Chapter 106 105. Just be happy about this kind of thing
Why do domestic media insist on putting the Rockets in the category of "championship contenders"?
Why did the Rockets get rid of all their quality players and just come up with a new OK combination?
Because most people admire the strong, they may not have touched basketball before, they just follow the NBA because of Yao Ming.

"Champion" holds a very high status in the minds of Chinese people. "Friendship comes first, competition comes second. If you compete with me for the championship, I will kill you." As long as you start paying attention to the NBA, you will know the OK combination that dominated the league in previous years.

Super giant Yao Ming, slogan champion and OK Dynasty, the combination of the three attracted maximum attention.

The media and the Rockets have a cooperative relationship. In the 04-05 season, publicity and promotion expenses ranked second on the Rockets' expenditure list, second only to player salaries and higher than management salaries.

This is very rare in the NBA. The Knicks, Lakers and Cavaliers, three teams with high publicity and promotion investments, combined do not have as much as the Rockets.

Of course, there are also some fans who look at the Rockets' strength rationally no matter what the media says, and some even feel annoyed by such hype, but the Rockets' target audience is not this group of people. They only need to firmly grasp the audience they want and continue the popularity to make money.

Many domestic media praised Zhang Yang while belittling the Bobcats because they did not want Zhang Yang's performance this season to affect the image of the "Yao-McGrady combination" in the minds of the audience.

Such a huge investment in publicity and promotion has brought rich returns. The owner of the Rockets went from being the poorest boss in the NBA to having his net worth soar to the top 4 in the league in less than four years, and the net worth is still rising.

But fake is fake, and the game between the Bobcats and the Rockets tore a hole in the hearts of the Rockets' target audience, and they began to doubt what the media said.

The hole is not that big, but once there is suspicion, the lie will eventually be exposed... The main reason is that the domestic fans here don't necessarily have to have the Rockets as their home team.

Zhang Yang didn't know that he had inadvertently done something that had a major impact on the domestic basketball circle. If he had known, he would have tried harder to do better next time.

Defeating the Yao-McGrady duo was one of the things he wanted to accomplish most when he entered the NBA.

If he adds the goal of exposing the Rockets' lies, he will be even more motivated.

However, if he wants to compete with Yao and McGrady, he will have to wait until next season.

...

The day after playing against the Rockets, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team.

I saw January 1th on my phone, and another month has come to an end.

So far this month, we have played 15 games and achieved 7 wins and 8 losses.

They played 11 games in November and December, with 12 wins and 15 losses each time. It seems that the improvement is very small, but Zhang Yang knows that they have improved compared to the previous two months. While waiting for the plane in the morning, he saw in the newspaper that they also made great progress this month.

Because the opponents in the first 15 games this month are stronger than in the previous two months, and most of them are at the playoff level.

Facing these opponents, their overall performance was much better than in the previous two months, and they also defeated the Bucks, who were ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference, once.

They basically won all the opponents they should have won. When they played against the Hornets, who were previously considered to be of similar strength to them, they won both games, which was a very impressive performance.

Tomorrow is the last game of this month. Zhang Yang hopes to get a 50% winning rate in a single month, but it is very difficult because the opponent is the Cavaliers, a -win team among the top three teams in the Eastern Conference.

他主动回忆了一下10时间线和热火队的总决赛……感觉没什么参考价值，11-12赛季的詹姆斯比起10-11赛季的詹姆斯，打法都有本质上的变化。

In the 10-11 season, he was fast and fierce, with unparalleled impact. On the defensive end, he was indistinguishable from positions 1 to 4. His overall performance was not inferior to MVP Rose. If his defense was taken alone, he could compete with Howard for the best defensive player.

But in the 11-12 season, James' offense became simpler, and his defense also changed a lot because of his excessive weight. He was more than 10 kilograms heavier than Bosh, a center, and weighed more than 120 kilograms. Although he could withstand Howard's impact and protect the rim like a center, he was basically unable to defend against agile guards.

The difference was so huge in just one year, and now it's been many years... Let's end the reminiscing and seal the memory again. If we want to study the current James, it will be better to watch the video.

The next day, January 1st, the last competition day of the month arrived.

In the morning, Bickerstaff simply conducted a defensive training session on double-teaming and defending wing shooters. He ended the team training just after 9: and let the players rest.

In the middle of the season, the schedule is tight, the opponents are strong, and the body is exhausted after playing more than 40 games...prevent injuries.

The coaching staff focused their attention on Gerald Wallace and made the decision to prohibit him from extra training.

Gerald Wallace did not resist the arrangement.

Although he is reckless, he is not stupid. On the contrary, he is very smart. Trying his best is his work attitude and he attaches great importance to his physical health. If he gets injured during a game, it is heroic, but if he gets injured due to exhaustion during training, it is really stupid.

