Chapter 530: Chapter 161: Helping Him Get Used to Everything Here
Pleased to have another Rookie of the Month award in hand.
Although the talent of the 95th draft is now recognized, not many players have immediate impact; only Zhang Hao, Damon Stoudamire, and Joe Smith are noticeably more mature than others.
And those two have no advantage in competing with Zhang Hao for Rookie of the Month.
It’s no surprise Zhang Hao would win, adding another trophy is always refreshing.
The unexpected part is February’s Player of the Month.
In November, Penny won Player of the Month, and in December, Mr. Zhang took it.
In January, Zhang Hao eventually couldn’t surpass the Bulls’ player with similar records, but that month, Pippen averaged 23 points, 8 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 3.3 steals, beating Jordan to win Player of the Month.
In February, the Bulls only lost once, to the Phoenix Suns, and this month Jordan had a shooting percentage of 52%, three-point percentage of 42%, averaging 1.9 threes per game, with 33.5 points, 7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2 steals, and 1.5 blocks, excelling on both offense and defense.
However, Zhang Hao saw American Cable TV Station announce February’s Player of the Month as the Phoenix Suns’ star, Charles Barkley!
"It seems like Barkley’s performance in February was even better than Jordan, leading the Suns to a 10-3 record with that weak lineup and defeating Jordan head-on; Pippen was indeed slightly better than Jordan in January, I narrowly beat Jordan in December, and Penny narrowly beat Jordan in November... Over the whole season, Jordan is definitely the strongest, but... could he really become the first MVP who never won Player of the Month during the season?"
Zhang Hao imagined Jordan’s tear-stricken face...
...
Zhang Hao speculated without any malice, and it was indeed a topic of great interest among media and fans.
The MVP might not necessarily be the best performing player every month, usually, the MVP only gets Player of the Month once in a season, but the MVP is simply the best player on one of the top regular-season teams.
Of course, the best player on one of the top teams is generally the best performing player of the season overall.
Team performance is also part of performance.
At 7 PM, the Lakers had a home game against the Bullets.
The Bullets this season have been really unfortunate.
Just when their performance seemed promising, Chris Webber got injured at the start of the season.
Mid-season, their chemistry was improving, climbing to eighth in the East, allowing Juwan Howard to successfully make the All-Star reserve squad, but during the All-Star weekend, their star point guard Robert Parker accidentally fell from the second floor, completely unrelated to the game, causing a fracture and ruling him out for the rest of the season...
Robert Parker, performing ordinarily in the early part of his career, played four years as a substitute, his best year being the latter half of the previous season with the Nuggets, averaging 12 points and 6 assists over half a season. This season started with Webber injured, and he was traded to the Bullets, got heavily used, and finally put up multiple performances averaging 20+ points and 10 assists mid-season.
By the All-Star weekend, he had played 31 games with the Bullets, averaging 18.9 points and 7.8 assists, during which the Bullets had a 19-12 record, their offensive performance was impressive enough to mask their poor defense. This undrafted player from ’91 seemed finally poised for success.
But suddenly he was out injured... Bullets had just renewed his contract for 3 years worth 10 million.
Consequently, after the All-Star break, the Bullets recorded a 3-5 performance, slipping out of the Eastern top eight.
Now, Juwan Howard’s point guard is Brent Price, a mediocre teammate, with Webber being the team assist leader when he was present, such a teammate was alright.
But now, they returned to that early season situation of an offensive slump and defensive ineptitude.
The frontcourt lineup of Juwan Howard, Rashid Wallace, and Gheorghe Muresan was like an ATM for Zhang Hao and Campbell.
Zhang Hao scored 31 points, Campbell had 26, Jason Williams off the bench in 22 minutes got 9 points and 19 rebounds, the Magician contributed 11 points and 14 assists, just the frontcourt alone, the Lakers had 77 points!
Moreover, the Lakers remained steady even with a lead, driving Juwan Howard almost to despair — We have no grudges, right?!
Looking at the final score of 89 to 118, Juwan Howard suddenly recalled something, looking at the dejected Rashid Wallace...
"F... actually forgot that this rookie is a maniac against fellow draftees!"
On the other side, Zhang Hao saw his teammates stay focused the entire game, leaving no chance for the Bullets... so familiar.
After losing one game, in the next they are extremely focused, patient, humble... all sorts of positive traits emerge.
Zhang Hao was used to this habit of the Lakers.
Not even sure when it started, regardless of which players are currently on the team, or what the record is, this characteristic is ingrained in the Lakers team.
Pleased to have gained another 10 days of life, plus this afternoon’s 4-day life reward from Georgetown University’s win, and the 5-day life reward from the Bullets game, gained 19 days of life today!
As for Wang Zhizhi, Georgetown University had completed its regular season schedule, closing at 23 wins and 12 losses, not outstanding, but successfully advancing to the top 64.
