Chapter 75 I'm still a child!
Zhang Hao blocked Alan Houston's breakthrough shot!
After the block, Zhang Hao took two steps back due to the impact, but Alan Houston sat down on the ground.
Watching Jason Williams excitedly rush up and high-five Zhang Hao, Alan Houston thought - are you kidding?
He did push Zhang Hao back, but it was because he rushed forward and pushed Zhang Hao back that he lost his balance due to the confrontation and fell to the ground!
This rookie, who has the physique of a help defense expert, is actually a rim-protecting inside player!
Seeing that the situation was not going well, Pistons head coach Doug Collins called a timeout.
Their lineup has advantages, with two great outside scorers, but they were blocked twice out of three attacks, which was very demoralizing.
Doug Collins regretted it. If he had been bolder and directly selected Zhang Hao with the 8th pick, instead of selecting Zhang Hao at the same time as wanting to get Edith Thorpe, and exchanged the 8th pick for the 18th and 19th picks, the rookie would have been theirs.
No matter how Zhang Hao performs in the rest of the game, the talent he showed in these few rounds alone makes him a perfect partner for Grant Hill!
Looking at Zhang Hao who was surrounded by his teammates on the opposite side, Doug Collins looked at his brother with a resentful look.
As soon as his brother raised his butt, Scott Collins knew whether his brother wanted to poop or fart.
He looked at his brother innocently - I didn't expect that! He made rapid progress during that period, but I didn't expect him to improve so fast!
He really didn't expect Zhang Hao's talent to be better than he thought! He would be the best in the NBA!
Looking at his innocent brother, Doug Collins could only sigh silently - a brother is a brother after all.
Doug Collins didn't make too many arrangements after calling this timeout. Their strategy was correct, the defense was already in place, and the offensive coordination was also good. It was just that in the first half of the first quarter, their players found that their strength had greatly improved compared to last season, and they became a little careless.
The problem now is that the opponent's morale is extremely high, while our team's morale has plummeted due to Zhang Hao's two blocks, so they called a timeout to slow down.
On the other hand, Randy Whitman didn't expect the results to be so quick...
Since Zhang Hao still has a lot to develop on the offensive end, the coaching staff has no plans to let Zhang Hao practice defense hard for the time being. They just want to leave it like this for this season. He is only 18 years old and there will be plenty of time in the future. Just let Zhang Hao do his best on defense. It doesn't matter if he makes mistakes.
Who knew Zhang Hao could actually protect the rim!
As a coach, Randy Whitman looks at players from a different perspective than the players and arranges what everyone should do from a different perspective than the players. This is definitely correct.
But sometimes, looking at a problem simply from the perspective of whether teammates can do it, like PJ Brown, is also a way to solve the problem.
Randy Whitman felt that it was difficult to defend against a team with a strong inside line, and he was reluctant to let Zhang Hao, who was not even 19 years old yet, defend against a strong inside line. It would be better to let Jason Williams do that kind of thing.
But the Pistons don’t have a strong inside player, so Zhang Hao is just the right person to defend!
Also , Zhang Hao's turnaround jump shot was really used in the game. He was not at all afraid of Grant Hill, the strongest forward of the new generation!
Randy Whitman made an adjustment, replacing PJ Brown with Vaughn Fleming to give PJ Brown a rest, while Charles, Edwards, Jason Williams and Zhang Hao continued to play.
Instead of strengthening the defense just because of Zhang Hao's achievements on the defensive end, they chose to strengthen the offense.
Because he knows that no matter how much the defense is strengthened, the pick-and-roll combination + Zhang Hao has the potential to launch a team offense, which is more important for their Nets team.
…
Back on the court, Zhang Hao felt that he had gotten into the shape.
Even PJ Brown was out, and as the tallest player on the field, Zhang Hao accepted this fate. ┗( T﹏T )┛
Grant Hill looked at Zhang Hao. After this timeout, he truly faced up to Zhang Hao's strength.
The rookie was still trembling when the game was about to start. He thought that the rookie was afraid, but now he knows that the rookie was shaking with excitement!
Both of them are young players, and Grant Hill also wants to have a good competition with Zhang Hao.
The timeout ended and the Pistons continued to attack, with the ball in the front court and 9 seconds left on the offensive time.
