As a Kobe hater, he was actually teammates with Kobe!

The time came to October 2005, 11.

On the day of the game against the Atlanta Hawks, the first thing Zhou Ze did after waking up was to measure his arm span.

After taking the [Arm Span Enhancer], Zhou Ze's total arm span will increase by 2cm within a week.

What surprised Zhou Ze was that he didn't expect his arm span to reach 213cm today.

I am 206cm tall barefoot and have an arm span of 213cm, so the difference between my height and arm span is 7cm.

Be reasonable!

That's not bad.

But when Zhou Ze saw himself in the mirror, he still felt that he was a little short.

No way!

Mainly because the shoulders are too broad.

He looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

...

...

On the night of the game.

Lakers locker room.

After coach Phil Jackson arranged the tactics and encouraged the players, he asked everyone to put their hands together and raise their hands high while shouting "fighting!!!"

In the past, Zhou Ze mainly needed to raise his hands high in this part, which required him to slightly lift his feet, but now it seemed that he could just reach it.

I didn't expect that having a longer arm span would have this benefit.

The starting lineup of both parties:

[Hawks]: Tyronn Lue, Joe Johnson, Josh Childers, Al Harrington and Zaza Pachulia.

[Lakers]: Smush Parker, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Zhou Ze and Chris Mihm.

Even though the Lakers management is very optimistic about Andrew Byram's potential, the game content that Byram has shown so far is far from the level of a qualified NBA center.

Not only his own basketball skills, but also his techniques and tactics are not that good as Byram who graduated from high school.

On the contrary, Zhou Ze, who was picked up by the team management in the second round, began to grow rapidly after entering the league.

...

...

Shortly after the game officially started, Zhou Ze made his first move.

Zhou Ze quickly ran from the bottom corner to the top of the arc. During this process, Zhou Ze did not set a pick-and-roll.

It’s not that Zhou Ze doesn’t want to, but his shoulders are too broad, making it easy for him to be caught when setting a pick-and-roll.

In addition, there is a lack of explosive power, and the acceleration ability after sudden stops and starts is not good, which will allow the opponent to catch up.

Zhou Ze reached the top of the arc and was half a beat faster than the defensive player Al Harrington. After receiving the pass from his teammate, he directly shot a three-pointer.

Almost an open shot.

"Swish!", followed by the crisp sound of the ball entering the net.

Al Harrington is 206cm tall and weighs 104kg. He has good athletic talent and is good at running and gunning.

At his peak, his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 45.8%. He averaged 3.3 shots per game and made 1.5 goals.

But last season, Al Harrington's three-point shooting percentage was only 21.6%, and this season it is 34.6%. Of course, in this era when three-pointers are not mainstream, this shooting percentage is still quite good for a swingman at positions 3-4.

On the defensive end, Al Harrington was a bit lame. In addition, his good athletic talent was only relative to other players, but compared with Zhou Ze, it was a level lower.

"Al, what are you doing?"

"Stay focused on defense!"

Hawks coach Mike Woodson yelled at Al Harrington from the sidelines.

Harrington nodded apologetically. At the same time, he glanced at Zhou Ze and thought to himself, "Not only does this rookie possess an accurate three-pointer as the outside world says, but his athletic talent is also somewhat underestimated."

Al Harrington had never seen Zhou Ze's offensive style before.

Serious inside players, some can shoot three-pointers, although not many.

But there are very few serious inside players who can make a catch-and-shoot three-pointer while running.

...

...

In the following time, Al Harrington couldn't help but pay attention to Zhou Ze's three-pointers on the defensive end.

Following very closely!!!

Zhou Ze's explosive power could not completely get rid of Al Harrington.

In addition, the Lakers' guards were unable to pass the ball to them in time every time.

Of Zhou Ze's four three-point attempts in the first quarter, only the first one was open.

The second time was when the ball was blocked in front of his eyes and the three-pointer missed.

Another time it was half empty.

In the half-open position, there is some defensive interference, but not much.

Zhou Ze seized the opportunity and made a three-pointer.

...

...

In the first quarter, Zhou Ze made 4 of 2 shots and hit 2 three-pointers.

The hit rate reached 50%, which was very efficient, but Al Harrington also gradually figured out Zhou Ze's running pattern.

Zhou Ze, who came on the court again in the second quarter, clearly felt the increased intensity of Al Harrington's defense.

After missing two three-pointers in a row, the Hawks' home fans cheered.

Zhou Ze, who had been arrogant for two games, was finally subdued tonight.

Zhou Ze started another off-ball run from the corner, seemingly heading for the top of the key, but suddenly, he curled and cut toward the basket. His powerful arms, coupled with a sudden change of stance, pushed Al Harrington, who was pressing against him, aside.

This instantly caused the Pacers to switch defense, and Lakers point guard Parker found the opportunity and passed the ball to Zhou Ze, who was in a mismatch with Tyronn Lue.

After Zhou Ze received the ball in the low post, he was surprised to find that no one from the Hawks was helping him defend.

Zhou Ze's face immediately darkened.

What does Eagle mean?

Let Tyronn Lue, who is 183cm tall and weighs 79kg, defend him alone?

Faced with this "zero harm, extremely insulting" defensive strategy.

Zhou Ze chose to crush the opponent with his back to the basket.

With the advantage of size and strength, Zhou Ze easily squeezed out Tyronn Lue, and then he dunked the ball like pulling an onion out of dry land. Although the speed was a bit slow, the force of the dunk was full.

The basket was slightly shaken by Zhou Ze's dunk.

After scoring the goal, Zhou Ze showed off his biceps to the Eagles fans who booed him.

The outside world is wrong!

Zhou Ze actually doesn’t particularly like to shoot three-pointers from the outside, he is more keen on fighting under the basket.

It's just that we don't have the ability to do so yet.

As a teammate, Kobe did not make exaggerated celebrations like his Lakers teammates on the bench; instead, Kobe looked at Zhou Ze carefully.

Kobe, who is thoughtful, has a feeling...

The time it took Zhou Ze to break through the defense and complete the dunk seemed to be shortened.

Could it be that his bullet speed has increased?

That's right.

Not only did Zhou Ze's jumping speed increase, his "unilateral arm span" also increased by 1cm. The time required from jumping to dunking was naturally shortened, which also made it difficult for the opponent's center to fill in the protective frame in time.

What's more, the Hawks' starting center, Zaza Pachulia, is a slow-moving, defensive center.

...

...

Zhou Ze changed his offensive strategy, which instantly made Al Harrington feel that the difficulty of defense increased sharply.

If the opponent is too close, Zhou Ze will choose to cut at any time and get to the basket.

If the opponent is far away, Zhou Ze will shoot a three-pointer without hesitation.

Although it is impossible for Zhou Ze to get a three-point shot opportunity or a mismatch opportunity under the basket through off-ball movement every time, he already has the initial ability to change the opponent's defense.

Disrupting the opponent's defense will definitely create good offensive opportunities for teammates.

...

...

Throughout the second quarter, although Zhou Ze made only 4 of 1 three-pointers, he had 3 opportunities for mismatch in the paint area.

Zhou Ze seized the opportunity twice, and scored against Tyronn Lue and Joe Johnson. Of course, it was much more difficult to single-handedly attack Joe with his back to the basket.

The remaining time was a small mismatch. He faced Josh Childers, a 203cm tall, 95kg forward-guard swingman. Although Zhou Ze managed to move him with his size and weight, his finishing shot was a bit too crooked and almost didn't touch the basket.