Chapter 169 168. Basketball fans who defected again ( words)

5 to 5 draw!
Zhang Yang played a few games and really got his touch back.

He felt very good in the last game, but although the Nets did not double-team him, they also had Carter defending him one-on-one. Carter has been very hard at defense in the past two years, and his defensive efficiency has doubled compared to the three years before the Raptors' serious injury. His basic defense is very good. His 47.8% shooting percentage can only be described as good, not an outburst.

Tonight, just run two more steps and you'll get an open spot... keep swinging and keep on swinging!
Is the No. 3 on the opposing team in good form again tonight? Marbury, also wearing the No. 3 jersey, excitedly pushed forward after receiving the serve, just in time!
Recently, he feels like he has returned to the time when he was traded to the Knicks in the 03-04 season.

At that time, the Knicks had several bad players, but they also had several teammates who were eager to win, such as Alan Houston, McDyess, Muhammad, Kurt Thomas, Tim Thomas, Mutombo, and Shandon Anderson. He led his teammates to a comeback from 14 wins and 21 losses and entered the playoffs.

那47场比赛，他带队取得25胜22负的战绩，场均19.5分9.3助攻。

In the last eight games, their back line's Nate Robinson was suspended, Francis was injured, Jalen Rose was bought out, the forward line lost Renaldo Balkman, a ball-holding one-on-one player, and the center position lost Jerome James, who was lazy, depressed and disruptive to his teammates' mentality. The team immediately became different.

马布里这8场比赛场均21分9助攻，投篮命中率45%，前22场比赛只有场均15分4助攻，投篮命中率只有39%。

He will be 30 in two months, but his heart is not dead yet, and the fire has been rekindled!
Advancing to the frontcourt, Marbury began to compete with the opposing No. 3. At this time, he was not rushing to shoot, but organizing the offense as he did when he was with the Timberwolves and the Suns.

Marbury rushed to the free throw line and suddenly passed the ball before the triangle offense started.

Eddy Curry's position this time was further outside, not because he couldn't squeeze in, he did it on purpose. When Marbury broke through, Eddy Curry suddenly turned right to the front of the basket, received the pass from Marbury and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand!
The moment the little shark smashed the ball into the basket, Okafor got it back to the basket...

Zhang Yang, who ran back to receive the serve, was speechless. The probability of defending this ball was very small. The little Shark was not a coward who could be scared. Sometimes little Duncan did not have to be so Duncan. Here he was, the background again.

Zhang Yang received the serve and advanced to the frontcourt, passed it to Felton, and continued to run looking for opportunities to shoot.

The two No. 3s compete with each other in their own ways!

Zhang Yang is the scoring spearhead, and his tactical role has subtly changed from before. Although he also ran around looking for shooting opportunities before, his tactical positioning at that time was a distraction, and the purpose of a large number of mid-range and long-range shots was to affect the opponent's defense and create better shooting opportunities for his teammates. Now it seems that the way of playing has not changed much, but he no longer actively moves to areas that are easy to be double-teamed or helped defend. Instead, his teammates take the initiative to go to positions that are easily noticed by the opponent's defenders.

However, one thing is the same, the area where he shoots most is still the mid-range and long-range. Once he starts shooting, the impact on the opponent's defense is still great, and he can still create better offensive space for his teammates. It's just that the priority of shooting rights has changed.

The difference is very small and not everyone can see it. Bickerstaff was worried that Zhang Yang didn't realize it, but before he could remind him, Zhang Yang had already switched to a new tactical role in the first training session in the morning.

When Zhang Yang was tired of shooting and needed to take a break, he moved slowly on the wing to create space. Felton and Gerald Wallace knew it was time for them to use their personal abilities to score and continue the offense with singles.

As for Marbury, as the core of the outside offense, he led the team's offense. Frye shot from the top of the arc and assisted, Malik Rose screened and cut into the basket, Shaq received the ball, and Big Q received the three-pointer. During the team offense phase, the triangle offense was played very well. When Marbury needed to slow down, Shaq played one-on-one and beat Perkins and Muhammad who was rotating in.