Grant Hill started to exert his strength. Facing Vaughn Fleming's defense, he broke through directly. When he encountered Jason Williams' assist defense, he pulled sideways and changed direction. He easily left the two behind him, broke into the inside and made a layup with the help of Zhang Hao!
Don Reed has strength, height and wingspan but no skills and impact; Alan Houston has impact but no height and wingspan and his attack under the basket is poor; while Grant Hill has strength, speed, height and wingspan, impact and attack skills under the basket!
The first organizing forward in the true sense, an all-around forward-guard swingman who is capable of scoring, rebounding, passing and defending!
Undefendable!
Zhang Hao knows how strong Grant Hill is, perhaps better than anyone else, otherwise the Nets would not have analyzed that the Pistons would make such great progress this season.
If you can't defend, then start with offense.
After Zhang Hao came to the frontcourt, he continued to run, coordinating with his teammates' positioning and running, neither fast nor slow, and not in a hurry.
The Pistons' defense was more stable after the timeout. Zhang Hao clearly saw that Charles and Jason Williams' pick-and-roll organization was a bit tight. There was no way. Their pick-and-roll combination was not necessarily as strong as Kenny Anderson's organization alone. The two of them had a tacit understanding as partners, but their strength was there.
Zhang Hao took the initiative to pull to the free throw line and gave Charles the second pick-and-roll. Charles passed the ball to Zhang Hao hand-to-hand while bypassing Zhang Hao.
When they were huddled together, Charles didn't notice that any of his teammates were moving toward the left sideline, but Zhang Hao, who was taller than Grant Hill and Don Reed, saw it, raised the ball and threw it toward the left corner!
Edwards caught the ball and shot a three-pointer...
Because the morale of the whole team was boosted, Edwards ran very actively, ran out of position, caught the ball and shot decisively, and made a three-pointer in the bottom corner!
20 to 19, the Nets overtook by 1 point!
At this time, neither side had the strongest lineup. The Pistons relied on Grant Hill and Alan Houston to score, and everything depended on these two people.
The Nets used a pick-and-roll combination + two shooters + a strong inside player, and the team worked well together.
The Nets couldn't defend Grant Hill, and Grant Hill also brought up Alan Houston's shooting.
After Alan Houston was blocked, he never went to the inside again, even if he had no chance. Grant Hill would rather break through and shoot against Zhang Hao's long arms.
However, the Pistons' lineup, without Joe Dumars, Edith Thorpe and Ratliff, three excellent defensive starters, could not suppress the Nets and prevent them from playing team offense like they did in the starting stage.
In this situation, it depends on who performs better.
Unfortunately, the Nets' mid-range and long-range shooting was a bit explosive today. After Edwards made a three-pointer, Charles also made a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter. Edwards received a pass from Zhang Hao to Charles, who made the three-pointer.
In addition, Zhang Hao made a mid-range shot at 10:17 in the first quarter, and Jason Williams made a dunk after a pick-and-roll.
After the first quarter, the Nets' score increased to 27 points!
Although the Pistons scored 5 points in the last 3 minutes, the two teams were tied with 28 seconds left.
But thanks to Charles' three-pointer, the Nets turned a disadvantage into an advantage in the first quarter and ended the first quarter with a three-point lead!
…
10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks. After the first quarter, Zhang Hao himself was surprised at his performance in that quarter.
5 of 6 shots, including 3 of 4 mid-range shots!
This feeling is so exciting!
8 of those points were scored after the official timeout in the first quarter, which means 8 points in half a quarter!
The blocks and assists were also obtained at that time!
After playing the entire first quarter, Zhang Hao was substituted. He felt that the regular season was different from the preseason. It was obviously more time-consuming than playing a full quarter in the preseason.
In the second half of the first quarter, Zhang Hao only got one rebound, and almost all the other rebounds were grabbed by Jason Williams.
Look, Jason Williams, who got 4 defensive rebounds and 1 offensive rebound in half a quarter, was excitedly communicating with Almon Gilliam who was about to return in the second quarter.
Zhang Hao was a little proud of himself for boosting the morale of the whole team, but he quickly suppressed that emotion.
I opened my own ability evaluation and took a look, and I quickly calmed down.
70...just about to reach the starting level.
He also knows that his ability cannot be evaluated in this way, but he can also clearly see that apart from mid-range shots and physical fitness, he has no other advantages.
