One Year Left to Play

Zhang Hao felt the Magician wanted to slack off, and it wasn’t without reason. If they played tactics, the Magician would definitely have to shoulder a lot of responsibility, almost as much as Kenny Anderson.

After adjustments during training camp and preseason, Zhang Hao’s role in the tactics had firmly shifted to being a simple finisher.

What he told Little Curry about just shooting with this group wasn’t just idle talk, he genuinely hoped it could be that way.

Shooting is so delightful!

But reality gave him a surprise—apart from Boss Kenny giving his all, the other two out of three big shots who could play were slacking off!

Upon careful analysis, if O’Neal hadn’t been injured, he would probably be slacking off too!

Zhang Hao brainstormed for a moment and chose to accept fate.

What else could he do?

Just play!

Also, after the Magician mentioned it, Zhang Hao realized he was indeed too fixated on tactics, too eager to see his team’s full talent unleashed, expecting to see the invincible situation he imagined.

But the reality is, stars can complement each other, but they can also restrict each other.

Whether it’s complementing or restricting each other, these are actually extreme situations. Most of the time, it’s about compromise.

The experienced Magician knew early on that they were unlikely to become the nearly perfect team of last season again, and it’s even unlikely their regular season record would reach 65 wins. Their new combination wasn’t like the perfectly matching combo of Pippen + Jordan + Rodman, but a mix of stars with many overlapping characteristics.

Of course, the Magician hopes to see the team work well together, so he trains seriously. Even if they can’t gel as imagined, finding more points of synergy and executing more small-scale collaborations is also worthwhile.

But for Zhang Hao, having such dreamy teammates for the first time, and with last season’s teamwork being so successful, it’s natural for him to expect the new season from the most beautiful perspective.

Now that beautiful fantasy has been pierced, Zhang Hao is a bit disappointed, but looking at Barkley, then at Kenny Anderson, and thinking of O’Neal, who would go back to rest in Los Angeles after playing the Knicks...

"If we’re playing star tactics, we’re playing star tactics! We just have a lot of stars!"

"And we haven’t even played the simple coordination with O’Neal as the tactical centerpiece..."

With that thought, Zhang Hao cheered up.

The Hornets’ situation is good like that, but considering Larry Johnson’s normal market value, it might be higher than the entire Hornets’ frontline. The Hornets trading their current entire frontline with the Knicks wouldn’t get them Larry Johnson.

In terms of regular performance, the current Hornets are indeed much stronger than last season, but having a player like Larry Johnson brings the possibility of elevating the team’s upper limit, creating miracles in games.

If Zhang Hao had to choose between last season’s teammates and this season’s, even though he loved last season’s team, if you asked him to choose right after last season ended, he would unhesitatingly choose last season’s roster, everyone striving to improve together... But now, having experienced Barkley’s dominance against the Knicks, feeling Kenny Anderson’s more stable performance compared to Van Exel...

Sometimes, choices can be quite simple...

...

The Lakers found the Hornets to be a tough match, and the Hornets were also playing nervously.

However, the Hornets players are now very confident. They noticed that although the opposing Lakers seem strong... and they are indeed formidable, their performance isn’t stronger than that of the Hornets! They have a chance to win, and with better coordination, they hold the advantage in the game!

Returning in the second half, the Hornets sent out a lineup of Boggs, Dale Curry, Glenn Rice, Little Anthony Mason, and Matt Geiger.

The Lakers sent out Kenny Anderson, Derek Fisher, George Lynch, Jerome Kersey, and Zhang Hao.

The Hornets attacked first, Boggs advanced to the frontcourt, seeing Zhang Hao wasn’t defending, decisively went one-on-one against Kenny Anderson, driving to the basket and encountering Zhang Hao’s help defense.

Zhang Hao’s help defense wasn’t to force Boggs into a mistake or necessarily to block, but to cover the space for passing under the basket. Matt Geiger judged he couldn’t receive the ball inside, so he indeed pulled out, and Boggs passed the ball...

Matt Geiger positioned himself a step inside the free throw line, within the three-second area, where he could shoot. Upon receiving the ball, he immediately took a mid-range shot, not giving Zhang Hao a chance to recover... But unfortunately, he missed.

The secondary threat was disrupted, easy direct scoring points were stifled, leaving the smallest threat, standard playoff defense.

Zhang Hao grabbed the defensive rebound and handed it to Kenny Anderson, running to the frontcourt.

Once in the frontcourt, Zhang Hao didn’t head to the inside, staying outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the left, slightly to the right. Matt Geiger didn’t extend outside, Little Anthony Mason stepped up defensively. As Little Anthony Mason reached a step inside the three-point line and stopped but hadn’t settled, Zhang Hao suddenly stepped forward, positioned himself behind Little Anthony Mason’s left, and cut in!

Kenny Anderson passed the ball at once, Zhang Hao received it and drove straight to the basket!

Little Anthony Mason tried to turn immediately but was a step slow. Moreover, Zhang Hao blocked him slightly, and as Zhang Hao drove in, Little Anthony Mason was just starting! Couldn’t catch up!

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