Chapter 109 108. The long-awaited opponent

After the game, the Bobcats players gathered together to celebrate, and the fans at the scene cheered wildly, shouting "Jack", "Wallace", "Felton" and "Brezek".

The Cavaliers are the team with the best record that the Bobcats have ever defeated this season!

The TV commentator said that this was the first time since the Bobcats were founded that their winning rate in a single month reached 5%, with 8 wins and 8 losses. The live camera swept across the audience, and the Bobcats fans were very excited.

The ratings for this game were very high, and many viewers in front of the TV were confused. Isn't it just 8 wins and 8 losses in a single month? Is it worth the commentator to mention it specifically? Is it necessary for the Bobcats fans to be so excited?
At this time, the live broadcast screen showed how long it took for the seven new NBA teams in the past 20 years to get a 7% winning rate in a single month.

The fastest was the Magic. It was not until the fourth season, after O'Neal was selected, that they achieved a 4% winning rate in a single month for the first time in team history in the 92-93 season.

The slowest team was the Grizzlies. In their ninth season, after getting the logo man's "visit" in 9, they achieved their first monthly winning rate of over 02% in the 03-04 season.

Most teams take six or seven years.

The Bobcats did it in their second season!
Charlotte basketball fans are a very weird bunch.

They originally looked down upon the Hornets for only making it to the playoffs. When the Hornets wanted to leave, they not only did not try to keep them, but also collectively stopped going to watch the games. As a result, the Hornets set an embarrassing record since 1983 - the attendance rate for a single game was less than 4%, and there were only more than 7000 people sitting in the Charlotte Arena for that game.

But after the Hornets left, they were no longer happy. When they heard that Robert Johnson and Jordan were going to start a new team, they jointly wrote to City Hall and State Assembly, asking for the NBA to return to Charlotte.

After the Bobcats were successfully established, they looked down on the Bobcats, but at the same time they were paying attention to the team and showing patience, thinking that as long as the Bobcats could rise faster than the Grizzlies, it would be fine...

No matter how awkward Charlotte fans were, they were still excited and happy when the Bobcats showed signs of rising in their second season.

One thing is very important, it is the North Carolina players who lead this Bobcats team to rise!
Felton, a genuine North Carolina player.

Zhang Yang, just tell me whether he is a student of North Carolina or an NBA player.

The Bobcats' other two talents, Okafor, have nothing to do with his game this month.

Gerald Wallace was selected as an All-Star starter by North Carolina students.

Zhang Yang celebrated the victory with his teammates, and then he saw the camera coming... Although it was going to interview Gerald Wallace who scored the highest points in the game, it stayed on him for a while. It was probably because the director asked the commentator to introduce him to the fans. He immediately straightened up and stood steadily.

My nickname is Yang Yang, so I should have some of the attitude that comes with this name.

Zhang Yang noticed that before James entered the player tunnel, his hostile eyes were fixed on Felton and Gerald Wallace. Tsk tsk, it was just a win against him once, so what's the big deal?

I really sympathize with the fat boss and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

...

February 2st, a new month has arrived.

When Zhang Yang woke up in the morning, he missed his mother and his brother. Since no one made breakfast for him, he had to make it himself.

I was eating breakfast while reading the newspaper. Their game against the Cavaliers was on the headlines last night.

The headline is very scary - Felton locks down James in single defense.

It's a complete clickbait title. The content below is about the defensive collaboration among Felton, Gerald Wallace and Perkins. But as a news title, it should be written that way to attract attention.

High school center Perkins made a brief appearance with the help of his fellow No. 1 pick.

Felton and Gerald Wallace became famous in this game. They played really good defense.

Zhang Yang's 21 points in a single game were also praised. At the critical moment when the Bobcats needed someone to step up and continue to score, or needed to score to continue to suppress the Cavaliers, he shot the key shots very well, especially the shot before the end of the first half with a 7-0 lead, when he passed James and entered the basket to make a layup, breaking James' defense and making two misses in a row. It was mentioned in the news.

These four of them have taken advantage of the popularity of James, a top player.

After breakfast, Zhang Yang came to the stadium and saw Boss Qiao taking people on a tour of the stadium.

