One Year Left to Play-Chapter 220 - 73: Let Him Guard the Center

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Zhang Hao, in his first career game, encountered trouble.

Starting the offense, he thought it was just Grant Hill coming up to block him, but once he reached the frontcourt, he realized that the Pistons were indeed using Grant Hill to guard him, the rookie!

Grant Hill's defense was focused and outstanding, like a sticky candy, completely denying Zhang Hao any easy chance to receive the ball.

Zhang Hao maneuvered around the picks, while the Pistons also disrupted the passing game effectively, and Ratliff, the rookie center, played an important role in the Pistons' team defense under the basket.

On Kenny Anderson's side, he was up against the veteran defender Joe Dumars, but with not much of a problem; Gilliam, who had a clear speed advantage, would perform better on that end.

Kenny Anderson wasn't the kind to monopolize the ball; he passed to teammates whenever they had the chance. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Consequently, the Brooklyn Nets started with an offensive strategy centered around Almon Gilliam's solo plays.

There weren't many opportunities for counterattacks; the Pistons' defense wasn't impressive, but their transition defense was swift.

Clearly, the Pistons had specifically prepared for this aspect.

Luckily, Almon Gilliam performed well; after failing to score in the first play, he maintained a high success rate in subsequent plays, efficiently crashing the boards; the opposing inner line was rather thin, with the aging Edith Soper and Ratliff lacking the necessary bulk despite their height and wingspan.

The biggest challenge was on the defensive end!

As the game went on, the Pistons noticed that the rookie on the other side lacked defensive experience.

While he had some awareness to help defend, he was easily faked out, a clear display of inexperience.

Using Zhang Hao as the breach point, the Pistons' set offense played increasingly smoothly.

Zhang Hao felt frustrated; the offensive side was actually okay; while he hadn't scored, he successfully tied up Grant Hill, allowing Almon Gilliam a slightly easier time against Edith Soper.

At the beginning phase, his role was mainly to distract, letting Kenny Anderson and Almon Gilliam lead the offensive charge, energizing the team's attack.

His own defense, however, was horrendous...

Defending the inside line, opponents appeared as Malone; defending the outside, they seemed like Jordan.

Seeing Zhang Hao in such a dire state, Pistons assistant coach Scott Collins had a tune ring in his mind—"Teach the tender student, the meaning of cruelty..."

It was he who arranged Grant Hill to guard Zhang Hao off the ball.

The Brooklyn Nets were fortunate that Almon Gilliam played exceptionally well, scoring 8 points and assisting twice in the first quarter alone, helping the Brooklyn Nets maintain their stance.

The two teams' offenses seemed passable; neither called for a timeout or made substitutions; it was the first game of the new season, and observing player performance was crucial. At 5:49 in the first quarter, the Brooklyn Nets were still leading the Pistons by 13 to 12.

But shortly after, Almon Gilliam missed a floating shot, and Zhang Hao missed a baseline mid-range shot upon receiving the ball; the Pistons seized the chance—Alan Houston scored a three-pointer, Grant Hill made a mid-range shot, pulling off a 5-0 run, 17 to 13, stopping the Brooklyn Nets cold!

Almon Gilliam thoroughly showcased his capacity to be the Brooklyn Nets' lead scorer, but the consecutive solo plays and board crashing were immensely exhausting for him!

The issue was the team offense hadn't effectively kicked off!

Ultimately, the key point was Zhang Hao; aside from the beginning's putback dunk, his subsequent offensive plays were notably poor, his defense excessively lamentable.

Initiating official timeout, players returned to the bench.

Randy Whitman discovered they had underestimated the opponent's strength!

The Pistons had minor player changes, having added Edith Soper and a rookie center, Ratliff, to the lineup, losing Oliver Miller, the heavyweight center, compared to last season, basing judgment merely on the players, the Pistons' strength shouldn't necessarily be much improved from last season.

Despite Grant Hill and Alan Houston's advancements, Joe Dumars regressed evidently.

The public's expectation for the Pistons' record this season wasn't high.

However, Randy Whitman realized the low performance and poor records in the past seasons seemed not to stem from the players but from the coaching staff.

In the last two seasons, the Pistons finished sixth from the bottom and seventh from the bottom, both under Don Chaney's coaching; after last season, the Pistons replaced their core coaching staff with the Collins brothers—Doug Collins had previously coached the Bulls, leading them to the Eastern Conference Finals, but couldn't overcome the Bad Boys, leading to his dismissal by the Bulls; in terms of capabilities, he was far superior to Don Chaney, thereby truly maximizing their players' capabilities.

Fortunately, with Almon Gilliam's support, the initial deficit wasn't major.

Should Zhang Hao be pulled for a break? Noticing Zhang Hao's slight frustration owing to a poor start, Randy Whitman was about to make this decision when PJ Brown approached Randy Whitman, saying, "Coach, I think defensively we could have Aix guard under the basket, his resistance is better than Jason and me..."