shoot, they would definitely not be able to defend him!
And this is what Bibby and Garnett want.
These geniuses all know very well that this game is not the same as the one they played in the high school league. Each team in the high school league has at most one or two geniuses of their level... Most schools don't have even one, those that have one are a minority, and those that have two are like Inglewood High School, who are invincible in the entire state.
The biggest difference is defense. In the high school league, apart from encountering shrinking defense will not encounter too strong defensive pressure because the difference in physical fitness is actually very large. The biggest difference is confrontation. Ordinary high school students cannot compete with this group of people in terms of physical fitness, but here, confrontation is just the most basic thing.
Bibby and Garnett's goal is to let Zhang Hao show his shooting touch and pose a threat so that they can play more easily.
However, Zhang Hao was a little depressed when he returned to defense during the transition from offense to defense. He felt that his positioning was really bad.
Although, if he is asked to do the job of Corey Benjamin or Rahim, he is no worse than these two, and the off-ball performance of other people on the court is actually not much different from him, except Hamilton, but he is the main attacking point of the opening tactics, and his teammates revolve around him, so he has to do better.
"Luckily we have Garnett. Even though this bastard has an annoying personality, it's really nice to play with him as a teammate..."
Zhang Hao did not force himself to do his best immediately. Now that he has Garnett and can utilize Garnett's abilities, he should make good use of them.
After Team B retreated to the backcourt, Marbury had already advanced quickly. Although Marbury was only famous on the streets of New York at this time, he had good strength and was definitely a top high school basketball player. After advancing to the frontcourt and encountering Corey Benjamin's defense, he made a beautiful front-body change of direction and left Corey Benjamin behind. The latter was passed before he even had time to react!
However, although Team B's overall singles ability is weaker than Team A, its team defense is stronger. Bibby had anticipated this. Although he is taciturn and foul-mouthed, he is very focused in everything he does. He has been silently observing all the backcourt opponents in the training camp. Regarding Marbury's breakthrough during the team discussion, he gave the evaluation of - the first breakthrough in high school.
After Marbury was blocked by Bibby, Zhang Hao and Garnett also cut off the passing lines on both sides of the baseline. Marbury immediately passed the ball to Odom who came out to receive the ball. After receiving the ball, Odom broke through like a point guard. At the same time, Kobe, who had just cut in from the baseline, ran back.
This defensive distance... Zhang Hao and Garnett looked at each other at the same time, a quick glance, and then... they both defended Odom...
Odom passed the ball to Kobe who ran to the top of the arc, and Kobe received the ball and shot a three-pointer...and it hit!
Zhang Hao and Garnett were very embarrassed at this moment. Their defense this time could be said to be quite successful, but this last move made all the previous successful defense useless.
"Why don't you fill in?" the two shouted at each other at the same time.
"I thought you would make up for it!" they said in unison again.
“…” Both were speechless.
Although they both disliked each other, they seemed to recognize each other and believed in each other's abilities...
Zhang Hao firmly believes in Garnett's ability. Garnett is the kind of top defensive core in NBA history who can support a defensive system in the future. He is an extremely strong defensive connector, has an incredibly strong assisting defense ability, and has a wide defensive range. Therefore, he thinks it is better to leave the long-range defense to Garnett.
But Garnett is also very confident in Zhang Hao's speed. Although he is a little faster in burst acceleration, Zhang Hao's fastest speed is even faster.
Then, such an embarrassing scene appeared.
The key point is that Garnett thought Zhang Hao was unwilling to confront Odom, a guy who was less than 16 years old but had the physique of a top high school center, so he blocked it himself. Unexpectedly, Zhang Hao was not only tough in words, but also in this aspect.
Garnett had a little more appreciation for Zhang Hao, but when he passed the ball to Bibby and ran to the frontcourt, he kept talking: "I'm taller, I'm mainly responsible for protecting the rim, you guard your perimeter well, don't hold me back on the perimeter!"
"Don't hold me back even if you're in the paint!"
After exchanging a few words, the two of them started to cooperate in running in the frontcourt. That is, Zhang Hao ran according to the route he thought was best... Garnett ran randomly along the route that looked like shit in his eyes, and then Garnett found the right time to help Zhang Hao with screen and roll, and also needed the cooperation of Corey Benjamin and Rahim in running, and Bibby's pass.
This treatment is based on Zhang Hao's convincing CIC performance.
