Chapter 102 101. Nash: This rookie protects the ball like me!

On December 12, the first game day after Christmas, Zhang Yang was embroiled in controversy again. He woke up from a deep sleep after a day of training, and his mother told him that he was criticized by fans of Carter and Wade because he was on the All-Star starting voting list announced by the league yesterday afternoon.

After Yang Jing told Zhang Yang about this, she went back to her study, saying that she wanted to wield the keyboard to argue with netizens.

Zhang Yang looked at his mother's back, speechless... But he also wanted to play with the keyboard, but he couldn't because he had to do his morning exercises.

He felt that he was not innocent in being criticized. If he was selected as an All-Star starter, not to mention the popularity he would gain from the All-Star weekend, AJ's bonus would be a real benefit.

In his contract, AJ received a $500 million incentive bonus, of which $300 million was specifically set aside for being selected as an All-Star.

Being selected for the best team does not necessarily mean popularity, but being selected for the All-Stars will definitely allow you to show your face in front of the fans.

Similarly, the sneaker endorsements of those two people must have similar treatment. Zhang Yang is not sure about Carter, but Zhang Yang has asked Wade, who is also a signed player of AJ, and they all have it. The market standard price is that the first contract is 100 million US dollars for being selected as an All-Star once, regardless of whether you are a starter or a substitute.

There is also a hidden benefit - increased bargaining power in the next contract.

This is the money you earn, it’s not shameful.

He came to the living room and looked at little Wukong sleeping soundly in the crib. He poked him, but he didn't wake up. He poked him again, but he still didn't wake up! He put his hand in front of his brother's nose... and he was breathing.

The sleep quality is really good. Am I a little monkey or a little pig?

After complaining a bit, Zhang Yang, feeling relieved, went to the gym for half an hour of morning exercise, returned to his room to take a shower, and when he wanted to go to the study to check the public opinion, he saw his mother still in front of the computer, reading and laughing.

Oh my god! My mom is mad at the trolls?

He leaned over to take a look, eh?
Didn't Carter and Wade's fans scold him? Why did he quarrel with fans of Iverson, Kidd, Kobe, McGrady, Ray Allen, etc.?

This season, fans of Carter and Wade have been arguing over who is the second best shooting guard in the Eastern Conference.

The first is naturally Iverson, who averaged 32 points per game, far ahead of all players in the Eastern Conference. Only James and O'Neal can be compared with him in popularity. Other shooting guards in the Eastern Conference can only compete for second place in terms of popularity and strength.

Carter and Wade, the two teams have similar records, both are at the 50-win level, strong teams in the Eastern Conference.

In terms of statistics, Wade has higher points and assists, while Carter is more comprehensive and is good at mid-range and long-range shooting.

In direct confrontation, the Nets and the Heat have played twice so far, with each winning one game.

At present, the two are evenly matched, and the fans argue fiercely.

Half a month ago, fans of both players started arguing about who should be the other All-Star starting guard this year, and were ready to "make the list". However, after the league announced the voting list on the 26th, the media predicted that Iverson and Zhang Yang would be the starting guards in the Eastern Conference, and fans of both players were instantly upset.

The key is that they think the media's predictions are correct. It has only been a few years since Yao Ming was selected as an All-Star starter in his rookie year, surpassing O'Neal.

Without O'Neal to split the votes last season, Yao Ming directly became the All-Star vote leader.

Of course, Yao Ming averaged 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game this year. He ranked first in the league in rim protection and second in low-post offensive efficiency, so it was no surprise that he won the voting title.

But Zhang Yang is just a substitute, whose strength is even worse than Yao Ming in his rookie year. Why should he play as a substitute in a weak team to score points and practice?
It's no use criticizing the league. In terms of shamelessness, no player can match Stern, not even all of them combined.

So Carter and Wade's fans all pointed their spearheads at Zhang Yang.

Although Zhang Yang has a high level of popularity in the United States, he does not have many fans.

The few people in Charlotte are really no match for the fans of these two players, mainly because they lack confidence. They also think that the arguments made by the fans of these two players that Zhang Yang is not worthy of being an All-Star starter are reasonable.

But although the niche fans of Zhang Yang, a "niche star", do not have the confidence to argue with the fans of those two players, there are others to help them.

First, it was the fans of Iverson and Kidd who went to war with the fans of Carter and Wade.

