Chapter 159 158. ESPN is doing the work for others again
Zhang Yang scored 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, leading the Bobcats to defeat the Cavaliers and win their 7th consecutive victory, setting a new team record!
This result did not surprise the fans.

"James represents the 03 class in the fight against the Bad Boys." Although this topic has been heatedly discussed, the words "resisting aggression" and "dignity" have been used, indicating that not many people are optimistic about the Cavaliers' victory.

Even the more rational Cavaliers fans don't think the team has much chance of winning. Only a small number of people think that James can definitely win. This small number of people love to comment and speak out everywhere, giving the onlookers who don't know the truth the illusion that many people think James can win, and also making many non-James fans mistakenly believe that all James fans are like that.

It has been proven in last season's playoffs that the Bobcats' style of play is very restraining to James. They also brought in Muhammad during the offseason. Cavaliers fans feel that this move is aimed at defending James.

Their pre-match guess was correct. This time, James didn't even have the chance to make an occasional sneak attack in positional warfare. Perkins and Muhammad took turns squatting under the basket. Okafor's time squatting under the basket was shortened to 8 minutes, and he was able to provide close-range assist defense for 30 of the 22 minutes he played.

However, the Cavaliers' performance in the first quarter still impressed the fans. Although they lacked adaptability and the Bobcats sent out one big and four small players, the positional warfare connection between James and Hughes was gone. But after four years, James finally has a new life!

There are still differences between people. No matter how good other superstars are at off-ball defense, they generally won't be praised.

Take Hamilton for example. No one praises his defense. Some even say he is the flaw in the Pistons' defensive quintet. He is thin, lacks strength, has average explosiveness, and cannot judge the footsteps of offensive players well... But in fact, the Pistons' defense cannot do without him. His ability to chase and defend off-ball shooters is among the top three in the entire league, if not the best.

The best example is the 04 playoffs, when Fisher played against the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals and shot 52.9% from three-point range. In the Finals, Hamilton defended him to only 30%. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Reggie Miller was also defended to 38% shooting and 33% from three-point range.

But James...

After the game, his off-ball defensive performance was praised to the sky!
Indeed, he did a very good job in defending Zhang Yang's off-ball running in this game. In the first quarter, Zhang Yang made 8 of 3 shots in 1 minutes.

With the Cavaliers' defensive system that focuses on the basket, wing shooters, and top-arc breakthroughs, if James hadn't relied on his speed, height and wingspan to chase and defend Zhang Yang's long-range shots, with Zhang Yang's style of shooting as hard as he could when he got the chance and his easy touch, it would have been difficult for the Cavaliers to gain an advantage in the first quarter. 28 of the Cavaliers' 10 points in the first quarter were scored on counterattacks.

James gave the ball to Hughes in the first three quarters, and was praised for his selflessness and overall vision...

...

Felton: "Jack, we won, but there are more people praising us than the Cavaliers who lost. It's really annoying."

Zhang Yang: "In fact, there are more news praising us. If you look closely, our news is just more scattered. All the praises for the Cavaliers are for the same person."

At noon on the second day after playing against the Cavaliers, Zhang Yang, Felton and Rondo made an appointment to have lunch and then went to the gym for more practice.

The other members of the boss gang didn’t come. They are resting today as they have to play against the Heat tomorrow.

Before and after the match with the Cavaliers, Zhang Yang and Felton would pay close attention to the news.

Who made the Cavaliers so popular?

The Bobcats will play three consecutive away games against Texas, and the intensity, difficulty, and viewing experience of the games are all higher than those against the '03 Big Three'. Even the weakest Rockets among those three teams would be more difficult to play against than the Cavaliers if Rondo hadn't thrown Jeff Van Gundy off balance. The Rockets, who have the worst record among the Texas Big Three, have 7 wins and 3 losses, while the Cavaliers have 6 wins and 4 losses after their loss last night.

But the topic popularity of the trip to Texas is not as high as the game against the Cavaliers.

Felton opened a few websites and looked through them carefully. He was surprised and said, "It's true! We have more news, but why do I feel like we don't have much news?"

Zhang Yang: "This can weaken the impact of our victory, but it also really praises us. Fans can't find a reason to complain even if they are dissatisfied. Moreover, this way of reporting will make it seem that many of us performed very well, while the Cavaliers will look like only James lost to a group of us. Doesn't it sound tragic?"

Felton: "This is too much! Is this the 'tragic character' you mentioned before? We really win but it feels like we lose."

Zhang Yang: "Boss, calm down. There will be many more such things in the future."

Felton: “Could it be more outrageous than this?”

Zhang Yang hesitated for a moment and replied, "Boss, have you ever heard that one championship is better than Kobe, two championships are better than Shark, three championships are better than Jordan, and four championships are better than the crown?"

Felton: "Huh...? Who has a problem with their brains to brag like that?"

Zhang Yang: "I also think that normal people wouldn't dare to brag like that. Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go to training."

Felton: "Okay, let's go, Rajon."

Little Black Egg, who was keeping a cool poker face, stood up and followed the two.

Rondo looked at Felton stretching his arm upwards and trying to put his hand on Zhang Yang's shoulder... This boss he recognized was quite interesting.

After warming up, the three of them, with the help of a trainer, practiced the coordination of Zhang Yang's high-post back-to-the-basket attack, Rondo's positioning to assist, and Felton's running to receive the ball and shoot.

After a few sets of training, during the break, Felton asked, "I saw on the news that your attack is like that of Big Bird. Is it similar?"

Zhang Yang shook his head decisively: "No, I can't say that. The boss will glare at me again. I run faster than the big bird and jump higher than the big bird. It's completely different, right, Rajan?"

