Across the ocean, sports editor Chen Ke was browsing some English websites.
His job is to get the latest news from these websites and then translate it into news.
[The team officially signed Zhang Zhiyuan, a young player from China, to supplement the No. 3 position. Zhang is a very capable player...]
China, Zhang Zhiyuan?
Chen Ke tried hard to recall, and then remembered that nine months ago, a Chinese player named Zhang Zhiyuan participated in the draft.
At that time, he also wrote a report saying that Zhang Zhiyuan is the next Yao Ming and a future star, although he has never even watched Zhang Zhiyuan's game video.
As Zhang Zhiyuan lost the election and the fans turned away from him, he gradually forgot about Zhang Zhiyuan.
I never expected that Zhang Zhiyuan would appear again now.
Subsequently, Chen Ke began to translate and add insult to injury.
Although it is only a 10-day short contract, he may not even get a chance to play. But, he is a Chinese player.
[The Lakers officially announced the signing of potential Chinese star Zhang Zhiyuan. Lakers manager Kupchak said that this is an important reinforcement for the Lakers. Phil Jackson also praised Zhang Zhiyuan's performance...]
It doesn't matter whether Kupchak said this was an important reinforcement or whether Phil Jackson praised Zhang Zhiyuan. Anyway, no fans bothered to verify it.
In short, when writing news, exaggeration is correct.
Chen Ke posted the article on Sina, which quickly attracted the attention of Chinese fans.
Potential new star, important reinforcement, can you not be curious?
"Who is Zhang Zhiyuan?"
Let alone Lakers fans, not many Chinese fans even know Zhang Zhiyuan.
Unless you are the kind of person who pays attention to news surrounding the NBA every day, who would know about an undrafted player.
"Fake news, here to deceive people's attention again, and this is a potential rising star."
"It should be true. The Lakers' official website announced the signing, but it was not so exaggerated. It was just an ordinary 10-day short contract."
"So what if it's true? He's just an undrafted player. He's probably just going through the motions. It's not easy to gain a foothold in the NBA. They've probably all given up."
Many fans expressed doubts and disdain. This was not the first time they had seen such sensational articles.
When a Chinese player scores more than ten points in a friendly match, they all describe it as beating the opposing NBA players, attracting the attention of many NBA managers.
Among the many disdainful voices, there were also some warm words.
"It's great, there is another Chinese in the NBA."
"It doesn't require him to play well, as long as he can survive in the NBA."
"Zhang Zhiyuan, I know, he is very good. I used to play in the NCAA and averaged 14 points per game. I lost the selection because Americans have colored glasses. Brother Zhang's physical test data is not bad. He can definitely perform well."
.......
The two groups argued endlessly, but no one could convince the other.
However, they don't have to fight for too long. Tomorrow is the game between the Lakers and Trail Blazers.
It will soon be clear who Zhang Zhiyuan is.
On March 8, Staples Arena was packed with people.
Although the Lakers' record this season is not good, Kobe's scoring performance is worth looking forward to. If you are lucky and Kobe breaks out and scores 50 or 60 points, it will also be very interesting to watch.
Not only did the Lakers sell tickets well, they also received a lot of broadcasts.
In the United States, there are live broadcasts from local stations in Los Angeles, as well as live broadcasts from TNT, ESPN, and TV sports channels...
The players entered the stadium, and Zhang Zhiyuan made his debut in sixth place.
Except for Kobe, who is the finale, the order of appearance of other players is actually very random. The Lakers default to guards appearing first, then forwards, and finally centers.
"The next person to appear is the Chinese young player Zhang, who was just signed by the Lakers. He is a player from Arizona State University. It is said that he played well in the NCAA, but this is the NBA. Charles, what do you think of the Lakers' signing?"
Smith joked.
Many so-called ncaa prides have become nothing after coming to the nba.
"Obviously, this is a make-up player. After Radmanovic recovers from injury, he can pack up and leave."
Even though he kissed a donkey's butt, Buckley never learned his lesson and still said whatever came to his mind.
Of course, he was right most of the time.
"Please, don't be so mean. Be careful to roll over the Chinese players twice. Kenny said he doesn't like your kiss."
Smith joked.
The fans in front of the TV laughed when they heard this, but to their regret, Barkley did not make any more bets.
Obviously, Zhang Zhiyuan's reputation is so small that Buckley even bothered to create a topic about him and reduce his status.
On cctv, Zhang Lili introduced Zhang Zhiyuan quite well, introducing Zhang Zhiyuan’s height and weight, the positions he played, and some of his past.
"I hope Xiao Zhang can get a chance to play and seize it."
Zhang Lili gave some good wishes.
