One Year Left to Play

Scoring 30 points, more than Larry Johnson’s 27 from 10 out of 19 attempts on the other side, and also more than Barkley’s 26 from 10 out of 18 attempts for the Lakers.

In the final quarter, the TV commentators analyzed whether Zhang Hao’s playing style was due to higher demands from the team or if his tactical position had truly diminished. Bill Walton and Hubie Brown from Time Warner Cable Sports even argued about it.

Bill Walton firmly believed that the Lakers had worsened their use of Zhang Hao.

But Hubie Brown thought it was a testament to the league’s top-level trust in Zhang Hao’s shooting, highlighting the difficulty in what Zhang Hao achieved. Few in the entire league have the ability to make clutch shots like Zhang Hao, saying this reflected the Lakers’ trust in him.

Moreover, Zhang Hao’s counterattacks, which were mostly initiated by himself grabbing the rebound and advancing, were well-defended by the New York Knicks against their team counterattacks.

Even Bill Walton, who holds "a grudge for taking over his role," was surprised by Zhang Hao’s improvement.

Legends like Bill Walton, who is one of the 50 Greatest Players, and former head coach Hubie Brown, who won Coach of the Year, could see Zhang Hao’s summer improvement clearly and explain it to the puzzled fans because looking only at data, Zhang Hao’s average performance compared to last season seemed unchanged.

Such improvement is simply incredible! Generally speaking, even the most talented players in their 20s either diversify their skills in one summer to seek progress in the new season or refine their current capabilities, but holistic improvement usually takes time.

However, Zhang Hao seemed to have trained in many areas over the summer, yet the enhancements in these areas significantly boosted his existing playing style during matches.

Whether Zhang Hao had a clear judgment of the skills he needed and trained selectively or he haphazardly improved in a well-rounded manner, it’s frightening!

The former requires excellent self-assessment and focused training ability, while the latter is arguably even scarier.

But regardless of the method, Zhang Hao’s comprehensive enhancement of his playing style from last season is astonishingly fast!

Additionally, compared to last season, Zhang Hao’s stamina improved, as he still seemed full of energy in the final quarter after playing 40 minutes.

After the game, in an interview where Zhang Hao was asked about only having two solo plays throughout the match, he replied: "I wanted to win easily, I didn’t put much effort into the offense, it’s not a tactical issue, I told them I wanted to piggyback on them, but somehow I ended up with 30 points, what can I do?"

...

The tactical cooperation in the Lakers’ opening game wasn’t well executed, but winning in the end was all that mattered.

After the game, the Lakers held a post-game meeting to analyze the night’s match.

In the regular season opener, the New York Knicks set the tone from the beginning to play like a playoff game, with high-intensity confrontations and an ultra-slow pace, leaving the Lakers to only respond.

This situation was rare.

But it also proved that, with loosened referee standards, the odds of winning through defense was always higher than through offense.

Moreover, it was a test of Kenny Anderson and Barkley’s capabilities, as well as Zhang Hao’s progress!

Kenny Anderson started training and losing weight since joining the Lakers in early August, immediately getting into shape. This suggests that motivation is environment-dependent; in a poorly performing team, many might lack motivation, like Kenny Anderson, but coming to the Lakers changed that. Without being urged, he adjusted proactively.

If it were last year’s playoff strength, Zhang Hao would not have been able to deliver a 12-for-21 shooting against today’s Knicks’ high-intensity defense. Key reasons include increased weight and strength, and of course, more solid techniques, which are crucial for comprehensive improvement.

Most impressive was Barkley’s performance, who showed true star-level strength in the opener. From an offensive standpoint, it’s hard to say whether the young Shaq or Barkley is better at one-on-one play.

Of course, if O’Neal were present, interior defense would be much better.

However, the game-winning solution that led to this satisfactory victory was related to Ewing’s decline.

Though Ewing appeared relaxed with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks from 9 out of 16 shots, with better defense and shooting opportunities than previous years, Ewing turned from a strong attack point to a tactical component after losing weight.

It’s true Ewing played better and more easily, but in a playoff-style game, Ewing’s role became supportive rather than pivotal, and opening the game, at least tonight, was unseen.

After analyzing the tactical pros and cons and disparities in player performances, realizing the need for better tactical harmony against opponents like the Knicks where executing planned strategy is rare... after identifying these issues and more.

The Lakers happily accepted the opening match victory; no matter how it’s played, winning brings joy!

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Following the opener against the Knicks, the Lakers flew to another country, Toronto, Canada, just beyond the northeastern border of the United States, early the next day.

Starting the season with three consecutive away games in the East also required playing in already snow-covered Toronto, which Zhang Hao found somewhat frustrating.

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