Chapter 46: A Gentleman's Revenge
At 3:29 pm, after making the final preparations before the game, Zhang Hao, Kenny Anderson, Graham, Levis, and PJ Brown came to the court.
Charles, Gilliam, Jason Williams, Vaughn Fleming and Kevin Edwards from the opposite side also came to the court.
In terms of the strongest players, Zhang Hao feels that their Kenny Anderson is definitely the strongest on the team, but it is hard to say which of the two lineups is stronger. Charles has played in Europe for several years and is very good at organizing positional offense. The two veterans Edwards and Fleming are the best substitutes for their team's forward and guard lines. No one in the team can match Gilliam's singles ability at the end of his peak, and Jason Williams is a very tough inside player .
The biggest advantage of Team A is that they are young and energetic.
"Gogogo, let's go ahead and beat up those guys on the other side!"
Kenny Anderson has always longed to be the boss. He wanted to establish and start working towards it in training matches.
Zhang Hao and Kenny Anderson, one infected his teammates with his temperament and the other guided his teammates with his words. All five players of Team A ignited a strong fighting spirit!
PJ Brown and Jason Williams came to the center circle, looked at each other, with fighting spirit in their eyes.
These two people are actually competitors, or it can be said that these two people and Zhang Hao are competitors of each other, but PJ Brown chose to join Kenny Anderson's camp, because while the three are competitors of each other, Zhang Hao can partner with any one of them. Both of them are athletic players who can catch rebounds and defend, and Zhang Hao is an off-ball shooter. To be honest, Zhang Hao can cooperate with both of them.
At 3:30, the trainer who served as the referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air, and the training match began.
After the game started, the biggest difference between this game and Zhang Hao's expectations immediately emerged - the intensity and level of the game far exceeded his expectations! The other 9 players on the court were no weaker than any opponent he had played before!
He was a little confused after the game started. Any one of these players was stronger than his previous opponents in terms of cooperation and experience.
It was not as easy as he expected to get rid of the defense. When he was running in the mid-range, his opponents would strictly guard him because of the mid-range shooting ability he showed in training. They would rather miss other people than give him the opportunity to shoot in the mid-range.
On the defensive end, his lack of ability and experience was clearly revealed.
Fortunately, Kenny Anderson used his mid-range threat to create good shooting opportunities for his teammates outside the three-point line and cutting into the basket. For a while, the two teams seemed to be evenly matched.
Team A relies on speed, Zhang Hao's ability to contain the opponent, and Kenny Anderson's control; Team B relies on Charles's ability to organize the positional offense, Gilliam's ability to attack the basket, and his ability to play singles in positional warfare.
Butch Baird was watching the training game on the sidelines and analyzing the conditions of the two teams. It can be seen now that on Team A, with the support of Zhang Hao and P.J. Brown, Kenny Anderson organized the offense very well; on Team B, Charles' organization of the positional offense is indeed first-class.
However, all of this is based on the fact that this is just an intra-team training match. That is, the two teams can only play so harmoniously when their overall strength is almost the same. Once the opponent's strength reaches the playoff level, they probably won't be able to fight back.
Also, once the key players of both teams have problems, they won’t be able to maintain even this kind of performance.
As the game went on, Zhang Hao, who hadn't had any scoring opportunities for a while, started to get impatient.
He was not used to this situation where he had no shooting opportunities. Since his junior year, he had been the team's second-leading scorer. In his senior year, he even often scored higher than Pierce. In the Adidas Training Camp Elite Tournament, he also had the highest score of the game. Now he was really not used to this situation, so his running rhythm was disrupted and he started to sprint at full speed regardless of anything. Finally, he got an open opportunity and Kenny Anderson seized the opportunity to pass the ball to him.
But! The presence of an opening does not mean that it is an open shot opportunity.
An open shot opportunity can only be called an open shot opportunity when many factors such as space, rhythm, position, etc. are combined. This time, Zhang Hao can only be said to have run into an open space, but he missed the shot after receiving the ball!
