Chapter 158 157. Premonition of Cat Fear
In the lounge of the home team's training ground, the boss helped a few people sit in front of the computer, opening a website, closing it, opening another website, closing it, opening a forum, closing it... Their expressions were like this -

Today is the 15th, a rest day. We have played 4 games in the past 3 days. Although we won easily last night, Bickerstaff still did not arrange any training, mainly to let Gerald Wallace rest more. This guy works too hard and has the highest risk of injury in the team.

However, after the boss arranged for these guys to have lunch together, they still came to the gym for extra practice in the afternoon.

Before the training started, Okafor said that today's news was very interesting and asked Zhang Yang and Felton to go and have a look. The two went to have a look, and their three younger brothers Anderson, Matt Carroll and Rondo also followed to join in the fun.

At the suggestion of senior Muhammad, Rondo joined the big boss gang and followed Felton.

Muhammad will not join either the boss gang or the fighting group. His role is to be the locker room leader and provide experience. Usually, Felton and Gerald Wallace lead their own teammates. He does not need to do anything. He just acts as a mediator in case of conflicts among teammates.

So he usually plays with two veterans who are not on the active list. He thinks that if Rondo plays with him, it will easily create a distance between him and his teammates. Rondo is too arrogant, and only by joining them can he better blend in with the team.

Among the four core players in the team, the boss gang occupies three of them, so he naturally suggested that Rondo go with Felton.

Rondo was much more interested in Zhang Yang than anyone else on the team and accepted the suggestion.

There are 14 players in the team, and the boss gang has already recruited 6 of them. Felton is actively recruiting Hermann to occupy "half of the team"...but after almost two months of knowing each other, the progress bar has been stagnant. To be precise, the progress bar has not been started at all. After work, other people either read books or go to the rooftop to write books while enjoying the breeze. Okafor, who likes to read books and has a wide range of literary knowledge, can chat with Hermann enthusiastically.

Okafor was not willing to help Felton recruit members for the small group. Although his teammates regarded him as a member of the big gang, he himself did not actually recognize this kind of small team. It was just that besides him, the only two people with bachelor's degrees in the team were Felton and Herman, and he spent more time with Felton and Zhang Yang.

They browsed the websites of mainstream American sports media and scanned the forums. Under the guidance of ESPN, fans were discussing the topic of "James shoulders the dignity of the 03 class."

Fans discussed this a lot, and the major media also reported on this topic in order to compete for traffic...

Zhang Yang closed his notebook and said to Okafor, “Emeka, you are taking revenge on society!”

Okafor turned his head away, pretending not to understand.

Felton didn't understand and asked, "Jack, how does this have to do with revenge on society?"

Zhang Yang: "He read the news and felt uncomfortable. He felt that he was not willing to be the only one feeling uncomfortable, so he wanted to make us feel uncomfortable too. If everyone feels uncomfortable, he would feel less uncomfortable."

Felton: "Emeka, you are going too far!"

Okafor: “…”

At this time, he felt that having a smart teammate was quite troublesome, and his little tricks were seen through at once.

He decisively changed the subject: "Do you think James can represent the 03 generation?"

Felton immediately said: "Wade just won the FMVP, why does James represent the 03 generation?"

Alan Anderson: "Anthony has made the playoffs every year since he entered the NBA, and he has never missed a single one. James only played in the playoffs for the first time last season, and he has never won a single playoff game."

Rondo rarely interrupted: "Hinrich's leadership performance is better than James'. He started to enter the playoffs in his second year."

Zhang Yang: "James' team is very good at seizing opportunities. The Nuggets collapsed at the beginning and just lost to us. O'Neal of the Heat was injured at the beginning. Payton, Mourning, Walker, and White Chocolate had no motivation to fight after winning the championship. Their performance declined significantly. Wade played very hard, but the Heat only had 4 wins and 4 losses. We have a high chance of winning against the Heat. Among these three opponents, only the Cavaliers, who are third in the Eastern Conference, pose the greatest threat to us. They seized this opportunity and created an image for the fans that James is the representative of the 3 class. They are very smart."

Felton: "Very smart, but also really shameless!"