The scores of both teams were rising rapidly, and the Knicks were the first to take the initiative!
Even though the Bobcats coaching staff and players became wary after seeing the Knicks' recent record of 5 wins and 3 losses, the coaching staff tried their best to prepare for the game and the players actively trained, but the preparation time was too short. They had to rest yesterday morning for the previous 4 games in 3 days, flew to New York at noon, and had official activities in the afternoon. After the long journey, they had no time to prepare for the game yesterday. The players' real preparation time was this morning. They had not even watched a complete video clip of the Knicks' recent game. In addition, the Knicks have played really well offensively recently, averaging 8 points in 106 games. Their offensive firepower is higher than that of the Wizards in the same period, second only to the Suns. The Bobcats failed to defend the Knicks at all in the beginning.

But the Bobcats did not fall behind in the starting lineup, and the Knicks took the initiative after the two teams entered the first lineup rotation phase.

After the official timeout, Crawford replaced Malik Rose, Big Q went to the small forward position, David Lee replaced Eddy Curry, and Frye went to the center position.

When Crawford played as the sixth man, Marbury's tolerance for him increased significantly. He took the initiative to create space for Crawford, because the time when Crawford came on the court was exactly when Marbury needed to rest. In addition, Big Q and Frye could create space, so Crawford could show his personal offensive ability as soon as he came on the court and played very well.

David Lee replaced Eddy Curry. Although the inside offensive ability declined, the rebounding protection became better, especially the offensive rebounds. The starting inside combination of Eddy Curry and Frye had almost no offensive rebounding ability.

After entering the rotation, the Knicks' offensive firepower was hardly affected.

The Bobcats replaced Rondo, Jumaine Jones and Okafor with Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace, and they quickly got into the coordination state, but there were two or three rounds in the transition stage, and after the official timeout, they were beaten by the Knicks 6 to 2.

When Felton and Matt Carroll replaced Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace, the Bobcats were beaten 5 to 2 again. In these two times, the Knicks scored 7 more points than the Bobcats.

At 11 minutes and 54 seconds in the first quarter, Crawford missed a three-pointer. Rondo retreated to the wing to grab the defensive rebound, ran a long distance to the opponent's basket, and threw the ball before the whistle sounded to end the first quarter.

As the ball fell into the basket, the referee, who was running panting, decisively gestured to confirm that the red light was not on when Rondo shot, and the goal was valid.

After the first quarter, the Bobcats narrowed the score to 30 to 34.

...

张杨首节打了9分钟，6投4中，其中三分球1中1，拿到9分。

He didn't get a single free throw. The Knicks' defense gave him very little opposition, except for the four shots he took after catching the ball. He had one single play and one counterattack with the ball, and didn't encounter much opposition.

It's not just him. Their entire team only had 3 free throws in the first quarter. However, their rough frontcourt defense gave the opponent 7 free throws in the first quarter.

During the intermission, Zhang Yang stood up, took two towels, and handed them to the two teammates closest to him when he walked back to the bench.

Felton took the towel and wiped his sweat while saying, "Oh my god, Jack, I was already surprised when I saw the Knicks' recent scoring yesterday. It was only when I really played against them that I felt how powerful they were. Their offensive continuity was so good. I really don't know how they did it."

Zhang Yang responded: "They are a bit like the Kings team back then."

Felton: "The Kings? Shouldn't they be like the Lakers? They play the triangle offense."

Zhang Yang: "Their team tactics are triangle offense, but the offensive continuity is like the Kings. They only have 8 players in rotation, and these 8 players are very strong. They are different from the Suns. The Suns can't even make the playoffs without Nash. The Knicks have 4 players who can play important tactical roles. They are not as strong as the Suns, but the lineup strength will not be significantly weakened after the substitution. This is more like the Kings at that time.

