Chapter 160 159. How difficult is it to get first place?
82 regular season games, excluding the All-Star Weekend, total 23 weeks, an average of more than 3.5 games per week, which gives coaches of each team a headache and even disgust.

But sometimes coaches feel that a tight schedule has advantages.

Just last night, Bickerstaff saw his players’ mentality exploded after their 7-game winning streak was ended. Today, they leave Charlotte to start a 4-game road trip. The players have already sorted out their emotions... They have to beat the next opponent in one day, or at most in two days, and sometimes there are back-to-back games. There is not much time to feel sad about the defeat.

On the 18th, the Bobcats came to Orlando, rested for a night, and on the 19th came to the Amway Arena to challenge the Magic away.

After the entrance ceremony, Zhang Yang took a photo with Hill as usual.

So far this season, Hill has played all 11 games without missing a single one, breaking his record for consecutive appearances with the Magic!

In the future, many people will think that Hill became healthy only after joining the Suns. In fact, he had received effective treatment in his last season with the Magic.

In February, before the All-Star Weekend last season, Zhang Yang saw the news that Hill went to the NASA Medical Center in Washington to be examined by orthopedic specialist and sports medicine expert Thomas Carter, and then went to the Merritt Island base in Florida for 2 months of treatment.

Zhang Yang didn't find any reports on the treatment content, but Hill performed well in both the preseason and regular season this season.

So far this season, he has averaged 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game. Although all three statistics are career lows, his shooting percentage is a career high of 52%.

When Zhang Yang was watching the scout reports and videos, he saw that Hill's playing style had completely changed this season. He drastically reduced his ball possession and scored mainly through off-ball cutting, receiving the ball and shooting, and follow-up counterattacks.

In terms of passing, Hill is completely different from before. He no longer relies on singles to attract double-teaming and pass the ball, but relies on mid-range shots with a full hit rate of over 40% outside the three-second zone and within the three-point line to assist in passing the ball.

However, Hill is not yet very accustomed to this way of passing, averaging two assists and 2.4 turnovers per game.

Zhang Yang speculated from the known information that Hill did not get healthy after joining the Suns because of luck, but after seeing that Thomas Carter's treatment was really effective, he chose to join the Suns where Thomas Carter was the team doctor so that he could receive long-term treatment. Hill will be 35 years old next season, and the Suns, which have the ability to compete for the championship, are also the ideal team for his age.

After taking a photo with Hill, Zhang Yang looked at the other players on the opposite side.

Howard continues to improve, averaging 17 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks per game so far this season.

给霍华德和托尼-巴蒂打替补的米利西奇，场均打22分钟，拿到8分5板1助攻2盖帽。

During Christmas last year, Milicic, who had been delayed by the Pistons for two and a half years, was sent to the Magic. After arriving at the Magic, he immediately showed his talent on the defensive end. In 30 games for the Magic last season, he averaged 20 minutes per game, scored 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. However, he had not played so many games and played so much time for a long time. After playing for more than two months, his body could not hold on and he suffered a stress injury in early March and was reimbursed.

Zhang Yang felt that it was a pity for this second pick. He only played 71 games in the first two years of his career, averaging 5 minutes per game, which was much worse than Kwame Brown.

Not only is Milicic's talent wasted, but his confidence is also completely gone. At the beginning of last season, Zhang Yang saw a news report that after Philip Saunders joined the Pistons, he gave Milicic 12 minutes of playing time in the first half of the opening game, wanting to see if there was still room for training.

As a result, at halftime, Milicic told Philip Saunders not to let him play because he couldn't play and was just a tall Eastern European farmer, which left Philip Saunders speechless.

Later, Philip Saunders gave Milicic playing time in every game in the early stage of the season, allowing him to play for several minutes in a quarter to find his feeling. That was the first time Milicic had the opportunity to play in consecutive games after entering the NBA, but he had no intention of seizing the opportunity and just wanted to leave that sad place...

Zhang Yang is more determined not to let his senior come to their team, otherwise he might as well snatch Van Gundy!

However, Van Gundy still has a contract with the Heat, and the Magic seemed to have spent a first-round pick to trade Van Gundy back. For the Bobcats, first-round picks are quite valuable, and when they need to iterate free agents, the draft is the best way.

