Outside opinions on the Washington Wizards' reinforcement trade were mixed.
The Washington Wizards kept saying they were aiming for the playoffs.
However, the two new reinforcements—Gerald Wallace and Zach Randolph—were both First-Year Players, and Randolph was also a problem player.
ESPN gave this trade a D rating.
Sports Illustrated, on the other hand, gave it an A+ rating, reasoning that the Washington Wizards' roster had been revitalized with four First-Year Players, and Randolph's low-post offensive ability could alleviate the offensive burden on Michael Jordan and Link. As for Gerald Wallace, he was also a high-quality young forward.
If the Washington Wizards could win a playoff round this year, this trade would be well worth it, and in the coming years, the Wizards would become a new powerhouse in the league.
The most pessimistic about this trade was FOX Sports, which uncharacteristically gave it an F rating. Uh... generally, a D rating is the worst; an F rating is undoubtedly a blatant satire.
In the coming week, the Washington Wizards would face challenges from three Western Conference teams, and they might not be able to win any of those games.
Link, who saw this news in the newspaper, clipped this report and posted it in the team's locker room.
On March 4, 2002, the reinforced Washington Wizards hosted the Utah Jazz at home.
The Wizards' starting five for this game were still Link, Michael Jordan, Hamilton, Laettner, and Haywood.
The Jazz's starting five were also the same as in their previous encounter.
But this time, the Utah Jazz strengthened their defense against Link's pick-and-roll. AK47's wing help defense and rotations made Link and Haywood's pick-and-roll cooperation very stifling.
AK47's footwork could not only keep up with a shooting guard, but he also had long arms, and his defensive awareness and anticipation were top-notch.
He could always come over to help defend after Link broke through a screen, and his long arms restricted Link's Passing lanes. Furthermore, even if the ball was passed out, AK47 could recover in time.
After Link grabbed a Defensive Rebound, he dribbled the ball down for a fast break. John Stockton suddenly rushed over, and Link gathered the ball early. "Clap!" The basketball made a crisp sound, but Link, relying on the grip enhancement buff of "Clamp Handles," managed to cut the ball, and at the same time, used his strength to push off the defender, drive into the paint, and attempt a layup.
Suddenly... "Bang!" A long white arm came from behind, delivering a pin-down block on Link.
The ball went out of bounds. Fortunately, it was still the Wizards' possession.
At the same time, the game reached its first official timeout.
...
...
Director Zhang from the Tianchao Sports broadcast studio looked at the score and said, "The scores for both sides are so low tonight!"
"Indeed!" Teacher Sun next to him nodded and said, "8 to 8, both teams are working extremely hard on defense. Don't look at Link being troubled by AK47, but Karl Malone has also been swept by Link's help defense tonight, shooting 1-for-4."
The Jazz increased their defensive intensity against the Washington Wizards, and the referee's officiating was also quite lenient tonight, leading to very fierce physical contact between the two sides.
Although Link's Perimeter Defense was not outstanding, it was definitely above average. As for his Interior Defense, it was truly impressive... He was matched up against AK47 on defense tonight.
Although Kirilenko had a Three-Point Shot, it was inconsistent, not enough to be a killer. The Wizards chose to let him take some open shots. What was more crucial was that the Washington Wizards gambled correctly; after AK47 missed two open Three-Point Shots, Link defended him even more loosely.
And Link could then devote more energy to help Laettner on defense. Karl Malone had an advantage against Laettner, but facing Link + Laettner, he was equally flustered.
It should be noted that Link's Interior Defense ability now rivaled that of peak Draymond Green.
After the first official timeout, the Jazz did not make any substitutions.
But the Wizards made a lineup adjustment.
Haywood was replaced by Zach Randolph. Of course, Randolph wasn't playing center; he was still at Power Forward. As for Laettner, he shifted up to the center position.
This adjustment by the Wizards, firstly, optimized the interior spacing, and secondly, strengthened the interior's self-creation ability.
After the rotund Randolph came onto the court, he moved according to Link's directions.
Randolph and Karl Malone battled for position in the low post. Malone still had the strength advantage, and Randolph could only get to the mid-low post.
"Damn rookie, are you sure you want to go one-on-one with me?" Malone started trash-talking Randolph.
Although currently a First-Year Player, Randolph was not afraid of Karl Malone at all and immediately started talking back.
"Old man, if I remember correctly, you haven't won a DPOY either," Randolph said.
"Hmph, damn rookie, wait until your bones shatter!!!" Malone threatened fiercely.
On the other side, Link and Laettner played a hand-off two-man game. After Link passed the ball, he immediately cut inside. AK47 on the wing naturally wouldn't choose to help defend, as that would leave Michael Jordan wide open.
Stockton was too short, and once Link got the ball under the basket, it was a classic "big man against small man" situation. Karl Malone on the other side was forced to leave Zach Randolph.
Link received the pass, and Malone rushed over to help defend. Link, almost simultaneously, passed the ball to Randolph on the other side of the basket.
The latter, after receiving the pass, took one dribble. Facing Karl Malone's recovery defense, he quickly adjusted his footwork, turned sideways for active physical contact, faked a shot to get the defender to bite, and then used Malone's momentum to lean on him and complete a hook shot.
A chubby build, a big head, soft touch...
This big black bear not only made the shot forcefully but also drew a defensive foul from Malone in the process.
And-one!
2+1!
It's good!!!
After scoring, Randolph first clapped hands with Link in a good-natured way to celebrate, then flexed his biceps at Karl Malone.
Of course...
Randolph, with his fat-covered muscles, barely showed any muscle definition.