yasinovel Chapter 555 - 169: Hack Zhang Hao?
Chapter 555 - 169: Hack Zhang Hao?
In the end, Campbell felt like O’Neal was about to lose his mind!
"Next time I go up against O’Neal, I definitely have to wear earplugs... or just puncture my eardrums, I heard they can self-heal?"
O’Neal misses a shot, Zhang Hao talks trash, O’Neal scores, Zhang Hao still finds something to say, O’Neal can’t grab a rebound or makes a mistake, Zhang Hao definitely appears, even when O’Neal dishes out an assist or makes a block, Zhang Hao can find some weird point to provoke O’Neal...
It’s just unbelievable!
...
The media originally thought the game between the Lakers and the Magic would be a spectacular night of O’Neal rampaging in Los Angeles.
Because the Lakers have a rookie who invented the Hack-a-Shaq tactic.
At the very least, it could be a cheerful day watching O’Neal’s free throws.
O’Neal’s bizarre free throw misses have, in just over a month, already provided enough material for an extended highlight reel.
Tonight we indeed saw various free throw misses, but it wasn’t quite what people expected.
O’Neal only went to the free throw line 7 times tonight, but that rookie on the other side got 15 free throws.
Zhang Hao kept going into the paint, got hit a few more times, so more free throws weren’t surprising.
But a 7 out of 15 success rate... the newspaper editor preparing to write a story after the game saw Zhang Hao’s free throws and thought the Magic had used Hack-a-Shaq on him...
"Eh? Why not just write it like this? Yeah, put a question mark in the title!"
So the next morning, while having breakfast, Zhang Hao saw the Los Angeles Times sports headline— "Hack-a-Shaq Inventor Gets Hacked: Reaping What He Sowed?"
"Are they talking about me?"
Zhang Hao’s interest was immediately piqued, and he read the content...
"Damn! Click-bait!"
The article first listed his game stats from last night, focusing on free throws, then added a line— I thought Aix was being hacked against based on his free throws, turns out not, he just had a rough time due to high-intensity conflicts and big fouls...
The interest instantly waned...
There were plenty of fans who, like Zhang Hao, cursed click-bait titles, but those were the ones who bought the paper.
Many understand from the title alone that it’s click-bait, but they’re the ones who watched the live broadcast or attended the game.
And many fans don’t buy newspapers, they catch a glimpse of the title at a kiosk or bookstore, then start spreading it among friends.
Rumors spread, and soon enough, quite a few actually believed the Magic used Hack-a-Shaq on Zhang Hao.
Mainstream media initially covered it properly, but since it spread this way and more people were reading such news, by the evening reports, all the articles about the previous day’s game became click-bait.
Originally, the media was highlighting how O’Neal played badly and Campbell’s restriction on him, but in the end, the story of "Zhang Hao getting hacked by the Magic" overshadowed the "O’Neal’s Revenge Game" narrative...
...
...
Most people don’t believe such click-bait, especially most NBA teams.
O’Neal playing against the Lakers caught the attention of many teams, and many star players watched the game, mainly young centers with expiring contracts.
They wanted to see if the rumors were true, that Campbell could effectively limit O’Neal.
Turns out it was true!
Many aspiring big men started getting eager, especially power forward talents. Zhang Hao can play small forward, they could try joining the Lakers, then they wouldn’t have to fear O’Neal so much.
Teams focused on whether stockpiling center giants could really limit O’Neal, and now they got a definite answer. Teams like the Utah Jazz, which have stockpiled big men but haven’t fully developed them, or whose big men aren’t as naturally gifted as Campbell in terms of sheer mass and play style, have become more determined to hoard giant centers. They’re even preparing to compete with the Lakers for Campbell, whose contract is about to expire, after this season ends.
Most team managements, coaching staff, and players viewed the Lakers vs. Magic game through a professional lens.
But there was one team that was quite notable...
On March 22nd, after finishing the game with the Magic and resting for a day, the Lakers faced the last game of a five-game homestand, going against the Vancouver Grizzlies.
The Lakers didn’t originally take the opponent seriously, but definitely aimed to win, so they played hard.
But unexpectedly, the Grizzlies wanted to win even more! And the Grizzlies seemed to believe the legendary "Hack-a-Shaq" could work on Zhang Hao, so to break the Lakers’ offensive momentum at the start, the Grizzlies used Anthony Evant, a former substitute who averaged 5 points per game, as a starter, and within less than two minutes, he fouled out.
Zhang Hao was baffled as he was fouled six times in a row, hitting 4 out of 4 free throws.
Thus, right from the beginning, the game turned into a free-throw exhibition for the Lakers.
The opposing team, in under two minutes, embraced Zhang Hao six times, directly putting the Grizzlies in a situation where any foul would send the Lakers to the free throw line!
This made the Lakers eager to charge inside and draw fouls.
In the first quarter, the Lakers got 22 free throws, making 18 of them!
The Grizzlies committed 17 fouls in a single quarter, and the more they feared fouling, the more they ended up fouling. The Lakers’ offensive rhythm was indeed disrupted, but the Grizzlies were utterly defeated...
to 12, inexplicably, the Lakers put the game into garbage time right from the start...
Then we saw Zhang Hao still playing fiercely on the court despite a lead over 15 points, chasing down Grizzlies’ key developing player Bryant Reeves, playing tough defense, and offensively actively sticking to Bryant Reeves.
The master of same-class bullying makes another appearance!