Zhang Yang: "And they are hyping up the 'New Bad Boys'. If we lose tomorrow, then James will have 'saved the dignity of the 03 generation'. If we win, ESPN can continue to hype up James' 'tragic story' and continue to associate him with the God of Basketball."

Felton: "Then won't we suffer a loss regardless of whether we win or lose?"

Okafor: "As long as we win, we won't lose, but James will win regardless of whether he wins or loses."

Felton: "Is that so... But I still feel like I lost! We won, and he continued to touch the God of Basketball. We can't lose. We've won 6 games in a row, and we're going to break the team record..."

Okafor: “…”

Oops, something bad seems to have happened. Xiaofei’s brain seems to be overloaded. How can he tell Felton not to care whether his opponent makes money or not and to focus on winning his own game?

With Xiao Fei's train of thought, it's really hard to persuade him...

At this time, Zhang Yang said: "If we win, we can lose less."

Felton's train of thought came to him immediately: "That's right, it's a loss, so the less loss, the better... Come on, Jack, let's practice cooperation, Lajan, come and help me."

Okafor was speechless. It turns out that this is possible. Just go along with it...

The time for digestion after the meal was over, and several people came to the training ground. England was already calling the trainer to prepare for training.

Alan Anderson practiced wing three-pointers, Matt Carroll practiced long-distance running and then catching the ball and chasing three-pointers, and Okafor practiced face-to-face and back-to-the-basket footwork.

Rondo continued to adjust his shooting hand shape, correct his shooting action and force habits with the help of Engelland. The road ahead is long and difficult, so during the breaks in training, he would help his new boss practice small-scale cooperation.

Rondo recognizes Felton's strength, good basic skills, good playing habits and passion.

In terms of passing, Rondo feels that Felton is better than him in terms of basic passing skills. His passing accuracy and strength are both top-notch, but it is too rigid. He only has two ways of passing - tactical coordination and tacit understanding.

When neither tactics nor tacit understanding can be established, Felton generally won't pass the ball, even when facing the defense. He will try to avoid mistakes if he doesn't see more opportunities.

Rondo, who has been known as a genius in organizing offense since he was a child, feels sorry to see a player with such good passing basics but so rigid in organizing offense. But he is also glad that if Felton had his talent in organizing offense, there would be no place for him in this team.

Before coming here, Rondo was reluctant to join, but after playing a few games and winning all the time, his sense of belonging continued to grow…

Felton does not have a very good court vision and does not have a sudden talent for passing, so it is easy for Rondo to teach him. He just needs to tell Felton the non-tactical cooperation methods he and Zhang Yang used when they partnered.

Zhang Yang and Rondo's offensive organization belongs to the "stream of consciousness", while Felton belongs to the "stream of experience".

Felton, on his part, studied very hard and did not feel ashamed just because the opponent was a rookie. He often went to role players like Herman and Matt Carroll to learn shooting tips. Why couldn't he do the same?

He had a lot of fun playing as a double point guard with Rondo, and he always got the ball when the opportunity came. He liked the rookie.

But Rondo's passing talent still puts a lot of pressure on him, he must improve!

After seeing his younger brother's performance in his rookie season, Felton personally felt that there really are geniuses in the world that are beyond the reach of ordinary people, and he didn't want to fall behind!
...

On November 11th, the Bobcats will face the Cavaliers at home.

A large number of media flocked to Charlotte, and Jordan accepted the request for interviews during the open preparation stage.

If Jordan had the mentality of a player, he would definitely refuse to be interviewed and would talk about it after winning. But as a boss, he must make good use of the traffic brought by James.

At present, they are still the ones who are just trying to get traffic.

The reason why the title of "New Bad Boys" can be hyped up is actually because of the high attention paid to James. Even if it was Wade or Anthony, not many people would pay attention to the media's attempt to create such a confrontational topic. It would be better to bring in Kobe.

But the Bobcats players were happy to be interviewed.

Who doesn’t like being on the news?
And under the influence of the fat boss, they had a lot to complain about.

When the media asked about the topic of "James carries the dignity of the 03 class", they all tried to undermine it, saying that Wade and Anthony were better, and also brought up the topic of the best rookie of the 03-04 season again.