With fewer players on rotation, each player needs to spend less energy when cooperating. For example, when you, me, Rajon, Alan, and Matt are paired separately, you need to make different adjustments in your playing style. But if it’s just you, me, and Rajon, we don’t need to think about how to cooperate, we can just go out and play.”

Felton: "I see... Eh? Doesn't that mean the Knicks' brawl was a blessing in disguise?"

Zhang Yang: "I guess so. I don't know if my guess is right. I guess the Knicks management has brought in a large number of stars in recent years, spending 200 million in salaries + luxury taxes every year, in order to build a luxury version of the Kings.

The Kings' 8-man rotation at their peak were all at least starters, and the weakest of the 5 starters, Doug Christie, was also on the verge of an All-Star level. The Knicks wanted to spend money to build a team with 12 players who were at least starters, or even a team with 12 All-Stars, but they messed up. This time, several of their ball-handling players were suspended, and the remaining players played the basketball they wanted..."

Zhang Yang was a little confused when he said this.

He can understand Eddy Curry's recent good performance.

David Lee can pull out to the mid-range for singles and can receive mid-range shots, while Frye focuses on mid-range and long-range shots. When partnered with these two, there are no teammates competing for low-post space. When Eddy Curry is in a good mood, he will play hard and his performance will naturally be good, but what about Marbury?

He remembered that after the 06-07 season, Marbury basically had no more games to play in the NBA. He was cut by the Knicks in the 07-08 season. Later, he joined the Celtics but failed to win a championship, so he faded out of the NBA.

How did he perform like this at this time? A flash of brilliance? It couldn't be the effect of his wings flapping? He remembered that the Nuggets and the Knicks were going to fight.

No matter how bad Thomas' coaching ability is, after the team's recent performance, when other ball-handling players are released from the ban or recover from injuries, they will not be given too much playing time, right? Thomas should not be so stupid as to finally get back on track. So how did Marbury collapse?
Felton listened and nodded repeatedly. This speculation made sense. At this time, he heard the voice of Gerald Wallace. He turned around and saw Gerald Wallace talking to his teammates.

"The opponent's offense is really good, there are too many scorers. Curry was the former Bulls' scoring leader, Crawford was also the Bulls' scoring leader, Big Q was the Clippers' top outside scorer, and Marbury always scores 20+... They are really powerful when combined together."

Seeing his teammates agreeing, Felton secretly said that it was not good, and quickly stepped forward to take over the conversation and analyze the Knicks' offensive continuity to his teammates...

Bickerstaff and his colleagues on the coaching staff had discussed a contingency strategy and were preparing to call the players together to adjust the lineup and tactics when they heard Felton's analysis... which made a lot of sense!
It turns out that this is what the Knicks' offense looks like from a player's perspective.

He suddenly had a new idea, and being always bold in responding to situations, he just did it!

...

After the intermission, the second quarter began.

The Bobcats sent out a combination of Rondo, Zhang Yang, Matt Carroll, Jumaine Jones and Okafor.

The Knicks sent out a combination of Crawford, Big Q, Malik Rose, David Lee and Kevin Cato.

The Bobcats attacked first. Okafor made the first attack. He beat Kevin Cato in the low post and made a layup, causing a foul. He was lucky in the free throw as the ball bounced off the rim and fell into the frame.

When the Knicks attacked, Crawford passed the ball to Malik Rose who was running back.

Malik Ross received the ball and turned around, trying to use the position advantage created by his running position to crush Zhang Yang and break into the inside, but he did not protect the ball well, and Zhang Yang was quick to slap the ball away.

Zhang Yang grabbed the ball himself and launched a counterattack!
He rushed to the frontcourt, passed the retreating Big Q, went into the inside and made a layup!
Starting 5-0, the Bobcats took the lead 35-34!

It was the Knicks' turn to attack again. Crawford didn't try to learn from Marbury to organize the offense, but just started working!
Crawford hit a three-pointer against Rondo's defense, once again kicking off the offensive battle between the two teams.

