Chapter 151 150. Then let’s consume each other!

Zhang Yang attacked from behind, dunked over Yao Ming, and ran away after landing.

After running out of the three-point line, Zhang Yang turned around and gave Yao Ming a "yeah" sign, then high-fived his teammates who had retreated back to celebrate.

When Zhang Yang saw Yao Ming positioning himself to grab a rebound in the last round, he had this idea... The main reason was that Yao Ming's position when defending Felton was too close to the inside. In the reasonable collision zone, when Zhang Yang went around to the free throw line, he saw Yao Ming standing there and rushed in without thinking.

He actually didn't judge where the ball would land, but he believed Yao Ming had.

When this type of standing center positions himself to grab rebounds, the position he stands at is usually where the ball will land.

In the offense-defense transition, Yao Ming went to the low post and roughly blocked Perkins to ask for the ball.

Alston passed the ball to Yao Ming. Yao Ming received the ball and knocked Perkins into the basket in two steps. He grabbed the ball, turned around, lifted the ball... and passed it!
The ball flew past Okafor who was pulling in, and Juwan Howard received the ball and made a mid-range shot in the left elbow area!
Okafor didn't expect Yao Ming to pass the ball calmly at this time, and Zhang Yang's provocation had no effect!

Moreover, the pass was fast, accurate and well-timed. This big guy's hands were incredibly delicate!

When Zhang Yang returned to the basket to pick up the ball and serve, he passed by Yao Ming and saw the little giant glance at him out of the corner of his eye.

He knew that he had backfired.

It's Yao Ming's fifth year in the NBA, and he has been provoked countless times.

Zhang Yang also has a deep understanding of this.

If Zhang San hadn't provoked the little giant, the little giant might have rashly retaliated, but when he provoked him, the other party calmed down.

When it was the Bobcats' turn to attack, Felton continued to hold the ball and attack. Alston was very close to him, so Felton did not continue to force his way into the inside and looked for Perkins to set a pick-and-roll.

Juwan Howard came out to block Felton's shot, and Alston left Perkins open, blocking the pass between Felton and Okafor.

Felton's long shot was still blocked, so he had to break into the inside.

After Perkins broke away, he didn't notice Zhang Yang running around the three-point line from the left corner and cutting towards the basket.

Felton rushed in and joined Perkins. On Okafor's side, McGrady also doubled over and joined Alston in cutting off the pass. Only Gerald Wallace was left free, and Felton quickly passed the ball.

Gerald Wallace received the ball and rushed inside...

Yao Ming was defending, and McGrady retreated to the position in time...blocked!

After McGrady completed the block, he grabbed the ball himself and launched a counterattack!

Zhang Yang retreated to the backcourt, and McGrady rushed into the inside, grabbed the ball and jumped to dunk towards Zhang Yang... Zhang Yang was quick-eyed and quick-handed and slapped the ball that McGrady raised, destroying McGrady's counterattack, but he failed to get the ball, and the ball hit the ground and bounced out of bounds.

McGrady spread his hands towards the referee, but the referee ignored him. Zhang Yang's cut was very clean.

McGrady did not insist, he was just giving it a try. He didn't have that many whistles. Except for the year he won the scoring title for the first time, when he had many breakthroughs and averaged 9.7 free throws per game, in other seasons, he averaged at most 7 free throws per game.

Zhang Yang let out a long breath. The game had just begun, but he already felt tremendous pressure.

The reason why McGrady was able to cut off the ball just now was purely because he was too confident and ignored the existence of Zhang San.

If McGrady had been more cautious, or passed the ball to Alston who was following up on the wing, Zhang San would have been helpless.

However, Zhang Yang’s pressure did not come from the opponent’s counterattack, but from the opponent’s defense. The Rockets’ defense was too good!

Yao Ming was holding the basket, Al Thornton and Juwan Howard were blocking his shots from the outside, and McGrady was helping to double-team on the wing...the team's offense simply couldn't be started!

