NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 757 The Arrogant Hua Zi

"Don't even think about scoring many points under my defense!" Hua Zi's eyes were sharp, somewhat like an old-school rogue, but unfortunately his basketball IQ was really worrying!

"If I want to score, no one in the world can stop me!" Jia Fei's lips curled slightly as he dribbled the ball in his left hand, pulled it between his legs to his right, suddenly accelerated, and broke through to gain position, leaning against Hua Zi before slowing down and taking three steps...

Hua Zi jumped close to Jia Fei, believing he had put his opponent in a difficult position.

Jia Fei jumped, found a point of contact with Hua Zi, and then used his right hand to lick the basket!

At this moment, the whistle blew, and Jia Fei lost his balance a little, but he still managed to score the ball by relying on his excellent core strength!

"Andone!" Jia Fei didn't say anything, but Grant Williams, who was next to him, shouted, and Grant Williams was shouting at Hua Zi.

"Who the hell do you think you are, yelling at me like that?" Hua Zi sneered. In his opinion, it was utterly ridiculous that someone as insignificant as Grant Williams would dare to mock him.

"Who do you think you are, daring to challenge our boss?" Grant Williams said without backing down.

As tensions began to rise, the referee promptly stepped in to separate the two.

The two continued their tirade, sending insults to each other's families from afar.

Jia Fei was also amused. This Grant Williams was really a character, and starting him was definitely a good thing.

Jia Fei stepped to the free-throw line and easily made the extra free throw!

0-5, the Clippers lead by 5 point!

The Timberwolves were on offense, and Hua Zi took on Paul George one-on-one, hitting a jump shot to open the scoring for the Timberwolves! He also didn't forget to trash talk Paul George, basically saying that Paul George couldn't guard him at all, and that Jia Fei should guard him instead.

Jia Fei brought the ball over and signaled for Paul George to come and screen for him.

The Timberwolves switched defense, and Jia Fei lobbed the ball to Paul George!

The atmosphere at the scene heated up, and the fans started to cheer.

Paul George dribbled the ball one-on-one against Hua Zi, his smooth dribbling and height advantage allowing him to pull up for a jump shot that went in!

Answerball!

"I'll hit you and kick your ass!" Paojiao couldn't help but yell at Hua Zi. He thought that young people these days were getting more and more arrogant. "Are you really that awesome?"

Hua Zi continued to challenge Paul George one-on-one, but this time his jump shot was gone!

Harten secured the rebound and passed it to Jia Fei to advance the ball.

Jia Fei dribbled the ball forward, and facing Hua Zi's defense, he suddenly accelerated, changed his rhythm by pulling the ball between his legs, and then accelerated again, overtaking his opponent and completing a powerful tomahawk dunk!

Wow—2:7, Jia Fei is like a ghost!

"Teacher Su, Edwards' provocation has made Jia Fei take it a little more seriously!" Wang Zixing said with a smile.

“Yes, the younger generation surpasses the older. Edwards really dared to challenge Jia Fei. No matter what the outcome, his courage is commendable!” Su Qun adjusted his glasses, still giving Hua Zi his approval.

When Jia Fei gets serious, no one can stop him.

Hua Zi was very unconvinced, but he really couldn't keep up with the opponent's speed, and he had to admit it no matter how unwilling he was. Jia Fei was too fast; he didn't seem like a 31-year-old player at all.

The Timberwolves' biggest problem lies on offense. Defensively, the Clippers have Hartenstein, and Gobert isn't heavily targeted in pick-and-rolls, allowing him to stay in the paint and protect the rim. However, their offense is problematic. Towns can face Grant Williams, but Jia Fei's help defense makes him hesitant and reluctant to attack. Gobert's offense is practically negligible; he lacks offensive ability, often butterfingers on easy baskets, and has no one-on-one scoring ability—in fact, he's inferior to McGee and Hartenstein in that regard. Walker is a mediocre player; he has some ball-handling skills and can shoot off the ball, but he can't handle the ball. As for Conley, he's still mentally sharp, but his body is past its prime. These young guards at this age who are still playing rely on their intelligence and a good jump shot; they're not good at scoring clutches!

So in reality, the only player the Timberwolves can truly attack in the half-court is Hua Zi.

Hua Zi is indeed quite arrogant, but he still has real talent. His explosive athleticism goes without saying; he can drive and shoot, and in terms of ball-handling and offensive ability alone, he's one of the best among the younger generation. He possesses a physique beyond his years.

Everyone says that Hua Zi's role model is Wade, but in Jia Fei's opinion, apart from their similar physiques, the two don't really have much in common. Wade is good at driving to the basket with a very low center of gravity, he's good at passing, and he excels in both one-on-one and help defense, especially in blocking shots.

Hua Zi can also penetrate offensively, and he can keep his center of gravity low, but his drives are often straight and lack the crossover and footwork variations of Wade, and his speed is also inferior. Hua Zi can shoot mid-range jumpers, and his three-point shooting is quite accurate; his shooting is much better than Wade's. However, his passing ability is not as good, his passing vision is still somewhat narrow, and his ball distribution needs improvement.

When Wade started his career, he was played as a point guard, while Hua Zi was a pure scorer.

Therefore, Hua Zi needs a playmaker who can control the game and set up the offense, and Conley is such a person. On the other hand, it is best to have a shooting player by his side to maximize his drive-and-kick ability.

This also explains why Running Man and Wade weren't actually the most suitable pairing. Both are good at driving to the basket but not at shooting, and both are perimeter players, so they couldn't really achieve a synergy greater than the sum of their parts. The reason their teamwork was praised was mainly because of their strong defense, allowing them to play fast breaks and capitalize on their ball-handling advantage. In fact, they often clashed in half-court sets, and if Wade hadn't chosen to relinquish possession, the Heat might have had a very difficult time winning the championship. Also, to create space for them, the Heat had to stop playing big men without shooting ability; even Bosh was forced to play center to create space, otherwise the paint would have been too crowded.

In terms of pairings alone, Running Man + Curry, Running Man + Durant, and Running Man + Klay Thompson are all perfect combinations. Curry can team up with almost every star player except for guards who lack defense, and Jokic and Durant are also very compatible.

So the question arises: why do some star players have compatibility issues, while others don't? This mainly depends on their playing style. Players who are good at driving but not shooting naturally have less compatibility than those who are good at shooting. If five players who are good at driving and five players who are good at shooting were to form a team, the former would obviously easily have problems with ball possession and offensive spacing, while the latter wouldn't have this problem.

Of course, the best configuration is one that has both penetration and shooting. Penetration is still very important, as it can change the opponent's defensive formation, create opportunities for shooters, and draw fouls when shooting is off.