"Kenny, tell me, Kobe and Zhang were actually wearing the wrong jerseys on the court, right?"
Barkley complained.
He scored 12 points in 5 minutes. Even Kobe Bryant didn't have many such performances.
"No, that's Zhang."
Smith.
On the court, the two sides continued for several rounds.
After the first quarter, the Lakers took the lead thanks to a 22-8 run led by Zhang Zhiyuan.
32 to 28, the Lakers led by 4 points, of which Zhang Zhiyuan scored 14 points.
It’s a lot of points to score and a lot of physical exertion.
By the second quarter, he could only rest off the court.
This made the Timberwolves fans relax a little. To be honest, Zhang Zhiyuan scared them, fearing that Zhang Zhiyuan would continue to play.
It's a pity that what is supposed to come will eventually come.
Zhang Zhiyuan came on the court again after a 4-minute rest. Coincidentally, Garnett also came on the court at this time.
Although this was an arrangement arranged by the coaches of both sides, fans thought at first glance that this was a fight between Zhang Zhiyuan and Garnett.
The story of 'grievances' has become even richer.
Seeing Zhang Zhiyuan on the court, Garnett had a dark face.
He played nearly 11 minutes in the first quarter, and his physical exertion was greater than that of Zhang Zhiyuan.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he really didn't want to play against Zhang Zhiyuan again, because Zhang Zhiyuan always floated outside the three-point line, which made his defense more difficult.
The game continues, the Lakers attack first, Zhang Zhiyuan moves, and Craig is responsible for marking.
"Hey, you look familiar."
Zhang Zhiyuan said.
Although Craig was not particularly smart, he could hear the contempt in these words and could only feel depressed.
If Garnett can't handle someone, he naturally doesn't think he can do anything about it.
"Oh, by the way, have I humiliated you before?"
Although the words were in English, Zhang Zhiyuan still said the smell of Kodak.
Cheap and cute. Cheap and cute.
"Shut up, trash talk doesn't work on me."
Craig's mouth is calm, but his heart is very honest, which increases the hatred value for Zhang Zhiyuan.
Apparently, trash talking works well for him.
When the ball came into Zhang Zhiyuan's hands, Craig immediately concentrated and was always on guard against Zhang Zhiyuan's moves.
Zhang Zhiyuan controlled the ball and retreated, taking Craig out of the three-point line, and then passed the ball back to Kobe.
Kobe gained a lot of space inside the three-point line and immediately took a jump shot.
This isn't his shooting hot spot, but that's mostly because he's rarely had opportunities like this before.
Kobe didn't receive much interference and made the shot easily.
Craig was relieved when he saw this, as long as it wasn't Zhang Zhiyuan's shot. Anyway, the team was used to losing, and he was powerless to change this situation.
All he has to do is express himself as much as possible.
In transition between offense and defense, Garnett still wanted to win and played very actively.
He caught the ball and shot under the basket, and Cook helped double-team. Garnett had no space to shoot, his shooting movement was deformed, and the ball missed.
He originally wanted to ridicule Zhang Zhiyuan for being a coward for calling for help, but he swallowed the words again.
The team was lagging too far behind, and he was no longer in the mood.
Talking trash at this time is more like clown behavior.
Bynum got the rebound and the Lakers counterattacked.
Zhang Zhiyuan made a three-pointer from outside, but the chance was not very good. Craig defended well.
Although Craig is only a mediocre rookie, he happens to be good at guarding players of Zhang Zhiyuan's size.
The ball missed, and a glimmer of hope suddenly rose in the hearts of Timberwolves fans.
They hope that their rookie can suddenly break out and restrain Zhang Zhiyuan.
Unfortunately, they once again thought too much.
In the next round, Zhang Zhiyuan had the cover and cooperation of his teammates. After getting rid of Craig, he caught the ball and shot directly. His speed made the audience look like he was throwing randomly without adjusting his shooting posture.
However, the ball missed the target.
"It's 17 points. Please, can the Timberwolves save some face? It's not a glorious thing to be beaten by an undrafted player."
Barkley complained.
The better Zhang Zhiyuan performs, the funnier his pre-match predictions become.
Although he has a big mouth, it doesn't mean that he likes to be slapped in the face. Even if it is a slap in the face, it can't be so painful.
"I don't think it's the Timberwolves' problem. The main reason is that Zhang performed so well in this game and his three-pointers were so accurate. The Timberwolves couldn't do anything against him."
Smith said.
There is nothing you can do about being an undrafted draft pick. Such an outrageous thing actually happened at this time.
Unless they double-team, they can't completely prevent Zhang Zhiyuan from dying.
Zhang Zhiyuan doesn't need too many shots, and one occasionally can make the Timberwolves uncomfortable.
As for double-teaming, Whitman didn't even consider it.
Double-teamed Zhang Zhiyuan, what should Kobe do?
Shorting Kobe? It takes a lot of imagination to come up with this tactic. Whitman obviously does not have the courage.
