This Development League player named Paul Poole played full-court press defense against Link, attempting to further drain Link's Stamina.
Most rookies entering the NBA lack sufficient Stamina under high-intensity confrontation. Link's base [Stamina] attribute reached 78 points, making him a standout among rookies, but under the rotation defense of the San Antonio Spurs Summer League team tonight, his consumption was still quite high.
To save Stamina, Link gave the ball to his teammate at the shooting guard position in the fourth quarter.
"The Chosen One? Haha, are you scared? Don't dare to face my defense directly? Since you're so afraid, why don't you just leave the court and go home to your mother?" Paul Poole continued to spew his trash talk.
Link ignored him and instead ran to a spot two steps beyond the three-point line at the top of the arc to receive a pass from his teammate.
He was only about half a step away from the mid-court Logo.
Seeing Link so far away from him, Paul Poole didn't immediately follow him but stayed at the top of the arc.
Link's left hand suddenly made a'stop' motion, and in the next instant, Link pulled up directly for a Three-Point Shot.
"Wow!"
"Wow!"
"Wow!"
Such a reckless shot caused a burst of exclamations from the fans on-site.
As the defender, Paul Poole was also shocked. He lunged out after Link shot, but it was difficult to cause any interference.
With a "Swish!" sound...
Under Paul Poole's defense, Link hit an ultra-long Three-Point Shot.
68 to 77, the point difference was immediately narrowed to 9 points.
"Man, your defense is really good. No wonder you can make a living in the NBA Development League," Link said very seriously after scoring.
This caused Paul Poole's face to change suddenly as he shouted angrily, "Shit, damn it, I was too careless and let you luck one in."
In the following time, Paul Poole indeed put even more effort into his defense.
Link was marked very closely by him. Even if he used his ball-handling rhythm to shift the opponent's center of gravity and create space for an accelerated breakthrough, he would encounter help defense harassment from other San Antonio Spurs players. The other players were active in defensive rotations; even if the ball was passed out, the open shots were basically'swallowed up' by the time his teammates received the ball.
"Truly worthy of the San Antonio Spurs, using team defense to successfully strangle Washington's chosen one!!!"
"Link... is like a beast trapped in a cage, surrounded by people everywhere, and his teammates can't provide him with any help."
While the on-site commentators praised the San Antonio Spurs' defensive tenacity, they also felt sorry for Link.
In the predicament Link faced tonight, although he could use his breakthrough to tear through the first line of defense, lacking explosiveness and Speed, he was easily entangled again by the opponent's help defense.
While Link's ball-distribution ability (Passing ability after being double-teamed) was peerless in the High School League, this was the professional league.
Even the Summer League, the lowest level of NBA competition, is still one of the "world's high-level" basketball leagues.
Breakthrough Speed, ball-distribution ability, and Passing Vision—these were the gaps between Link and top point guards.
In addition...
It was just as the commentator said: Link indeed didn't have strong enough helpers. The team's forwards lacked good cutting awareness and floor spacing. They couldn't cut to the basket in time based on Link's dynamic position changes to tear apart the opponent's defense.
Nor were there shooters with reliable accuracy to stretch the floor.
Although Haywood's pick-and-rolls were more solid than Bosh's, he had no roll-to-the-rim threat.
And so on.
A whole host of problems made Link's performance tonight a bit underwhelming.
However, in the face of adversity, Link became excited instead, especially when he saw Paul Poole defending him.
Link moved off-ball, using Haywood's screen to reach the weak side. [Off-Ball Movement (Silver)] + crafty running routes allowed Link to shake off a defender of Paul Poole's caliber. It was just that the team lacked people who could pass; after running into an open spot, Link still had to "wait a moment" to receive the ball.
And that moment of waiting allowed Paul Poole to stick to him. An ordinary point guard would find it hard to catch the ball steadily under physical contact due to a lack of strength. But as a large point guard, Link didn't have this problem.
It was just that after receiving the ball, he couldn't catch the opponent "off balance."
"Oh boy..."
"This Washington Wizards Summer League team... really... makes things hard for Link..."
"This San Antonio Spurs Summer League team is also ruthless enough, relentlessly hounding a rookie on the defensive end. This is completely superstar-level treatment."
Seeing Link "struggling," the on-site commentators couldn't help but feel bad for him.
After receiving the ball, Link observed that besides Paul Poole, at least one other defender would come to help before he could break through.
Catching the ball with his back to the basket, Link adjusted his footwork, changed to a face-up triple threat, stepped out with his right foot, lightly tapped the floor, and started towards the bottom right. Although this would take him further from the basket, it could avoid the interior help defense.
With one step out, leading by half a body length, Link pulled up for a sudden pull-up jumper. Facing Paul Poole's defense which was right in his face, he scored again.
"Wow..."
"Beautiful shooting form!"
"Did you see the backspin on the basketball in the air?"
The on-site commentator couldn't help but exclaim.
At the same time, the fans on-site, even those who weren't Wizards supporters, couldn't help but be moved by seeing Link struggle to catch up with the score, subconsciously clapping and cheering for him.
Of course...
As the person involved, Link didn't feel it was bitter at all; he actually quite enjoyed this feeling.
Link, whose ball-dominant offense was heavily double-teamed and blocked by help defense, used off-ball offense to break the deadlock, showing off isolation abilities on par with a shooting guard.
In addition, there was his switching ability on the defensive end.
Facing Parker's high-post pick-and-roll, Link indeed couldn't limit him, but he could switch onto the San Antonio Spurs' big men. Although he couldn't stop every shot, this blue-collar, lob-catching Development League athletic big man couldn't effectively punish the mismatch.
On the offensive end, the Washington Wizards Summer League team relied on weak-side isolations for hard buckets in half-court sets; on the fast break, although Link couldn't participate much with the ball, he could help his teammates run the break through his "outlet Passing ability."
The Washington Wizards gradually caught up with the score.
With 3 seconds left in the game, Link received the ball on the weak side. After a triple-threat move, his breakthrough route was blocked by Paul Poole. Just as he was about to be forced to a stop, he suddenly turned around for a fadeaway. Paul Poole provided plenty of physical contact, seriously affecting Link's shooting rhythm. His upper body in the air was almost crooked, but... damn it, it still rattled in.
99 to 95!
With this shot, the Washington Wizards basically secured the victory.
"Oh, no!"
And the G Leaguer Paul Poole was now holding his head in his hands, his face full of frustration.