One Year Left to Play

Chapter 565 - 173: You Really Got Hurt!

The talk show put on by Zhang Hao was not only not criticized by the media but was also praised by some veteran players—this is how a player in Los Angeles should be.

What will happen next time he meets Jordan? Let’s talk about that later.

Anyway, it’s pretty cool right now.

After participating in the Dodgers’ opening game kickoff event and watching the Dodgers’ opening game, whose opponent was the San Francisco Giants, a championship favorite... It was difficult to understand, but just cheering along was enough for some excitement.

While watching, Zhang Hao received a regrettable system notification.

"Georgetown University’s Hoya Dog Team, where contracted player Wang Zhizhi is, lost to University of Kentucky 71 to 94, stopping Wang Zhizhi’s NCAA Basketball Championship journey at the final four.

In this game, Wang Zhizhi played 21 minutes, scored 7 points, got 3 rebounds, and 1 assist.

Congratulations to the host for gaining a total of 4 days of life reward..."

Looking at this notification, Zhang Hao felt regretful.

"Stopped here, huh... Is Iverson going to enter the draft? Wonder if Georgetown University can get some good external talents? Xiaowang will face a lot of pressure next year without Iverson leading the team..."

Although it was regrettable, Wang Zhizhi played 36 games this season, averaging 26 minutes per game, scoring 12.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks... Quite a good performance, just three votes short of getting the Big East Conference Rookie of the Year award.

The talent is visible, and his instant combat power is actually quite good. It’s just that the change in play style was too drastic, greatly affecting his performance. If he hadn’t changed his play style, there would be no suspense in getting the Rookie of the Year award in the Big East Conference.

But since there was a need to change the play style, and not in a professional league but at school, then it would be better to go all-in with the change.

...

After watching the Dodgers’ opening game, at home, Zhang Hao made a call to comfort Xiaowang.

Wang Zhizhi took it pretty well; making it to the final four was beyond expectations. Initially, their expectation was just the Round of 16, but they narrowly won at the Round of 16, and also battled fiercely in the Quarterfinals, finally losing to University of Kentucky didn’t feel unjust. The opponent was too strong; University of Kentucky’s star player Tony Delk performed like a bug, this 185 cm little point guard is a pure scoring type guard with solid fundamentals and stable shooting. During the entire elimination stage, from the Round of 64 to the Semifinals, he averaged 3.4 three-pointers per game, averaging 24.2 points, ranking first in the outside line, only surpassed by Tim Duncan, who only played two games in the Round of 32, with an average of 27.5 points.

University of Kentucky is indeed excessively strong; during the elimination stage this year, with an average victory margin of 19 points, it swept all the way, as the NCAA’s second most championship holder after UCLA, University of Kentucky had a 34 wins 1 loss in the Conference Championship, being the biggest championship favorite.

After comforting Xiaowang, Zhang Hao’s attention to NCAA faded instantly, even the NCAA final on April 7th didn’t raise much interest, he might only pay attention to who wins the championship between University of Kentucky and Syracuse University.

Tomorrow is the first game of April, and the opponent is San Antonio Spurs. Zhang Hao focused his attention on how to compete for the first place in the West.

wins don’t seem to be a big problem; currently, with 56 wins, they still have 11 games left, despite having two back-to-back games in April, winning four games shouldn’t be a problem.

So naturally, the target is the first place in the West.

If they can beat the Spurs head-on, giving them their 15th loss... But yesterday, the Spurs narrowly defeated the Phoenix Suns 114 to 111, getting their 17th consecutive victory...

It’s simply explosive!

Spurs, having played 72 games, are already 58 wins and 14 losses!

"Gotta give it a try..."

After having dinner, Zhang Hao didn’t bother looking at scouting reports or video materials about the Spurs.

The Spurs have been in an exceptionally good state recently, just like how their Lakers were during their 17 consecutive wins; based on experience, Zhang Hao thought studying wouldn’t help predict the game’s situation, just like how no one thought they would sweep to 20 wins and 1 loss rushing to the top of the West in the first half of the season back then.

Stop thinking about it, increasing pressure, he chose to watch live with snacks and drinks alongside Aprile Clark.

Tonight is Bulls’ 73rd game of the season, with 63 wins and 9 losses, every game following is a national broadcast, just that dominant.

No matter which team defeats the Bulls, not letting their losses go under double digits, will become a "hero" temporarily.

"I thought helping the Lakers and Brooklyn Nets beat the Bulls once could stop them from getting 72 wins, clearly remembered the Bulls losing several games in March, only to end up losing just two games...

Well, yes, my joining the NBA brought quite some changes."

But regardless of Bulls’ possible 72-win finish or even ending the season with a 73-win streak, it has nothing to do with Mr. Zhang; witnessing such a miracle is still a nice thing.

"What if there’s a curse with 73 wins? No team in NBA history with 73 wins has won the championship!"

Zhang Hao cracking jokes while snacking on some hard-to-find sunflower seeds, pairing it with Sprite, watching Bulls at home against the Heat relaxedly...

The United Center Arena in Chicago.

From the Heat’s bench, Pat Riley gazes at that mesmerizing Bulls’ number 23 across.

Back then, while he was coaching the Lakers, Riley was endlessly fascinated by Jordan, even couldn’t help it after the 1990 playoffs ended, threatening resignation to force Logo Man and Jerry Buss to trade the Magician for Jordan.

Then, Jerry Buss agreed to his resignation request.