Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Then Zhuang Yu chatted with Zhou An for a while, asking Zhou An what he thought about tomorrow's game and how he planned to deal with it.

Of course it's not for gathering any intelligence.

Zhuang Yu will only play about ten minutes in tomorrow's game, and for the Lakers, winning or losing is not very important.

He didn't want to give Zhou An any advice so that he could blow up the Lakers' inside line in tomorrow's game. Zhuang Yu is a Lakers player, so he couldn't do that even if he wanted to help Zhou An.

He just used tomorrow's game as an example to test Zhou An.

"You have obviously been resting key players in these games, so we still have a good chance of winning tomorrow's game."

Zhou An thought carefully and replied slowly: "I think we still have to focus on this point. What we need to study is not your main lineup, but the substitute lineup and substitute players. As for myself, the time I will play against Brooke will not be much. But I will choose outside shooting as much as possible to pull Brooke out and create space for my teammates."

Hearing the latter, Zhuang Yu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "From what you said, are you going to defend against Brooke?"

Zhou An is a No. 4 player and Lopez is a No. 5 player. Logically, the two would not directly face off against each other, but from what Zhou An said, he wanted to face off against Lopez.

"Yeah." Zhou An nodded and explained, "Brooke's condition has not fully recovered yet, and since you are taking turns to rest, he won't play too seriously. We need to avoid potential injuries. After all, he has only been back from injury for a short time. Also, you and Holiday will definitely not have too much playing time, so Brook's performance is very important, and he may even be the only core on the court. I would like to take the initiative to request to defend Brook. As long as we keep him away from the basket as much as possible, give him strong confrontation, and push him to the outside, there will be a great hope of limiting him."

Although he didn't intend to give any comment, Zhuang Yu couldn't help but nodded and smiled when he heard it.

He was very satisfied with Zhou An's answer.

Zhou An shouldn't have been facing off against Lopez, but at this moment, it was an opportunity for him to take the initiative to defend Lopez.

Firstly, he volunteered to defend Lopez, which would definitely win the head coach's favor.

Secondly, the Lakers have started to rest their players, and the playing time of Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Lopez, and Rose will be reduced.

Even on the court, they will not play too hard, especially since Lopez has just returned from injury not long ago, and it is impossible for them to play too hard while securing a playoff spot in advance.

If Zhou An gives Lopez enough confrontation in the low post and the defensive intensity is high enough, then Lopez will most likely avoid confrontation and move to the outside.

Of course, Lopez also has shooting ability, but his form has not fully recovered during this period and his outside shooting touch is not good.

Therefore, according to Zhou An's strategy, there is still great hope of restricting Lopez.

It sounds complicated, but fans don’t care.

They only believe what they see with their own eyes. If Zhou An really restricts Lopez, that would be a very good performance.

Zhuang Yu asked again: "What about the offensive end?"

Zhou An smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, at this point, with only a few games left in the regular season, I may not have many opportunities on the offensive end. But I will run as much as possible, try to find open opportunities, then wait for my teammates to pass the ball and compete to shoot the ball."

Now Zhuang Yu was really satisfied.

"After two seasons in the NBA, I have indeed matured a lot." Zhuang Yu thought to himself and patted Zhou An on the shoulder, "Keep going."

Zhou An grinned foolishly, but his eyes were extremely determined: "Brother, I will work hard."

......

On the second day, the Lakers played against the Nets at home.

In this game, Coach Scott still arranged appropriate rest for the main players. It didn't mean they didn't play at all, but he just controlled their playing time.

For example, Zhuang Yu and Holiday, Coach Scott only gave them 15 minutes in this game.

Lopez and Rose have 20 minutes, while the others have no such time limit and can play as they please.

Everyone knows that the Lakers have already secured a spot in the playoffs, so they don’t take the final few games too seriously.

However, this game still attracted a lot of attention in China. After all, Zhuang Yu and Zhou An rarely compete against each other in the NBA, only two or three times a season.

What disappointed the fans was that Zhuang Yu was substituted after playing for only more than 1 minutes in the first quarter, while Zhou An was substituted after more than 4 minutes in the first quarter.

The two sides did not appear on the court at the same time.

Fortunately, Zhou An performed very well.

Just as he said to Zhuang Yu yesterday, he took the initiative to request to defend Lopez, and his defense was indeed very good, giving Lopez enough physical confrontation in the low post, making Lopez a little uncomfortable.

Lopez was not willing to have an overly intense physical confrontation at this time, so he did not go to the basket, but frequently went to the line to screen for his teammates. After receiving the return pass from his teammates, he chose to shoot three-pointers from the outside, or mid-range shots.

It’s just that he has only been back from injury for a short time and his condition has not yet fully recovered. His efficiency in low-post offense is okay, but his efficiency is not good on the outside and his touch is always cold.

For a while, Lopez had no luck scoring in the paint and his outside shots were often missed.

"Haha, Zhou played good defense today." The Nets assistant coach said with a smile on the sidelines, "I was a little worried when he said he would take the initiative to defend Lopez, but I didn't expect the effect to be so good."