Jason Williams grabbed the ball that bounced off the front of the basket, and Team B quickly pressed forward. The speed was not fast, but the rhythm was steady and they pressed forward as a whole.
Seeing Zhang Hao miss the shot, Jason Williams, who had just grabbed the rebound, was very excited. After reaching the frontcourt, he saw Zhang Hao retreating to the basket in a panic. Jason Williams' eyes lit up and he accelerated towards the basket!
The most athletic player on Team B is Jason Williams. His athletic ability is not inferior to P.J. Brown, and his rhythm of rushing into the inside is also very good. Charles seized the opportunity and made a ground pass to Jason Williams. Jason Williams rushed to the basket. Zhang Hao had no time to withdraw and his defensive position was not good, so he was knocked back by Jason Williams and watched Jason Williams complete the dunk!
Originally, Team A was only 3 points behind at 10-13 because Edwards made a three-pointer and missed the jump ball. Zhang Hao missed the attack in this round and retreated to the basket on defense but failed to block Jason Williams. The score difference suddenly became 5 points! Kenny Anderson called a timeout.
Seeing Zhang Hao's bewildered face, Kenny Anderson reached up and patted Zhang Hao on the shoulder: "Don't worry, brother, it's just a training match."
Kenny Anderson can understand Zhang Hao's current situation too well. He was in the same situation when he first entered the NBA as the second pick. He played very poorly in the early stage of his rookie season, but in the later stage of the season, he played very well and secured his position in the team's main rotation. In his sophomore year, he averaged 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game, becoming a first-class point guard.
Kenny Anderson could see that Zhang Hao was trying very hard and wanted to perform well, but just like him back then, he was too anxious.
Zhang Hao has one advantage, which is that he is good at listening to the guidance of his seniors. This is a social skill he learned when he was working in his "previous life". When facing the guidance of the company's seniors, no matter whether it is right or wrong, useful or not, as long as it is not wrong guidance, he will temporarily listen to the instructions and not offend the seniors. If he does it right, he will flatter the seniors. If he makes a small mistake, he will take the responsibility himself and get a little self-blame from the seniors...
Obviously, Kenny Anderson was right. Zhang Hao became anxious after being dunked. Fortunately, Kenny Anderson called a timeout in the first time to calm him down.
After the timeout, Zhang Hao reviewed the past few minutes and found that the opponent really defended his mid-range shots very tightly, because this team's defense was like that. After dividing into two teams, Kenny Anderson and PJ Brown, who had decent defense, were separated. Team B must be more afraid of him, because anyone with eyes can see who performs best during their team's mid-range shooting training.
There was probably no chance for a mid-range shot. Zhang Hao thought back to the opponent's defense just now and felt that he should adjust his playing style... No, he must adjust his playing style! He didn't have to show off his mid-range shot. Now it seemed that showing off his mid-range shot ability might not be necessary, because his teammates should all agree with his mid-range shot ability, otherwise they wouldn't defend him like that!
Kenny Anderson and Randy Whitman, coach of Team A, saw Zhang Hao's expression change from irritable to thoughtful and finally rejuvenated. They were surprised at Zhang Hao's ability to adjust his mentality and they felt relieved.
Randy Whitman originally wanted to replace Zhang Hao and communicate with him, but now it seems unnecessary, so the lineup will continue! As for whether it is fair to the five substitutes... who cares?
Zhang Hao was the young talent who had the best chance of becoming a star besides Kenny Anderson. If they could train Zhang Hao, they would give up all the players except Kenny Anderson, especially the frontcourt players. Their target this year was Duncan, the super talent who was already a top-notch inside player in the NBA in his second year.
After Zhang Hao calmed down, he was still a little worried that he would not have a chance to perform, because the opponent was making a substitution, replacing Vaughn Fleming with Gerard Gessla. The veteran performed very well, with sufficient experience and solid skills, and no longer needed to be examined. Team B began to examine another substitute forward, but Randy Whitman did not make any arrangements, as if he simply wanted to stop the game and let the players relax, which made Zhang Hao breathe a sigh of relief.