The Bobcats' lineup has no forward defense. Relying on good tactical discipline, Matt Carroll and Jumaine Jones did their basic work in team defense, shrinking to the sideline of the three-second zone to block when Crawford broke through, but that was all they could do.

Crawford took the lead in singles attack, while Big Q and David Lee got a lot of shooting opportunities from outside the three-point line and mid-range respectively, with full offensive firepower.

However, the Bobcats' offensive firepower is more ferocious!

The Knicks' defense, Rondo is paired with a mid-range shooter who knows how to run and cooperate, a wing fixed-point three-point shooter, a three-point shooter who is good at finding the receiving position, and an All-Star level center. He plays so comfortably and his assists are increasing rapidly.

At 5 minutes and 08 seconds into the second quarter, the score was 45 to 42, with the Bobcats leading by 3 points. Thomas took advantage of the ball going out of bounds and replaced Marbury early.

After Marbury came on the court, the Knicks' offensive firepower increased, stopping the trend of the score gap widening.

At 8 minutes and 22 seconds, Marbury broke into the inside, slipped to the baseline, looked back and made a moon-gazing jump shot, bringing the score to 55-57, and Bickerstaff called a timeout!
这接近8分半钟时间里，张杨8投4中，加上2中2的罚球，拿到10分，帮助山猫队打出了27比21的比分。

From trailing by four points to leading by two points, the Bobcats have played very well in the second quarter so far.

But when he returned to the bench during the timeout, Zhang Yang was full of worries.

The reason they were able to maintain the initiative for nearly 8 and a half minutes was that they did not make any major lineup rotations. They only replaced Matt Carroll with Gerald Wallace during the official timeout to ensure the continuity of the offense.

Now he and Okafor have played for nearly 8 and a half minutes in a row. According to normal rotation, both of them should be substituted, and the strongest scoring players inside and outside the court should be replaced together... The scene of the opponent widening the gap after two lineup rotations in the first quarter appeared in front of his eyes.

Why didn't the coaching staff let him and Okafor take turns to rest? That would better ensure the continuity of the offense, right?

The TV commentators were also wondering about this. In the first quarter, the Knicks had already demonstrated their advantage in the continuity of their offensive firepower. If the Bobcats replaced Zhang Yang and Okafor together, the Knicks would most likely overtake them and even widen the gap. The Knicks' Little Shark has been resting on the sidelines since the second quarter.

Soon, their doubts were answered.

Bickerstaff did not replace Zhang Yang and Okafor, but only replaced Jumaine Jones with Felton. Rondo, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace and Okafor continued to play!
Bickerstaff had no intention of letting the two of them rest in this quarter and let them play the whole game!
Zhang Yang was very excited about this. He was having a great time pitching and it would be great if he could continue playing!

After the timeout, the Knicks sent out a combination of Marbury, Big Q, Malik Rose, David Lee, and Eddy Curry.

As the game continued, Zhang Yang came on the court and cut into the inside with the help of a screen, received the ball, slipped to the baseline, turned around and made a layup to score two points, widening the score difference to 4 points.

Marbury responded immediately, breaking through and passing the ball to Big Q who was running towards the left corner. Felton, who was defending Big Q, went up to block Marbury. Big Q ran to the left corner and received the ball, then turned around and made a three-pointer!

The two teams continue to compete!

With Eddy Curry on the field, the Knicks had a point of containment under the basket, and Marbury was able to organize the offense more smoothly. Even when Marbury was tired, Eddy Curry, the player with the highest singles shooting percentage in the game, was still able to support the offense. The Knicks' offensive firepower was stronger than in the previous 8 minutes!

Fortunately, the Bobcats did not have any offensive interruptions this time and continued their previous firepower.

In 3 and a half minutes, the two teams scored 9 to 11. At the end of the first half, the Bobcats and the Knicks entered the halftime break with a tie of 66 to 66!