"Yeah." Head coach Kenny Atkins also nodded with a smile, "Zhou is a smart guy, and his defense is very targeted."

With Coach Atkins's vision, he could naturally see why Zhou An defended so well today.

Because his defense is very targeted.

But it doesn't mean that every player will study the opponent in this way, nor does every player have such a mind. Especially when the coach does not make specific arrangements, it is rare for the players to think proactively and execute well.

However, Coach Atkins is satisfied with Zhou An not only because of this, but also because in the final stage of the team's impact on the playoffs, at such a critical moment, Zhou An was able to bravely stand up and take on more responsibilities... This is even more valuable in Coach Atkins' view.

......

Soon, the first quarter ended with the Nets leading by 1 points.

After entering the second quarter, Coach Atkins asked Zhou An to stay on the court. At this time, Lopez was no longer on the court, and Zubac was on the inside line of the Lakers.

Zhou An is also familiar with Zubac, but this time he is not facing Zubac. He returned to the No. 4 position and faced Nance Jr.

Zhou An has an advantage over Nance Jr. in terms of height and weight, but there is also a Zubac in the inside, so Zhou An did not go to the inside, but remained as a space-type inside player, constantly moving to screen and cover for his teammates, and then finding open space for himself.

Zhou An does not expect his teammates to pass the ball to him many times. He has a clear positioning, which is to focus on defense, and on the offensive end he waits for opportunities and seizes them.

This is true.

His teammates rarely passed the ball to Zhou An. Even when Zhou An had open opportunities, his teammates still didn't give him the ball.

Zhou An was not angry and continued to work diligently.

Occasionally, when his teammates pass the ball to him, he does not take credit for it and does not shoot easily unless the opportunity is very good.

After a few minutes, Zhou An didn't score much. He made one of two shots and a three-pointer, and only got three points.

However, his performance on the defensive end is obvious to all.

He did a good job defending Lopez in the first quarter, and he also did a great job on the defensive end in the few minutes of this quarter. So far, he has got 1 rebounds and a block.

These performances were noticed by Coach Atkins.

A few minutes into the second quarter, both sides began to make substitutions.

Coach Atkins gradually replaced the main lineup, but did not replace Zhou An. He let him stay on the court and still be responsible for defending Lopez.

Zhou An was not substituted until there were only three minutes left in the second quarter. Coach Atkins patted him on the arm and praised him with a smile.

By the end of the first half, the Nets were leading by 8 points.

The reason why the Nets led by 8 points was mainly because Zhuang Yu, Holiday and Rose did not play much. Lopez played the longest time in the first half among the players, but Lopez's performance was not good.

Despite being behind in the score, Coach Scott still carried out the personnel rotation according to the original plan. After playing for a few minutes in the third quarter, he began to replace the main players one after another and put them back on the bench. Zhuang Yu, Holiday and Lopez were all replaced.

Zhou An was sent into the court again, and this time before being sent into the court, Atkins' coach specially formulated several pick-and-roll tactics.

Although these tactics are not centered on Zhou An, Coach Atkins has clearly instructed that after executing the pick-and-roll tactics, if Zhou An has an opportunity, the ball must be passed to him.

With the coach's instructions, his teammates could not ignore Zhou An's presence. When an opportunity arose after Zhou An completed a pick-and-roll with his teammates, his teammates passed the ball to him.

Zhou An also understood that the coach was giving him a chance, so he played very seriously and put in 120% of his strength and concentration.

Plus, I was lucky enough to seize the several opportunities that came my way.

After a few minutes, Zhou An made 6 of 4 shots, including a three-pointer. Including the 3 points he scored in the first half, his personal score has reached 12 points.

This score is certainly not a lot, but the hit rate of 8 of 5 shots is quite good, and Zhou An also had 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block.

When the third quarter ended, the Nets were still leading.

In the last quarter, neither Zhuang Yu nor Holiday played. Zhuang Yu sat on the sidelines and watched Zhou An being substituted back on the court. He was very happy for Zhou An.

There were still 4 minutes left in the 5th quarter, but Coach Atkins sent Zhou An up, naturally to let him play the last 5 minutes.

As a substitute player, it is a rare opportunity to be able to play in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, and not in garbage time.

Obviously, Zhou An's outstanding performance today won the trust and respect of Coach Atkins.

Zhou An did not disappoint Coach Atkins. In the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, he made 4 of 4 shots, caused a foul, and made both free throws, bringing his personal score to 2 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists. The Nets defeated the Lakers 3:114.

After the game, Zhuang Yu hugged Zhou An. He smiled and patted Zhou An on the back: "You did a good job today. Keep it up."

Zhou An grinned and nodded heavily: "Yes."

The game ended very late and the Nets had to fly back to New York overnight, so the two had no time to get together again. However, in the next few games of the Nets, Zhuang Yu could help Zhou An analyze the opponents and give some advice. After all, the opponents were not the Lakers.

As for the competition, it all depends on Zhou An himself.