The Rockets fell into a positional battle. Yao Ming did not continue to ask for the ball in the low post, but moved to the wing to stand in a supporting position.

Alston passed the ball to McGrady for a one-on-one shot.

Zhang Yang saw this scene and thought the Rockets point guards were really interesting. In the 04-05 season, Bob Sura looked down on Yao Ming and only passed the ball to McGrady. Now, Alston looks down on McGrady and gives priority to Yao Ming...

McGrady broke through Gerald Wallace in a single play. Gerald Wallace chased him and formed a double team with Perkins to attack McGrady. McGrady made a strong shot from close range... and missed!
Okafor secured the defensive rebound and passed the ball to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang launched a counterattack, but Battier came close to defend him and restricted his speed. Zhang Yang turned around and bypassed Battier to rush to the frontcourt. Alston blocked him. Yao Ming ran back after McGrady shot and had already advanced to the three-point line. Zhang Yang had to stop and wait for his teammates to get into position for a positional battle.

Felton continued to try the pick-and-roll, this time looking for Okafor.

In the last round, he looked for Perkins, hoping to see if he could pull Yao Ming out. Even if Yao Ming did not come out to defend the pick-and-roll, it would be good if Okafor could pull him to a position slightly away from the three-second zone. However, the opponent's defense was so good that it made his scalp numb, so he could only look for Okafor to pick and roll.

But the effect was not good. After Felton broke through with the help of a screen, he was sandwiched by McGrady and Juwan Howard on the right side of the three-second zone. Gerald Wallace cut in from the baseline, and Yao Ming had already returned to the basket!

Fortunately, Felton was calm enough. He used his strong body to protect the ball and passed it to Zhang Yang who came over to receive it.

Zhang Yang single-handedly played against Battier in the mid-range in front of the basket, made a fake breakthrough and then took a step back jump shot!
The step-back shot he learned from Frank Hamblen had an uncanny rhythm that fooled most people, but not Battier.

Battier basically didn't jump when defending, nor did he retreat in a hurry. He knew there was someone behind him, so when Zhang Yang stepped back, he pressed forward immediately.

Zhang Yang stopped the action of raising his hand to shoot midway through his step back, grabbed the ball firmly, and stood up again after landing.

Zhang Yang had already stopped the ball and could not dribble it anymore, so Battier jumped up to interfere.

Zhang Yang was not afraid. Even though his vision was blocked, he took action decisively... and hit it!
4 to 4 draw!
Although the game was a tie, the Bobcats were under more pressure!
After playing for several rounds, Zhang Yang only scored two goals, one by tip-in and one by a strong shot against the defense.

When the Rockets attacked, McGrady received the ball in a high position, took a triple-threat stance facing Gerald Wallace, and suddenly jumped!
With quick movements and an extremely fast jump, before Gerald Wallace even jumped up, McGrady had already raised the ball above his head... and made a long two-point shot!

When McGrady shot, the other Rockets players retreated directly.

Felton pulled back to receive Zhang Yang's serve, and most of the opponents had already retreated to the center line.

In the past four seasons after the Rockets selected Yao Ming, they have averaged 4 more rebounds per game than their opponents, but this is mainly due to their good protection of defensive rebounds. Their offensive rebounding has always been at the bottom. Although their second offense is poor, they do a very good job of retreating, and their ability to control the tempo is not inferior to that of the Spurs and the Pistons of that year.

Bickerstaff wanted to call a timeout to adjust.

He wants to replace Perkins with Jumaine Jones to strengthen the offense. Although that will make the interior defense extremely weak, their opponent is Yao Ming, the strongest center in the league today, but the interior combination of Okafor and Jumaine Jones may be able to suppress Yao Ming like Boozer and Okur.

At the end of last season, rookie Deron, together with Boozer and Okur, gave Yao Ming a lot of trouble.

But when he saw Felton calling on his teammates to move during the game, he suppressed the idea of ​​calling a timeout and wanted to see what their on-court leader could do.

Then I saw the others move away, and Felton rushed inside to interfere with Yao Ming's shot...