On the way back to the locker room, Jordan said to Bickerstaff: "Marbury, Richardson, Crawford, and Curry can each be used as the first scoring point in other teams. They are really hard to deal with when they can use their scoring ability. If they finally make it to the playoffs, the teams in the upper half will have a headache. I don't know if they can reproduce the miracle of 4... Fortunately, you didn't replace Jack and Emeka, otherwise the score might have been overtaken by them."

Bickerstaff: "If the opponent's defense is strong and we are exhausted on offense, I will not use such a rotation strategy. It is not good for physical strength and health, and it will also affect the physical reserve for the next game. The Knicks only have 8 players who can play and can only play like this. We don't need to.

But the Knicks' defense is lousy, and we didn't consume much on offense. Jack played for 9 minutes in the first quarter and was easily replaced. He shouldn't have been replaced at that time. I think he can play more than 40 minutes in such a game, and Emeka can play even less. We need to ensure the continuity of the offense when playing against the current Knicks. It is necessary for the two of them to stay on the court. "

Jordan: "Is this our new strategy for playing against teams with poor defense in the future?"

Bickerstaff: "Boss, your suggestion is worth a try."

Jordan: (＃￣～￣＃)
The old man wants to pass the blame to me? Fuck! Not only do I have to take the blame from the future star player, but the head coach also takes the blame from Schrödinger! …

Bickerstaff and Jordan chatted easily, but the game was not actually easy.

They all performed so well. Zhang Yang scored 6 points with 4 of 9 shots in the first quarter, 10 points with 5 of 14 shots in the second quarter, and 23 points in the first half. Felton and Matt Carroll also both scored 10 points. Three players scored in double digits in the first half, but they didn't even have a 1-point lead.

He felt that what Jordan said was right - if the Knicks made it to the playoffs, they would indeed be a team that would give everyone a headache.

Thinking about his team's current ranking, Bickerstaff hopes that all injured players of the Knicks will recover and that suspended players will not get into trouble again...

In this regard, Zhang Yang and Bickerstaff thought alike - the old fan of the Knicks in 18 came uninvited and wished all 15 Knicks players to stay healthy.

During the halftime break, the Bobcats coaching staff emphasized the details that needed to be paid attention to on the offensive end and analyzed which points in the first half were not utilized. After the coaching staff made the arrangements, the players were also actively communicating on issues related to cooperation.

In the second half, the Bobcats and the Knicks continued to fight against each other!

The Knicks only had those eight players who took turns playing. On the Bobcats' backcourt, Zhang Yang, Felton, and Rondo played in pairs or as a group. In the frontcourt, Okafor was no longer needed, so Gerald Wallace, Millsap, Matt Carroll, and Jumaine Jones took turns playing.

The Bobcats' defensive tactical adjustments during the halftime break were effective. They did a better job of positioning themselves against the Knicks' forwards and defending three-pointers from the corner. Although they still did not do well in defending the Knicks' shots in other areas, they did a good job in the two areas they focused on, which had a certain impact on the Knicks' offense.

As for the Knicks, they couldn't make any changes on the defensive end. Among the eight players, only Marbury and Malik Rose were good at defense. The other six were sieves and couldn't respond on the defensive end. They could only attack relentlessly. In the past eight games, they averaged 8 points per game. Their offense was very fierce, but their average points lost per game was also as high as 6 points, the fourth lowest in the league. Only the Warriors, Grizzlies and Wizards lost more points than them. The Suns' average points lost per game was 'only' 8 points.

Not only did the Bobcats adjust their defense properly, they also played better on offense. Their three-point performance declined significantly in this quarter, but their success rate in mid-range and under-the-basket shots was higher, and they continued their firepower in the second quarter!

Zhang Yang played the entire third quarter, making 10 of 6 shots, including 1 of 0 three-pointers, and 4 of 3 free throws, scoring 15 points. With him as the leader, the Bobcats scored 35 points in a single quarter and limited the Knicks to only 28 points!
101 to 94, after three quarters, the Bobcats took a 7-point lead!
But in the fourth quarter, the situation took a turn for the worse, and the Bobcats were beaten 3 to 12 by the Knicks in the first 6 and a half minutes!

