One Year Left to Play

Chapter 378 - 114: This Is a Good Deal

Seeing Pierce so excited, Zhang Hao asked, "So, Paul, what do you mean to say?"

Pierce was taken aback, "What do you mean?"

Pierce also realized he seemed a bit too worked up. The key was he was purely excited, and now, being asked like this, he really didn’t know what he was so excited about: "Uh... I don’t know, I just felt uneasy... No wait, Aix, if you really make it as an All-Star starter, that’s something to be happy about! Go for it, you’ll definitely be a starter!"

Despite Pierce’s optimism, Zhang Hao shook his head and replied, "The probability of me being selected as an All-Star starter is not high."

Pierce thought for a moment, then said, "Yeah, even Hardaway didn’t make the All-Star starters in his rookie season. In recent years, only O’Neal and Hill have made it as rookie starters..."

Suddenly, Pierce figured it out. "I got it! I finally understand why those newspapers wrote that way. They’re dissing you! I just saw several newspapers that I’ve seen criticizing you before, why did they suddenly change their tune?"

Seeing Pierce’s gritted teeth, Zhang Hao thought for a moment and said, "Aren’t there newspapers that didn’t write like that?"

"I think there are..."

"Then there you go. Recently, there have been more articles praising me. I’ve been playing well, and they just won the Christmas Game. Now they’ve found a point to create buzz, and many media outlets are following the trend."

Zhang Hao’s calm demeanor also calmed Pierce, and Aprile Clark, starting from their conversation, was captivated by Zhang Hao’s composed manner...

After calming down, Pierce thought Zhang Hao made sense. Playing in Los Angeles and becoming famous, such situations are bound to arise. But he still had a question, "Aix, don’t you care about this matter?"

"I also don’t know how I got to this point..." Zhang Hao paused a moment, "Since some people want to see us fight, let’s fight then.

Not making the All-Star starters isn’t a big deal. If they want to talk, let them talk; it won’t affect me. But what if I do make it?"

"What should we do?"

"Simple."

"Yes..."

Seeing Pierce’s expectant eyes, Zhang Hao replied, "Train well, and strive to win games."

"That’s it?"

"That’s it!"

"Seems like that’s really the only way..."

...

After lunch, Pierce and his mom went back to their apartment. After Christmas, the apartment had a lot of work to do, like cleaning, furniture maintenance, and renting out apartments...

Aprile Clark had plans to go shopping with her girlfriends.

Zhang Hao was home alone, watching Spurs game tapes. After the Christmas Game yesterday, he asked the team for tapes of the Spurs’ last three games.

"The Little General, transformed by the Mad Scientist, is really something..."

Watching the Spurs’ game tapes, he wasn’t focusing on David Robinson, the superstar who was in the All-NBA First Team during the era of the four great centers. He was obviously strong.

He noticed the other players on the Spurs. When they played each other before, the one who left the strongest impression on him was Avery Johnson. He specifically looked into him: this guy went undrafted in the 1988 Draft, joined the NBA as a free agent, and was pretty unimpressive for his first five seasons. But after going to the Warriors under Old Nelson during the 93-94 season, it was as if he had an epiphany. He returned to the Spurs last season and immediately elevated them to a 60+ win team, with David Robinson winning MVP as a result.

Zhang Hao focused on the Spurs’ offensive efficiency when Avery Johnson was on the court and when he was off. It didn’t take long to see the difference in their offensive efficiency!

He called up the team’s data room manager to confirm, and it matched his analysis.

"When the Little General is on the court, the Spurs score 114 points per 100 possessions. When he rests, the Spurs score 101 points per 100 possessions.

However, their turnover rate is higher when he’s on the court..."

Knowing more about the opponents you’re about to face never hurts.

If he has time and there are no training plans for the day, Zhang Hao is willing to research each opponent specifically to find exploitable points.

After a few hours and feeling a bit tired, he went to the living room to watch TV and catch some sports news.

In the past few hours, the topic of "whether Zhang Hao can make it as an All-Star starter in his rookie season" has been continuously fermenting.

Normally, for a rookie, not making the All-Star starters is only normal.

Yet, the media led the narrative that if Mr. Zhang didn’t make it as an All-Star starter, it would be a failure.

To say he doesn’t care would be a lie. As he gradually adapts to his current life and integrates into his role as an NBA player, he’s begun to care about these things, as it’s become part of his life as a player.

In life, you have to care.

But the solution, as he told Pierce, is to just play well, the only path...

Suddenly, Zhang Hao thought of something and asked in his heart, "Do I get any rewards if I make the All-Stars?"

"Specially contracted players chosen for the All-Star, participating in All-Star events, have corresponding rewards and tasks triggered."

"Oh? Even contracted players can have this?"

"Aside from specially contracted players, the host will not trigger tasks or get special rewards for personal participation in special events until joining a basketball league with the team."

Seeing the response on the screen, Zhang Hao fell into deep thought... "Does this mean specially contracted players have rewards and tasks? And under normal circumstances, everything is team-oriented, and doing some things as a team grants rewards?"