The most important thing is that the offensive time is 35 seconds, which gives Zhang Hao enough time to run.
Team B played very well at the start of the game with a strategy centered around Zhang Hao's mid-range shot!
Team A was suppressed!
Although Kobe's ability to fire from any position has begun to show, Marbury's breakthrough is invincible, Odom is terrifyingly versatile, Hamilton also has an excellent mid-range shot when he receives the ball, and Jamison's singles are also very strong...
However, Team B played true team basketball, while Team A was just doing their own thing.
This is a problem of difference in awareness between the core ball-handling players of the two teams. Marbury and Kobe of Team A both want to show their abilities too much and feel that everything has to come from themselves.
As for Bibby and Garnett from Team B, they understand that in a game like this, it’s a competition of individual abilities…how much worse can one person be than the other?
Obviously, when the players' strength is relatively balanced, teamwork is more important than individual ability. Even if they have a strength advantage over the opposing players in the same position, teamwork is more important.
This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Marbury and Kobe quickly understood the problem and began to try to change it. But how to change it? Imitate each other...
Because they had never experienced this before and were not as well prepared as Team B, their first reaction was to try to play like the other team.
Then , at 13 minutes and 58 seconds into the first half, Team B was already leading Team A by 12 points with a score of 28 to 16!
Team A called their first half timeout, a 200-second timeout!
The fans at the scene cheered wildly!
Team B fiercely suppressed Team A!
Team A wanted strongly to show their abilities, and they did well at the beginning. However, as the game progressed, the talented high school students of Team A, who deliberately wanted to show their various abilities, played very badly.
On the other hand, on Team B's side, Bibby and Garnett did not deliberately show anything, but as the game went on, Bibby's ability to seize opportunities to shoot and pass the ball was demonstrated, as well as the necessary singles, and he also avoided his own shortcomings in organizational awareness.
Although Garnett only scored 2 points, his statistics of 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks were quite impressive. He did not deliberately show his high-post support, but seized the opportunity to pass the ball when in the high post.
Moreover, when playing with overall advantage on the defensive end, Garnett's presence is very strong! This is an ability that no one else has.
Although Corey Benjamin felt that he still hated Zhang Hao and wanted to compete with Zhang Hao, he had a reason to help Zhang Hao - if this guy couldn't even get into college, how could he compete with him in the future?
Rahim has never had any desire to fight, he just wants to win.
Zhang Hao was the only one from Team B who "deliberately" wanted to show off. But he was really accurate! He scored 14 of the 28 points!
That's the difference!
…
Kobe and Marbury want to show their abilities very much, but their abilities are not yet to the point where they can beat everything. They do not have a scoring method like Zhang Hao that is far superior to others.
Team A kept making substitutions, but no matter how they tried, the results were not good, so they had to call this 200-second mid-game timeout.
Team B has been playing well, so they haven't made any substitutions. Now they are finally starting to make adjustments, with the combination of Billups, Rodney Buford, Rahim, Garnett, and Calvin Booth coming on the court.
After Team A came back from the timeout, Kobe and Marbury were temporarily replaced, even though they were both main players.
Odom and Tim Booth partnered up in the back line, Hamilton and Quincy Lewis were two guard shooters together, and O'Neal Jr. was sent to the center.
Zhang Hao sat down and rested for 200 seconds, and then the game continued. He still felt very excited. It was such a great time!
He used to be good at mid-range shooting in the game, but he was only good among high school students. Now his mid-range shooting is almost invincible!
As long as he has a chance to catch the ball and shoot, the opponent's defense will not have much effect, because it is beyond the imagination of these high school players. They have never encountered a super mid-range shooter like him in the game.
Zhang Hao thought that if he encountered such a situation, it would probably be similar, because he had the impression that the defense that could have an impact on the opponent's best pitcher was basically useless when defending him!
Trying hard to calm his excitement, Zhang Hao couldn't help laughing when he saw the guard combination of Odom and Tim Booth, who had a height difference of 30 cm.
This scene is really weird, because it was Odom who was advancing with the ball...
Odom's ball control alone made the fans exclaim in amazement.
After half court, Odom passed the ball to Tim Booth, who was less than 180 cm tall and handled the offense.
Originally, Zhang Hao thought that with Marbury and Kobe leaving, Team B would have a greater advantage, but Team A took the initiative in the last few minutes of the first half!
