Chapter 105 104. When it comes to getting angry, you have to look at the little brother
Trailing 11-19, Scott called a timeout and replaced JR Smith.

He expected JR Smith to break the deadlock, but the score difference widened from 4 points to 8 points.

Scott was a teammate of Kobe in his rookie year, and he thought Kobe was very stubborn at that time.

But after coaching the Hornets for more than a year, he realized that Kobe couldn't have played any smarter at that time. At least he knew to choose different styles of play when facing different types of opponents, and if he couldn't beat them, he would learn more techniques.

JR Smith plays the same way against everyone, and you can't say anything about him. If you do, he will play even more aggressively.

The high school students on the other side were different. Their defensive choices were smart and their execution was firm. On offense, they also knew how to take advantage of JR Smith's gambling and pressing. When they encountered Paul's good defense, they decisively switched to playing without the ball, making full use of their existing abilities...

After the tryout in June, Scott suggested that the team trade the first-round pick to select Zhang Yang, but the management thought that if Zhang Yang fell to the 6rd pick in the second round, they would be selected. They already had a high school shooting guard. He suggested that the management use JR Smith in exchange for the first-round pick, but his reason was rejected.

Although JR Smith's rookie year performance was not good, he showed talent, which is enough to be traded for a draft pick on the edge of the lottery in a weak draft year, such as looking for Baylor to trade...

But it is precisely because JR Smith has shown talent that management is reluctant to let him go.

Well, now Zhang Yang has shown a talent far beyond JR Smith, and he will definitely be an All-Star player in the future. JR Smith still has to scratch the lottery ticket slowly, and there is no use regretting it.

After the timeout, Paul led the team on a difficult journey to catch up.

Originally, after entering the NBA, it shouldn't be so difficult for Paul and Felton to face off.

Felton has many bad habits when playing basketball. He doesn't know his strengths and weaknesses. He just works hard and is not as good at using his body as Deron.

But Felton corrected and improved his playing style bit by bit according to what was written on the A4 paper. After more than two months, there have been huge changes.

Felton's ability to lead a team alone is 100% inferior to Paul's, but his tankiness is not inferior to Deron, which can just restrain Paul's defensive skills and small moves. His shooting choices are also better, and he is not afraid of one-on-one battles.

More than two months have passed, and Felton has made great progress in one area - he no longer competes with his competitors in everything like before, but instead focuses on his own strengths.

A month ago, Felton's mentality would not be so good, but last month he had very little playing time for nearly three weeks, less than 3 minutes, and sat on the bench for a long time, giving him more time to observe his younger brother's performance on the court...

Paul couldn't get the advantage in one-on-one situations, and he didn't play well in pick-and-roll offense because the players cutting in couldn't contain Gerald Wallace. The one most affected was David West, who was in his third year and had an offensive performance on the verge of an All-Star level, most of which was due to catching the ball and shooting after playing pick-and-roll with Paul.

Pitcher...The biggest problem of the Hornets now is that they have no pitcher, otherwise Gerald Wallace would not dare to defend like that. The Hornets average 3.5 three-pointers per game, tied with the Clippers for last in the league.

It is worth mentioning that the Spurs coached by Popovich, who claims to hate three-pointers the most, ranked ninth in the league with an average of 6.5 three-pointers per game, which is higher than the Bobcats, who averaged 6.3 three-pointers per game.

Paul worked hard to lead the team to catch up, but after the score difference reached about 10 points, it could no longer be narrowed.

In the end, the Bobcats defeated the Hornets 104-95 and won three consecutive games for the first time in team history!
Paul played 42 minutes tonight, made 17 of 8 shots, including 2 of 0 three-pointers, and 6 of 4 free throws, scoring 20 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 steals. He led the team in points, assists and steals, and tied with David West for the most rebounds, but still failed to catch up.

His playing style has already exposed a big problem - his personal ability represents the upper limit of the team's strength.

When he leads the team, his teammates do not have much autonomy in choosing their playing style and they all have to play the way he wants.

Of course, if Paul is strong enough, it doesn't matter, he can just sweep them all away, but unfortunately he is not strong enough at the moment.

If the opponent's performance exceeds Paul's ability to cope, it is difficult for them to make any effective response... Except for the variable J.R. Smith, Paul and J.R. Smith can only give the ball to this teammate when they are on the court at the same time. Firstly, he cannot command this teammate, and secondly, a teammate with such potential must be given a chance.