As an undrafted player, there is nothing particularly eye-catching or legendary, and the fans can't help but feel a little disappointed.
After the introduction of the players, the next step is the warm-up session.
After all, this was Zhang Zhiyuan's first appearance, so the cameras at the scene were not too stingy and gave him a shot.
What the fans never expected was that Zhang Zhiyuan did not take the time to warm up, but instead came to the sidelines, apparently wanting to communicate with the celebrities on the sidelines.
Although the NBA does not explicitly stipulate that marginalized people cannot interact with celebrities, there is an unspoken rule that small people should still do their job first.
To put on a show, you must have the qualifications.
"You look cooler in your jersey."
When they came to the sidelines, Zhang Zhiyuan high-fived Swift and Swift praised him.
"It will be even cooler when I play."
Zhang Zhiyuan said.
"Come on, I will be your first fan and cheer for you."
Swift said.
The interaction between the two was clearly seen by the fans.
"What happened? That one seems to be Taylor Swift. How did she meet this Chinese guy? It seems that the two of them have a good relationship."
Buckley exclaimed.
Although Swift had not won any hard-core awards at this time, it was mainly because she was young and lacked experience. Her record sales were no worse than those of veteran singers.
In addition to her pure and beautiful appearance, she was already the new favorite in the singing world, and her fame was much greater than that of an NBA undrafted player.
"Lucky boy, I hope he can be so lucky in the game."
Smith said.
"Oh Maikar, my goddess."
"how so?"
"Shet, Amy, blow him up."
The male fans in front of the TV turned into lemon spirits and even prayed that Zhang Zhiyuan would be beaten.
In their three views, beautiful women should match heroes. Zhang Zhiyuan, what the hell? I haven’t heard of it. Why?
Sometimes the reason for hating someone is as simple as this. Zhang Zhiyuan was already hated by countless fans before he started showing off.
At the start of the game, the Lakers arranged their starting lineup.
Smushparker, Kobe, Walton, Odom, Bynum.
Except for Kobe and Odom, everyone else is garbage. Bynum does have some potential, but the seal has not been lifted yet.
The Trail Blazers are not much better. Their starters are Jarrett Jack, Brandon Roy, Amy Udoka, Aldrie, and Randolph.
Jack and Amy are both unknowns, Aldridge is still too young, and currently only Randolph and Roy can take action.
The two teams jumped the ball, Bynum grabbed the ball, and the Lakers attacked first.
Zhang Zhiyuan observed carefully off the court and analyzed the situation on the court.
In his opinion, the Lakers should have some advantages since they have Kobe Bryant as a killer.
But that was not the case at all during the fight. Kobe was frequently double-teamed and his performance was average, but Odom scored consecutive points.
But this is totally not enough.
Randolph made a huge impact on the Lakers inside, but the Lakers had nothing to do.
The rest of the Lakers also didn't perform well. Walton didn't know whether it was because he was eager to perform or for other reasons that he made mistakes one after another.
Seven minutes into the first quarter, the score was 18 to 13, with the Trail Blazers leading.
Afterwards, the two teams began some rotations.
It's not that those players have no energy now, it's just that through this rotation, energy can be distributed more reasonably and they can play longer.
Zhang Zhiyuan was honored to come on the field and replaced Walton, who performed poorly.
"Huh, he appeared so soon. It seems that Phil trusts Xiao Zhang very much."
Zhang Lili smiled and said that the Chinese fans had more expectations after hearing this.
On the contrary, the explanations from the United States are not so kind.
Barkley complained: "The Lakers are so short of players? Why not bring in Bryant?"
No matter how those American commentators complain, Zhang Zhiyuan has already appeared on the stage with a heroic spirit.
It's just that his pride fed the dog.
In the first offensive round, he had almost nothing to do. Kobe took over the offense alone.
Although Zhang Zhiyuan also made some tactical moves, he himself was embarrassed to say that his moves were helpful to this offense.
The ball missed and the Blazers counterattacked.
Zhang Zhiyuan finally had a chance to perform. He followed Amy Uduka tightly and did not give the opponent a chance to break through.
Unfortunately, Roy and Amy played a pick-and-roll, and the player in front of him became Roy.
Facing Roy's breakthrough, Zhang Zhiyuan actually felt a little nervous.
The ending was no surprise. Roy completed a breakthrough layup and scored two precious points.
"Shit, I forgot to throw the dog leash."
Zhang Zhiyuan cursed in Chinese. It turned out that for the first time he played, he was so nervous that he forgot to use the plug-in.
Fortunately, he was the only one who knew about this kind of thing, otherwise he would have to find a crack in the ground to crawl in awkwardly.
Then, Zhang Zhiyuan threw the dog leash on Roy without hesitation.