When Jordan saw Zhang Yang coming, he asked him to come over and meet the big boss, the owner of an airline company, to discuss the naming project of the stadium.

Zhang Yang had heard that it was Time Warner that originally wanted to sponsor the Charlotte Arena, but they failed to agree on the price. Time Warner offered a naming fee similar to that of the Grizzlies and Raptors.

Jordan thought the price was too low. The stadium was not his, and he was just getting dividends. That little money was not enough to share. Besides, the attention their team received was not comparable to that of the Grizzlies and Raptors when they just moved and established the teams, so they chose to open bidding for the naming sponsor.

Zhang Yang guessed that Jordan asked him to meet the big boss in order to win people's hearts. In case the boss of the airline company saw his good image and wanted to sign him as a spokesperson, Jordan could be regarded as the one who acted as a matchmaker and could earn a favor.

He couldn't help but sigh that Jordan was becoming more and more like a capitalist. Five years later, the image of Boss Joe, who rushed in front of all the bosses and passionately confronted the players' union, had begun to emerge.

After saying hello, Zhang Yang returned to the training ground and saw a figure he had not seen for a long time.

"Emeka, you're here for training? I remember Bernie said you can't return to the team for training until after the All-Star Weekend."

Okafor: "The progress is faster than the doctor expected. I have been doing rehabilitation training for half a month. The day before yesterday, I got permission from the team doctor to participate in basketball training."

Zhang Yang: "Don't push yourself too hard. A healthy you is very important to us."

Okafor: "I know, thank you for your reminder. I will wait until I get used to the confrontation, the rhythm of the game, and the feeling of playing again before applying to participate in the game. I have been waiting for two months. I am very patient now."

Zhang Yang nodded and didn't ask any more questions. Okafor also didn't say how difficult the muscle loss process was. They each trained on their own.

It's just about losing weight. Do I have to make a documentary and sell tickets in the cinema?
There was no team training today, so Zhang Yang came to practice passing the ball by himself. After a while, Felton also came and practiced fake moves to break through and then step back for three-pointers.

Felton's breakthrough threat is great, so this trick works very well.

When the two went to have lunch together at noon, they received the news that Felton won the Rookie of the Month award for January.

Felton suddenly became cocky, and Zhang Yang showed some reluctance to accept it. Far from being dissatisfied, Felton comforted Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang had already expected Felton to win the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award.

Secured a starting position, became the core of the back line, and had more ball possession.

After adapting to the game environment and correcting his playing style in November and December, Felton seemed to have undergone a transformation in January. In fact, his strength itself did not improve that much, but his way of launching offense and shooting choices became much better than when he was in college, which looked very different from the preseason.

Felton averaged 1 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in January, ranking third on the team in scoring and highest in assists. His shooting percentage was 7%, which is acceptable for a ball-handling point guard. The highlight is that his three-point shooting has improved significantly. In 42 games in January, he averaged 1 three-pointers per game with a 16% three-point shooting percentage.

As for Zhang Yang, his scoring in January was lower than that in December, averaging only 1 points per game, plus 12 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 4.5 steal and 2.7 blocks. His scores in most games were actually similar to those in December, mainly because he scored fewer high points. In December, he had 1 games with a single-game score of 0.4+, but in January, including yesterday's game against the Cavaliers, he only had two games.

But his shooting percentage has improved. In 1 games in January, his shooting percentage reached 16%. On the one hand, his technique and shooting have improved. On the other hand, it is January now and the strong teams have fallen into a period of fatigue. When playing against the weak Bobcats, they did not pay much attention to a rookie and did not have the energy to target him. His efficiency in singles, off-ball shooting and counterattacks has improved this month.

In the Western Conference, Paul was again the Rookie of the Month, averaging 19 points, 5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2 steals per game. He scored more points than in the previous two months, but his rebounds, assists, steals and shooting percentage were all lower than in the previous two months.