But now JR Smith can only average 7 points per game, and the number of times he can be the center in a season cannot be counted on one hand.

费尔顿今晚15投7中，其中三分球4中2，加上5中5的罚球，拿到21分3板6助攻1抢断，得分表现出色。

杰拉德-华莱士大杀四方，15投9中，外加8中6的罚球，拿到24分6板3助攻3抢断2盖帽。

Zhang Yang did not try to steal the spotlight from Little Fatty. When he wanted to match up with Kobe, Little Fatty passed the ball to him without hesitation. When Little Fatty met an opponent he was eager to defeat, he of course had to play a good supporting role.

He did what he was supposed to do, dealing with sophomore high school player JR Smith, creating space and counterattacking. He was very efficient tonight, making 9 of 5 shots and 3 of 2 free throws, scoring 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block.

After the game, Zhang Yang watched Felton run to Paul and show off. For some reason, he really hoped that Felton couldn't help but punch the fat guy... You can take a screenshot and make an emoticon package!
The day after playing the Hornets, the Bobcats came to Orlando, the last stop of their five-game road trip.

After arriving at the hotel, Zhang Yang was surfing the Internet to kill time and saw some fans arguing over Paul and Felton!

Previously, fans had a unanimous opinion on which rookie was the strongest in the 05 class, with Paul far ahead.

After this game, fans' opinion remains unchanged. 20+7+11+3, Paul is the only rookie this year who has achieved such data.

The point of contention among fans - whether Felton restrained Paul.

Zhang Yang took a look at the quarreling posts and felt that these fans could not be considered fans of Paul or Felton at the moment. They could only be said to be paying attention to them and were interested in them. They definitely had tendencies, but the quarrel was not really for them, but to defend their own views.

Zhang Yang also saw the topic comparing him with JR Smith.

JR Smith is also considered a talented high school student who is highly anticipated by fans, but there is no suspense in this comparison, as fans overwhelmingly favor Zhang Yang.

Some fans joked that even if JR Smith copied Zhang Yang's brain and added his own brain together, he still wouldn't be as good as Zhang Yang.

After a night's rest, the Bobcats came to the away game to challenge the Magic... and lost 92 to 104.

今晚山猫队做得最好的一点是杰拉德-华莱士和帕金斯的组合把霍华德防得只拿到5分10板，但特科格鲁拿到了18分7助攻、尼尔森19分、德肖恩-史蒂文森21分……投手们投开了。

The Bobcats and Hornets simply have the conditions and hope to rise.

The Magic have really shown the characteristics of a strong team. When Nelson, Turkoglu and Howard took the court with two pitchers, they had already demonstrated a very complete team system.

Now they are waiting for Hill's contract to expire and Francis to be traded.

Francis has been put on the trading shelf by the Magic. Although he is currently the player with the highest average points and assists per game on the Magic, his playing style has actually been separated from the three core players of the Magic. When he has the ball, his teammates are either shooting or cutting in to grab the ball. There is no tactics at all. They just let him put up good numbers in the way he is best at and show his abilities to his next team.

Hill was out again in mid-December, his sixth consecutive season.

The Bobcats' three-game winning streak ended, with a record of 3 wins and 15 losses.

They have achieved a record of 5 wins and 3 losses in 2 consecutive away games, which is quite good for them. At least they won all the opponents they should have won.

At noon on the 9th, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte and looked at the empty house, feeling a little uncomfortable. His mother had gone back to Yinshan the day before he left for the 5-game tour, and now he lived alone... It was so cool!

It's nice to live with my parents during the holidays, but when I'm working, I feel more comfortable living alone.

After playing five consecutive away games against the Bobcats, the team got two days of rest. The team did not arrange any training on the two rest days. Zhang Yang also took a rare day and a half of rest to read some books, play some games, and relieve his physical and mental fatigue.

Thanks to his youth and the passion brought by the game, Zhang Yang did not feel tired during the consecutive away games. He felt that anything could be solved by a good sleep.

But after the feeling of being pushed forward brought by the '5 consecutive away games' faded away, Zhang Yang felt both physical and mental fatigue coming, and he decisively chose to give up the training and not force it.