Tim Booth's continuous breakthroughs to the inside and scoring are not the strong points of Team A. Forcing them to learn it temporarily will only backfire, as was the case with Kobe and Marbury before. Tim Booth is not that talented and may not have the possibility of joining a professional team. He does not have the giant physique like his cousin, but he is smart and his strength in high school is not much worse than others on the court. Through observation, he understood the way Garnett linked the defense in this game, and then organized the offense in a targeted manner.
This should have been what Marbury and Kobe should have done, but they were too anxious and did not calmly take advantage of the unfavorable start to analyze the situation properly. They responded in a panic, so they were beaten by Team B.
Tim Booth handled the ball, Odom assisted, two pitchers scored from the outside, and O'Neal Jr. used his height to catch the ball. Team A performed quite well during this period.
Fortunately, although Tim Booth is smart, his ability is indeed inferior to Kobe and Marbury, and Garnett and Rahim can barely cope with him.
After 20 minutes of the first half, Team B barely maintained its lead at 9 points and led 44-35 into the halftime break.
At halftime, coach Seuss told Zhang Hao that he might not play in the second half.
It's not that there is any targeting or problem, but Zhang Hao has already demonstrated his characteristics very well. He made 5 of 7 mid-range shots in the first half, and had a beautiful counterattack dunk and a layup in a positional battle, which has demonstrated his shooting ability and off-ball ability.
The performance of 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal was outstanding.
The reason why Team B was able to take the initiative so quickly at the start was because of his absolute strength in mid-range shooting, which allowed them to play real tactics. Otherwise, they could only rely on individual abilities like Team A and would not be able to create such a big advantage at the start. In high school competitions, individual ability is indeed very important, but when the difference in individual abilities between the two teams is not particularly large, if one side can cooperate, the team strength displayed will be completely different.
Therefore, in the eyes of the retired NBA star Seuss, Zhang Hao's performance is good enough, and he also has to give others opportunities to perform.
Zhang Hao did not object to this because it was the truth and he couldn't do more.
When he goes on the court, there is only one thing he needs to do, and he only knows how to do that one thing - shooting!
Seuss made this decision based on the fact that their Team B had a clear lead.
If they win, even if Zhang Hao doesn't play next, his performance at the beginning will be seen as the key to Team B's victory today.
But in the second half, after the game started, Marbury and Kobe, who returned to the court, led the team to launch a counterattack frenzy!
Zhang Hao was resting, but Bibby and Garnett did not. They brought Corey Benjamin, Rodney Buford and Calvin Booth to the court.
Zhang Hao has demonstrated his strengths very well and showed his invincible mid-range shooting in high school, but Bibby and Garnett's abilities have not been fully demonstrated, and such a game makes it difficult for them to show something else, so they still have to play.
Another thing is that Zhang Hao’s brilliance is too dazzling, and he is not that omnipotent, but Zhang Hao’s most outstanding point is indeed too outstanding.
Without Zhang Hao's mid-range shot that was far superior to others, Team B's overall offensive capability was suddenly weakened. When Kobe and Marbury on the opposite side came back on the court... and after strengthening their beliefs and learning from Tim Booth to handle the ball calmly, make good use of their personal advantages, and find experience from defeat, Team A really suppressed Team B at the beginning of the second half!
At this time, Garnett's problems were exposed. When the team performed well, he could use his excellent connection ability on both offense and defense to make the team better.
However, when the situation is unfavorable, Garnett is unable to turn it around, and even unable to provide the team with the strength to support it. This is his characteristic.
Kobe, who suffered humiliation in the first half, calmed down and attacked with all his might at the beginning of the second half. With the help of Marbury's breakthrough and passing style, Team A scored 22 to 14 after more than 9 minutes of play. This time it was Team B's turn to call a timeout to interrupt the game!
Seuss looked at Kobe opposite him, it was unbelievable!
In those moves, he seemed to see the bastard named Michael Jordan who was a rookie ten years ago!
To use the words of Zhang Hao next to him to describe it, one word - spirituality!
Zhang Hao was really scared when he saw Kobe's performance! His strength showed what it means to be invincible in high school!
Although Kobe tried to imitate Bibby's style of play but ended up trying to do it poorly, when Tim Booth showed the correct way to deal with the game, Kobe quickly became even stronger because he was much stronger than Tim Booth. The height of 193 cm alone was not something Tim Booth could possess.
