Chapter 23 Halftime Bombardment of North Carolina!!
Chapter 23 Halftime Bombardment of North Carolina!!
What is Zeng Zhen's current shooting ability level?
With the blessing of the "God of Three-Pointers," he can shoot threes at Curry's level.
As for Curry's age, Zeng Zhen didn't know.
However, regardless of his age, Curry is accurate most of the time.
So accurate it terrifies the opponent.
As long as he has a three-point shot opportunity, he can break down his opponents.
There's a general feeling of collapse within North Carolina right now, thanks to Zeng Zhentou.
They were stunned by Zeng Zhen's series of attacks.
"How can this guy be so scary?" Lawson couldn't help but complain to Hansbrough.
"I don't know," Hansbrough said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I've never heard of him before."
In their understanding, the name Zeng Zhen was extremely unfamiliar to them.
They had never heard of Zeng Zhen throughout high school and college. It wasn't until the first two games that Zeng Zhen gained some fame, and they learned about him from scouting reports.
But in a crucial game like tonight, the players they care about, like Westbrook, Collison, and Love, are completely overshadowed by this guy.
The light was completely overshadowed by him.
Zeng Zhen excitedly high-fived his teammates and fans on the sidelines!
As Ben Holland places more and more trust in him, he can play more and more freely on the field.
In the previous two matches, Zeng Zhen wouldn't have dared to shoot so recklessly.
The more he demonstrates his abilities, the more his coaches and teammates trust him, and the higher his margin for error becomes.
UCLA fans at the scene saw something different about Zeng Zhen.
Unlike the previous two games where he only showcased his shooting ability, Zeng Zhen played more easily and freely on the court tonight, and he made many more varied offensive moves with the ball.
These technical moves caught North Carolina's defenders completely off guard.
At this point, Zeng Zhen's personal score reached 24 points, and the first half was not yet over.
The cameras were increasingly focused on the NBA general managers on the sidelines.
The visual language used in these shots is very clear: "We want to see this guy perform in the NBA, get him to the NBA quickly!!"
This isn't the first time the cameras have done this; with the NBA season nearing its end, many teams are setting their sights on college basketball.
"This guy's a tough second-round pick," Presti said seriously to Hao Wei next to him in the front row.
Presti thought he was just there to observe the performance of an ordinary second-round pick, but he witnessed Zeng Zhen's explosive performance.
He scored 24 points before halftime. If he can maintain this pace in the second half, 40+ points will be a piece of cake.
This scene shocked him.
Zeng Zhen's shooting ability combined with his physical talent will definitely make some teams gamble on him in the first round.
"I didn't expect him to be so accurate today." Hao Wei felt that his worries were becoming a reality.
Before Zeng Zhen's breakout performance, the Thunder might have been able to pick him up from the sidelines, but with his performance against North Carolina tonight, his dark horse potential has skyrocketed, and all eyes are on him. This makes it much more difficult for the Thunder to use their three second-round picks to select Zeng Zhen.
In the next few rounds, Zeng Zhen did not score again, but he held off North Carolina's defense, allowing Love and Collison to score in succession.
North Carolina was clearly stunned, and the point difference widened to 8 points!
With 20 seconds left in the first half, UCLA had possession of the ball for the final possession.
Westbrook dribbled the ball across half-court, and Collison tried to receive it.
"Darren, pull away to the bottom corner, don't come over." Westbrook didn't give him the space, but instead instructed Collison not to come over.
Collison had no choice but to run to the corner, Westbrook passed the ball to Zeng Zhen, and then pulled away himself.
Westbrook's attitude clearly tells everyone that Zeng Zhencai is the one who plays the crucial shots at UCLA now.
Zeng Zhen took the ball and looked up to check the time.
16 seconds.
We need to reduce the time.
Danny Green closely guarded Zeng Zhen, and now Danny Green dared not give Zeng Zhen even the slightest space.
The cameras are all pointed at Zeng Zhen!!
Fans who didn't watch the game wouldn't know why Zeng Zhenlai was chosen to play the crucial shot in a star-studded UCLA team.
But fans who watched the game know just how amazing Zeng Zhen was tonight.
With 7 seconds left on the shot clock, Zeng Zhen dribbled the ball with his right hand.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Zeng Zhen dribbled the ball with his body bent over, almost parallel to the ground, and the basketball collided sharply with the floor.
Danny Green spread his arms wide, keeping his body close to avoid being shaken off.
Zeng Zhen made a feint indicating a potential breakthrough on the right side, Danny Green shifted his feet to the right, and Zeng Zhen leaned against Danny Green to perform a left turn.
Danny Green quickly moved to the left to follow!
But after turning around, Zeng Zhen quickly followed up with a crossover dribble to the right, then made a second dive and accelerated.
"Whoosh!"
Danny Green couldn't keep up this time. Zeng Zhen drove to the three-point line and suddenly stopped at the free-throw line!
Hansbrough's defense couldn't get up, and Zeng Zhen calmly took a mid-range jump shot.
"Buzz!!"
"Whoosh!"
Whistle blows!
Goal!
At halftime, the score was 43-53, with ULCA leading by 10 points as they entered the locker room.
Zeng Zhen scored his 26th point of the night with a dazzling dribbling performance and a buzzer-beating shot.
Such technical stability seems completely unlike that of a college student.
He completely mobilized Danny Green's defense.
Zeng Zhen's scoring surge in the final minutes of the first half was a huge blow to the North Carolina players, with Lawson, Hansbrough, and others walking back to the locker room looking dejected.
On the contrary, Westbrook, Love, and others jumped and shouted as they ran back.
In the locker room at the University of North Carolina.
Roy Williams is rearranging his tactics.
All tactics are aimed at only one person.
It wasn't Westbrook, it wasn't Collison, it wasn't even Love, but Zeng Zhen.
Zeng Zhen's 26 points in the first half completely stunned them and overturned their pre-game plans.
Before the match, they never imagined that Zeng Zhen, who was considered an ordinary shooter, would become a super surprise weapon.
"Roy Williams is in big trouble. Zeng Zhen is on fire. He scored 26 points in the first half. They couldn't stop Zeng Zhen's three-pointers and he made 6 three-pointers."
"Zeng Zhen made 6 out of 8 three-point attempts, an incredibly high accuracy rate."
"Zeng Zhen will definitely be selected in this year's draft. His talent and touch are clearly NBA level. He can play both off the ball and with the ball. He can at least become an excellent role player."
"Such an outstanding guy, I just don't know why he didn't perform well in the regular season."
"According to inside sources, Zeng Zhen may have had a groin injury at the time."
Both McBreen and Mark Jackson could see that Zeng Zhen's ability was definitely not as bad as his regular season statistics suggested; there was probably some underlying injury.
Zeng Zhen's technique is too mature. He is very confident in his shooting. Sometimes his shot selection is not very good, but he can still make the ball with great force.
He has a very high clutch performance.
In the locker room at UCLA.
"I think we should all give Zeng a round of applause in the first half! He's the MVP!"
"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
"Snapped!"
The crowd clapped and cheered, everyone in high spirits.
"The game isn't over yet. I hope everyone will continue to work hard in the second half and do a good job on defense." Zeng Zhen stopped the champagne-drinking behavior at halftime.
When coach Ben Holland was making tactical arrangements, he specifically praised Zeng Zhen's performance. Then, in the second half, he increased Zeng Zhen's tactical importance, giving him more opportunities to have the ball.
The more Zeng Zhen showed, the more Holland trusted him.
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