Some people even brought up Milicic, the youngest player in the 03 class, and said it was a pity that Milicic didn't get the same training as James...

Aren't they the 'new bad boys'? With that nickname, they naturally have nothing to worry about. They already have a deep feud with the Cavaliers.

It was evening, at 6:40, the Cavaliers and the Bobcats entered the Turkish Airlines Arena one after another.

Last season, facing the national live camera, James would put on a mask and say hello to the four core players of the Bobcats, but after a playoff match, he no longer put on any superficial effort.

But James' media resources are really good. When he goes to say hello, the commentators say he is generous. When he doesn't say hello, the commentators say it is the dignity and pride of a superstar.

Zhang Yang saw that the players on the opposing team were basically the same as last season. Ronald Murray went to the Pistons. In order to get closer to the championship, the Cavaliers selected Daniel Gibson, a point guard with good three-point shooting and combat ability, as a supplement in the second round.

The Cavaliers are really willing to spend money.

The Cavaliers offered the Lakers 3 million for three years to keep Drew Gooden. The highest offer Gooden received in the free market was 2300 million for three years from the Lakers. The Cavaliers initially offered 3 million for three years, but Gooden was determined to go to the Lakers. When the Cavaliers didn't let him go, he signed a qualifying offer. The Cavaliers added 1500 million each year to successfully keep him.

The Cavaliers also used the mid-level exception to sign David Wesley from the Rockets and Scott Pollard from the Pacers, hoping to increase the depth of the point guard and center positions. However, the two have not played in a game so far this season. The reason given by Mike Brown was that they were not suitable for their style of play.

It is not appropriate to say this. Zhang Yang thinks it should be true. It is obvious that the Cavaliers signed these two players purely for their reputations. David Wesley was the starting point guard of the iron-blooded Hornets at the turn of the century; Pollard was the backup center of the gorgeous Kings and one of the eight main rotation players.

The Cavaliers have wasted their money again.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, Okafor defeated Big Z to win the jump ball, and the much-anticipated battle of 'James vs. the New Bad Boys' and '03 Dignity Battle' began.

The Cavaliers starting lineup: Snow, Larry Hughes, James, Gooden, and Big Z.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Okafor, Perkins.

The Bobcats made a mistake on their first attack!

Felton passed Snow who was defending him and rushed into the inside, where he was surrounded. When he was about to pass the ball to Zhang Yang or Gerald Wallace, he was intercepted by Larry Hughes!
Hughes launched a counterattack, and James followed closely and quickly cut in to receive the ball and dunked to get two points!
From the first round, the Cavaliers took the initiative.

The Bobcats were well prepared, but the loser could always have had more changes.

The defensive system built by Mike Brown with Snow, Hughes and Big Z as the core is more complete. Gooden is still the same, but James' defense has improved a lot after one summer!
Tonight, James did a good job of controlling Zhang Yang's off-ball movement. He was focused and rarely got dazzled when he was running back or circling the ball.

The Cavaliers did a great job on defense at the start!

On the offensive end of the Cavaliers, James was still very weak when he had the ball. In the first quarter, he broke through several times without passing the ball, making only 3 of 1 shots, plus 1 loss due to Felton's cut-in.

But when Hughes had the ball, James cooperated well and had a good grasp of the timing of the wing cut to play simple balls. James also had better choices of fast-down routes for counterattacks. He actually only scored one goal in the opening counterattack, but his better fast-down route selection helped Hughes and Gooden who followed up to create better opportunities. This change was the most special. He was not obsessed with being a "winner" in counterattacks like last season, but a "contributor", which he had never had in the first three years of his career.

James has changed a lot on both offense and defense, and the Cavaliers' style of play has also changed a lot compared to last season. At the last moment of the first quarter, the Cavaliers led the Bobcats by 28 points with 17 to 11!
In the last 12 seconds, Felton received the serve and quickly advanced to the frontcourt to pass the ball to Zhang Yang who ran to the high position.

Zhang Yang received the ball, leaned on James, turned around... collected the ball, stepped back and shot a mid-range shot...

When Zhang Yang turned around, James took half a step back. When he saw Zhang Yang collecting the ball and stepping back, he immediately pressed forward... and committed a foul!