Zhang Yang has paid attention to the performance of the No. 3 rookie in the Western Conference. Paul had a hard time in January. The Hornets, like the Bobcats, used the mid-season to gain wins against strong teams, and most of their opponents were playoff teams. At this time, David West was still suffering from mid-season fatigue and injuries, so Paul was forced to increase his number of shots. His offensive and defensive performances declined, and his efficiency also dropped a lot.

But even so, Paul's personal performance is far ahead of his peers.

The two also heard that Kobe won the Western Conference Player of the Month in January, which was no surprise.

On January 1, Kobe scored 26 points in a home game against the Raptors, and his popularity continued to soar as posters on Nike's official website and various stores turned into a single photo.

Throughout January, Kobe averaged 1 points per game. Billups, who won the Player of the Month award together, scored less than half of Kobe's. Putting the two's stats together feels very inconsistent.

There is no team training. I practice passing the ball in the morning and practicing shooting in the afternoon to accumulate shot points. Another day has passed.

At night, before going to bed, Zhang Yang browsed the forum and saw a piece of news that stunned him.

阿里纳斯学费尔顿去单防詹姆斯，詹姆斯在背靠背第二战23投13中，加上19中12的罚球，拿到38分10板11助攻的大号三双，奇才队被骑士队狂屠23分。

Zhang Yang was shocked - is this what the man who pulled out the gun thinks?

Did Arenas really think that Felton was the one defending James?
Do you really just read the headlines when reading the news, without even reading the content of the news to see how to prevent it?

The Wizards are going to run that defense, with Jamison guarding the rim? That would be a lot of fun!

...

As the saying goes, weak teams have no human rights.

After a day of rest, on the morning of the 2nd, the Bobcats left Charlotte and started another consecutive road trip. This time, they had 6 consecutive away games, and they were in the Western Conference. After the game, they went directly to the All-Star Weekend holiday.

The good news is that we have played seven consecutive home games after the All-Stars Weekend. When it is dry, we will die of drought. When it is wet, we will die of flood.

Zhang Yang was completely relieved when he saw that Okafor did not travel with the team. The center player really just returned to the gym to practice and there was no need to rush.

If Okafor had not listened to the advice and made it so clear, and still insisted on ruining his body, Zhang Yang would not have cared about it later. But he has already listened to the advice and lost weight, so he may not suffer from the injury that destroys his athletic ability in the future, and his future is bright... That means he will be a good teammate and partner in the future, and he must be taken seriously.

On the 3rd, the Bobcats came to the American Airlines Center in Dallas to challenge the Mavericks. In the first game of their 6-game road trip, the Bobcats felt what cruelty was... 1 to 71, the Bobcats were brutally abused by the Mavericks.

Although the Mavericks are only ranked fourth in the Western Conference, their record is 31 wins and 15 losses, ranking third in the league, only behind the Pistons and Spurs. The reason they are only ranked fourth in the Western Conference is that they are in the same division as the Spurs. Under the current division rules, if they are not the top team in the division, they can only be ranked fourth in the division at most.

The Bobcats also played well tonight - defense.

在杰拉德-华莱士贴身防守下，诺维斯基12投仅5中，其中三分球1中0，加上4中4的罚球才拿到14分。

With Nowitzki's current playing style, his personal performance is always miserable when he meets players like Garnett, Kirilenko, and Gerald Wallace.

可惜的是，山猫队这边除了杰拉德-华莱士的15分、布雷泽克的11分、张杨的10分，没有其他人得分上双，费尔顿7投3中只拿到8分4板5助攻。

This year's Mavericks team is both offensive and defensive, averaging 99 points per game and limiting their opponents' average score to 92 points per game. They are too strong.

On the 5th, the Bobcats found comfort at the Rose Garden in Portland.

The Bobcats looked pathetic against the billion-dollar team Mavericks, but they hit hard against the 13-35 Prison Team.

Randolph made 20 of 9 shots, plus 6 of 4 free throws, and scored 22 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. No one on the Bobcats could defend him, not even Okafor in his rookie year.

But Randolph's individual performance did not help the Trail Blazers' overall performance much, as the team only scored 88 points.