Iverson's fans originally went to watch the show, they were not panicked at all. Zhang Yang occupied an All-Star starting guard position, and there was another one who didn't. Anyway, the one who was not selected was not their answer.

But unexpectedly, the fans of both players actually criticized Iverson, saying that Iverson couldn't even make it to the playoffs with an average of 32 points per game. The insults were so ugly that Iverson's fans immediately came off the court to start a fight.

Kidd's fans didn't have any opinion on the All-Star starting lineup. Their Kidd is not a popular superstar. If he can make the starting lineup, then so be it. If not, then so be it.

However, Kidd's fans and Carter's fans have always been at odds.

Carter's fans are dissatisfied with the media and other fans saying that Kidd is the strongest player of the Nets, and believe that their Carter will become the boss of the Nets if he joins the Nets.

Kidd fans naturally disagree with this statement and often argue with Carter fans.

Kidd fans originally went to the forum to watch Carter fans' fun, but then they saw Carter fans saying that Kidd was able to get so many assists with Carter's help... Kidd fans joined the battle.

As the argument went on, the fans of the four also pulled the fans of Kobe, McGrady, Ray Allen and Nash into the battle.

I don't know whose fans said Kobe couldn't make it to the playoffs without O'Neal, and that Nash would be abandoned by the Mavericks if he didn't rely on the NHC rules.

Some people also say that McGrady is a glass man. How could he be selected as an All-Star starter after playing in those few games? He is just trying to take advantage of Yao Ming's popularity.

There are also fans with a sense of superiority who mock Ray Allen for never being selected as an All-Star starter.

Carter fans and Wade fans cannot be said to be united. At the beginning, the two fans joined forces to fight against the crowd, but as the argument went on, they began to curse at each other.

As a result, the fans of the most popular defenders this season quarreled with each other, and the targets of the initial criticism were ignored...

...

There were fewer scoldings, but for some reason Zhang Yang didn't feel very happy about it.

In the eyes of the fans of those big guys, he is just a little Karami. When they quarrel with fans of other stars, they have no time to criticize him.

After breakfast, Zhang Yang came to the gym to prepare for the game.

The fans' attention shifted to the verbal battles among the fans of several outside players, while the media's focus was still on Zhang Yang's inclusion in the All-Star starting voting list. Many media outlets went to Charlotte to interview Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang chose to keep silent about this matter. For now, he just wanted to make money quietly.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Bobcats will face the Suns at home.

Although Stoudemire was out this season, Nash still led the Suns to a third-place record in the Western Conference and fourth in the league. As the leader of the Pacific Division, the Suns ranked second in the Western Conference.

What they rely on is still the crazy run-and-gun style that swept the entire basketball world last season.

As the fourth strongest team in the league, the Suns naturally would not take the game against the Bobcats too seriously, but their offense was still extremely strong. They scored 4 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, leading the Bobcats 10 to 6 and forcing the Bobcats to stop.

Zhang Yang came on as a substitute and asked Felton for the ball in his first attack after the timeout.

It was rare for the little brother to ask for a ball, so Felton chose to indulge him.

Felton could see that Zhang Yang was very excited tonight... No, he was excited every time he met a top player, but he was particularly excited tonight.

The one defending Zhang Yang was pitcher and point guard Eddie House.

Eddie House pressed forward to defend Zhang Yang and tried to steal the ball.

Zhang Yang easily protected the ball, leaned sideways to Eddie House, suddenly turned left to leave Eddie House behind, rushed two steps into the three-point line, and made a quick stop jump shot... and it hit!
Nash, a bystander, opened his eyes wide after watching Zhang Yang's singles. This high school student's ball protection is just like him!

Not only the ball protection, but also the action of actively turning sideways to stick to the opponent and then turning around to rush forward was exactly the same as his!
Could this high school student be his fan? Nash was in a good mood. Although his popularity has increased significantly in the past two years, this was the first time he had encountered a young player who learned to play like him.

And he is the youngest genius in NBA history!
It just doesn't look like a pull-up jump shot, it's too straight and doesn't have his coolness at all.

Not only is he unlike him in this respect, he's a bit like that 17-year-old high school student in his class... I can't stand it!

During the transition from offense to defense, Nash quickly advanced to the frontcourt. He was very excited to see that it was Zhang Yang guarding the top arc. Marion ran out to pick and roll, and Nash waved his hand: "Go away, Sean, I want to challenge the youngest NBA player!"