As for other players on the Magic team, Zhang Yang saw in the scouting report that the performance of young players such as Jameer Nelson, Ariza, Arroyo, Turkoglu, etc. has improved compared to last season, and the media also mostly praised the performance of the Magic players.

With such a good lineup and the healthiest team ever, the Magic's record is only 5 wins and 6 losses, far below expectations.

After watching two videos, Zhang Yang knew the reason.

The star player Howard has limited one-on-one ability. He can only take the ball and shoot hard, but he does not have the strong scoring ability of Yao Ming and Foshan. His effective scoring means are still catching cakes and second offense, and he is unable to take advantage of the shooting rights.

It is unclear who is the core ball handler between Jameer Nelson and Turkoglu. The two took turns holding the ball, and the priority is unclear, which is a taboo for a team. The core players are okay, but the role players really can't adapt to the change of playing style every few rounds. After all, the types of these two people's ball-holding playing styles are completely different.

Hill wanted to transform into a supporting forward and overlap with Turkoglu's moving route. When Turkoglu played without the ball, he was forced to become a sideline pitcher to make room for Hill.

These are mainly due to the ability problems of head coach Brian Hill. This coach has failed to keep up with the times. After the NBA entered the NHC era, he was unable to utilize the opponent's high-zone defense rule on the offensive end, and he did not know how to deal with the opponent's use of the NHC rule on the defensive end.

The Magic team can bully weak teams by relying on the individual abilities of their stars. There are many weak teams in the Eastern Conference, and their winning rate has been less than 50% for most of the time since the start of the season. But they will not be able to do well when facing stronger opponents, and it will be even worse when facing teams with strong interior defense... Zhang Yang looked at his own frontcourt group.

He only thought that this frontcourt group would be useful against No. 23, and forgot about the beasts...

At 7 o'clock in the evening, after the game started, Suo Suo was caught in a dilemma of being surrounded by men. He wanted to struggle, but Perkins's penis was black, thick and hard, and it pushed him so hard that he felt uncomfortable.

On the defensive end, forward Grant Hill is currently afraid to defend. He tries hard to follow the shooter, but he doesn't dare to confront Gerald Wallace; Felton breaks through with the help of a screen, and he can't keep up with Turkoglu or Tony Battie who are defending the pick-and-roll; he also has to guard against an 18-year-old little brother who has dunked on the little giant... Howard can only squat under the basket and watch Okafor take mid-range and short-range shots after being pulled apart, and take on Turkoglu or Tony Battie in close range and turn around to shoot.

Bickerstaff's tactical arrangement took advantage of the Magic's weaknesses on both offense and defense, and the Bobcats suppressed the Magic from the beginning of the game.

Okafor played his best game of the new season. Although he only scored 28 points, which did not set a new season high, he made 15 of 11 shots and 10 of 6 free throws, which made Turkoglu and Tony Battie so depressed.

张杨打了26分钟，11投5中，其中三分球6中2，加上4中4的罚球，拿到16分5板3助攻1盖帽，偷偷溜进去从后面给了抢到进攻篮板球的兽兽一记背后拍球。

加上杰拉德-华莱士的16分、费尔顿的10分10助攻、马特-卡罗尔的12分、赫尔曼的10分……山猫队以102比91轻松击败魔术队，将战绩提升到9胜2负。

Suo Suo was badly bullied by a group of black and tough guys tonight. Even the 18-year-old little brother gave him a shot from behind. He made only 10 of 2 shots, and 8 of 4 free throws, and only got 8 points.

However, Howard was really strong in rebounding. In such a situation, he got 14 rebounds, 11 of which were defensive rebounds.

Although he is not as good as he was two years later, he has begun to show his defensive talent of protecting the entire close range and the basket by himself.

魔术队其他人，特科格鲁16分4板4助攻、尼尔森14分6助攻、希尔12分3板2助攻、阿罗约14分、肯扬-杜林9分、阿里扎8分……张杨看到大屏幕上对面的数据，这支球队确实天赋满满，不仅仅是天赋，大部分人都已经把天赋兑现成实力了，但被教练拖了后腿。

...