After relaxing, resting and recharging, on the morning of the 11th, he felt like he was alive again and threw himself into training with greater enthusiasm.

He had a new motivation - to 'brush' his talent and increase his stamina limit!

Now, he only plays a few minutes in a game, and he comes off the bench. The defensive matchups arranged by the coach are usually easy, and he is not the one who can handle the pressure on offense. With the vitality of young people, he can still cope with it. Wait a few more years? Although the upper limit of physical talent has been raised to 92, he still feels that it is not enough!

In the evening, the Bobcats narrowly defeated the Raptors 104-101.

With more than 20 seconds left and the team leading by 3 points, Zhang Yang missed the shot from the right side of the free throw line. Finally, Mike James scared him when he threw a three-pointer, but fortunately the opponent didn't make it either.

Mike James, a model of a comeback player, was not selected in 98 and entered the NBA in 00. After joining the Rockets last season, he relied on Yao Ming's containment to play his worth... Later, he was sent to the Raptors by the Rockets due to a disagreement with McGrady. After joining the Raptors, he ushered in the peak of his career. So far this season, he has averaged 20 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6 assists per game, and his efficiency is very good. His shooting percentage is 46%, and he averages 44.1 three-pointers per game with a 2.1% three-point shooting percentage. Zhang Yang remembers this comeback player. After this season, the Rockets wanted to go back to their old club. McGrady, who was too tired to play without help from the outside and was injured for consecutive games, also participated in the recruitment. Mike James pretended to accept the invitation of his old club at first, but after walking around the Rockets and McGrady for half a month, he turned around and joined the Timberwolves.

The last time Zhang Yang saw news about Mike James was in 2014. He was shocked at the time that he retired at the age of 39 and was still a starter for the Mavericks at the age of 12 in the 13-38 season.

After defeating the Raptors, the favorites for the No. 16 pick, the Bobcats' record was 19 wins and 5 losses, which was a surprise to Charlotte basketball fans. Then... they suffered a -game losing streak.

98比104憾负雄鹿队、93比114惨败活塞队、91比96憾负魔术队、76比94输给马刺队、88比104被步行者队复仇，战绩暴跌至16胜24负，胜率又回到了40%。

They can only struggle against the Bucks and Magic, who are around the top eight in the Eastern Conference, but they really can't beat the other three opponents.

They were beaten badly by the league's top Pistons and the Western Conference's top Spurs.

The Bobcats had beaten the Pacers twice before when the Pacers were having internal strife.

After the Pacers sent Artest away in exchange for Peja, O'Neal Jr., Stephen Jackson, Jamal Tinsley... and others tried very hard to cooperate with Peja, wanting to prove that they could perform well with another outside scorer. The whole team was united, and with their experience of partnering with top pitchers, they quickly got used to each other, and had a record of 15 wins and 9 losses in 6 games before the match against the Bobcats.

It is impossible for the Pacers to recover the 6-1 record before the Palace of Auburn Hills incident, but they can still compete for the title of the strongest team in the Eastern Conference outside of the top three.

Facing the Bobcats who had taken advantage of their weakness and hit them hard, the Pacers exacted a bloody revenge.

Finally, on January 1nd, Xiao Pao is here to bring warmth!
During the five-game losing streak, Zhang Yang, Felton, and Gerald Wallace tried hard to win in every game, but they never won. Finally, they faced an opponent with a worse record than theirs, and the three brothers went into crazy mode.

Paul felt helpless facing the three guys who were desperate to lose because David West was injured!

Paul had no choice but to fight, making 18 of 7 shots, including 4 of 0 three-pointers... His three-point shooting percentage this season was already less than 12%, and now it is even worse, plus 12 of 26 free throws, he got 6 points, 7 rebounds and assists.

But apart from him, only two players on the Hornets scored in double digits, PJ Brown scored 13 points and Rasual Butler scored 11 points.

JR Smith saw Zhang Yang getting carried away again and wanted to go wild... but as a sophomore, he had the ability, and when opponents paid attention to him and made the right defensive choices against him, his aggressive nature could only be directed at himself and his team. Just look at his shooting percentage since he entered the NBA a year and a half ago, just under 39%. He played for 15 minutes tonight, made 7 of 2 shots, including 5 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, for 7 points.

