Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

After entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers were still leading by more than ten points. Coach Scott was not in a hurry to replace the main lineup and let a few substitute players play.

At this time, the Lakers sent out Clarkson, Sumner, Kuzma, Nance Jr. and Zubac.

"ball."

On the court, Zubac positioned himself in the low post on the left side with one hand and raised the other hand to ask for the ball.

After his teammate passed the ball to him, he took a quick look at the defensive situation, then turned his back to the basket and started to squeeze towards the basket.

At this time, Zubac was facing the Hawks' backup center Alex Allen.

He is a 216 cm tall center and the fifth pick in the first round of the 2013 draft.

Although he is a high draft pick, his performance in the NBA can only be described as average. In the past few seasons, he has moved to the Suns and the Hawks.

In his five seasons with the Suns, his best season averaged only 5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game.

After being traded to the Hawks last season, he also played as a starter for a period of time, averaging 11.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

But it is obvious that he is not as good as Zubac in terms of talent or strength.

Seeing Alex Allen being pushed back, his teammates had to rush over to help him defend, and Zubac immediately took the ball.

And at this moment, Kuzma's voice came.

"This way."

Kuzma came to the three-point line in the left corner and asked Zubac for the ball with his arms outstretched.

Zubac passed the ball, Kuzma took the ball and shot a three-pointer. With a slight sound, the ball went through the net and hit the target.

There was a burst of cheers from the audience.

Kuzma and Zubac ran back together, smiled at each other and high-fived to celebrate.

Seeing this scene, Coach Scott and Assistant Coach Madsen on the sidelines nodded with satisfaction.

Assistant coach Madsen said: "Zubac and Kuzma have good talents and are worth cultivating."

"Yeah." Coach Scott said with a smile, "Although Zubac's defense is a little bit poor, he is still good on the offensive end. He has enough height and athleticism, but his skills are still a little rough and need to be honed. However, if there is a good guard who can create opportunities for him and can get the ball to him in time, he can still be quite lethal in the low post."

"Kuzma has the height of a No. 4 player, but his technical characteristics are actually more like a No. 3 player. He has a certain ability to attack with the ball and a good three-point shot. If Lopez hadn't been injured, I would have him replace Korver as the starting small forward. That way, our overall height on the court would be higher, and his three-point shot and cutting ability would be able to better cooperate with Zhuang Yu, Holiday and Lopez."

"Both of them are worth training well."

Assistant Coach Madsen smiled.

As a championship team, they not only have to ensure the competitiveness of the current lineup but also have to make plans for the future.

The Lakers have already consumed a lot of draft picks in the past few years alone, and given their record, the probability of them selecting outstanding players in the draft in the next few years is relatively low.

So there are only two ways to ensure that the team is competitive enough.

One is to sign free agents or strengthen the team through some trades.

The second is to train the talented players in the team well. When they grow up, they will naturally contribute to the team and ensure the team's competitiveness.

Assistant Coach Madsen asked again: "What about Nance Jr., Salaam, Little and the other three?"

Coach Scott shook his head. "Only Nance Jr. is okay. He has excellent physical talent, but his skills and basketball IQ are not high enough. His ceiling is limited. At best, he can only be a substitute-level blue-collar player. As for Sumner and Little... basically, there is no hope for them."

It’s not that Coach Scott has any prejudice against Sumner and Little.

It’s just that the two of them are low-post draft picks. Their talents are there, but in terms of physical talent alone, they are much worse than Zubac and Kuzma, let alone Nance Jr.

Moreover, they did not show any advantage in terms of technology and other aspects. If Lopez and Rose had not been injured, they would not even have a chance to play.

There is a saying that everyone who can enter the NBA is Jordan in their own world.

For those who failed to enter the NBA, these people are indeed the "Jordans" they need to look up to.

But for themselves, what they see are other players in the NBA league, and they will find that they are just ordinary people and they also need to look up to those "Jordans".

Sumner Little was such a man.

In the eyes of ordinary people, they are already the ceiling. The moment they are selected by NBA teams, they have already stood in a position that ordinary people need to look up to.

But for them, that is just the beginning, just the starting point of another ladder to heaven. They may not be able to reach the top, or even the highest point. They can only wander at the foot of the mountain.

Someone once said that beneath the prosperity and dazzling light of the NBA lies invisible cruelty, bloody competition and inhumane business.

You think that once you enter the NBA you will be on the same level as people like James and Durant, but when you really enter the NBA, you will find that the gap between you and them may be even greater than the gap between you and ordinary people.

And that's the reality.