After playing the Magic, the next night, the Bobcats came to the Phillips Arena in Atlanta and narrowly defeated the Hawks 99-92 in a back-to-back game.

费尔顿拿到21分3板3助攻、奥卡福21分17板，两人暴揍对面后卫线和内线。

Zhang Yang was dealing cards in the mid-range with great difficulty. He took advantage of the fact that no one was double-teaming him at the mid-range and scored two goals in a row. Then he received the ball in the mid-range and put on a three-threat stance that he looked like he was doing well. Then the opponent double-teamed him. His playing time hit a season high of 37 minutes, but he only scored 17 points, plus 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

All 11 Bobcats players played tonight and scored points. Apart from these three, the highest scorer was Rondo!
4投3中，外加4中2的罚球，拿到8分4板6助攻2抢断，表现非常出色。

With back-to-back wins, the Bobcats' record improved to 10 wins and 2 losses, marking the first time in team history that the number of wins in a single month has reached double digits!
However, this victory cast a shadow on the Bobcats' next game.

The game was so thrilling, not only because it was a back-to-back game, but there was another reason - Gerald Wallace was injured!

Zhang Yang, Felton and Okafor all played for more than 35 minutes tonight because the crown prince was injured and returned to the locker room.

Josh Smith stole the ball from Gerald Wallace on defense shortly after the start of the second quarter, trying to make a counterattack and advance the ball.

Gerald Wallace chased the ball all over the court, and when Josh Smith raised the ball to dunk, he slapped the ball away with one hand, sending it flying sideways and out of bounds.

The shot was extremely domineering, but Gerald Wallace rushed too hard and fell out of bounds after landing, injuring his arm.

Fortunately, after the game, it was found that Gerald Wallace only suffered muscle contusion in his hip when he landed, and his arm was just twisted when he landed, with no joint injuries.

To be on the safe side, the morning after playing against the Hawks, when the Bobcats went to their next away game, Bickerstaff did not bring Gerald Wallace with him, allowing him to return to Charlotte to recuperate.

On the way to Detroit, Zhang Yang looked at the white clouds outside the window and felt worried. The two away games in the north were already difficult, and now the difficulty has increased further.

Think about it from another perspective. Gerald Wallace has really good physical fitness. When he does this, he just twists his arm.

In fact, this ball was a bit irrational, but this is Gerard Wallace. What Zhang Yang admires most about this teammate is his fighting spirit.

After a night of rest in Detroit, the Bobcats came to the Palace of Auburn Hills to challenge the Pistons on November 11. The Pistons lost Ben Wallace during the offseason, which had a significant impact on both offense and defense. On the defensive end, they lost a best defensive player, and on the offensive end, Ben Wallace averaged 22+ offensive rebounds per game, which could not be compensated by others.

However, although the Pistons' defense declined, it did not collapse as the media predicted.

Philip Saunders is a really great coach.

Rasheed Wallace switched to playing as a pure center this season, guarding the basket.

活塞队休赛期3年1000万美刀从山猫队挖走的梅尔文-伊莱，打出了生涯最佳表现，以50%的命中率拿到9.6分，外加6板1.3助攻1.2盖帽。

With the addition of Jason Maxiell and Antonio McDyess, the Pistons' interior defense remains at a top level.

The outside line emphasizes rotation defense, blocking cuts, and defending three-pointers from the sidelines.

Ronald Murray was a pure shooter when he was on the Cavaliers. When he came to the Pistons, he could break through, shoot and pass the ball, and he once again demonstrated his all-around performance as the sixth man next to the three musketeers of the Supersonics.

Argentine forward Carlos Delfino has also been reused this season and has performed well.

The Pistons' perimeter defense is better than last season.

Under the operation of Philip Saunders, the Pistons' defense remains in the top five in the league, and their offense is also above average. They currently have 8 wins and 4 losses, ranking second in the Eastern Conference.

Before the game, Zhang Yang was worried about what to do without Gerald Wallace. After he came on the court, his idea became - do whatever you have to do, just shoot!

