Chapter 18: This is "Once Upon a Time"!
Zeng Zhen nodded at Kwame Brown as well.
As long as he runs hard on his offense and appears in a better position to score than he is, Zeng Zhen will give the ball away.
76ers offense.
Salmons dribbled upcourt before giving the ball to Iguodala on the right side.
Iguodala faces Devean George with the ball, tries a step, and breaks through with a dribble burst on the right side.
Zeng Zhen has also studied Iguodala a great deal, as he discovered while watching the video.
Iguodala is the one who prefers to pass the ball more than Iverson's preference to finish on his own.
And he loved to pass to both bottom corners, he liked to look to whichever side he was looking to and pass to the other side, a habit not many people noticed, Zeng Zhen did.
Maybe Iguodala himself doesn't even know about this habit of his.
Iguodala was looking to the right this time, and Zeng Zhen quickly dashed towards the left.
Just as Zeng Zhen judged, Iguodala passed over.
Zeng Zhen just dropped in and the ball went straight into Zeng Zhen's hands.
Salmons, who was close by, tried to rebound the ball, but his movement was too big, and Zeng Zhen followed through with a back dribble to protect the ball.
"Bang!"
Salmons knocked Zeng Zhen down.
"Beep!"
The referee blows his whistle.
"Great job!" Zen Master couldn't help but shout even as he sat on the sidelines.
Zen master can see, Zeng Zhen's talent is actually average, defensive skills are also very young, but he has been successful in defense through the active running with a keen sense of judgment.
Two cuts, one steal.
The 76ers' interior and front line can still feel trouble against such an aggressive Zeng Zhen.
Odom and Kwame Brown pull Zeng Zhen up.
Relaunch the offense.
Zeng Zhen was organizing at the top of the arc and he gave the ball to Odom.
Odom didn't play well against Webber at the free throw line, and he dribbled the ball a step before giving it to Devean George.
Devon George didn't have much offense either, as he dribbled the ball over to hand it off to Zeng Zhen.
Devon George was also sweet enough to give Zeng Zhen a cover.
It's just the quality of the cover.
Very average.
Salmons circles away from the cover and keeps Zeng Zhen out of range.
Devin George quickly left Zeng Zhen and Iguodala stayed to defend Zeng Zhen now.
The offense was running out of time, and Zeng Zhen was well aware that it was no longer a good idea to field the ball.
Zeng Zhen raised his hand to signal that it was time for a single, and the Lakers players spread out in a flurry of runs.
Iguodala opened his hands and kept staring at the ball in Zeng Zhen's hands.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Zeng Zhen started dribbling and changing direction.
Zeng Zhen's dribbling is high-speed and frequent.
Many fans think that Zeng Zhen has a lot of ineffective dribbling, but only the defenders know the pain when facing Zeng Zhen's kind of high-speed and high-frequency dribbling, as long as one is not careful, Zeng Zhen will be wrong rhythm.
Zeng Zhen first dribbled to the right side to burst, Iguodala quickly moved across and blocked in front of Zeng Zhen.
Zeng Zhen quickly back dribbles and changes direction to the right before breaking through.
Iguodala's defense is strong and he moves across the floor again.
Zeng Zhen chose to give Iguodala a confrontation with his left shoulder, followed by a rebound double-team backpedal to withdraw to the three-point line.
There's a small opening now, and Zeng Zhen quickly pushes his way out.
The shot wasn't an opportunity for the average player because he didn't quite get away from Iguodala's defense.
But that's the opportunity for Zeng Jin.
Zeng Zhen's rhythm is very smooth, like flowing water.
Iguodala's defense swooped in as well and looked like it was in place.
It just didn't break Zeng Zhen's rhythm.
"Swish!"
Highly difficult three-point play!
30 to 29.
It's not that Zeng Zhen doesn't know how to singles, on the contrary, he's strong in singles as well.
He can play just as well as long as he's not facing the kind of high-intensity defense that he was facing at the top of the key.
Normally, Zeng Zhen rarely chooses to singles, as long as and because his singles efficiency is not as efficient as running without the ball.
Occasionally opportunities are created with similar results.
"Pause!!!"
The 76ers' head coach, Chix, quickly called a halt to the game.
The otherwise loud cheers of the home fans were silenced.
That was a very dominant throw by Zeng Zhen.
Zeng Zhen gestured a celebratory pose of shooting an arrow before turning back to celebrate with his teammates and heading back to the bench.
Iguodala does play great defense, but it's not completely out of the question for him.
Iguodala took a big breath as he felt the terror of Zeng Zhen on the offensive end.
Just give Zeng Zhen some space a little bit and Zeng Zhen will finish the shot.
The success rate of such strikes is still high.
"Crap, I think I should shut up, it exploded right off the bat in the second quarter."
"Back-to-back cuts and steals, offense scoring on back-to-back plays, nothing like the first quarter."
"Chasing points is so easy."