When JR Smith was on the court, he basically faced Zhang Yang's defense. For him now, encountering Zhang Yang's calm defense was like encountering his nemesis.

山猫队这边，杰拉德-华莱士16分7板5助攻3抢断3盖帽、费尔顿22分6助攻、张杨15分6板2助攻、伊莱9分11板、布雷泽克18分8板、马特-卡罗尔11分、卡里姆-拉什10分5助攻……6人得分上双，山猫队以107比92击败黄蜂队，终结连败！

After the game, Felton went to Paul to show off again. This time, Zhang Yang followed him and expressed his gratitude to Paul for his warmth. He also said that if the opponent was unhappy about losing, he could punch him and asked him to take a screenshot and make an emoticon as a souvenir... Paul turned around and walked into the visiting team's player tunnel without looking back.

Felton gave Zhang Yang a thumbs up. No matter how annoying he was, he was still his younger brother on the court.

...

After defeating the Hornets, the Bobcats' record is 17 wins and 24 losses.

41 games have been played and the regular season is halfway through.

That night, Zhang Yang returned to his apartment and analyzed his personal progress over the past half season and the areas that needed to be strengthened.

It has been nearly 4 months since the training camp started. The most obvious improvements are in three-point shooting and passing. His passing shot exceeded 60 at the beginning of the month, and his three-point shooting also increased to 5 during the 60-game losing streak. Those two bars are finally gone.

The mid-range shot improved to 79, entering a bottleneck period, and the layup reached 83, which is considered a rapid improvement; the strength increased to 90 as the weight reached 79 kg, the speed was 92, the jumping rate was 84, with no major changes, and the physical strength increased by two points to 84; the technical aspect cannot be seen on the panel, but I feel that there has been a lot of improvement, such as the European step to attack the frame, the turn to attack the frame, and the stride to attack the frame, which can also be used in positional warfare, unlike at the beginning when he could not use them in positional warfare.

Zhang Yang readjusted his training plan based on the experience gained during the five-game losing streak, which he has actually been doing during the season.

As for the team, the current winning rate is just over 40%. Zhang Yang feels that this is probably the best performance they can achieve at the moment. It is impossible for the team to make a qualitative improvement in strength in a short period of time. They can only wait for Okafor to come back.

It would be fine to trade to strengthen the backcourt, but he found that the team had no intention of trading and there were really no good chips. Apart from him, Felton and Gerald Wallace, only Brezek and Perkins could be considered valuable chips.

Perkins was traded back to serve as a meat shield, helping Gerald Wallace reduce his injury risk and allowing Okafor to not have to worry about countering Howard.

As for Brezek, the team already lacks an inside scorer. Without this one, the only inside player they have left who can score is Melvin Eli. Trading Brezek for an outside player with comparable trading value is probably not as good as not trading him... If Okafor comes back and stays healthy, that's another story.

From a personal perspective, Zhang Yang doesn't really want the team to trade back a guard, as that would mean he would have fewer opportunities to train... People are always selfish, and he is the same. Of course, if he can really strengthen the back line, he won't refuse.

There is no such thing as a break when the regular season is halfway through. The All-Star Weekend is the real 'halfway through the season'. The 'season' in people's eyes refers to the 7 months from the training camp to the end of the draft. February, when the All-Star Weekend is held, is the middle of the season.

On the 24th, the Bobcats will face the Bucks at home.

In the first half, the Bucks scored 26 to 23 and 27 to 23 respectively, leading by 7 points at halftime and having the upper hand. However, in the third quarter, Mo Buchuan, Most Improved Player Bobby Simmons, and Ford missed shots in succession, and the basket seemed to have blocked their shots.

Reed was the only Bucks player to score in this quarter, making 11 of 6 shots and scoring 14 points. His teammates scored no goals in running games and only got 0 points from free throws.

The Bobcats seized the opportunity and launched continuous counterattacks, scoring 34 points in a single quarter. At the end of three quarters, they overtook the Bucks by 80 points with a score of 71 to 9!
Zhang Yang played for 8 minutes in the third quarter and scored 11 points and 2 assists, the first time in his career that he scored in double digits in a quarter! The youngest person on the list +1!

In the final quarter, the Bucks' performance improved and they scored 28 points in a single quarter, but the Bobcats withstood the pressure of the opponent's counterattack and scored 23 points in the final quarter.