The passing was really average, and the opponent's reaction was as fast as a tentacle monster, which was totally incomparable to the opponents in high school.
If he had passed the ball accurately in the last two minutes of the first quarter without making a mistake, they might have scored two more points. Fortunately, the Pistons did not fight back after the mistake, otherwise it would be hard to say whether they could lead .
However, Zhang Hao was very happy to help the team take the lead in the score. His role was reflected in scoring, restraining the opponent, and occasionally making brilliant passes.
There was also a mid-range pass today, which turned into Charles' final three-pointer.
The teammates were also happy, even excited! They found that they had underestimated themselves.
The Nets have had their strong moments, and they were never far behind. In the 1993-94 season, they were still a playoff-level team under the leadership of Chuck Daly.
However, the Nets management was not content to be just a first-round playoff team. When the news that "Duncan's talent is unparalleled" spread in the NBA, they decisively changed coaches in the summer of 1994 and started to play slack. Players like Almon Gilliam, Jason Williams, P.J. Brown, Kenny Anderson and others had all played in the playoffs in the 1993-94 season, and were all main players. They could feel that the Pistons had the strength of the Eastern Conference playoff level.
The fact that they are currently in the lead means that they themselves have underestimated their own strength.
Not too strong, but definitely not as weak as they thought! Because Grant Hill of the other team scored 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in a single quarter, and Alan Houston scored 7 points and 1 rebound in a single quarter. Both of them played very hard, and it was definitely not luck.
But they really have a chance to make the playoffs!
Although it is difficult and still requires improvement, it is better to have a possibility than not to have one!
…
After the intermission, the Nets sent out a combination of Charles, Edwards, Almon Gilliam, Jason Williams and PJ Brown.
On the Pistons side, Joe Dumars, Michael Curry, Grant Hill, Terry Mills and Mark West took the court.
Grant Hill will play 38 minutes per game in his rookie year. When he starts winning in his sophomore year, playing 40 minutes will definitely become the norm.
This is the requirement for superstars these days, and the Nets expected it.
How important is it to have a pitcher who is valued by the opponent and can pin down the opponent's best defensive player on the front line?
The Nets found out at the start of the second quarter.
With this Nets lineup, Almon Gilliam will definitely play first to create a threat, and then Charles and Jason Williams will play pick-and-roll and play as a team.
But Almon Gilliam encountered Grant Hill's defense and was in trouble right from the start!
Why is Grant Hill so highly regarded?
Because he not only has first-class scoring, rebounding and offensive organization ability, he also has extraordinary talent on the defensive end and his physical condition is so good. Just like Zhang Hao's enthusiasm + physical condition make people feel that he will definitely be able to train to assist defense in a few years. Everyone thinks that Grant Hill will become a top defensive player and the next Jordan!
And he did it. His defense has been qualitatively improved compared to last season. Seeing that Zhang Hao scored 10 points in the first quarter, Almon Gilliam believed that his scoring ability was better than Zhang Hao and his independent offense was indeed the strongest in the team. He went up with full confidence and wanted to continue to beat the Pistons, but he encountered Grant Hill's tough defense.
Almon Gilliam completely ignored the fact that Zhang Hao was avoiding Grant Hill and that Zhang Hao was playing without the ball!
Almon Gilliam missed two singles, but fortunately one of the offensive rebounds was grabbed by the rebounding maniac Jason Williams, who passed it to Edwards for a mid-range shot, preventing Grant Hill from overtaking with 4 points in a row.
The first one to exert the restraining force was not Almon Gilliam with strong confidence, but Grant Hill!
Fortunately, with Charles around, Almon Gilliam also trusts this core organizer of positional warfare and adjusts his playing style in time.
However, the momentum of the first quarter was really consumed by those two missed shots. Gradually, the Nets fell into a slump. At 4 minutes and 22 seconds in the second quarter, Alan Houston, who came on as a substitute, made a three-pointer. The Pistons led the Nets by 4 points, 39 to 35, and stopped the Nets!
The Pistons went on a 15-8 run!
Zhang Hao, who had been resting on the sidelines for half a quarter, felt his mouth twitching. He felt the eyes of his teammates - I am still a child, and this is my first game! Why does the team seem to have placed their confidence in me?