Back on the court, Jason Williams ran to Zhang Hao and said, "Big strong guy, come on, let me see what you can do..."
After saying that, Jason Williams ran back to the other side triumphantly.
Kenny Anderson saw the anger in Zhang Hao's eyes and said, "Calm down, don't be irritated by him... Just find an opportunity to dunk it back. Next time you have a chance, you still have to shoot decisively. Don't be anxious, be patient."
Zhang Hao took a deep breath. He was annoyed for a moment because of Jason Williams' ridicule, but he quickly calmed down.
Although being put at the power forward position and becoming a competitor with Jason Williams was beyond Zhang Hao's expectation, it was the same no matter which position he was competing for. There was no other real center in their team except Inka Dell. If the position was automatically moved up, then he would really be competing for the starting power forward position.
Originally, he was somewhat resistant to the power forward position, but now, he is determined to fight for it!
It was already difficult to compete with Almon Gilliam for the starting small forward position, and he was really prepared to play as a substitute, but now that they have started to compete for the power forward position... then let's fight for it!
Team A continued to attack, and after returning to the court, Zhang Hao calmed down and continued to roam in the mid-range, looking for opportunities to catch the ball and shoot, but he was not impatient when there was no chance. Team B obviously did not let him go just because he missed the mid-range shot.
However, this time, while Zhang Hao was looking for a mid-range shot, his vision was broader. At the same time, he was looking for another opportunity. That opportunity really came during the first attack after the timeout! It was not quite the same as expected, but Zhang Hao saw a cut-in route and immediately rushed into the inside!
On the teammate's side, Kenny Anderson had no choice but to pass the ball to Graham, who had no real chance to run. Graham missed the three-pointer and the ball hit the rim and bounced high.
Jason Williams was just about to block PJ Brown and grab the rebound when he saw an opponent of similar height but thin rushing in. Jason Williams was not afraid. He bent his knees and prepared to jump up and get ready for the confrontation. He stretched out his right hand towards the ball, ready to grab the rebound in the confrontation, and he was ready to withstand Zhang Hao's attack to grab the rebound, showing his masculinity.
When it comes to rebounding, he's not afraid of anyone!
However, when Jason Williams suddenly jumped up, he was unable to withstand Zhang Hao's impact with his weight as he had expected. Instead, he was suppressed by Zhang Hao who was jumping forward!
Zhang Hao rushed into the inside and pushed the ball into the basket over Jason Williams' head!
Zhang Hao's confrontation was quite fierce! Coupled with the impact of the jump, Jason Williams was unable to jump up!
Jason Williams was stunned by the dunk! Just now, he was imagining that he would suddenly jump up and knock Zhang Hao, who jumped on his head, into the air, but he didn't expect to be pressed down tightly.
Everyone at the scene was stunned. Even those who knew Zhang Hao's static strength test results did not expect Zhang Hao to be so fierce! How could this awareness of cutting in and rushing the board be like that of a speed-running pitcher?
If Zhang Hao knew their doubts, he would definitely answer them without hesitation - Brother, when I was in high school, I mainly used the cutting-in style of play!
As the saying goes, a gentleman takes ten years to take revenge... From morning to night, after completing the tip-in through Jason Williams, Team A became extremely aggressive. They were already very motivated, and now they became even more motivated, effectively suppressing the momentum of Team B before the timeout.
The referee's whistle was a beat late and he was also startled. He was not a professional referee, so it was normal for him to be dazed.
Just now Jason Williams pushed someone up. The principle of NBA's refereeing is to facilitate the viewing experience. This style is also maintained in the teams' training games to avoid affecting the feel of the official games. If Zhang Hao had not made a successful tip-in and was pushed away by Jason Williams, there would be no foul.
But since the tip-in was successful, Jason Williams's action should be called. This not only ensures "fairness", but also allows the fans to cheer and the teammates of the dunking team to celebrate together to boost morale.
