One Year Left to Play

Chapter 588: Chapter 180: Playoff Defensive Center! (Part 3)

Foul is foul.

But those ambiguous situations often go uncalled, like when trailing behind the post and giving the pick-and-roll player a little shove; or when driving to the basket, if you jump up vertically first and then have some body contact, as long as the contact isn’t intentionally changing the opponent’s direction, it won’t be called a foul in regular season, and in the playoffs, the referees won’t care if the contact was first or if the body was contested first.

Like his two recent defenses on Adeny.

And this is how the Kings are defending Van Exel!

As for why Campbell got flustered by Adeny’s breakthrough?

The reason is simple, Campbell’s lateral movement speed is insufficient after defending against the inside pick-and-roll, moving too slowly, with the strongest power on the court but unable to use it.

Inside defense effectiveness is often seen against opponents, Campbell’s defense against O’Neal’s low post play after receiving the ball is the strongest in the league today, and he does well in protecting the rim against wing breakthroughs, but defending small guards just doesn’t work.

When it comes to Zhang Hao, coincidentally, he’s best at this!

In terms of strength, as long as the Lakers have a full lineup, they definitely have the advantage, it’s just that their defense in the first quarter was very poor.

When Zhang Hao can protect the basket on Adeny’s breakthrough, the situation instantly changes!

The Kings’ playstyle is simple. During regular time, Richmond draws double teams, Adeny uses breakthroughs to score under the basket and create threats, attracting double teams, then passes to the cutting or open teammate, just one specialized move.

This saves Richmond’s energy, so in tightly contested scores, needing stronger isolated plays, Richmond takes over. freewёbnoνel.com

But now, Adeny can’t break through. In the next three possessions, Adeny only managed to pass to Michael Smith at the baseline, who then broke through for a floater to score, considering the previous two possessions, the Kings only scored two points in five possessions!

Conversely, although the Lakers only managed one fast break in five possessions, which came from Zhang Hao himself, in the following three possessions, Donyell Marshall and Zhang Hao each seized the opportunity, with Donyell Marshall hitting a three-pointer once, and Zhang Hao finding an opportunity to cut in and score a layup after drawing all the attention.

After Zhang Hao completed a layup, Kings’ head coach Jill King called a timeout!

to 2!

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Lakers had a 7 to 2 run!

to 27, the Lakers took a 3-point lead!

Returning to the bench during the timeout, Zhang Hao, feeling a bit ecstatic, wanted to celebrate with his teammates... only to see his teammates pass by, leaving him behind, either high-fiving or hugging the other four teammates...

The joy of others is truly hard to empathize with; at this moment, Zhang Hao only finds them noisy...

Focusing to analyze the situation, five offensive and defensive possessions took a total of 2 minutes and 43 seconds, and the pace remained quite slow.

This is not the pace the Lakers are accustomed to in regular season games, but it needs to be adapted, Zhang Hao knows this type of pace might frequently occur in the future, unless their three-point shooting is very accurate, and they can still maintain shooting stability after high-intensity confrontations, otherwise, adaptation is necessary.

Another point is the opponent’s 10-for-17 performance in the slow pace of the first quarter.

The Lakers, who didn’t perform well defensively in the first quarter, allowed the opponent to find their rhythm, although the past five possessions were defended well, three missed shots came courtesy of Adeny...

The overall defensive problem can’t be solved by one rookie player just starting to improve defensively.

At this point, he has a clear understanding of himself.

But he knows he has a group of teammates he can trust, so now, he just needs to focus on his part, doing what he believes he should do.

Confidence is very important, he trusts his judgment on what needs to be done.

...

Coming back from the timeout, the Lakers didn’t make any substitutions, while the Kings subbed in Sarunas Marciulionis, the former best guard in world basketball, replacing Adeny.

Richmond and Owens took the court, with the inside still being Michael Smith and Brian Grant.

Due to political reasons, Marciulionis joined the NBA at 26, mostly as a substitute, but as a substitute, he had a season averaging 18+3+3 and another season averaging 17+3+3; he’s smart and despite being white, has a tough style of play.

Richmond and Owens are also known for their isolation play and are very good at catch-and-shoot from the top.

Just as Zhang Hao expected, the Kings aren’t easily defeated, from a motivational standpoint, they might desire to win the first match even more than the Lakers.

With the Kings putting in their endgame perimeter trio, they battled the Lakers evenly for a long stretch.

Zhang Hao wasn’t in a rush, calmly doing what needs to be done, which helped settle the somewhat restless Lakers players.

When subbed in, playing seriously, and when subbed out, analyzing and summarizing what was done well and what wasn’t, with Del Harris managing player rotations, roles were clearly defined.

Clearly, due to limitations in ball-handling abilities and the need for improved experience, Zhang Hao couldn’t perform as well as in the regular season.

But at least he wasn’t dragging the team down, and occasionally could launch unbeatable fast breaks.

Moreover, he showed in another area that he’s the type of player who can adapt to playoff games—defense!

Bold in confrontations, his mobility as a center is simply unbeatable, with impressive static physical conditions as well...

It’s clearly visible that against the Kings, a team lacking strong inside lines and forwards, his rim protection is better than Campbell’s!

Patiently doing what he needs to do, giving his all every second on the court, expending every ounce of energy if needed... Finally, in the fourth quarter, after a fast break, Zhang Hao felt the opportunity arrived, and feeling his stamina reaching its limit, he silently picked at his jersey...