[The current hatred value is 0, absorbing 5% of attributes.]
Although he was facing Amy, he felt that it would be more cost-effective to use his skills on Roy.
On the one hand, it adds more attributes, and on the other hand, weakening Roy can also reduce his pressure on the defensive end. The defense must not be overwhelmed, otherwise he may be replaced.
"It sounds like Chinese, Charles, do you know what he is talking about?"
Smith asked.
"I don't know, but I can guess that it's just something like calling mom."
Buckley said.
This remark made the fans laugh.
Unfortunately, they didn't laugh for long.
In the Lakers' next attack, Zhang Zhiyuan was lucky enough to get a shot.
Kobe was double-teamed and passed the ball to Odom. Odom was blocked by Aldridge and couldn't jump, so he simply passed the ball to Zhang Zhiyuan who was running.
Zhang Zhiyuan caught the ball and shot directly. Amy had already gone inside to double-team Kobe. Before he could run out in time, he got a big advantage.
The ball scored, the first goal in his career.
"pretty."
Zhang Lili shouted.
To be honest, most players have a high hit rate in such open shots, and success has nothing to do with being good.
But, who cares?
If a domestic player scores, then it is beautiful, nothing wrong, and very reasonable.
"Damn, there are two strokes, it's very stable."
"Much better than that Wharton."
"Hey, this young man has a future."
With just one goal, countless Chinese fans immediately changed their impression of Zhang Zhiyuan.
You know, Yao Ming didn't score a single point in his first game. To be able to score a goal in the NBA is already amazing.
"Just an open ball."
"Lucky guy."
"With Kobe as my teammate, scoring is easy."
Fans here in the United States are not so friendly to Zhang Zhiyuan and are full of disdain for Zhang Zhiyuan's score.
What's even more outrageous is that some people attribute the credit to Kobe.
During the transition between offense and defense, the Blazers repeated their old tricks. Roy once again played the pick-and-roll, trying to exploit Zhang Zhiyuan's lack of experience in the game.
After completing the change of position, Roy began to break through.
But this time, Zhang Zhiyuan kept up with him and pressed his body against him, making it inconvenient for him to change directions.
Roy was a little surprised. Zhang Zhiyuan just gave him the feeling that he was not fast and his reaction was very slow.
I never expected that Zhang Zhiyuan was not as unbearable as he imagined.
Roy could only turn around and shoot a jumper. Facing an undrafted player, he had no reason to pass the ball.
Unfortunately, the ball was a little short.
"A great defense."
Zhang Lili said excitedly, of course he also hopes that China can produce more outstanding players.
At first, he didn't have much hope for Zhang Zhiyuan, but now Zhang Zhiyuan has given him many surprises, making him expect more from Zhang Zhiyuan.
Zhang Zhiyuan played a role in both offense and defense, leaving American commentators who had previously underestimated him temporarily speechless.
At this time, they can only choose to pretend not to see it. Anyway, the pace of the game is very fast, and the fans will forget about this incident by the next round.
On the court, the Lakers attack.
Because she was worried about Zhang Zhiyuan's shooting, Amy was not decisive enough to double-team Kobe this time. Then Kobe took a shot against Roy and scored.
"It feels really uncomfortable to be a supporting role."
Zhang Zhiyuan secretly complained that he had a chance to take action just now.
Unfortunately, the ball was dominated by Kobe.
The Trail Blazers attacked and Roy passed the ball to Randolph.
Before finding out the details of Zhang Zhiyuan, Roy did not want to take the risk of challenging Zhang Zhiyuan. He liked to pass the ball to the person with the best chance.
Zhang Zhiyuan saw Randolph playing hard under the basket, but he did not double-team him.
At present, he has had little practice with the Lakers and lacks tacit understanding.
Rushing in to double-team can easily mess up their defense.
All Zhang Zhiyuan can do now is to lock down Amy Uduka. Completing this task is considered a qualified performance.
Randolph turned and hooked, and the ball went in.
"He should have gone up to double-team him just now."
Barkley finally caught an opportunity and commented on Zhang Zhiyuan's shortcomings.
"Come on, he's just an undrafted player. He's done well enough so far. You can't expect him to do all the work."
Smith retorted.
There was a transition between offense and defense, and this time Zhang Zhiyuan got the ball.
Unfortunately, without his teammates to cooperate with him, he can only choose to break through or force a shot.
No matter which choice he made, he was not sure.
Damn it, don’t push me!
Zhang Zhiyuan said secretly.
He can actually show off a little now. He only needs to redeem a star experience card in the system store.
However, he wanted to stay until the next game, because the next game was against the Timberwolves, and he wanted to give Garnett a surprise.