"That three-pointer was so hard, but it just went in."
"Nice step-back three-point technique."
"I can step back, too, but not with such a strong strong shot."
"More and more I like to watch Zeng Zhen play, his shooting is superb."
Fans at home and abroad saw Zeng Zhen's slow-motion replay of his backpedal on the screen and commented on it.
Zhang Weiping said, "Zeng Zhen stopped the 76ers this time, Iverson is up next, the two may go directly against each other, let's see if Zeng Zhen can take some advantage against Iverson."
Said Xu Jicheng: "Zeng Zhen is now becoming more consistent on the field and Zen Master is giving him more and more chances."
....
As the narrator said.
After this timeout, the 76ers subbed in their entire starting lineup.
Chix said to Iverson, "Allen, try to one-up that rookie, he can't limit you with his defense."
Iverson said, "You don't have to teach me that, I know what to do."
Both men had a somewhat uncharitable tone when it came to tactical setups.
Iverson didn't have a good relationship with head coach Chicks.
The conflict lies mainly in their differences in the way they understand and handle basketball.
Iverson thinks Chicks is too tough and only cares about his team winning and losing, not his individual performance.
And Chicks criticized Iverson for focusing on individual stats and not caring about the team's overall performance.
Back from a timeout.
The Lakers also made adjustments, with Devean George and Kwame Brown being subbed out for Walton and Bynum.
The two teams came down to a core lineup matchup.
76ers offense.
Iverson advances with the ball.
Zeng Zhen keeps an eye on Iverson.
Looking at Iverson, Zeng Zhen was overcome with emotion.
Zeng Zhen also grew up watching Iverson play.
4-time NBA scoring champion, 3-time NBA steals champion, 6 consecutive NBA All-Star team selections from 2000-06 and 2-time NBA All-Star MVP .....
He has a very large number of honors, of course, the most attractive to the fans is his untamed character and unique style of play.
Zeng Zhen was also under a lot of pressure when he was matched up against him.
Iverson looked at Zeng Zhen, not interested in spraying trash talk.
He first slapped the ball down to the left side, slightly mobilizing Zeng Zhen's center of gravity, and then quickly slapped the ball to the right side after a suspension pause, completely staggering Zeng Zhen's rhythm.
Iverson easily broke through, and from the free-throw line position, Iverson made a crisp mid-range shot before Bynum's assisted defense arrived.
"Frame!"
"Swish!"
30 to 31.
"How relaxing." Zeng Zhen also secretly sighed.
Didn't think Iverson was that strong when I watched the video.
The pressure of being passed at any moment can come crashing down on you when you're up against it on the pitch.
Zeng Zhen is very wary of Iverson's right side break, but still can't block it.
Not bad for averaging 33 points a game!
No wonder only Kobe averages more points per game than him.
Iverson glanced at Zeng Zhen after he scored, then went back on defense.
Laker offense.
Zeng Zhen dribbles the ball upcourt.
Iverson's offense was dominant yes, but the pressure on Zeng Zhen on the defensive end really wasn't strong either.
Zeng Zhen gave the ball to Bynum who came out to meet him.
Bynum took the ball and adjusted his footing, followed by a handoff back to Zeng Zhen.
Bynum slowed down Iverson.
Dalembert also failed to defend out in time, Zeng Zhen burst a step to the free throw line and three-point line in the middle.
Crisp pull-up jumper for a long two-point shot.
That's a nice strike from Zeng Zhen, with a nice touch of rhythm.
"Swish!"
32 to 31.
Said Barkley: "AI's defense is still too lax, and the way Tseng plays, if you give him open looks, he'll teach you a lesson."
Miller said, "AI doesn't win games on defense, and he's going to have a great matchup with Tseng."
"Oooooh, Zeng Zhen's offense is very diverse."
"What an easy mid-range response."
"Go Zeng Zhen, support you."
"Good for you."
Some of the fans who support Zeng Zhen have also spoken out.
Zen master looked at the field more and more relaxed Zeng Zhen, he is also a little bit looking forward to Kobe comeback with Zeng Zhen in the outside team.
I'm afraid this is going to be a league-wide nightmare.
76ers offense.
Iverson dribbles to the frontcourt.
Zeng Zhen knew that Iverson was difficult to defend, but still tried hard to interfere with him.
"Bang!"
"Whoosh!"
After an extremely large bye, Zeng Zhen was once again passed by Iverson.
Iverson is looking to find the mid-range.
But Zeng Zhen was quick to get back, and he interfered with the rhythm of Iverson's mid-range shot from behind him.
Iverson didn't have a good chance to make a shot and he gave the ball to Chris Webber under the basket.
After Webber got the ball, he made a fake under the basket and nudged Odom out of the way.
Immediately afterward, Webb adjusted his footing and made a close-range layup looking for a rebound.
At the point where Webb thought the shot was a sure thing.
"Bang!"
The basketball was slapped away hard.