In the last 9 seconds, Reed missed a three-point shot while stepping back against Gerald Wallace's defense. Zhang Yang stepped in to grab the rebound. The score difference was 4 points. He didn't play anymore and the opponent didn't choose to commit a tactical foul, so he had to use up the remaining seconds.

103 to 99, the Bobcats narrowly defeated the seventh-ranked Bucks in the Eastern Conference, avenging their defeat a week ago!
张杨今晚机会抓得很好，15投9中，其中三分球3中1，有4球是反击进球，加上4中3的罚球，拿到22分5板6助攻2抢断，拿下本赛季第5次20+！

After two consecutive wins, the Bobcats suffered two consecutive losses, losing 85-91 to the Heat and 97-104 to the Wizards.

The game against the Heat was actually quite good. Gerald Wallace and Perkins did a good job of encircling Wade. They limited the Heat's score to just over 90 points, but the opponent's defense was better.

Against the Wizards, they lost to the Big Three, with Arenas scoring 23 points, Caron Butler scoring 24 points, and Jamison scoring 22 points. This trio was too much for the Bobcats.

On the verge of another losing streak...the Bobcats found warmth in Houston!
The Bobcats challenged the Rockets away. This time, Zhang Yang finally competed with McGrady on the same court, and all four shooting guards checked in.

But it is difficult for Yao and McGrady to appear in the same frame. This time McGrady returned from injury, while Yao Ming was injured.

Yao Ming's injury has a much greater impact on the Rockets than McGrady's injury.

Without McGrady, the Rockets' offense can't get going, but the defense can also be weakened. Without Yao Ming, not only can the Rockets' inside offense not get going, but their defense also plummets.

费尔顿13分8助攻、杰拉德-华莱士16分、伊莱12分、张杨15分、马特-卡罗尔16分、布雷泽克18分……山猫队6人得分上双，拿到106分！
Not only did the Rockets fail to defend, they also played poorly on offense. Although McGrady had a super-giant stats of 33 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, his shooting performance was only 29 of 13. He had a difficult time tonight. Apart from him, the only players who scored in double digits were Juwan Howard with 12 points and... Chuck Hayes with 13 points!

It all depends on Hayes to score!
The Bobcats' defense against McGrady can be described as a team-wide siege, even more thorough than their defense against Kobe, who at least had Odom and Kwame Brown by his side.

With Yao Ming absent and the other Rockets players performing so poorly, the Bobcats players, who had just been beaten by the Shaq and the Wizards' Big Three and who were jealous of the sight of superstars, had to fight hard against McGrady.

In the end, in front of the incredulous gaze of Chinese fans in front of their televisions, the Bobcats slaughtered the Rockets 106-78.

After defeating the Rockets, the Bobcats' record is 19 wins and 26 losses, which is definitely not a good record. With this winning rate, if calculated based on 82 games, it would be less than 35 wins. It would be difficult to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. It would take an estimated 40 wins to make the playoffs this season.

But the Rockets have a worse record, 17 wins and 29 losses!
After watching the live broadcast of this game, domestic fans questioned the term "championship contender Rockets".

The media positioned the Bobcats and Rockets, two teams with Chinese stars, as follows: the Bobcats are an underdog team where Zhang Yang is leveling up; the Rockets are championship contenders where Yao and McGrady are the new OK combination.

Even though the Rockets had a poor record this season, fans believed this statement under the media propaganda, thinking that as long as Yao and McGrady recovered and reunited, the Rockets would be able to dominate the league and win the championship like the OK combination did in the past.

There weren't so many channels for information dissemination back then, and many people believed whatever the media said because Yao Ming had just started playing basketball.

In the opening game, the Bobcats beat the Rockets thanks to Zhang Yang's buzzer beater. The domestic media's evaluation of that game was that the Bobcats were upset.

But this game shook the fans who firmly believed that the Rockets could compete for the championship.

They think that Yao Ming and McGrady are really strong. Even though the Bobcats defended them like that, McGrady still had a performance of 33+8+6 on the offensive end. But the other players of the Rockets do not seem to be as strong as the Bobcats, which are described by the media as the 'bottomless fish', 'weak team', and 'leveling team'!
Moreover, the Bobcats still have their best rookie Okafor who has not returned!
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(End of this chapter)