After the team training, Zhang Yang only planned to practice three-point shooting for half an hour before going to rest and watch the game video.

As he was practicing, he heard cheers from the lounge.

Before he could even express his curiosity, he saw the fat little boss running out like a rolling rat.

Felton ran and shouted, "Jack, you're selected as an All-Star starter!"

Without waiting for Zhang Yang to respond, Felton pulled Zhang Yang back to the lounge.

When his teammates saw him coming, they all shouted "treat us".

As per convention, it's time to treat a guest when he's selected as an All-Star.

The TV in the lounge was playing the program where the league's vice president was jokingly announcing the All-Star starting lineups. The Eastern Conference had already announced theirs, and the Western Conference was about to be announced.

Zhang Yang looked at the top five votes for each position in the East posted next to him.

Center: O'Neal ranked first with 219 million votes, Ben Wallace ranked second with 124 million votes...

Forward: James is the Eastern Conference star with 226 million votes, Gerald Wallace is second with 133 million votes, Jermaine O'Neal is third with 124 million votes, and Grant Hill is fourth with 106 million votes...

后卫：艾弗森216万票第一，张杨193万票第二，韦德111万票第三、卡特103万票第四、基德76万票第五、马布里71万票第六、费尔顿59万……

Being selected as an All-Star starter was expected, but when Zhang Yang saw the number of votes for forwards, he was surprised and said, "Gerald, you surpassed O'Neal and became an All-Star starter!"

Felton, who was originally excited about his younger brother being selected as an All-Star starter, was no longer so excited after hearing this. He said sourly, "Yeah, not only did you make it, but Gerrard also took advantage of your popularity to get into the All-Star starter."

His little brother was actually taken advantage of by someone else, he was a bit petty!

However, Gerald Wallace is currently the strongest player in their team. Half a season has passed, and Gerald Wallace has made great progress compared to the beginning of the season. Even if Okafor comes back, it is hard to say who is the strongest.

In terms of strength, Felton recognized Gerald Wallace. If you don't recognize the strength of your competitors, what's the point of competing? Who is taller between two short guys? Gerald Wallace smiled and said, "Yes, Jack, thanks to you. If it weren't for you, I would never have the chance to be selected as an All-Star starter in my life."

Zhang Yang responded, "It's mainly because you are strong, Gerald, and the Pacers collapsed. If they hadn't had that fight last year, at least one of Artest and O'Neal would have been selected as an All-Star starter. Even if I could get you some votes, it would have been hard to win. You see, O'Neal only played more than 30 games, and you only surpassed him in the last 10 days of voting. He was ahead of you in votes before that, and it was mainly because of your own strength that you won the fans' recognition at the last moment."

Felton complained: "Jack, you are too calm, All-Star starters! You are All-Star starters!"

Zhang Yang: "Of course I am very happy, but I was far ahead in the first round of votes, and in the second round, I was 70 votes ahead of Carter, who was in third place... I have already been too excited, and now I might as well think about how to face the criticism from the media and fans of my competitors."

Felton: "Yeah, I remember Yao Ming was selected as an All-Star starter in his rookie year, overpowering O'Neal, and he was scolded badly. Jack, I wish you strength."

Gerald Wallace analyzed: "There is already a precedent. The media and fans have already had psychological expectations. Jack, you will definitely not be scolded as badly as Yao."

Anderson on the side smacked his lips and said nothing. He was used to the fact that the topics of conversation among the bosses always went off track.

After a while, the starting lineups for the Western Conference All-Stars were announced.

Yao Ming won the All-Star vote with 256 million votes, 165 million more votes than the second-place Camby in the Western Conference center position.

西部前锋：麦迪181万票、邓肯162万票、加内特149万票……；西部后卫：科比233万票、纳什195万票、吉诺比利94万票、雷-阿伦79万票、帕克71万票……

Zhang Yang took a look and found that it was pretty much what he expected, Kobe and Nash were leading by a large margin in popularity among the Western Conference backcourt.

McGrady is already a popular player, and when partnered with Yao Ming, even though his attendance rate is low, he is still the most popular forward in the Western Conference.

There is only suspense about the two No. 21s. In the past six seasons since the All-Star Weekend was resumed in the 99-00 season, Duncan and Garnett have been competing for the most votes in the Western Conference forward in five seasons. Except for the 6-5 season when Webber was selected as an All-Star starter, the other five seasons were dominated by the two No. 00s in the Western Conference All-Star starting positions. This time, Duncan won.

Seeing Zhang Yang's calm look, Felton drove his little brother out of the lounge to train, and now he looked a little annoyed.

The fat boy focused his attention on harassing Gerald Wallace and asked Gerald Wallace to treat him to a meal.