He raised his hands and pressed forward, and just happened to bump into Zhang Yang who was stepping back. However, Zhang Yang had already thrown the ball before he was bumped... He suffered from his quick reaction and his explosive start!
With the referee's whistle, Zhang Yang turned around and made a mid-range shot with a step back, and was awarded a free throw!

After Zhang Yang made the free throw, the Cavaliers did not shoot in the last 2.3 seconds.

After the first quarter, the Bobcats relied on Zhang Yang's 2+1 in the final moments to catch up to 20 to 28, and were not too far behind.

During the intermission, Zhang Yang reviewed the first quarter.

He rested for 4 minutes before and after the official timeout in the first quarter, played for 8 minutes, made 4 of 2 shots, and scored 1 points with 1 of 5 free throws, which was neither good nor bad.

James' change surprised him. Although he only made 3 of 1 shots in offense with the ball, he made 4 of 2 shots in other offenses, plus 3 of 2 free throws, scoring 8 points in a single quarter. His 42.8% shooting rate in the first quarter was the best in several encounters.

He remembered that James started playing like this on offense during the shortened lockout season, and his defense was only strengthened after he was forced to defend Bowen in 07... But the James he faced had already adjusted his playing style at that time, and he might become more and more difficult to deal with in the future!
But looking at Bickerstaff's calm expression, there should be a solution...

After the intermission, Zhang Yang smacked his lips after listening to the tactical adjustment and walked onto the court.

Playing with him were Felton, Rondo, Gerald Wallace and Okafor, and he played at the small forward position.

He reported his height to the league as 195 cm, but in fact he looks a little taller than Hughes who claims to be 196 cm. It's no problem for him to occasionally play as a small forward, since it's Felton who's defending James anyway.

The Cavaliers sent out a combination of Damon Jones, Hughes, James, Varejao and Gooden.

At the beginning of the second quarter, James advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Hughes.

This season, when James and Hughes played together, the number of positional attacks with the ball was much less than last season, especially tonight. In the first quarter, the number of positional attacks with the ball was exactly one hand.

The humiliation in last season's playoffs forced him to make changes.

Hughes singles out Rondo and breaks through!
Relying on his bigger size and stronger strength, Hughes successfully broke into the inside...but he couldn't pass the ball!
Rondo was not thrown off. He pressed on the left side of Hughes' body, cutting off Hughes's route to Damon Jones in the high post.

Gerald Wallace and Zhang Yang cut off the middle, Felton followed James' footsteps... Hughes was forced to face Okafor's defense and shoot... but missed!
Rondo grabbed the defensive rebound before James rushed in... and threw the ball outside the three-point line without stopping.

Zhang Yang launched a counterattack and rushed into the opposite inside line under the pursuit of Damon Jones. He grabbed the ball and made a fake pass to trick Damon Jones into rushing towards Gerald Wallace who cut in from the other side, and then made a three-step layup!

James has discovered the joy of "simple ball", knows how to make good use of Larry Hughes' ability to break through and organize offense, and is willing to play this way.

Hughes has averaged 15.5 points, 3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game so far this season, setting a new career high in assists per game. With the ball, the conflicts and dissatisfaction from last season have not only disappeared, but have also been temporarily resolved.

But they both have the awareness to play this way and are willing to cooperate, and the Cavaliers coaching staff is not good at offense.

In the future, Heat head coach Spoelstra will be criticized for having no tactics, but his ability to make the "James-Wade connection" work well is already an excellent operation. It is actually very difficult to help James come up with a style of play other than one star and four shots.

The playing style that James and Hughes worked out on their own allowed them to have a way to cooperate, but it was still very rough. Perhaps they would play better after a year or two. But now, after observing one quarter, Bickerstaff found a way to deal with it.

It was the Cavaliers' turn to attack, and Hughes broke through the basket... and missed again!

Faced with the Bobcats' targeted adjustments, he couldn't think of a way to deal with it for the time being, and could only force a shot because he couldn't pass the ball.

Fortunately, this time Varejao slipped behind Okafor and tipped in two points.