A dunk, especially a tip-in dunk, is the most morale-boosting way to score a goal, and at this time Zhang Hao's medal effect is triggered!
“Medal: Dunk Master (Bronze) is triggered. Special contract player Zhang Hao’s wonderful dunks will greatly boost his team’s morale in the next three rounds.”
As soon as the whistle sounded, Kenny Anderson excitedly rushed up and bumped chests with Zhang Hao to celebrate. Zhang Hao glanced at the prompt that "Slam Dunk Master" was triggered. As he had just completed such a slam dunk, he was already very excited. Seeing Kenny Anderson's excitement, he became even more excited.
Sure enough, don't be rigid and keep adjusting when necessary. Don't be stubborn in doing what you are "best" at, but seize every opportunity. This is the correct way to play.
After Zhang Hao made the free throw, it was Team B's turn to attack. Almon Gilliam was really good. He attacked the basket fiercely, rushed into the inside with the ball, shook his shoulder and shook Zhang Hao who was defending, then pushed PJ Brown away and made a layup.
Because of Zhang Hao's dunk, Team A's enthusiasm suddenly reached its peak. They defended very hard, but they failed to block it.
Kenny Anderson felt the boost in team morale brought by Zhang Hao, and called on his teammates not to be discouraged and to attack patiently.
Team B retreated very actively and did not give Kenny Anderson a chance to start a fast break. Kenny Anderson was not in a hurry. His morale was boosted and he didn't have to worry so much. His thinking became clearer.
That's what morale does!
Kenny Anderson steadily advanced to the frontcourt and found that the opponent's defense had changed. Zhang Hao's dunk just now made the opponent's players unconsciously tend to move towards Zhang Hao's space.
It was not the kind of movement that was reckless in trying to block Zhang Hao's mid-range shot, but rather to guard against cutting in.
With a plan in mind, Kenny Anderson started dribbling the ball between his legs in the face of Charles' defense.
Charles is a very good defender, and Kenny Anderson has always admired him. He himself does not have much defensive talent, so he admires him.
He often practices against Charles and is very familiar with Charles' defensive characteristics. He has sharp footwork, solid defensive fundamentals learned in Europe, and is good at guiding offensive players with the ball into the double-team of assisting teammates...but his shortcomings are average physical fitness and poor athletic ability!
After a crossover step and change of direction, Kenny Anderson used his explosive acceleration to occupy a breakthrough space of one body length and broke through to the mid-range on the right!
When Kenny Anderson broke through, Zhang Hao on the left side of the three-second zone keenly judged the movement tendency of the defense on the court and cut towards the basket.
At this time, Almon Gilliam made a breakthrough from the inside to the right side of the three-second zone, and Jason Williams moved sideways to the left sideline of the three-second zone because of the threat of Zhang Hao's cut-in dunk.
Zhang Hao's cut-in was just a feint, without really exerting any strength. When he was about to reach the left sideline of the three-second zone, he suddenly turned around and ran towards the free throw line where Almon Guillem had been.
Kenny Anderson was just covered by Almon Gilliam and he immediately passed the ball!
This time's cooperation was one of the cooperation routines that the two had practiced during the previous 10 days of running training!
Jason Williams and Vaughan Fleming were completely unable to catch up with Zhang Hao's accelerated sprint!
When Zhang Hao received the ball, Charles was in place to defend, but when Zhang Hao raised the ball, Charles could only stretch out his hand as hard as he could to interfere with Zhang Hao's vision.
Useless!
Zhang Hao received the ball and used Charles as a cannon, and made a jump shot half a step outside the free throw line!
The cooperation finally came out!
After scoring the goal, Zhang Hao turned around and retreated, and he didn't seem to be particularly excited.
Because he knew this was his chance.
Kenny Anderson was even more excited than Zhang Hao. After rushing back to the backcourt, he excitedly stretched out his hand and high-fived Zhang Hao. Zhang Hao was forced to respond and high-fived Kenny Anderson.