106 to 107, the Knicks narrowed the gap to 1 point, and the Bobcats called a timeout!

Bickerstaff was upset that he had overlooked a problem!
When he was chatting with Jordan during the halftime break, he mentioned that the Knicks had to rotate only 8 players because they had no more players available. This analysis was correct. The Knicks' rise this time was indeed a mistake, but they ended the chat before finishing the analysis and overlooked one thing.

The Knicks have played so many games with this lineup and have become accustomed to the 8-man rotation. The coaching staff has a lot of experience in lineup matching, playing time arrangements, and allocation of players' shooting rights and physical strength.

Here, there must be no problem with the 8-man rotation lineup he chose, as the offensive firepower was so strong in the third quarter.

The arrangement of player roles was also done properly. Zhang Yang and Okafor were always on the court. Zhang Yang was responsible for the main output, while Okafor was responsible for singles, containment, receiving and defense in the interior. At least one of Felton, Matt Carroll and Jumaine Jones, who shot well tonight, remained on the court. Gerald Wallace and Millsap played as needed.

The distribution of shooting rights was also good, mainly because Zhang Yang took a lot of shots. In the second quarter, the Bobcats took 21 shots and he took 10 of them alone. In the third quarter, the team took 22 shots and he took 10 of them alone.

But Bickerstaff's rotation scheduling and the players' own physical distribution were not done well as they played an 8-man rotation for the first time!
Some players played too hard!
For example, Okafor is very active on the defensive end. Every time the opponent enters the basket, he will rush forward with all his might regardless of whether there are conditions to defend him or not.

There is definitely nothing wrong with his playing style. He can get 31 rebounds and 11 blocks in an average of 2.3 minutes per game, all thanks to his desperate spirit.

But in a game like tonight, that style of play just isn't appropriate.

He played whole quarters and played so hard. The second and third quarters were okay, but after playing two quarters in a row and coming back from the break, Okafor was obviously exhausted!
His desperate defense in the second and third quarters limited the Knicks' offense to a certain extent, but the physical effort invested and the defensive role played were obviously not proportional. The effect of his desperate defense in the second and third quarters was not very good.

Malik Rose and David Lee of the Knicks were aggressive in dribbling, and Eddy Curry was strong in one-on-one play. No matter how hard Okafor tried, he couldn't defend them well.

Now he is facing a physical crisis, and he has lost all the points he had lost by limiting his opponent in the past few minutes.

The same situation is with Gerald Wallace and Rondo.

Gerald Wallace actively cut into the offense and tried hard to keep up with the counterattacks, which is fine. However, he had the same problem as Okafor on the defensive end. He wanted too much to defend the opponent and was unwilling to let the opponent score. The more he couldn't defend, the harder he worked, and his consumption was greater than usual.

As for the playing style of these two players, Bickerstaff really can't blame them. They are such good players, but it is really not suitable for them to defend like that tonight. More trade-offs are needed, and they can't be like Duncan.

Although Rondo is very talented, he is just a rookie and lacks experience. He also consumed a lot of unnecessary physical energy tonight. Moreover, his current physical strength is average, and he cannot catch up with Zhang Yang at the end of his rookie season. He played for 21 minutes in the first three quarters and played very hard. Although he had an outstanding performance of 7 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal, he obviously could not hold on in the final quarter.

Matt Carroll and Jumaine Jones' shooting has declined mainly because they rarely play for so long in a row in regular time and the game pace is fast.

It is even more difficult to blame these two players Bickerstaff. As substitute players, they must play with all their strength as soon as they come on the field in order to make due contributions.

Among the 8 players in rotation, 5 of them had physical problems. One was the core of the inside line, one was the core of the outside offense tonight, one was a forward who played an important role on both offense and defense, and the other two were key pitchers... Mrs. Bixta was numb.