There is nothing that Bickerstaff can do about this, as Gerald Wallace is really not good at positioning himself for defensive rebounds.

Millsap has done a good job of positioning himself for rebounds on the defensive end recently, but his defensive ability and awareness are still not up to par, and he cannot cut off the middle like Gerald Wallace did.

The Bobcats attacked, Rondo advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Zhang Yang who was leaning against James in the high position.

James has improved a lot in off-ball defense and wing assist defense. He doesn't want to admit it, but he did learn it from watching Zhang Yang's videos... But he hasn't made any obvious progress in one-on-one defense.

The last shot of the first quarter was a 2+1 by Zhang Yang. This time James attached great importance to Zhang Yang's step-back shot.

Zhang Yang faked a step forward, then turned around and successfully broke through, and James pounced forward!

Damon Jones, who followed Rondo's cut-in from the middle, rushed towards Zhang Yang, and formed a double-team with James who turned around and caught up with him.

Zhang Yang passed the ball to Rondo, who was one step inside the free throw line and passed the ball to him...

Felton ran down from the 45-degree angle on the left side to the bottom corner. On the way, he used Okafor's screen to block Hughes who was chasing him, and accelerated towards the bottom corner. Just as he arrived, the ball came!

He turned around and took a three-point shot before Gooden, who was switching defense, caught up with him... and it went in!
Felton: I'm a bitch!
The new guy is awesome!
Just now when Felton picked up the ball and passed it to Rondo, Rondo told him to rush to the bottom corner as soon as he saw Zhang Yang breaking through, the faster the better.

After working with the younger brother for a year, he developed a great advantage that he listens to smart people. I didn't expect that he actually caught the ball! And he turned around and shot with a great chance!

Another North Carolina star watching on the sidelines had mixed feelings.

25 to 30, the score difference has been narrowed to 5 points, which is very good.

But this attack...why does it look so much like the combination of Big Bird + Icebox + Angie?
This little bastard Jack actually watched Bird's video and learned that guy's way of organizing offense with his back to the basket!
That’s fine, but Rondo, a 185cm tall point guard, actually plays mid-court support. That’s outrageous!
Nicknamed the Bad Boys, the teamwork of three young talents on the back line reminiscent of the Celtics in the 80s... Jordan looked up at the sky in silence. What kind of team did he buy?
When the Cavaliers attacked, James took the ball and forced a breakthrough... He didn't get into the paint, so he made a quick stop and jump shot at the right elbow of the three-second zone... He missed!
James' teeth were bared. After his long-range shooting touch declined, his three-point and long two-point shots were left open. He was quite accurate in shooting from the free throw line, with a 43% hit rate this season, averaging 2.5 shots per game. However, if he shot from that area, he would be blocked by Felton, and he could not make the shot at the basket. He could only shoot from the elbow area, but this awkward distance that was neither far nor near, and he has only had a 30% hit rate since he entered the NBA.

He can only pin his hopes on the offensive rebounds from Varejao and Gooden.

Seeing the ball hit the basket and bounced to the middle, Varejao bypassed it! James was very excited... a little black egg got the ball first!

Center forward Long is on the scene!
On the sidelines, Jordan felt even more complicated when he saw Rondo grab the ball, turn around and bypass the defense to launch a counterattack.

Most of the players on the court didn't know how Rondo suddenly appeared where the rebound landed, but Jordan, a spectator, saw it!

Rondo followed Varejao to the rebound spot, and used his speed to bypass Varejao and grab the ball first!

Hughes and James who came back to defend blocked Zhang Yang and Rondo. Rondo passed the ball to Zhang Yang first. Zhang Yang took two steps and attracted James' attention completely. Hughes followed the fast Rondo and did not dare to let go. Zhang Yang passed the ball to the wing... Felton jogged to catch the ball and made a layup!
27 to 30, the Bobcats narrowed the gap to 3 points and the Cavaliers called a timeout!

Mike Brown made defensive adjustments during the timeout, replacing Snow and Big Z, strengthening the backcourt defense and rim protection, and adjusting the strategy of assisting defense against Zhang Yang's back-to-the-basket shots.

After the timeout, the Bobcats' offense was hindered.

