One Year Left to Play-Chapter 219 - 73: Let Him Guard the Center

Grant Hill was already paying quite a lot of attention to Zhang Hao, but he couldn't stick to him constantly. When the Brooklyn Nets missed a shot, as the core ball handler, Grant Hill had to receive the ball to attack, and Zhang Hao immediately seized the opportunity, bypassing Grant Hill to rush under the basket and finish a put-back dunk.

"Just as Scott said, this rookie's talent is incredible." Grant Hill realized he had underestimated this rookie!

The awareness, the timing, combined with such athleticism, was enough to establish oneself in the NBA. Moreover, when moving with Zhang Hao, Grant Hill found that he didn't have the upper hand in strength, even though Zhang Hao was a size smaller!

Not getting the stop wasn't a problem; with last season's experience, the Pistons' players weren't affected by this play.

Grant Hill pushed to the frontcourt, taking it himself.

A beautiful crossover, the horizontal pull didn't seem particularly wide, but that's because of his tall stature, making his horizontal distance nearly the largest in the league! A single cross-step created a straight path to the basket. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Grant Hill advanced a step inside the free-throw line, taking a mid-range shot with PJ Brown rushing forward...

Scored!

The shot went in, showcasing Grant Hill's excellent mid-range shooting ability, but the Pistons showed more than just that.

When Grant Hill took the shot, Zhang Hao was screened by Ratliff, and Audie Soper cut inside, ready to crash the boards.

PJ Brown couldn't successfully disrupt Grant Hill's shot and, when turning to get the ball, saw Audie Soper's positioning, scratching his head, realizing that the Pistons' offense was much better than last season.

Last season, Grant Hill was the All-Star vote leader, but the Pistons' performance was awful. The Brooklyn Nets faced the Pistons four times, winning three and losing one, with PJ Brown's help defense playing a significant role.

However, this time, the help defense wasn't effective, not to mention the opposing offensive positioning was noticeably better than before.

As a near-defensive formation level help defense expert, PJ Brown could see the Pistons had made great improvements on offense compared to last season, becoming more systematic.

As the team's best defender, PJ Brown felt more pressure.

Transitioning to offense, the Brooklyn Nets attacked.

In the frontcourt, Zhang Hao faced Grant Hill's defense again.

When Kenny Anderson advanced to the frontcourt, Zhang Hao started coordinating with his teammates to run plays.

Unexpectedly, the Pistons did an excellent job defending off-ball shooters.

Grant Hill stuck closely, constantly applying pressure. When Zhang Hao ran through pick-and-rolls, the Pistons' players used as screens would interfere with Zhang Hao's passing and shooting lanes after screens.

Such defense was bound to have loopholes, and Kenny Anderson seized the opportunity to pass to the cutting Graham; this time, Ratliff did well, delivering his career's first block!

Fortunately, Almon Gilliam was proactive in grabbing the ball, forcing a put-back past Ratliff to toss it into the hoop.

Evidently, the Pistons' set-up defense exceeded the Brooklyn Nets' expectations!

Starting from Kenny Anderson, things didn't go well; the first real half-court offense didn't go well for the whole team.

This rookie center, Ratliff, although he didn't seem impressive, Zhang Hao's assessment showed only 63, with almost zero offense, purely defensive with a 79 defensive rating, mainly for rim protection, but his defensive awareness was better than expected, or rather, the Pistons' coach utilized Ratliff's rim-protection trait perfectly.

From Joe Dumars, to Grant Hill, to Audie Soper, to Ratliff, the four of them combined their defensive awareness and ability well together, defending with 4 dragging 1 along with Alan Houston very effectively!

Almon Gilliam relied on his activity to score, transitioning, and the Pistons attacked.

Grant Hill encountered PJ Brown's help defense during a drive. This time, PJ Brown moved early, forming a great double-team and disrupting Grant Hill's pass route to Ratliff, while Ratliff hadn't yet helped Audie Soper with off-ball screens inside.

Grant Hill didn't stop or pull out to reorganize but directly passed to Audie Soper, who chose to post up against Zhang Hao.

Audie Soper wanted to pass to Ratliff for an easy basket, but the angle wasn't great, with Zhang Hao's arms swinging, and PJ Brown also collapsing in.

Audie Soper chose to go one-on-one, bumped Zhang Hao... at 33, weighing 102 kg to maintain mobility, with a strength rating of 86, Audie Soper couldn't move Zhang Hao, who had a static strength of 90!

Young players usually have an explosive strength exceeding static strength, but most veterans have static strength greater than explosive strength. Audie Soper excelled in explosive strength at his peak but at 33 faced struggle against Zhang Hao's strength!

Unable to move, Audie Soper attempted a fake spin... he just tried it, only to see Zhang Hao jump...

Not having dribbled yet, Audie Soper quickly reacted, dribbling a step further, scoring a low-hand layup against Zhang Hao!

This defense was a classic example of a jumpy athletic player!

PJ Brown defended well, single-handedly holding up the perimeter defense, but Zhang Hao's side faltered!

The Pistons found a breakthrough!