As for the younger brother, Xiaofei couldn't bring himself to cheat him. The key was that he couldn't cheat him. The most he could do was to ask the younger brother to treat him to a meal. The younger brother was too young and couldn't even go to high-end clubs.

...

After the All-Star starting lineup was announced, Zhang Yang encountered controversy again.

However, as Gerald Wallace analyzed, the public opinion bombardment Zhang Yang encountered was far less than that of Yao Ming in 03 and Kobe in 98.

When Zhang Yang was included in the All-Star voting list, fans already had psychological expectations. When the first round of votes were announced, it was certain that Zhang Yang would be selected as an All-Star starter like Yao Ming in his rookie year. Even fans of Carter and Wade stopped struggling and focused on comparing with fans of other stars to see whose star was better.

As for Gerald Wallace being selected as an All-Star starter, the fans didn't have much objection.

There are not many popular forwards in the Eastern Conference. Hill is out again, O'Neal Jr. is constantly injured, Tianzun is unpopular, Webber's performance on the 76ers is shocking and his efficiency is not as good as that of the guards... there is no one else.

Fans can accept that Gerald Wallace, who has an explosive and entertaining style of play and averages 2 steals and 2 blocks per game, was selected as an All-Star starter.

Rather than complaining about the Bobcats' two All-Star starters, fans complained more about this year's All-Star head coach.

The Pistons with 39 wins and 7 losses and the Spurs with 36 wins and 10 losses are currently ranked first in the East and West, and have a clear record gap with the second place in their respective divisions. The head coaches of both teams have basically secured the All-Star head coaches.

Some fans expressed despair - will the nightmare of last year's finals be repeated at the All-Star Weekend?
The Pistons' playing style this season is actually completely different from before. They are an integrated offense and defense team. Their games are as entertaining as the Timberwolves during the Three-Headed Monster period. They have been at the top of the league since the beginning of the regular season, but their game ratings are lower than last season.

Many people don’t know that the Pistons changed their style of play this season, or even that they changed their head coach, because the psychological shadow left by last season’s finals was too deep…

As for the media, more people analyzed how much money Jordan would make from this move than those criticized Zhang Yang for being selected as an All-Star starter as a substitute rookie.

At the beginning of the season, before training camp started and before Zhang Yang had played a single preseason game, Jordan couldn't wait to buy shares in the Bobcats. At the time, he was ridiculed by the media, but now he is praised.

Those teams that did not select Zhang Yang are regretting it to death.

Not only was Zhang Yang selected as an All-Star starter, he was also able to lead his teammates into the All-Star starter!

What is the biggest significance of having two All-Star starters? Money!

By the afternoon, the benefits of having two players selected as All-Star starters were apparent to the Bobcats - the Bobcats announced ticket prices for February, with an average increase of 2%, and prices for good seats even doubling.

Even with such a huge price increase, the Bobcats have no trouble selling!
Half a month ago, at the end of the NCAA mid-season break, North Carolina publicly stated for the first time that Zhang Yang is North Carolina's NBA star and a member of the North Carolina basketball family.

With the official stamp of North Carolina, Zhang Yang's recognition among basketball fans in the Carolina area has greatly increased. Now that Zhang Yang has been selected as an All-Star starter, fans will surely flock to him even more.

Zhang Yang was busy for most of the day.

Not long after the All-Star starting lineup was announced, he began to be interviewed.

At noon, I finally had a break, and saw a bunch of congratulatory text messages and missed calls on my phone...

I replied to text messages from Yao Ming, Paul, Kobe, Iverson and others, whom I had met once or twice but was not familiar with.

I called my parents, high school head coach, DeRozan, Harden, Tatum... and others one by one.

Friends and relatives were very excited about his selection as an All-Star starter, and he was of course very happy too, but he chose to keep his happiness to himself and not show it. He knew that he was not good enough to be an All-Star. When he was interviewed, he kept praising the other All-Star starters, and he himself... just had to be happy secretly.

The agent was also very calm and called him just before the warm-up time in the evening to inform him of the bonuses he would receive from various endorsement brands for being selected as an All-Star starter, the interviews he would need to accept, and his work arrangements during the All-Star weekend.

After hanging up the phone with his agent, Zhang Yang focused his attention on warming up and preparing for the match, as it was another opponent he was looking forward to.

At 6:40 in the evening, Zhang Yang stood at the entrance of the player tunnel, looking at the last man to enter the stadium - LeBron James.

It is hard to say what James will be like in the future. When a person reaches the top, both the person and the heart will change. But now James is strong, plays violently, and his games are very entertaining to watch... He is the leader of the new generation of players!
……

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There will be an extra update tonight~It’s hard to say when, I’ll update as soon as I finish writing, and it’s okay for friends to read it in the morning~Xiaofeng will eat instant noodles and continue writing~Please give me monthly votes and recommendation tickets!

(End of this chapter)