Bickerstaff didn't have any good solution for the time being. He was able to play a 7-2 run to narrow the score difference to the point where he could tie it with one goal. This was already very good considering that the opponent's defense had improved so much.

But there is no need to rush, as their defense continued and the Cavaliers never played the same offensive performance as in the first quarter.

In the next 10 minutes, the Bobcats scored 19 to 18.

With a score of 26 to 20 in a single quarter, the Bobcats narrowed the score to 46 to 48, reducing the difference to two points!

Entering the halftime break, the Cavaliers players' mentality was about to break.

Although they were still leading by two points, they no longer had the advantage in the second quarter. Even with proper defensive adjustments later in the game, the gap was still narrowed by one point.

The cooperation method they tried so hard to come up with was only successful for one quarter before they were locked down by the opponent.

Moreover, the opponent could not make effective adjustments on the offensive end, so they could only rely on the two forwards and defenders to break through the big guys and could only score by counterattacks.

The psychological shadow of losing seven games in a row last season has once again shrouded the Cavaliers players...

By the third quarter, the Bobcats hadn't made any effective adjustments yet, and the Cavaliers' offense collapsed!
詹姆斯打了9分钟4投1中加上4中3的罚球拿到5分，休斯3投1中，加上2中2的罚球拿到4分，除了他们俩，只有唐耶尔-马绍尔进了一个三分、斯诺进了一个被完全放空的中投、大Z补篮拿下两分，骑士队全队第三节只拿到16分。

On the Bobcats side, the positional offense was still limited in the third quarter, but the counterattack took off!

张杨打了9分钟拿到8分，杰拉德-华莱士和替补上场的米尔萨普各拿到5分，加上奥卡福的一次2+1、隆多一次突破上篮得分，山猫队打出23比16的比分，从落后两分打到领先5分，比分打成69比64！

At the end of the quarter, the unwilling James just kept swinging his head and swung the ball around, not caring about anything else.

突破攻框4中1，三分投篮4中1，加上造成3次犯规6罚5中，单节扔了11次，但只拿到10分。

The Cavaliers returned to the one-star four-shooting style. James couldn't open up, and the Cavaliers couldn't open up either. The Cavaliers made 20 of 6 shots in the final quarter and only scored 18 points! James made 8 of 2 shots, and the others only made 12 of 4 shots.

For the Bobcats, the scoring was still concentrated in the final quarter. The positional battle relied on Felton and Okafor, and the counterattack relied on Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace. Zhang Yang scored 4 points, Gerald Wallace scored 7 points, Felton scored 5 points, Okafor scored 5 points, plus Millsap, who came on as a substitute, got two points with a tip-in... 23 to 18 in a single quarter!

首节5分、第二节6分、第三节8分、第四节4分，张杨出场33分钟，19投9中，其中三分球2中0，加上5中5的罚球，拿到23分5板5助攻1抢断1盖帽。

杰拉德-华莱士18分4板2助攻2抢断2盖帽、奥卡福14分10板、隆多4分7板5助攻、费尔顿15分6助攻……山猫队以92比82逆转骑士队！
詹姆斯首节8分、第二节6分、第三节5分、第四节10分，23投8中，其中三分球8中2，加上14中11的罚球，拿到29分9板6助攻1抢断2盖帽。

After the final whistle, I saw the score on the big screen... Why is this happening?
He obviously worked harder and prepared more than last season, but why did he feel even more defeated? He was only excited in the first quarter, but the next three quarters, especially the last quarter, were even more difficult!

When he cut back to the one-star four-shooting style in the final quarter, he felt elbows flying all over the place! At one point, he mistakenly thought he was playing against the Pistons' inside line last season.

He looked across...

Millsap, Okafor, Muhammad, Perkins, Rondo... this crazy tough inside group is definitely coming for him!
At this time, James saw the Bobcats mascot Rufus riding a motorcycle to give gifts to the fans.

When James first saw the Bobcats mascot in the 04-05 season, although he thought it was ugly, he liked it because he loves cats.

But as the team lost more and more to the Bobcats, he found the mascot more and more hideous. When he saw it again this time, he suddenly felt a little horrible...

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(End of this chapter)