Marion paused and stepped back with a strange look on his face.

Others on the court also looked at Nash with strange eyes.

Sophomore Kobe wanted to challenge Jordan in a one-on-one duel, and rookie Zhang Yang wanted to challenge Kobe in a one-on-one duel. Regardless of whether they could win or not, the players on the court felt that they were very courageous.

Nash, the newly crowned MVP and the top favorite for MVP this season, is yelling that he wants to duel with a 17-year-old rookie?
Have some shame! You can't beat a 17-year-old high school student in a singles match, so you come to bully this guy who just entered the league?

When Marion went for pick-and-roll, no one thought he thought Nash couldn't beat Zhang Yang in one-on-one play.

When Nash was on the Mavericks, he was selected as an All-Star reserve and third team thanks to his one-on-one scoring. Nowadays, no one thinks Nash is not good at one-on-ones.

The purpose of Marion's pick-and-roll is to bring Gerald Wallace out of the paint, allowing Nash to organize the offense more easily...

Nash didn't notice the strange looks from the people around him. He had only one thought in his mind - to give the fans a personal teaching!
Nash used his rhythm flow to break through, seized the opportunity, dribbled the ball sideways, and started to rush forward!

Zhang Yang defended very hard, but still failed to stop him. Nash stopped suddenly at the free throw line, facing Gerald Wallace who was rushing towards him, and made a sexy horse-riding and archery-style stop jump shot... and it hit!
After scoring the goal, Nash turned around and saw Zhang Yang yelling, "Serve! Serve! Quick, quick, quick!"

Melvin Eli under the basket quickly picked up the ball and passed it to Felton. Felton was led by Zhang Yang and pushed forward with all his strength. Zhang Yang saw the ball and immediately ran down, and Gerald Wallace quickly followed.

Nash's words "See, no rookies, this is a real pull-up jump shot" were stuck in his throat and he hurried to catch up.

Eddie House, Marion, Kurt Thomas and Dio also hurried to catch up.

When Zhang Yang received the pass from Felton in the frontcourt, all five Suns players rushed back, but it was no different whether these five players retreated or not... We can't say that there was no reason for the Bobcats' counterattack!
Zhang Yang rushed to the left side of the three-second zone, and three opponents blocked him, leaving Eddie House sticking to Felton at the top arc.

Zhang Yang made a lob pass, Gerald Wallace crushed Nash into the basket, jumped over Nash, caught the ball in the air, and ignoring Nash, slammed the ball into the basket!

Nash got up from the floor and looked at the Bobcats' big three who were celebrating and retreating at the same time. He was too embarrassed to say "I'll teach you the correct posture for a pull-up jump shot".

He was very angry now, but his favorable impression of Zhang Yang increased.

The way this rookie yelled for fast breaks and made bold passes also looked like him!
So, first impressions are very important. Nash was originally just a little curious about what a 17-year-old high school student was like in singles, and then because Zhang Yang's ball protection was like his, he developed a liking for him and couldn't help himself...

But Nash is not in the mood to teach right now, so he’ll just beat the opponent first!
On the other side, Felton, who was celebrating as he retreated to the backcourt, asked Zhang Yang, "Didn't the coach tell us to slow down the tempo? We can't slow down the tempo, let alone defend, if we play like this."

Zhang Yang: "If we slow down the pace, can we defend against them? Can we beat them? We might as well attack them, at least it will be more fun."

Felton: That makes sense!
Gerald Wallace on the side did not simply accept Zhang Yang's statement when he heard it. He had long discovered that when Zhang Yang had no time to explain, he would first perfunctorily answer Felton, who was stubborn.

Given Zhang Yang's usual cautious and calm image on the court, Gerald Wallace felt that Zhang Yang must have believed that playing fast was more effective.

There was no time, so he didn't ask any further questions and just did it.

To be honest, Gerald Wallace was a little envious of the friendship between Zhang Yang, Felton and Anderson. He did not enjoy that kind of emotion, and he could not integrate into the small team of the three brothers. Although his age was not much different from Felton, he entered the NBA four years earlier.

Zhang Yang may not be able to lead his teammates to play fast, but Gerald Wallace and Felton, the two players competing for the leader position, can.

Led by the two, the Bobcats focused on offense and increased their speed.

On the Suns side, Nash became serious after being crushed by a dunk and led the Suns to launch a more brutal offense than in the first half.

