Chapter 826 - 258: Finding the Right Approach Is Crucial

But just recently, during the game against the Blazers, Zhang Hao tried to coordinate like Rashid Wallace, and the effect was quite good. That time, he coordinated around his teammates’ cutting in, but this time, under Del Harris’s arrangement, he coordinated around Barkley’s scoring, and the effect was excellent!

Besides helping Barkley get better shooting opportunities and passing chances, he also revitalized Kenny Anderson and Fisher!

Sometimes, progress is not just brought by technical improvement; if you’re lucky and find a more suitable approach, the progress can be even greater, provided the foundation is already there.

The progression Zhang Hao showed this time couldn’t be reflected in the system’s ability evaluation.

...

Due to the team’s lineup reasons, Del Harris has never cultivated Zhang Hao’s ability to organize offense. Last season, there was Van Exel, Doug Christie, Magician, and this year, there’s Kenny Anderson, Barkley, Magician, O’Neal, Doug Christie... Zhang Hao’s needed little improvement in organizing offense; just focusing on enhancing his finishing ability was enough. With solid basics off the ball, just improving his finishing ability was enough to play better in this team.

And then there’s defense.

On the aspect of passing, Del Harris hasn’t concerned himself too much.

But since O’Neal was on the sidelines due to injury, Zhang Hao’s assist numbers noticeably increased, with an average improvement of at least 1 per game, compared to the previous average of 1.9 assists, showing huge progress.

Especially recently!

With such physical condition, such focus, such execution... Although the fundamentals of passing are still not strong, there are situations of passing errors, and he likes risky passes, this kid has made significant progress in this area! Now he found a better way to organize the offense, and the progress is quite obvious.

The key is that Zhang Hao’s play style fits well with Barkley and Kenny Anderson! Kenny Anderson can’t possibly keep executing crossover dribble breakthroughs continuously; it’s too exhausting. His outside shooting is limited by his height when holding the ball, now, he’s been liberated!

"If we don’t have O’Neal, should we focus the offense around Charles? Will this kid progress earlier in this aspect this year?"

That’s what we thought, but of course, if we could sign O’Neal soundly, we should do it; Zhang Hao and O’Neal as a duo is the ace.

During halftime, Del Harris looked at Zhang Hao, Zhang Hao nodded in response.

Alright, no issue with stamina, let’s continue playing!

...

Coming back from halftime, Grant Hill continued on court.

Originally, at this stage, they had defensive advantages and a state advantage. He thought he could have a chance to rest during the game against the Lakers and maintain better condition while on the court.

Their tactics were executed very well, but an unexpected situation arose; one was that Barkley played hard, scoring 18 points in the half, and the second was that he was defensively locked down, with low success rates in shooting and passing. Fortunately, these two points were compensated with team offense, thanks to the excellent rotational arrangement by the Collins Brothers, which provided him significant support.

But while rotation neutralized Barkley’s scorching performance, another unexpected situation was unresolved; the core reason was Zhang Hao’s organizational offense tonight, which helped Kenny Anderson and Fisher score 20 points!

Now the situation is at a stalemate, both teams have to grit their teeth and continue playing, with neither daring to make adjustments first.

In the beginning of the third quarter, Edith Soper went up for a mid-range shot but missed, and Zhang Hao grabbed the rebound.

On the return, Zhang Hao received a pass from Kenny Anderson in the high post with his back, then turned to break through into the three-second area, executing a hop to draw defense, passing to George Lynch cutting into the baseline, George Lynch made the layup.

Tied at 55, Zhang Hao’s stats also improved to 4 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, a near double-double!