Free Web NovelChapter 587: Chapter 180: Playoff Defensive Center! (Part 2)
"Might as well step back and shoot a three..."
Zhang Hao thought to himself, quickly retreating to defend.
Offensive and defensive transition, Adeny advanced to the frontcourt and saw George Lynch continuing to defend Richmond like a mad dog, while others lacked ball-handling ability, so he decided to continue.
In training, Adeny’s three-pointers and mid-range shots are the best on the Kings team, even beating Richmond multiple times in Richmond’s "only-one" game outside of training. But limited by his height, he couldn’t showcase this in regular season games. However, as the all-time leader in three-pointers in UCLA’s history, Zhang Hao doesn’t rate his three-pointers highly because his performance on the court isn’t impressive, but defenders always choose to stick close to him, as Doug Christie does.
So Adeny chose to continue his breakthrough attack!
The reason for this decision is that Zhang Hao, since reaching the playoffs, hasn’t seemed as good at guarding the rim, showing a clear misunderstanding of playoff defense. Since he noticed it, Adeny decisively took advantage.
As for the last possession... he believed it was an accident.
Doug Christie, closely guarding Adeny, was bypassed once again. Adeny broke into the interior under Doug Christie’s pursuit, continuing to use screens... This time, even before entering the basket, he was rudely blocked on the right side of the three-second area by Zhang Hao!
Doug Christie reacted quickly, circling around with Zhang Hao to complete a double-team on Adeny!
Brian Grant swiftly moved to the position behind Zhang Hao under the basket, but Adeny’s vision was blocked, and he was double-teamed front and back, stopping the ball. Seeing Doug Christie about to steal, Adeny had no choice but to forcefully throw the ball towards the basket...
Whether it was a pass or a shot, it was a headache for the technical officials keeping score.
Too risky! And indeed, it was a mistake! Zhang Hao, who enveloped Adeny, lightly jumped and snatched the ball in the air! freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
No pass, Zhang Hao quickly dribbled the ball forward, advancing for a fast break!
Chris Williamson retreated on defense first and moved towards Zhang Hao’s advancing route, but this time, Zhang Hao’s speed was even faster than when he was off the ball last time!
This time, the Lakers’ defensive positioning was different from the last. Because Adeny was trapped, Richmond and Michael Smith moved towards the baseline trying to find space to receive, only Chris Williamson retreated on defense. Before Chris Williamson completely moved into Zhang Hao’s advancing path at midcourt, Zhang Hao had already crossed midcourt!
The crowd went wild from the moment Zhang Hao grabbed the block or stole the ball, seeing Zhang Hao rush past midcourt even faster than Collison Williams, who was one step behind the free throw line. The scene was electric!
"Single Rider" at full power activated!
Under Chris Williamson’s desperate pursuit, the distance between Zhang Hao and his opponent only widened!
Zhang Hao jumped inside the free throw line, twisting 180 degrees in the air, executing a two-handed reverse dunk to slam the ball into the hoop!
It’s here! It’s here! Finally, it’s here!
Their super rookie is back!
The crowd watched Zhang Hao daring to perform tricks in dunks during official games as he did in the regular season, and after dunking, retreated with a blank expression like finishing an ordinary layup... The crowd was ecstatic!
The Lakers players on the court exploded in excitement after Zhang Hao executed a block/steal fast break all the way with a reverse dunk! Their morale soared!
On the Kings’ side, seeing Chris Williamson desperately chase but completely unable to catch up, only reaching the three-point line by the time Zhang Hao had already jumped to dunk, the visual impact was incredibly powerful.
Even though they’ve seen this multiple times in previous regular season matchups, it still felt exaggerated each time they saw it.
The key was that Zhang Hao, the super talented rookie second on the scoring list, seemed to have found his playoff rhythm after resting just half a quarter!
Just one play...
Del Harris on the sidelines didn’t know when he went from standing there with a frown to sitting on the bench supporting his chin with his hand.
Seeing Zhang Hao’s cold expression but sharp aura, he knew his previous worries were unnecessary.
His kid’s adaptability was even more impressive than he imagined.
"Didn’t expect this brat to decide to start from the defensive end... Dared to do the opposite of what I thought!" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
On the court, Adeny felt a chill down his spine.
What is the gap in talent?
This time, he felt it clearly!
His immediate combat strength comes from entering the NBA at 23 after playing four years of college basketball, which allowed him to adapt instantly upon entering the NBA. However, the rookie opposite him is about four years younger, with surely less game experience.
Having played four March Madness tournaments, his adaptation to the playoffs was clearly faster than that of the talented rookie opposite him, almost needing no adaptation, directly showing his best performance.
But the talented rookie adapted way too fast!
Actually, Zhang Hao’s change was simple — he didn’t think about scoring in positional play; just doing a good job of holding the defense was enough, putting all his energy into counter-attacks!
The biggest difference between playoffs and the regular season is the ambiguity of the foul line.
Zhang Hao always thought the playoffs allowed for greater physical confrontations and allowed rough defensive actions.
But from the first quarter’s firsthand experience, it’s not that simple.
Actions that are genuinely fouls will still be whistled, such as the foul Zhang Hao committed at 3 minutes and 11 seconds of the first quarter when the opponent got space to break through with a change of direction, and Zhang Hao used an elbow block after losing position, brushing the opponent — it was called a foul.