In more than 7 minutes, Kobe scored 9 points and 2 assists, and his personal score increased to 16 points, surpassing Zhang Hao's previous game-high of 14 points!
Zhang Hao truly felt the spirituality of Kobe. If Garnett was limited by the abilities of his teammates, the low level of teamwork, and... his comprehensive abilities in many aspects and could only be used to 60% or 70%, then Kobe would definitely use 100% or even above his level!
Zhang Hao clearly felt the so-called ability to raise the upper limit from Kobe!
Bibby found himself at a disadvantage against Kobe, who was nearly two years younger than him!
Although they knew that the opponent was strong and had learned about it during training, Team B did not expect Bibby to be completely defeated.
This is too hard to accept.
For a moment, Team B turned their attention to Zhang Hao.
They tried their best, like using Rahim's cut-in attack, but they met the guy named O'Neal on the opposite side. Although his name was Jermaine O'Neal, but without the three-second defense, O'Neal's ability to protect the rim in the restricted area was amazing! That 16-year-old body was amazingly strong!
Kobe, Odom and O'Neal, three 16-year-old high school students, left a deep impression on major colleges and NBA scouts.
Among them was Lakers general manager Jerry West, who bought a pair of shoes, put on a hat and quietly came to the scene to watch the game.
After the Lakers were eliminated in the second round, Jerry West's work focused on future plans. At this time, the team's star player Eddie Jones told him that there was a genius named Kobe Bryant in Philadelphia, the city where he grew up, who was as good as Anfernee Hardaway.
Out of curiosity, Jerry West came to the San Francisco Auditorium, and then he was amazed by Kobe.
The strength of Team B is the team. In terms of individual offense, only Bibby and Rahim can compete with the other team. However, these two are no match for Kobe, and the ability they show is only at the level of Marbury and Jamison.
This is scary, Bibby is the best high school point guard in the United States!
Thinking of the fact that Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, and many other talented players have entered the NBA in the past few years, Jerry West looked at the dozen or so players in this game, many of whom surprised him - "Is this another golden age of talent explosion?"
From 1979 to 1985, a large number of geniuses poured into the NBA, which led to the NBA's booming development in the past few years. Now, as the geniuses of that period are gradually getting old, a new group of geniuses has emerged that even Jerry West is amazed!
Jerry West believes that at least half of these 18 players on the court will enter the NBA in the future and will definitely become stars or even superstars!
…
On the B team bench, Seuss discussed the playing method with his players and decided to let Zhang Hao return to the court.
Zhang Hao is their last straw.
They spent nearly ten minutes thinking of many ways and tried everything they could. They still wanted to show off the abilities of other players, but they really couldn't beat Kobe in terms of individual ability.
Now, their only hope is to play an absolutely dominant team style in the first half.
Seuss patted Zhang Hao on the shoulder and said, "Aix, it's up to you. You have to shoot the ball when you receive it! We need your containment power to restart the team offense."
Zhang Hao shook his head when he heard this: "It's not up to me, it's up to us."
"You're not that annoying sometimes." Garnett seized the opportunity to retort.
"I should be the one saying this." Zhang Hao still responded bluntly.
As they walked onto the court while bantering with each other, Zhang Hao felt that the atmosphere of their temporarily put together team was really harmonious.
58 to 57, Team B still maintains a 1-point lead.
Looking at Kobe on the opposite side, Zhang Hao deeply understood what superstar potential is.
It's easy to see the difference between Kobe and other outside players, just like Garnett's strength is a level higher than others.
Bibby, Corey Benjamin, Zhang Hao, Rahim, Garnett, the starting lineup of Team B is back on the court!
Team A, the combination of Marbury, Hamilton, Kobe, Jamison and Odom also appeared again!
Kobe looked at Zhang Hao on the opposite side and recalled the terrible pressure he encountered at the beginning. It was such a player who played purely without the ball, but became the most amazing player on Team B. In Kobe's view, Zhang Hao was just like his English name, "X", an unknown and unpredictable existence!
Kobe never thought that when a team has a pitcher like Zhang Hao, it will bring about a qualitative change in the performance of other players!
Maybe when his teammates are bad, Zhang Hao's leadership ability is not as good as Tim Booth's, but when his teammates are strong, Zhang Hao's role is terrifying.
However, even so, seeing the opponent fielding their strongest lineup, Kobe was full of fighting spirit!
This is the game he wants, and what he desires is to defeat all opponents!