A figure landed from the air.
Turns out it was Bynum.
Bynum was quick to assist on defense once Odom lost his position.
Webb's rate is still a bit slower now, and Bynum catches him.
Zeng Zhen went over and tapped Bynum on the ass.
Bynum is still reliable inside, at least the Lakers don't just get blown out inside.
Webb took an awful lot of lumps inside tonight.
Reorganize the offense.
Iguodala gives the ball to Iverson.
Iverson once again took a step to put Zeng Zhen over the top.
Lakers players are used to Iverson's superb breakthrough ability to play, and they do not expect Zeng Zhen can defend Iverson.
Walton and Vujacic both went to pin Iverson.
Iverson gives the ball to Korver in the corner, who fakes a shot before giving it to Iguodala on the slant.
With time running out, Iguodala's three-point shot.
Iguodala is shooting just 34 percent from 3-point range, and he's not very confident.
"Frames."
The three points were ironed out and the rebound bounced out to Zeng Zhen.
Wharton was quick off the mark and Zeng Zhen gave the ball to Wharton on a pass.
The shot pierced the 76ers' defense.
Iverson was quick to get back on defense, but he was still too thin, and Walton's forced layup put the ball in the back of the net.
34 to 31.
"That was a nice pass by Zeng Zhen."
"A bull's-eye pass."
"Getting more confident on the field."
"Playing like this, surpassing Jordan is a real possibility."
"No wonder he dared to shout such words."
The fans are talking about it.
On the field, Walton took the initiative to wave to Zeng Zhen, the ball was mainly Zeng Zhen passed just right.
Xu Jicheng said, "Instructor Zhang, analyze why Zeng Zhen will play better and better?"
Zhang Weiping said, "Confidence, Zeng Zhen played with confidence on the field, his strength itself is not bad, he used the first few games to build up his confidence, this confidence is very crucial to how much the player can play on the field."
Seo Je-sung said, "That's good, then, to have the confidence to play better, which in turn boosts confidence."
Zhang Weiping said, "Right, the current Zeng Zhen is in such a state."
76ers offense.
Iverson dribbled to the frontcourt and after a few passes with Iguodala on the outside, still chose to play solo.
Zeng Zhen tries to chip away at Iverson, but remains unsuccessful.
It was as if the basketball was glued to a part of Iverson's body.
Iverson has managed to break through to his left.
This time Iverson didn't opt for the mid-range, but instead stepped over against the assisting Walton before going strong.
"Bang!"
"Beep!"
Iverson was knocked down by Walton and the referee blew for a foul.
Dalembert and Iguodala hurry over to pull Iverson up.
Iverson's thin body encountered a strong confrontation is very easy to fall to the ground, fall also successful home.
Iverson didn't complain about anything, standing up before heading to the free throw line.
Iverson gets to the free throw line.
Two solid free throws.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
34 to 33.
Laker offense.
After dribbling to the top of the arc, Zeng Zhen gave the ball to Odom at the free throw line.
Zeng Zhen then shook off Iverson with an unassisted running back.
Iverson's offense is very strong, now Zeng Zhen can't defend, but Iverson wants to defend Zeng Zhen is also very difficult.
Zeng Zhen cut inside and Odom grounded the ball over to him.
Zeng Zhen received the ball and then traveled to meet the assisting Dalembert defense for a throw-in.
It's a difficult ball.
"Frame!"
Didn't get in.
But Bynum under the basket got the offensive rebound in a vacuum, and Bynum took a second jump for a two-handed slam dunk.
"Frame!"
36 to 33.
76ers offense.
Iverson was recognized by Zeng Zhen for this drastic change of direction to the right.
Zeng Zhen defended Iverson's breakaway and Iverson gave the ball to Iguodala on the right side.
Iguodala broke through and split the ball to Korver on the outside, who made a three-point play without getting away from Vujacic's defense.
"Frame!"
The basketball hit the rim hard, and Odom leaped up to corral the rebound.
Odom dribbles himself to the frontcourt.
Zeng Zhen continues to run without the ball.
Zeng Zhen made another reverse run into the lane on the right side with Bynum in coverage.
Odom hits a ground ball to Zeng Zhen.
Zeng Zhen immediately attracts the defense with the ball.
Zeng Zhen gives the ball to Vujacic on the outside.
Vujacic was in the slot in the bottom corner and his shot was much easier than the one Korver just took.
"Swish!"
The three-point shot was a handful.
39 to 33.
"Zeng Zhen seems to carry his own gravitational pull, always attracting a bunch of defense and creating a lot of openings for his teammates."
"That defensive appeal is awesome."
"There's no way around it, as long as it's not putting pressure on Zeng Zhen's defense, then he'll probably shoot the ball out of the air."
"Why do I get the feeling that if I let Zeng Zhen get open, I'm dead."
"Zeng Zhen can finish shots from all angles."
The fans are talking about it.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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