张杨15投8中，其中三分球3中1，加上3中3的罚球，拿到20分4板2助攻，新的一个月的首次20+，来得比以往时候更快一些。

杰拉德-华莱士18分6板6助攻4抢断2盖帽；费尔顿10分3板10助攻；卡里姆-拉什和布雷泽克双双拿到15分……106比88，山猫队击败开拓者队，将战绩提升到21胜27负。

6 consecutive away games with 1 win and 1 loss, the record is solid...

The day after playing against the Trail Blazers, the Bobcats came to Salt Lake City, rested for an afternoon, and then came to the Energy Solutions Arena in the evening to prepare for a back-to-back game against the Jazz.

At 7:40 p.m., the Bobcats players entered the stadium first, and Zhang Yang felt the fanatical atmosphere of the Salt Lake City Devils' home court.

This place gave him the feeling of... watching a live European football match?

Looking around, the audience seats were almost all white people, and these people were spewing all kinds of nasty words. This was the most uncivilized group of fans Zhang Yang had ever seen, bar none.

On the way to Salt Lake City, Randy Brown, who played against the Jazz twice in the finals when he was a player, told Zhang Yang about the city of Salt Lake City. The daily lives of the people here are very boring and depressing. The stadiums are one of the few places where people can indulge themselves. These fans come here to vent the pressure from work and life, and watching the game is just a by-product.

Not only were these visiting players scolded, but the Jazz failed to make the playoffs in the previous two seasons, so Salt Lake City fans scolded the Jazz players even more harshly.

Zhang Yang listened to the human-like curses from the Salt Lake City fans for a while. Is this also called the devil's home court?

In terms of basketball, these insults cannot bring him any pressure at all, and are not as great as the pressure brought by pure boos.

As for the content of the swearing, it is not as lethal as the words used by street aunties in quarrels.

Zhang Yang turned his attention back and looked at the opponent, Deron Williams! This opponent, the one he had been waiting for for a long time, was the highest-ranked outside player in the same class.

Felton has been waiting for this opponent for a long time, but his fighting spirit is not so pure, it is also mixed with jealousy.

Zhang Yang asked Felton: "Shouldn't we go say hello?"

Felton: "Why are you saying hello? We are not familiar with each other."

Zhang Yang thought about it and it made sense. The University of Illinois where Deron was studying was not in the Atlantic League, but in the Big Ten Conference. It seemed that Felton and Deron had only played against each other once, in last year's NCAA finals. Felton won the championship, but lost to Deron in the draft. It would be strange if he was willing to go and say hello, so he decided not to go.

Judging from his performance so far this season, Felton is better than Deron, who is only averaging 8 points and 4 assists per game.

But Deron is regarded as the most talented point guard in the 05 class because he scored 20+10 in a single game earlier than Paul and Felton. He currently holds the record for the highest single-game score among the 05 class players, with 28 points.

Deron's average statistics seem ordinary because he was kept on the bench by Sloan in the first 40 games, during which time his average playing time was only about 20 minutes.

Deron scored 28 points in a single game in 22 minutes, and 20+10 in just 25 minutes. Although the 28 points were scored against the Supersonics and the 20+10 were scored against the Suns, both opponents were teams with poor defense, but it was enough to prove his talent.

Zhang Yang had seen news reports at the beginning of the season about Deron complaining about being a substitute and having little playing time. The media had also questioned why Sloan didn't give Deron more opportunities to perform.

Sloan responded by wanting to hone Deron’s character…

It wasn't until 40 regular season games that Sloan put Deron in the starting lineup.

Zhang Yang estimated that the seeds of the rift between Deron and Sloan had already taken root here. It was already the 21st century, but Sloan still handled his relationships with players the same way as in the 80s.

At 7:58 p.m., both teams' starting lineups took to the court.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Kareem Rush, Gerald Wallace, Melvin Eli, and Brezek.

Jazz starting lineup: Deron, Devin Brown, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Jaron Collins.

The Jazz currently have a record of 23 wins and 25 losses, which is not much better than the Bobcats with a record of 21 wins and 27 losses, because their star player Boozer was seriously injured after playing 10 games at the beginning and has not yet returned.