After the two teams played for a few rounds, Whitman called timeout again, trying to prove that he was still thinking of a way and still working hard.
However, after returning to the game after the timeout, the Timberwolves were still beaten.
Even without Zhang Zhiyuan, the Lakers are still stronger than the Timberwolves, not to mention that now there is an extra cheating Zhang Zhiyuan, and the Timberwolves are even more unable to resist.
At the end of the first half, the score difference between the two teams had reached 20 points.
In the last round of the first half, Zhang Zhiyuan said when defending Garnett: "How about I let it go? I don't want to lose the game so quickly. I want to play for a while."
Garnett ended up clenching his fists. If he hadn't been sensible enough, he would have punched Zhang Zhiyuan on the head.
In all his years in the NBA, he has never been so humiliated as being undrafted.
In the second half, the ratings for the Lakers' game against the Timberwolves increased by two percentage points.
Zhang Zhiyuan's outstanding performance aroused the curiosity of more fans. They wanted to know what happened and what would happen next.
Unfortunately, what disappointed them was that Kobe was leading the team at the beginning of the second half and Zhang Zhiyuan did not play.
Jackson had his own considerations. He didn't want Zhang Zhiyuan to steal Kobe's limelight.
Squeezing Zhang Zhiyuan's data will also facilitate the subsequent contract renewal.
After the 10-day short contract ends, the team can extend it to the next season, or of course it can directly sign for two or three years.
Jackson wants to sign for a longer period, but does not want to take too big a risk. As long as Zhang Zhiyuan's data is lowered, he can force Zhang Zhiyuan to sign a two-year partially guaranteed contract.
If you play well in the future, you can continue to use it. If you play poorly, you can cut it at any time to maximize your benefits.
Halfway through the third quarter, the point difference on the field was still 19 points, and the Lakers had a huge lead.
Then Jackson took off Kobe and replaced him with Zhang Zhiyuan.
This is also the brilliance of Jackson. He wants Zhang Zhiyuan to understand his shortcomings and prevent Zhang Zhiyuan from asking for excessive prices when renewing his contract.
Sure enough, everything was as Jackson expected.
After Zhang Zhiyuan came on the court, without Kobe Bryant to attract defensive firepower, the Timberwolves focused on defending him. Although they did not double-team every round, they definitely did not give Zhang Zhiyuan a comfortable shot.
Zhang Zhiyuan encountered trouble.
He barely missed a shot, made a passing mistake, and was double-teamed and let go of the basketball.
The Timberwolves fans immediately cheered. They had been frustrated for most of the game and finally saw something comfortable.
"This is a bit much."
Smith complained.
It's outrageous to have this level of defense on an undrafted player.
On the court, Zhang Zhiyuan was not aware of Jackson's intentions. He was just thinking about how to break the game.
However, he soon discovered that this was not easy.
Although he used Curry's experience card, Curry also needs teammates.
Curry can perform well, and the tacit cooperation of his teammates is also very important.
But now the cooperation between Zhang Zhiyuan and his teammates lacks tacit understanding. Before, with Kobe here and many offensive options, this problem was not obvious.
But when the offensive burden fell on Zhang Zhiyuan, this problem became very prominent.
When the Lakers attacked, Zhang Zhiyuan was double-teamed while holding the ball. Then he made a low-level error in passing the ball and passed the ball out of bounds again.
"He's finally back to normal."
Buckley breathed a sigh of relief.
Single offensive method, average passing ability, and flaws are the basic qualities of an undrafted player.
"Without good teammates, you are nothing."
The Timberwolves attacked, and after Garnett hit the ball, he looked proud again.
"He's saying you're not good teammates."
Zhang Zhiyuan did not respond directly to Garnett, but said to other Timberwolves players to sow discord.
"..."
Davis and others looked confused. They knew that Zhang Zhiyuan was deliberately sowing discord. But the problem was that they also knew that Garnett disliked them.
Fortunately, the game is still going on, so they can pretend not to hear and trot back to defend.
However, their running pace has lost some of their desire to win.
When the Lakers attack, Zhang Zhiyuan no longer holds the ball, but chooses to cut and run.
Simply shooting three-pointers is too silly. The opponent can target the defense, and Curry doesn't play like this. In fact, Curry scores a lot of points under the basket, all of which are layups.
Maybe Curry doesn't care about the two points at the basket, but he must also tell his opponents that he has this scoring ability, so that they can have more concerns when defending.
Zhang Zhiyuan cut to the basket, which was somewhat beyond the expectations of his opponents and somewhat beyond the expectations of his teammates.
Fortunately, Smarsh finally passed the ball. Zhang Zhiyuan no longer had a good chance for a layup after receiving the ball. Smarsh was a step slower after all.
But it's not a big problem. Zhang Zhiyuan can dunk. This is where he is better than Curry.
Two points are credited.
"I'm not Golden State LaVine."
Zhang Zhiyuan laughed and said something that others could not understand.
