novelraw Chapter 401 - 119: The Rookie with Unbreakable Grit
Chapter 401 - 119: The Rookie with Unbreakable Grit
It’s probably because they’re afraid there aren’t enough technical fouls, just two blows and you’re out of the game.
Zhang Hao has now completely calmed down and can totally understand such a situation.
But he wants to win even more now!
On the other hand, Malone felt he had lost a lot of face...
The indifferent look on that rookie’s face made him extremely angry!
However, he is a superstar, not a fool. To swap with a rookie is something he’d be foolish to act upon first.
Also, the rookie’s strength... if it were a player with a similar physique, let alone tangling or using an arm to press Malone’s chin, they wouldn’t even have room to retaliate in such a conflict...
The referee blew the whistle for the game to resume, and both coaches knew their players were in a calm state, so no substitutions were made; they continued the game.
The Utah Jazz continued the offense, Stockton went to the sideline to pass the ball, playing a direct sneak attack, Howard Eisley used an off-ball screen to dash towards the Lakers’ basket; Jason Williams followed the accurate-shooting Malone to the three-point line edge to defend against the opponent’s catch, leaving the basket open. Stockton directly passed to the basket, and Howard Eisley easily scored two points.
Calm! Extremely calm! The Utah Jazz were not flustered; they showed the top-tier team’s disciplinary judgment ability, going from pass to score in just a second.
Switching from defense to offense, the Lakers attacked, Sedale-Srte received the pass and moved forward.
Many fans watching on TV who don’t usually follow the Utah Jazz felt it was bizarre; after such a conflict, the game seemed unaffected.
Fans watching on TV who often follow the Utah Jazz felt even more bizarre; there was actually someone who could act like nothing happened after a conflict with the Utah Jazz, especially with Malone!
However, the Utah Jazz players’ movements became significantly bigger!
Malone’s vile actions earlier didn’t have the planned effect, but they did test the referee’s whistle criteria!
Howard Eisley switched to defend Sedale-Srte, extremely rough in motion, but the ball was still passed to Doug Christie.
Confronted by Stockton’s defensive extremes, the explosiveness was not notable for Doug Christie, leaving him no space to make moves! Even breakthrougs struggled to gain speed!
Sporting an honest-looking middle-aged face, Stockton never did what honest people do.
Zhang Hao came to the high position on the right side of the three-second zone to support from David Benoit, Doug Christie was ready to pass, but he saw the opponent’s defensive move, didn’t pass, and instead opted for a screen!
From this gesture, Zhang Hao looked around, it wasn’t for Jason Williams, Jason Williams was...
Zhang Hao hesitated slightly, glanced around, and immediately went up to help Doug Christie block Stockton.
Stockton tried to squeeze through the screen line, wanting to use an arm to push Zhang Hao away... he couldn’t budge him at all! The difference in physique with the weak-looking body was immense!
Doug Christie anticipated this, attacked firmly utilizing the screen, David Benoit who switched on defense kept retreating, Doug Christie stepped inside the three-point line and made a long-range two-pointer... it went in! Tied at 25!
David Benoit only then noticed Stockton, who was circling around the screen line, hadn’t come out!
The Utah Jazz, strong at pick-and-rolls, are also strong defensively against them, they can almost predict all potential choices post-screen from opponents, whether they can defend it or not sometimes depends on luck, but the defensive judgment they make is undoubtedly effective.
But this time, due to the mistaken assessment of Zhang Hao’s strength, Stockton’s defensive choice failed.
"It turns out Karl really couldn’t utter a word because the rookie’s arm was pressing against him just now."
Stockton recalled the scene earlier where Zhang Hao and Malone were entangled on the floor, holding each other’s throats with arms.
When it came to the Utah Jazz offense, without the high-tonnage center, the Jazz’s pace notably quickened.
Stockton advanced to the frontcourt and passed it to Howard Eisley, Howard Eisley didn’t do it himself, but passed to Malone, who was close to Jason Williams.
Receiving the ball, Malone savagely crashed into Jason Williams, Jason Williams was hit so hard that his upper body stuck tightly against Malone, while his lower body floated up in the air, drifting back by a great margin...
Malone continued to press forward, turned around, using iron elbows to pave the way, with Jason Williams completely losing position, Malone entered the basket... stood up, maneuvering around Zhang Hao’s arm, leaned back against Jason Williams and made a throws-hit shot!
After scoring, Malone didn’t say a word, flexed his muscular biceps with one hand, and slapped that exaggerated muscle with the other.
Malone was smart, when the Magician and Campbell were on court, he absolutely wouldn’t go solo, in mid-range singles his height wasn’t advantageous, sticking tight would do, breakthrough down to the basket was achievable, but under the basket there was Campbell, the Lakers’ announced heavy-tonnage center trained especially to deal with O’Neal, in those times, he’d go for pick-and-rolls.
Now that Campbell wasn’t there, he resolutely played inside, and Sloan specially created opportunities for him to play center.
Moreover, he’s not as arrogant as David Robinson, he really studied Zhang Hao’s famous games well before the match... despite Zhang Hao still surprising him, but he anticipated Zhang Hao’s shrinkage during this offense and prepared defensively in advance.
Zhang Hao, pulling back properly, smacked his lips, picked up the ball, passed to Sedale-Srte, after advancing to the frontcourt continued passing to Doug Christie.