Bickerstaff was speechless. Why was Xiaofei so stupid this time... eh?

On the court, Yao Ming interfered with Felton's shot, turned around and held off Gerald Wallace who rushed in from the wing, and paid attention to the movement of a certain player No. 3. At this time, Okafor squeezed to the point where the rebound landed before Juwan Howard, and Yao Ming quickly moved up and took the rebound before Okafor using his height advantage.

After the offense and defense switched, McGrady continued to launch the attack alone.

Bickerstaff's eyes were not directed at Gerald Wallace and McGrady, but at Yao Ming and Perkins... Yao Ming pulled away, and Perkins took the initiative to stick to him and entangle him.

After McGrady scored a goal, he continued to pull up from the same position.

He was too proud to take any opponent seriously, but Gerald Wallace was not an opponent to be despised.

Gerald Wallace seized the opportunity to jump and interfere, forcing McGrady to fade away and shoot...

The pull-up shot was not in rhythm to begin with, it was purely based on the feel, McGrady missed the shot!

Zhang Yang retreated from the bottom corner to grab the defensive rebound and started a fast break!

The Rockets fought hard to retreat and block the fast break initiated by Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang did not force a shot. He could not attack himself and it was not a good opportunity for his teammates to pass the ball. After entering the three-point line, he stopped and pulled out.

After his teammates got into position, Zhang Yang and Perkins set a pick-and-roll. Juwan Howard blocked the mid-range shot. Zhang Yang rushed into the paint and performed a European step against Yao Ming...

Yao Ming is not fooled! He can cover the basket by standing on the arc of the reasonable collision zone, without having to move around like those jumping men.

Yao Ming moved up only after Zhang Yang landed on his second step. Although he failed to block the shot, he did greatly interfere with Zhang Yang's shot.

After interfering with the shot, Yao Ming took two steps back, blocked Gerald Wallace who was rushing in, and grabbed the rebound.

Attrition tactics?
Bickerstaff saw through Xiaofei's strategy and nodded. This strategy was safe and would definitely work.

Compared with this strategy, Bickerstaff felt that his own strategy was too radical.

He has seen the most critical comments about him - the difference between Bickerstaff and a truly top coach is that he loves gambling too much. When coaching an ordinary strong team, he can lead the team to perform far beyond expectations in the playoffs, but when coaching a truly strong team, you will see that there are so many fancy ways to commit suicide.

The two most successful seasons of his career were the 86-87 season, when he led the 39-43-ranked SuperSonics to the Western Conference Finals. The other was the 93-94 season, when he served as general manager and coaching consultant, and led the 63th-ranked Nuggets to defeat the -win SuperSonics.

When he was young, Bickerstaff would not have thought he was wrong, but now he is in his sixties and seeing Felton, a second-year player, so calmly direct his teammates to make more prudent responses...

On the court, Zhang Yang also thought about whether he could imitate the Jazz, but he killed the idea as soon as it came out.

He and Felton have above-average pick-and-roll talent and ability, but they certainly can't compare to Deron.

Okafor is no match for Boozer in terms of pick-and-roll and mid-range shooting.

There is no need to compare with Okur, who is a star with fringe All-Star strength and an annual salary of tens of millions. Jumaine Jones is just a spot shooter.

Once the consumption strategy is implemented, it will definitely be effective and prevent Yao Ming from having a good rest.

But just by doing this, everything is not fine. There is another superstar on the opposite side!
As long as the Yao-McGrady duo are both healthy, the Rockets will be a team with more than 50 wins, and they are in the Western Conference, so most of their opponents are strong teams in the Western Conference.

Seeing McGrady receiving the ball and advancing, Zhang Yang knew that T-Mac was serious!
McGrady advanced to the three-point line and broke through!

Gerald Wallace followed McGrady's first step, but McGrady's next two steps were getting faster and faster. After Gerald Wallace reached the free throw line, he was already behind McGrady.

Okafor shrank into position, McGrady jumped towards Okafor, dodged Gerald Wallace who jumped up to block the shot from behind, and made a layup!