Looking only at the records of the last 38 games, the Jazz's performance is not as good as that of the Bobcats, because the Jazz started with 7 wins and 3 losses, once surpassing the Nuggets to rank first in the Northwest Division, but in the next 38 games they only had 16 wins and 22 losses.

From this perspective, the Bobcats are actually similar. Before Okafor started to get injured, the Bobcats started with 3 wins and 1 loss.

After Okafor was injured, Gerald Wallace, Zhang Yang and Felton were all given more roles.

After Boozer was injured, Deron... was still kept on the bench to temper his temper, but Okur took this opportunity to play well and currently averages 18 points and 9 rebounds per game.

Perhaps this also deepened Deron's dissatisfaction with Sloan...

At 8 o'clock, the game started on time.

Felton and Gerald Wallace launched a fierce attack at the beginning of the game, leading the team to a 10-6 start.

But then Deron and Kirilenko also worked hard and returned a 7-4 wave, chasing the score to 13-14, stopping the Bobcats and entering the official timeout phase.

Felton was jealous of Deron being selected with the third pick, and Deron also bore the grudge of last year's NCAA finals.

Gerald Wallace and Kirilenko were also competing from the beginning tonight, and they actually had little in common.

But this season, Gerald Wallace has often been compared to Kirilenko.

本赛季至今，杰拉德-华莱士出战40场，场均19.2分7.2板3.8助攻2.5抢断2.2盖帽。

基里连科打了42场，场均16.5分8板4.4助攻1.5抢断3.2盖帽。

On offense, Gerald Wallace is better at scoring, Kirilenko is better at organizing offense, and they are basically evenly matched on defense. The former is 23 years old and the latter is 24 years old, so it is normal for them to be compared together. The two also regard each other as competitors because of comparisons by the media and fans.

After the timeout, both head coaches replaced the lineups with one big and four small players. The Jazz: Deron, Devin Brown, Matt Harpring, Kirilenko, Okur; the Bobcats: Felton, Zhang Yang, Matt Carroll, Gerald Wallace, Perkins.

Bobcats offense.

After Felton broke through to close range with the help of Perkins' screen, he encountered Kirilenko's backup defense and felt that the entire shooting space was blocked!
The power forward position is Kirilenko's favorite position. Although his thin body makes him very prone to injury when playing as a power forward, he plays more freely at the power forward position and can return to the inside to defend. When playing as a small forward, he can only shrink his defense like Gerald Wallace. He is not as good at that kind of defense as Gerald Wallace, as he is better at expanding outwards.

Felton didn't force the shot. He immediately turned back to look for his teammates... The little brother didn't let him down! Pass!

After Perkins helped Felton with the pick-and-roll at the top of the arc, he did not cut into the inside, but went to the left wing of the free throw line to screen and block Matt Harpring who was chasing Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang came to the right side of the free throw line to receive the ball, took a step forward to avoid Deron who was switching defense and rushed towards him, and grabbed the ball...

Kirilenko rushed out from the right side of the three-second zone!

The way he waved his arms and rushed towards Zhang Yang made Felton, who had just passed the ball, worry for his little brother.

However, Zhang Yang was not scared. He jumped up immediately after grabbing the ball. His rhythm was not disrupted and his movements were smooth. He shot a jump shot from the free throw line facing Kirilenko who rushed over...

His judgment was correct. At this distance, Kirilenko couldn't block him!
When Kirilenko's hand reached Zhang Yang, the ball had already flown out. Zhang Yang had a good touch on the first shot and it went in!
16 to 13, Zhang Yang scored as soon as he came on the court, helping the team stabilize its position.

His teammates have long been accustomed to Zhang San's ability to take on responsibilities.

But it was the first time for Sloan on the sidelines to see Zhang Yang play in person. He felt unpleasant after watching the first attack... His aura was too much like that of the high school student in Los Angeles, and also like that damn boss of the Bobcats!

……

……

I only wrote 6000 words. Sorry, I will write 1000 more words in the guaranteed update tomorrow. I need to be careful when staying up late to update. I feel a little tired today. I will go to bed early today. I will try to add the next update before 12 o'clock in the evening, so I don't have to stay up late... Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation ticket!
(End of this chapter)