However, the Bobcats players felt that the game was not as difficult as in the first half. At least they were not completely powerless to fight back.

Even if they can't defend, they can still score, at least they can keep the score close!
首节比分29比31、第二节比分28比26，第三节比分23比33，末节比分28比27……

纳什13投7中，其中三分球2中0，加上11中10的罚球，拿到24分2板15助攻，率领太阳队以117比108击败山猫队！
Although the Bobcats lost the game, after the final whistle, the fans gave the players warm applause and encouragement.

This game was much more exciting than last season's match against the Suns!
In the two encounters last season, the Bobcats were defeated 83-114 and 85-110 respectively. Not only did they lose, but they lost particularly ugly.

The Suns' defense, along with the Raptors and SuperSonics, is known as one of the three worst defensive teams this season. Even the Hawks and Warriors, the worst defensive teams, cannot be compared with these three teams.

This is also the reason why the Suns' games are so exciting. As long as the opponents are willing to fight, the score gap will never be too big.

On the contrary, those teams that tried to defend the Suns but had average defensive capabilities and poor offense due to the slow tempo were slaughtered by the Suns.

And it’s not that the Bobcats were without chances to win, as they tied the score in the first half.

In the final quarter, they also won 1 point by fighting hard.

It was only in the third quarter, which was the period that best demonstrated their ability to allocate physical energy and offensive continuity, that they scored only 23 points in that quarter, while the Suns played their best quarter of the night, winning by 10 points in the quarter.

张杨今晚出场时间创进入NBA以来新高，刚好30分钟，16投9中，其中三分球2中1，加上6中5的罚球，拿到24分6板5助攻2抢断。

The pace was fast, he had a lot of rebounds and counterattacks, and tonight he had a lot of passes that led to direct assists, setting a new personal high for assists in a single game.

He just doesn't care about the number of assists, he will get them if he can.

The highest scorer of the game was Gerald Wallace, who scored 29 points. Most of the assists from Zhang Yang and Felton during fast breaks were digested by Gerald Wallace.

Tonight, he felt the power of peak Nash. He took the initiative to recall the first experience in the 10th timeline. The Nash at that time was very different from the Nash tonight.

Scoring and assisting come easily!
He and Felton, Anderson and Bogans took turns defending Nash, but they only limited the opponent to 2 of 0 three-pointers.

He knows Nash's breakthrough methods and how Nash will break through. He thinks about how to defend against him before the game and before going on the court, but he can't defend against him whether it is pick-and-roll or one-on-one defense. The same technique performed by different people has completely different effects.

After losing the game, Zhang Yang could only act like an Ah Q - I scored as many points as Nash, had more rebounds and steals than him, but only had fewer assists than him. We lost, but we didn't lose completely.

When leveling up in a bad team, you must learn some ways to adjust your mentality, otherwise you will lose motivation and ambition like those geniuses who unfortunately entered the Warriors, the future Kings, the Timberwolves and other teams.

In the third experience of the 10th timeline, Zhang Yang discovered a new gain - an improvement in his awareness of playing simple balls!
It's not easy to play against strong teams. It's not easy for them to create simple ball opportunities. In most games, he still has to patiently observe the opponent's defense and seize the opportunity to run to the receiving point. The time can't be too slow, otherwise the opportunity will be gone, but it can't be too fast, otherwise the defender can cut off the passing line...

But it is still worth playing against the Suns, a team that ranks in the bottom three in defense.

Looking forward to playing against the Suns next time! They really have a chance to win tonight, they must seize the opportunity next time!
What Zhang Yang didn't know was that Nash on the opposite side was also looking forward to playing against him next time.

Nash was so immersed in the game tonight that he forgot about that matter. The main reason is that the Suns' style of play destined them to be unstable. They had several upsets last season. This season, the Little King was reimbursed, and their ability to attack in positional warfare declined, and the probability of upsets is higher. After defeating the Bobcats, their record is 19 wins and 9 losses, and 9 of the 4 losses were to the bottom ten teams.

Nash made up his mind that next time they played, he would give Zhang Yang a "live lesson", definitely next time!
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1.2 words today, please vote for me and give me recommendation votes! A friend just reminded Xiaofeng that the recommendation votes have reached , so I will add more chapters~ Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, if I finish writing the guaranteed words early, I will add more recommendation votes! Please vote!
(End of this chapter)