6 to 4, the Rockets lead by two points!

In the offense-defense transition, Zhang Yang faced Battier's defense and did not break through directly like McGrady. Instead, he continued to look for Okafor for pick-and-roll to open up the interior space.

Zhang Yang successfully shook off Juwan Howard with the help of a screen and broke into the inside. After landing with the second step of the European step, he was covered by Yao Ming again. This time he passed the ball!

Gerald Wallace ran back and shook off McGrady, cut in and received the pass from Zhang Yang, and forced a shot against Juwan Howard who was coming back... It missed, but caused Juwan Howard to foul.

Gerald Wallace felt good about free throws tonight and made both!

After 4 minutes of play, the two teams were tied at 6-6!
With such efficiency, the TV commentator couldn't help but complain that it was difficult for both teams to score more than 20 points in the first quarter.

While the commentator was complaining, the Bobcats reached a new level of intensity!
The characteristic of McGrady's breakthrough is that the first three steps are getting faster and faster. He starts from the middle distance and the distance to the basket is too short. Gerald Wallace can follow more closely and create greater interference, but he starts from outside the three-point line and if he wants to defend him, he has to rely on the inside.

Okafor is not as good as Perkins in defending against breaking players, but if Perkins wants to consume Yao Ming, it is definitely Perkins who will consume Yao Ming through physical combat on the court.

When the Rockets attacked, Okafor chose to fight with his defensive target Juwan Howard. When McGrady broke through the top arc and passed Gerald Wallace, Okafor left Juwan Howard open and moved to the defense to block McGrady.

McGrady passed the ball to Juwan Howard, Juwan Howard received the ball at the right baseline and took a mid-range shot...missed!
The bet was right! Okafor excitedly turned around to grab the rebound, dodged McGrady's pressure and passed the ball to Felton, who passed the ball...

Zhang Yang’s chance to counterattack finally came!

He received the ball, dribbled past Battier from behind and rushed to the front court.

Battier couldn't keep up, only Alston caught up.

But Alstom could not withstand Zhang Yang's charge, and Zhang Yang did a good job protecting the ball. When Zhang Yang rushed to close distance, Alstom chose to get out of the way. Zhang Yang jumped, passed the ball to his left hand, and slammed it into the frame with one hand!
Maddie wants to curse!

There was a big open space under the basket, but Juwan Howard didn't cut in. Instead, he stood at the baseline. After receiving the ball, he didn't break into the basket, but chose to shoot from the mid-range... It was so infuriating to watch.

Can you imagine a power forward who plays more than 30 minutes per game and only takes two shots at the rim? Juwan Howard did that last season! And his shooting percentage was an astonishing 50%, which is ridiculous!
Perkins and Kwame Brown are terrible at catching the ball, but they still have a 60% shooting percentage.

Of course, there is another problem with these two people eating too much cake, which is that they easily get butter hands.

But McGrady held back from cursing. He had been with the Rockets for so long, and he had offended almost all of his teammates, with only Juwan Howard being his old teammate...

It was the Rockets' turn to attack again. McGrady received the ball outside the three-point line and continued to break through as he watched Okafor roughly fight around Juwan Howard.

Sure enough, Okafor double-teamed the defense immediately.

McGrady didn't pass the ball this time. He stopped before the two opponents formed a double-team, jumped up and shot... and made a quick stop jump shot from close range!

It was the Bobcats' turn to attack. Felton broke through and passed the ball. This time he successfully passed the ball to Okafor. Okafor was double-teamed by McGrady and Alston. After passing the ball again, Zhang Yang quickly moved to the right side of the free throw line to receive the ball. He quickly shot before Battier could get close to him... and it went in!
10 to 8, the Bobcats are leading by two points again!

On the field, it seemed that the Bobcats took the initiative.

But Bickerstaff on the sidelines looked solemn.

5 points were scored in more than 10 minutes, 8 of which were scored by Zhang Yang!
(End of this chapter)