But it doesn't matter, his arrogant look has already attracted hatred, and what he says no longer matters.
In the next round, Zhang Zhiyuan made an air cut to attract Craig to retreat, then turned back and ran out of the three-point line.
Smarsh's pass came again, and Zhang Zhiyuan caught the ball and threw it.
Anyway, the team is ahead, so there is no need to worry about making mistakes.
With this mentality, the ball went in instead.
The scene fell into silence again. Timberwolves fans were happy too early. Zhang Zhiyuan once again touched their hearts.
"He adjusts so quickly, he's such a smart player."
Smith sighed.
Zhang Zhiyuan was struggling after being targeted just now. This is normal and understandable.
But what they didn't expect was that Zhang Zhiyuan did not need their understanding and directly adjusted himself to find a new way to score.
Play without the ball.
"Okay, I admit I lost, he is an excellent player."
Buckley said helplessly.
With 26 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, Barkley couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.
Just as helpless as Barkley was Jackson, who originally wanted to suppress Zhang Zhiyuan's statistics while exposing Zhang Zhiyuan's weaknesses.
Unexpectedly, this predicament allowed Zhang Zhiyuan to show off another of his strengths: intelligence, quick adjustment, and high understanding.
Do we really need to give a fully guaranteed contract?
Jackson felt a little headache.
A two-year guaranteed contract requires at least 1 million US dollars, and it cannot be cut at will. It will occupy a player quota for a long time. More importantly, if Zhang Zhiyuan is short-lived, their risky signing will easily become the laughing stock of the league.
But if he doesn't give it, he is even a little worried that Zhang Zhiyuan refuses to renew his contract. With Zhang Zhiyuan's current performance, other teams will definitely be willing to give him a contract.
Jackson's thoughts were no longer on the game and drifting off the court.
On the court, the third quarter of the game has ended.
100 to 77, the Lakers led by 23 points.
Neither Zhang Zhiyuan nor Kobe Bryant played again in the last quarter, and their statistics were fixed at the end of the third quarter.
In the end, the game ended, 124 to 100, and the Lakers won by 24 points.
For the Timberwolves, Garnett played 40 minutes and made 10 of 22 shots, plus free throws and 28 points and 12 rebounds.
The data is still impressive, but many of them were obtained in the fourth quarter and are not convincing.
For the Lakers, Kobe made 10 of 20 shots and scored 29 points including three-pointers and free throws.
He didn't take many shots today, and his efficiency was much higher than usual.
Zhang Zhiyuan scored the highest score in the game, making 10 of 19 shots, including 7 of 11 three-pointers, 4 of 5 free throws, scoring 31 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 turnovers.
This kind of data can be seen often after 2015, but in 2007, when the defensive intensity was quite strong, this kind of efficient data was enough to make the coach crazy.
"This is just an accident, an accidental outbreak, it can't always be like this."
Jackson secretly reminded himself that he was afraid that he would be confused by this kind of data and overestimate Zhang Zhiyuan's value.
How many junk contracts come from this.
At the end of the game, the players left the field, and Zhang Zhiyuan waved to the fans.
"Son of a bitch."
"If you play well, you won't know who you are anymore."
"God will not always look after you."
...
The fans at the scene jeered unceremoniously.
Of course, there are also a small number of calm Timberwolves fans who have fallen into reflection. They feel that this time the team did something wrong and it was Garnett who was wrong.
An outstanding player like Zhang Zhiyuan should be signed directly even if he is pretending to be on trial.
Now that they are being humiliated by Zhang Zhiyuan, they can't even hate him.
After all, from Zhang Zhiyuan's perspective, what he did was absolutely fine, even outstanding.
well!
These calm Timberwolves fans couldn't help but sigh, they are the ones who suffer the most. They know that the team has problems, but they can't do anything about it. Due to geographical and emotional reasons, they are reluctant to change their identity as Timberwolves fans.
Garnett was absent from the post-game press conference due to physical discomfort.
As for why he was able to cut down 2812 even though he was not feeling well, no one knows.
Anyway, in the eyes of wolf excrement, if you can score 2812 points if you are unwell, then you will definitely get more if you are healthy. Therefore, the Lakers will not win this game.
With Garnett absent, reporters could only point their guns at Whitman.
"Why did you give up on Zhang in the first place?"
"Do you regret this?"
"What do you think of Zhang as a player?"
...
Whitman regretted a little, for he had known that he would be feeling a little unwell.
"He didn't show so much talent during the trial, and we didn't invite him to trial. Do you regret it?
Maybe a little bit."
Whitman's careful choice of words finally made the press conference a perfunctory one.
As for how the reporters would edit it, he was powerless.
If you don't fight well, you will inevitably have this kind of trouble, and he is already used to it.
After the Timberwolves passed, Lakers players entered the stadium.
Among them were Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and Zhang Zhiyuan.
He scored the highest score in the team and was the center of the topic. The league even called the Lakers to remind the Lakers that Zhang Zhiyuan must be interviewed.