After finding a way to score, Zhang Hao was no longer so anxious, and he was not even in a hurry to show off his shooting and athletic abilities.
Compared with these, when he gets on the court, even if it is just an intra-team training match, he wants to win!
This desire to win was an important factor in his joining the Inglewood High School basketball team, which enabled Pierce, who had only been willing to take care of him before, to truly identify with him.
Over the next period of time, teammates easily felt this.
After a beautiful dunk 2+1, followed by an excellent mid-range shot, Zhang Hao's threat was fully demonstrated.
Both of his characteristics - physical fitness and mid-range shooting - were on display.
But then he focused on containment. When Kenny Anderson was connecting the offense, he would look for his own scoring opportunities only if he judged there was a good opportunity.
Otherwise, he would predict the possible movements of his teammates and the possible defensive movements of the opponent to carry out his movement to contain them.
This brought out the rich knowledge of running routes hidden in his mind!
He didn't do this on purpose, but the things he had accumulated allowed him to do it instinctively during the game!
The strength gap between the two teams widened instantly. Kenny Anderson organized the offense more smoothly, and PJ Brown and Graham had better opportunities for three-pointers and passes.
On the contrary, they scored, and Team B's already poor defense became even more chaotic, giving Zhang Hao more opportunities!
After a few rounds of boosting morale, Team A completely took the initiative! They fought hard!
At the 17th minute of the first half, Zhang Hao got another chance. This was not a good opportunity, but his teammate Jason Williams moved to the arc of the reasonable collision zone because of the assist defense!
Zhang Hao got around Vaughn Fleming and rushed to the basket. When Kenny Anderson saw this, how could he not know what Zhang Hao wanted to do?
Kenny Anderson also got excited, and seized the opportunity to throw the ball to the front of the basket...
Zhang Hao rushed to the dotted semicircle position inside the free throw line and jumped. While Jason Williams was about to shout "crush", he slammed the ball into the basket through Jason Williams!
Revenge, from morning till night!
When Zhang Hao completed the dunk, the coach of Team B called a timeout!
Thanks to Zhang Hao's dunk, Team A made the score 44 to 29, and the difference widened to 15 points, so Team B called a timeout.
Zhang Hao made 3 of 5 mid-range shots, 3 of 4 shots from close range and under the basket, and 3 of 4 free throws. After being a supporting role in the first 5 minutes or so, he scored 15 points in the next nearly 12 minutes!
Head coach Butch Baird, who was watching the game from the sidelines, was delighted by Zhang Hao's performance! It was even better than he had imagined!
Zhang Hao's ability to adjust during the game, his use of his own abilities, his ability to read the game...these aspects are also talents!
I still want to watch Zhang Hao show his talent, but this time the timeout was signaled by Randy Whitman. Butch Baird knew that the main players would definitely not play next, and he felt quite regretful...
In addition to Butch Baird's excitement, the reporters from Guangdong Sports who were helping with the filming were also very excited.
He is also a basketball fan and had a basketball dream when he was a child.
Later, he stopped growing at 1.7 meters and his basketball dream was shattered... But he still liked basketball, so he chose a media-related major in college. After graduation, he became a sports reporter and also had the experience of interviewing the Chinese men's basketball team.
This time, the reporter was arranged to come to the United States to film Zhang Hao's first training match. He was very excited and looking forward to it.
However, in the first few minutes of the training match, he was actually very disappointed, mainly because he had extremely high expectations, but Zhang Hao performed very poorly at the beginning.
Especially when Zhang Hao was dunked by Jason Williams, they were even more desperate. Chinese people have a characteristic, which is that they are very extreme. In the eyes of Chinese people, poor performance is the worst...
But unexpectedly, after this dunk, Zhang Hao suddenly went crazy!
After missing the first shot, Zhang Hao made 6 of 8 shots and scored 15 points. The reporters from Guangdong Sports had already started thinking about how to write the news - a Chinese basketball player going international.