Only Millsap, Felton... and Zhang Yang have no problems with their physical strength.

Millsap played for only 8 minutes in the second and third quarters and 6 minutes in the first quarter. As a muscular man, this short period of time did not cause him to have any physical problems.

Felton has the best physical strength in the team and plays an average of 34 minutes per game, the highest in the team. Rondo took on a lot of tasks in organizing the offense tonight, and he is currently doing it with ease.

Zhang Yang once again amazed Bickerstaff, showing his strong ability to read the game.

When Zhang Yang needed to take a break on the offensive end, he really took a break on the court. On the offensive end, he walked away from his teammates who had the ball, with his hands on his hips, as if he was wearing his boss's jersey number.

When the team changed to a purely offensive lineup, his teammates did not need him to run around to contain the offense like he did in the first quarter. His slacking on the offensive end did not affect his teammates' offensive efficiency because the Knicks' defense was really bad.

Zhang Yang also did a good job on the defensive end. This good does not refer to who he defended, but rather to reasonable investment.

He defended Malik Rose, mainly to prevent him from going to the outside to set screens for others, and then switched to defend the opponent's shooter who was using the screen. It didn't matter if he couldn't defend him, because no one could defend him.

Bickerstaff was upset that he suffered from inexperience. The 8-man rotation offense was indeed fierce, and the continuity was high before the physical crisis appeared, but he and his teammates had never played like this before... But he quickly put his regret aside. Now was not the time to regret.

After thinking for a while, Bickerstaff made a decision. Since it was already extreme, why not make it even more extreme!
He called the players together and said, "Raymond, Jack, the offense is now up to you, you have to find a way to put the damn ball into the basket; Matt, you go open up space, if they pass the ball to you, it means they really need you to shoot, you have to shoot decisively, don't be afraid of missing the shot, if you miss it is their problem, not yours; Paul, Nazir, you are responsible for grabbing offensive rebounds and protecting the rim!"

This response made Jordan look sideways.

He thought Bickerstaff would replace Okafor with Perkins, replace Gerald Wallace's role with Alan Anderson, and use Herman as a pitcher. Such a rotation can ensure that the playing style remains unchanged.

Jordan thinks he is still too young. Even though old Bickerstaff is over 60, he is still wild!

...

Assassin Thomas was also surprised to see the lineup sent out by the opposing team, and cursed, "That old guy really loves to play tricks."

Bickerstaff's peak season as coach was also Thomas' peak period. Thomas was deeply impressed by this "miracle coach" who led a 39-win team to the Western Conference Finals, and knew that this guy loved to use weird tricks.

Tonight, as a coach, he personally felt the pain that those head coaches had to deal with when they met Bickerstaff 20 years ago.

Thomas felt like he was on a roller coaster in this game. In the first quarter, they led by as much as 8 points. Although they were narrowed to only 4 points in the end, he felt at that time that they had an 7% chance of winning the game. As a result, the opponent tied the score in the second quarter and led by 2 points in the third quarter. Just when he thought the game was over, the opponent's offense and defense suddenly wilted. If Zhang Yang hadn't made a 1+ against Crawford and Felton made a three-pointer, they would have already reversed the score.

The score difference was narrowed to 1 point, and Thomas immediately adjusted his defense after the timeout. When the opportunity came, he could still seize it. After all, he was a coach who led the team to the playoffs.

Who would have thought that the opponent did not replace the lineup with similar players, but directly changed the playing style! His defensive preparations were in vain!

Fortunately, the Knicks did not rely on defense to win. The performance of the opposing wing shooter declined, the core inside player was replaced, and the forward players and attackers who connected the inside and outside defense were also replaced. He was still very confident.

Look, after the timeout, the Knicks quickly reversed the score!
The Bobcats switched back to a two-gun backcourt play. When Felton played one-on-one, Zhang Yang ran to receive the ball. When Zhang Yang played one-on-one, Felton went to the sideline to receive the ball and shoot. The offense was okay, but his teammates really couldn't score.