Tonight the Bobcats sent out a starting lineup of Felton, Zhang Yang, Herman, Millsap, and Okafor. Gerald Wallace was injured, and Bickerstaff did not simply use substitutes to replace him. Instead, he directly replaced him with an offensive lineup, hoping to give the Pistons a wave.

The effect was good. Philip Saunders knew that Bickerstaff was wild, but this was too wild. Two substitutes started, and one of the substitutes was the third small forward. They were not well prepared on the defensive end and were outscored by the Bobcats 13 to 11 in the first half of the first quarter.

However, Philip Saunders made timely and appropriate adjustments. In the second half of the quarter, the Pistons started their offensive mode. Although they still failed to defend against the Bobcats and allowed the combination of Rondo, Felton, Zhang Yang, Jumaine Jones and Okafor to score 14 points in the first half, the Pistons themselves scored 19 points in the first half!
After the first quarter, the Pistons suppressed the Bobcats' momentum and overtook the Bobcats by 30 points with a score of 27 to 3!
Bickerstaff's wild style of play lacked continuity, and he was restricted by Philip Saunders in the second quarter, scoring only 22 points in the quarter. The Pistons continued their offense in the first quarter, scoring 30 points in the quarter, and led the Bobcats by 60 points 49 to 11 at halftime.

After the halftime break, Bickerstaff had no choice but to switch back to defensive mode and try to counterattack.

Gerard Wallace was injured, and the team's forward impact was greatly reduced.

He had hoped that Millsap could take the lead, but although this rookie is talented and they made a fortune by picking him up in the second round, his talent still needs to be developed. It would be too difficult for him to take on the leading role now.

In the second half, the Bobcats limited the Pistons to 22 points for two consecutive quarters. The Pistons' offense has been maintained at a level just above the average this season. Even if Gerald Wallace cannot play, it is not difficult to limit the Pistons. However, to limit the Pistons, the Bobcats can only send more players with good defense. At this time, without Gerald Wallace to attack and compress the Pistons' defense, the Bobcats' own offense also slowed down. They only scored 20 points in the third quarter. Although they scored 26 to 22 in the fourth quarter, the score difference in the first three quarters was as high as 13 points, which they were unable to reverse.

奥卡福19分12板1助攻、张杨18分7板2助攻2抢断、费尔顿13分3板9助攻、隆多11分5板6助攻、米尔萨普12分8板、朱梅因-琼斯10分，山猫队6人得分上双，依旧以95比104不敌活塞队，吃下本赛季第3场失利。

Zhang Yang threw a lot of shots tonight, but his accuracy was terrible. He made 15 of 6 shots, plus 4 of 4 free throws, and only got 18 points. Hamilton is simply the nemesis of his off-ball play. He attacked with the ball, and the opponent's rotation defense speed was extremely fast. If it weren't for Rondo's support, he would have played worse.

After playing against the Pistons, the Bobcats came to Jersey City, rested for a night, and on the 24th, went to the Army Airlines Arena in Rutherford to challenge the Nets away.

After a long journey, the inside rim protection was not good, the wing shooter was inaccurate... The Bobcats were in trouble tonight, losing to the Nets 96-108, suffering their first losing streak of the new season!
今晚山猫队做得最好的，就是把基德防得9投2中只拿到6分，没让拿到13板14助攻的基德拿到三双。

With the help of Kidd, Carter scored 27 points, Richard Jefferson scored 17 points, Eddie House scored 20 points, and Kostic scored 25 points.

Looking at Kostic who was playing like an inside superstar, Zhang Yang thought of Brezec. With Brezec around, how could this Serbian center be so arrogant?

Zhang Yang noticed that Rondo's eyes changed when he saw Kidd. It seemed that he really wanted to hit the opponent, but unfortunately Rondo was severely taught a lesson by Kidd tonight.

Zhang Yang played okay tonight. Although he only made 22 of 9 shots, it was mainly because of the crazy three-pointers in the final quarter. He missed all 4 three-pointers in the final quarter and only made 8 of 2 three-pointers in the whole game. In addition, he made 4 of 4 free throws. He scored 3+ again after 20 games, with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

He scored well, but apart from him, none of his teammates scored more than 15 points. The highest was Okafor, who scored 14 points with 6 of 5 shots and 2 of 14 free throws.

