One Year Left to Play-Chapter 153 - 48: Chatterbox Is Not Made in a Day

"Aix, tonight is your first official game, even though there’s no broadcast; if you perform well, there will definitely be a recording, and the regular season opener will surely be broadcasted. You don’t have to care too much about the performance in this preseason game... Oh my God, I’m finally seeing a Chinese player on the NBA court. I am so lucky to be the first reporter to cover the first official game of the first Chinese player in the NBA..."

During the warm-up, Xu Jicheng from Xinhuanet kept babbling as if he was going mad.

Then, after the warm-up ended, at 5:15, as they were about to enter the court, another babbling big shot came: "Aix, it’s about to be a real NBA game. Don’t get overly excited, and don’t rush; take it slow, adapt to the game. It’s okay if you don’t play well, just gain experience. If you play well, find a way to keep it going..."

Kenny Anderson sees himself as the guy who ought to be the big brother and obviously should do what a big brother does.

He always feels uneasy about Zhang Hao being too young, so he starts advising Zhang Hao, helping him to negotiate with the coaching staff... and then gradually becomes a chatterbox.

The attribute of being chatty isn’t built overnight; now Kenny Anderson is still in the babbling stage, but has already shown signs of developing towards being a chatterbox.

Being worrisome is a rare trait, and Zhang Hao possesses it; he always makes those around him naturally worry. Those who worry, if not introverted, are often chatterboxes themselves...

After coming to the United States, Zhang Hao got used to Pierce’s nagging; Xu Jicheng’s babbling alone wasn’t enough. Combined with Kenny Anderson’s babbling, it perfectly recreated the pre-game vibe he’s accustomed to from high school.

There’s unexpectedly a sense of security... 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

At 5:20 PM, Zhang Hao entered the court with his teammates.

As he walked onto the court, Zhang Hao saw nearly two thousand fans at the scene, completely filling the seats!

Thinking of the ticket price... an average price of 8.6 US Dollar...

"If two NBA teams came to our village to play a game, at this price, even if I don’t truly like these teams, I would spend this money to have a look..."

Thinking this way, Zhang Hao’s heartbeat couldn’t help but accelerate again; the intense battle spirit surged anew, and teammates saw Zhang Hao’s eyes sparkling with a fighting glow for the second time, leading them to instinctively share similar emotions.

The vast majority of players who make it to the NBA have an immense love for basketball. Perhaps this love fades as they go unfulfilled in the professional arena for many years, but this passion hasn’t been extinguished, only smoothed out by reality.

Even Jason Williams, as the game was about to start, seeing the sparkle in Zhang Hao’s eyes, felt having such a teammate was quite nice...

"Gah..." Jason Williams pinched his thigh hard, feeling he was hit by an evil spell from the Orient, needing to clear his head!

Zhang Hao sat down on the bench; Randy Whitman hadn’t put him in the starting lineup this morning.

For this game, the Brooklyn Nets’ starting arrangement: Kenny Anderson, Edwards, Gilliam, Jason Williams, PJ Brown.

Zhang Hao didn’t mind this arrangement; he felt after the starting match-up phase was over, it was better for him to go up against the opposing team’s rotation lineup to adapt to the NBA games.

The preseason games of his rookie season were meant for such rookies to adapt to the games, and very important at that.

"Special contracted player Zhang Hao is about to start the first preseason game of the NBA 1995-1996 season. The host can use the player detection system to analyze the capability evaluations of opposition team players to guide Zhang Hao."

"Larry Johnson, ability evaluation 89...

Glenn Rice, ability evaluation 86...

Kendall Gill, ability evaluation 85..."

"So strong... right, they had 50 wins last season... sheesh!"

"Dale Curry 79, Scott Burrell 77, Matt Geiger 75... alright then..."

Zhang Hao sat assuredly, the disparity in strength was quite evident, worrying wouldn’t help, that’s just how life is.

At 5:30 in the evening, the referee blew the whistle to start the game, tossing the ball into the air; PJ Brown outmatched Geiger to tap the ball to Kenny Anderson, the game began.

Kenny Anderson, very strong, the team’s best, although his physical condition hasn’t completely returned to its best, still distinctly outperforming Kendall Gill in terms of passing and controlling.

But as the game delved deeper, their Brooklyn Nets unsurprisingly started to fall behind.

With half of the first quarter over, after 6 minutes and 7 seconds of play, the Brooklyn Nets trailed the Hornets 15 to 19 by 4 points entering the first official timeout.

The pace of the game was swift!

"This score is somewhat exaggerated! Wasn’t it the Iron Blood Era now... Wait, last season the Magic’s average was 110.9 points ranked first in the league; last season seemingly another two teams averaged above 110 points.

Feeling a bit dizzy, let me think, during the lockout seems like the Divine Calculator and Armani’s lifelong enemy had just left the Knicks and joined the Heat, now it’s still the tail end of the early 90s scoring era.

Seems last season the three-point line was shortened, this season’s shortened three-point line brought defensive advantages that each team will truly utilize..."

Zhang Hao finally sorted out the disparate views in his memory regarding this matter.

Randy Whitman was quite satisfied with Kenny Anderson’s recovery, much better than expected. After the training game, he thought Kenny Anderson would slack off due to weak teammates, unexpectedly, he looked pretty good.