Rondo: "What the reporter said is similar to your organization of offensive rhythm and cooperation methods... No, not at all! By the way, have you heard that James gave all his 8 cats to his neighbors..."

Zhang Yang looked at Rondo's dead eyes and then they turned into a smile.

Rondo: o(╥﹏╥)o Why am I a coward? If he is mean to me, I should fight back...but I am so scared. Legend has it that this guy stepped on someone's head in an underground Jeet Kune Do competition and arrogantly shouted "I will beat ten people".

…On November 11, the Bobcats faced the Heat at home.

The Bobcats were in high spirits and vowed to continue to refresh the longest winning streak in team history. In the absence of O'Neal, the Bobcats seized the loopholes in the Heat's interior defense. Gerald Wallace and Millsap, who came off the bench, scored consecutively in the interior.

After the front line pushed the Heat's defense down the line, Zhang Yang fired continuously from the high post, messing up the Heat's already poor defense this season.

The Bobcats scored 31 points in the first quarter!
But the Bobcats didn't play defense well.

To be precise, it was not that the defense was not good, but that the shots in the key areas were blown up - Wade made all four shots in the three-second zone and the elbow areas on both wings in the first quarter, blowing up the Bobcats' inside defense!
Accurate mid-range shots from high positions can shake the opponent's overall defense.

The elbows on both wings are accurate. Although the impact on the opponent's overall defense is not as great as the high position, it can most directly affect the opponent's center's rim protection and create very good scoring opportunities for their own center.

Kobe is a master in this area. His shooting percentage reached 49.4% last season and has been above 45% for many years. The so-called OK connection refers to this.

Wade's shooting percentage in this area last season was also alarmingly high, reaching 48.5%.

That’s why after the end of last season, there was a saying that “the Sharks’ peak was only three years, and if you give them a guard, it would be three consecutive years.”

The night before last, James tried to shoot in this area many times, hoping to break through the Bobcats' inside defense when he couldn't get into the paint, but he failed.

And Wade succeeded tonight!

In the first quarter, he only scored 4 goals in the elbow area and got 8 points, but he also made 4 assists!
Led by Wade, the Heat scored 28 points in the first quarter, keeping the score close and preventing the Bobcats from gaining too much of an advantage!

In the second quarter, Pat Riley adjusted the tactics based on Wade's accurate close-range jump shot tonight. The Heat's offensive efficiency was further improved, and they scored 31 points in a single quarter!
The Bobcats played well on offense in the second quarter, but it was a little worse than the first quarter, scoring 29 points.

At the end of the first half, the Heat narrowed the score to 59 to 60, and the difference was reduced to 1 point!
In the third quarter, the Heat continued to pursue their victory and scored 30 to 24 in a single quarter, overtaking the Bobcats by 89 points with 84 to 5.

In the final quarter, Wade's physical strength declined and his shooting performance dropped. The Bobcats successfully reduced the Heat's score to 23 points, but the Heat also continued their defensive performance in the third quarter, reducing the Bobcats' score to 24 points and preventing the Bobcats from surging like they did in the first half.

At 8:23 pm, the final whistle sounded.

韦德13投10中，加上10中6的罚球，得分只拿到26分，但还有6板14助攻！

在韦德的帮助下，莫宁今晚10投8中，加上6中4的罚球拿到20分；哈斯勒姆弱侧中投9中6，加上2中2的罚球拿到14分；安东尼-沃克接应和策应，拿到16分6助攻；侧翼的卡波诺拿到15分……

112 to 108, the Heat narrowly defeated the Bobcats by 4 points and won this scoring battle!
On the Bobcats side, Felton was a little bit defended by Wade tonight, and only got 15 points and 6 assists with 13 of 7 shots.

But Gerald Wallace scored 24 points and Millsap, who came off the bench, scored 14 points, both far above the season average.

张杨18投9中，其中三分球5中2，加上8中7的罚球拿到27分3板5助攻1抢断，表现也极好。

奥卡福的9分11板、隆多的5分4板6助攻表现也不错。

The Bobcats played well and scored 108 points. Their offense must be good and their defensive response was also very targeted.

But Wade was almost perfect in the first three quarters, scoring 10 goals and only missing 3. If he usually needs 10 shots to score 20 goals, it means he took 7 fewer shots tonight and still got the points he should have. These 7 fewer shots were basically all converted into points for his teammates.

It was difficult for opponents to win against such a Wade, and the Bobcats' winning streak ended at 7 games.

The players of the Bobcats team could only sigh and say that they had bad luck. Those who were mentally stronger, such as Okafor, teased Zhang Yang, "The No. 3 on the opposite side went berserk when he saw you. You have to take responsibility."

A player who had just given his cat to his neighbor threw the remote control in front of the TV.

What do you mean? You hit me with the hammer, but you can't defend against Wade? You treat them differently, right?
...

After 10 games, the Bobcats have a record of 8 wins and 2 losses. Since the Pistons also lost, the record is 7 wins and 3 losses. The Bobcats temporarily continue to sit in the first place in the Eastern Conference.

When Zhang Yang returned to his apartment after the game and checked the standings online, he felt mixed emotions.

The second-best Pistons in the East had the same record as the fifth-best Rockets in the West! Although it didn't surprise him, he did not know what to say.

The news after the game really surprised him.

The topics of "the dignity of the 03 class" and "fighting against the new bad boys" that ESPN hyped up a few days ago had cooled down after the Cavaliers lost.

But it became popular again after the game tonight!
The only difference is that the protagonist has changed to Wade!

News on all major portals are saying that Wade preserved the dignity of the 03 class and successfully interrupted the winning streak of the New Bad Boys.

Zhang Yang: Is ESPN...making wedding clothes for others again?
Please tell me how big the psychological shadow area of ​​KING is...

　Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)