I might suggest that Xiao Shifo practice free throws. It’s good to learn from Duncan, but don’t learn free throws as well.

He has to say it himself. If Little Fatty says it, Little Stone Buddha may not listen.

After two consecutive losses, the Bobcats' record was 10 wins and 4 losses, tied by the Pistons. Since the Bobcats lost the direct match, they fell to second place in the Eastern Conference.

After playing four consecutive away games, the Bobcats returned to Charlotte to rest for two days.

On November 11, the Bobcats will face the Magic at home.

Although Gerald Wallace has not returned yet, Okafor rested for two days and met Howard, the No. 18 pick in the same draft. He stood up, making 11 of 9 shots and 6 of 28 free throws, scoring 11 points and rebounds, and blew up the Magic's inside line.

张杨、费尔顿、隆多、米尔萨普四人表现也很好，张杨18投9中，其中三分球3中1，加上5中5的罚球，拿到24分3板3助攻1抢断，费尔顿23分5助攻、米尔萨普13分、隆多5分6板10助攻……

魔术队那边，肯扬-杜林20分、特格克鲁拿到15分6助攻、尼尔森13分5助攻、希尔18分、米利西奇12分、霍华德今晚投篮不好只有12投5中但也有13分13板，但他们的个人表现依旧没能凝聚到一块，一盘散沙。

105 to 92, the Bobcats ended their losing streak and improved their record to 11 wins and 4 losses.

As for the Pistons, they were blown away by the Wizards' trident tonight. Arenas scored 28 points, Jamison scored 24 points, and Caron Butler scored 22 points. The three led the team to an upset victory of 101 to 95. The Bobcats returned to first place in the Eastern Conference!

...

After playing against the Magic, the Bobcats only have one game left in their first month of competition, facing the Jazz at home on the 1th.

On the afternoon of the 28th, the day after the game against the Magic, the Bobcats conducted two tactical training sessions.

The first month is almost over, and the team has 11 wins and 4 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference. Before the start of the season, Bickerstaff never expected that he would play so well.

Mainly relying on the 7-game winning streak, the team only got 8 wins and 4 losses in the other 4 games.

As for the two losses, they were largely affected by Gerald Wallace's injury, but Bickerstaff didn't see it that way.

Injury is one of the key factors that affect the strength of a team. If you want to enjoy the benefits of Gerald Wallace's crazy defense, you have to accept the injuries that come with his style of play.

Bickerstaff takes tomorrow’s game very seriously. He cannot predict whether he can continue to maintain the first place, but it is the last game of the first month and he must try his best to defend it to the end.

Fortunately, after a week of rest, Gerald Wallace's right elbow finally healed and he was allowed to return.

Zhang Yang did not practice any extra training today, nor did he start practicing the 'Basics of Long Distance Passing' that he got as a reward after accumulating 20,000 shooting points. He tried to conserve his energy and prepare for tomorrow's game.

After the training, Zhang Yang was receiving physical therapy while humming a song: "How difficult is it to get first place? No need to ask, there will definitely be someone challenging you..."

Although it is just training and the amount is not large, the physical therapy still needs to be done. This is a good habit learned from Nash and Duncan on the 10-timeline.

Felton, who was receiving physical therapy nearby, asked, "What are you singing, Jack?"

Zhang Yang: "This is a song by Jay Chou, the king of Chinese pop music. The lyrics probably mean that it's not easy to be the first."

“Oh…” Felton had no interest in the Chinese pop king and said, “Don’t worry, Jack. Although the Jazz performed well this year, we are better. We will definitely win!”

Zhang Yang liked the fat guy's indomitable drive and responded, "I have confidence in us, but the Jazz are really strong this year. I think Deron will reach the Western Conference Finals earlier than Chris..."

……

……

I have been having a cold for a long time and have a low-grade fever from time to time. I finally have a holiday. I went to the hospital for a check-up and infusion in the morning. After I got home and had a good sleep, I finally felt much better. I quickly wrote a chapter. There is another chapter before 12 o'clock in the evening. I will write at least words without interruption~
(End of this chapter)