From the perspective of the team's head coach, he doesn't care how much effort you have put in or how many achievements you have made in the past. After you enter the team through the draft, you are just a rookie.

For those who have talent and potential, he will give them opportunities, pay special attention to them, and focus on training them, but for those who have no talent and potential, you can only wish for the best.

"Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, Little's layup was blocked.

Coach Scott shook his head and said nothing, but Assistant Coach Madsen knew that Little would be replaced soon and would not be able to play again today.

......

Sure enough, a moment later Coach Scott called a timeout and made another substitution. Little was replaced by Hamilton. In addition, Coach Scott sent Anderson up. The bench lineup lacked an organizer, and the game was a bit chaotic in the last few minutes, and the score was caught up a little.

After this timeout, the Lakers still held the lead.

Although the Eagles were unwilling to accept defeat and still sent out their main lineup, they were unable to gain the upper hand.

That’s what happens with young teams.

When everything goes smoothly, they are as fierce as tigers, but once they encounter setbacks and are at a disadvantage, they tend to become impatient, anxious, and unable to play.

With only four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Lakers were still leading by double digits.

After seeing the score, Coach Scott thought about it and decided to substitute Zhuang Yu and Holiday to play for just two minutes.

Two minutes later, it was impossible for the Hawks to turn the game around. The Lakers were still leading by more than ten points, and there was not enough time.

"Substitution..."

Coach Scott waved his hand and replaced Zhuang Yu and Holiday again. There was no need for them to stay on the court.

The outcome of this game has been decided.

The Lakers won two consecutive games easily, giving people the feeling that after the absence of Lopez and Rose, the Lakers not only did not become weaker, but seemed to have become stronger.

Of course, this is just an illusion.

There is a reason why the Lakers had an easier time in these two games.

The first is that the opponents in these two games are relatively weak. The Suns are the bottom team in the Western Conference, and the Hawks are also the bottom team in the Eastern Conference. Even without Lopez and Rose, it will not be difficult for the Lakers to play against them.

What's more, the Lakers' tactics have been adjusted now.

Zhuang Yu focused more on the offensive end and played more seriously than in the previous few games.

In both games, Zhuang Yu scored 30+ points.

In the previous 10 games, Zhuang Yu did not really exert his strength on the offensive end, and his average score was only about points. Now Zhuang Yu has begun to exert his strength on the offensive end, and his personal data has increased visibly, and it is natural for him to win against weak teams such as the Suns and the Hawks.

However, the Lakers will face a series of strong teams next, including the Rockets, Nuggets, Celtics, Bucks, 76ers, etc.

Especially the matchup between the Lakers and the Rockets is highly anticipated.

Each team has played more than a dozen games so far this season, and the Rockets' record is not good, currently ranking only seventh in the Western Conference.

However, most fans are still optimistic about the Rockets, believing that they only have problems with running-in. As the regular season progresses, Westbrook and Harden will get better at running-in, and the Rockets' record will definitely improve.

Although the Rockets have a poor record, Harden and Westbrook's personal strength and personal data are there.

Harden also averaged 30+ points per game this season.

So far he has averaged 34 points per game, ranking first in the league.

Westbrook averaged 27 points per game, ranking eighth in the league.

In fact, before these few days, Westbrook's average points per game ranked seventh in the league, above Zhuang Yu.

With Zhuang Yu's scoring explosion in the past two or three games, his average points per game has surpassed Westbrook, but he is currently only ranked seventh in the league.

The main reason is that Zhuang Yu didn’t put much effort into the previous competitions.

The Lakers had won seven games in a row and played relatively easily. Sometimes Zhuang Yu even clocked out after three quarters, so his statistics were naturally not that high.

Even if we only talk about personal scoring data, Zhuang Yu is not as good as Luka Doncic and Trae Young, two second-year players.

This season, Luka Doncic and Trae Young have both played at extremely high averages.

Trae Young's average points per game currently ranks fourth in the league, and Doncic's average points per game ranks sixth in the league, with Giannis Antetokounmpo sandwiched between the two.

The top three in scoring per game are James Harden, Bradley Beal, and Damian Lillard.

Although Zhuang Yu's average points per game this season has dropped significantly compared to last season, no one will question his scoring ability. Whether he can achieve a very high average points per game depends only on whether Zhuang Yu is willing to do so and whether he wants to do so, rather than a question of ability.

After Lopez and Rose were injured, the outside world was discussing that Zhuang Yu's personal data would have a significant improvement, and it was possible that he would match last season's performance, or even achieve higher performance than last season.