Matt Carroll was left open, and Felton tried to pass the ball to him once, but he missed the shot, and Felton didn't try again.

If Zhang Yang was double-teamed when playing one-on-one, he would never pass the ball unless there was a direct chance to score a rebound in the paint or Felton was open, and he would not even consider passing the ball to Matt Carroll.

At this point in the game, Zhang Yang would rather trust his own accuracy in shooting against two players than to trust Matt Carroll's open three-pointer.

Millsap and Muhammad's rushing ability is inferior to that of Gerald Wallace and Okafor, and the three-man offense was in vain.

Faced with the Knicks' powerful offensive firepower, Felton and Zhang Yang could only hold on to prevent the opponent from quickly widening the gap.

However, the two did not give up. They were waiting for an opportunity. If the opportunity came, there would still be hope. If it did not come... then they would accept the defeat calmly.

They made all the necessary preparations, which was to keep the score close. Only when the score was close would opportunities arise.

尼克斯队在暂停回来后的5分多钟时间里，打出了18比12的比分，将比分打成124比119，领先山猫队5分。

With 3 minutes left in the game, the opportunity Zhang Yang and Felton had been waiting for finally came!
The Knicks' physical strength also declined and they started to miss shots one after another!

The Knicks are used to playing with an 8-man rotation, and they only have 8 more games of experience playing this way than the Bobcats. They cannot be compared with the Suns and the Kings of that year!

After the fight, the Knicks had only eight players left to play. Seeing that no one could defend him, Thomas tried playing the offensive basketball of the 8s, and unexpectedly set off an offensive basketball storm. From the first game after the fight, they caught their opponents off guard. In almost every one of those eight games, they started with a big lead, but in the end they only had a record of 80 wins and 8 losses, because they also suffered a physical crisis, and the 5 losses were all reversed.

As they play more and more games of 8-man offensive basketball, they become more and more experienced, and their lineup rotation, ball distribution, and physical strength distribution are much better than at the beginning. However, at the end of the game, there will still be situations where their physical strength declines and their offense is interrupted!

This is what Zhang Yang and Felton are waiting for!

While they were waiting, they did not forget to communicate with their teammates, asking them to stay motivated, patient and focused and wait for the opportunity.

When the opportunity came, they didn't miss it!

When the Knicks missed a shot, Millsap defended David Lee's rush for the ball, Muhammad grabbed the rebound and looked for Felton, and Zhang Yang quickly ran down the court and received Felton's long pass to launch a counterattack!
In 4 rounds, the Knicks missed 3 shots and only scored two points. Muhammad secured all 3 rebounds, and Felton and Zhang Yang scored twice in counterattacks.

打到末节11分02秒，山猫队将比分追至123比126，分差缩小到3分！
It was the Knicks' turn to attack, and Marbury advanced to the frontcourt and passed the ball to Crawford.

Marbury couldn't break through as he had run out of energy. Frye and Big Q on the wing also couldn't make their shots. There were a bunch of players on the opposite side squatting under the basket. For one-on-one play from the outside, the strongest player on their team was Crawford.

Although Crawford was also very tired, he would not give the ball away when given the crucial opportunity.

However, the person standing in front of him changed. It was no longer Matt Carroll, who he had been playing with for fun, but Zhang Yang!

This... Crawford is even more excited!
Facing the bad boy Zhang San who is said to be the most talented player under 20 in the league, he scored the winning goal? Crawford was so excited that his fatigue disappeared a lot, and he started to dribble in a fancy way... The opponent didn't move at all.

Crawford looked a little embarrassed, he remembered that this was a calm high school student with a 'slow reaction time'.

He definitely couldn't break through because there were a lot of people inside who couldn't shoot. The opponents were taller and had longer arms than him, and he chose to calmly block the shooting space regardless of the defense. It was difficult for him to make a quick stop jump shot because his physical strength was at the bottom. The same went for a direct shot.

In a flash, Crawford made a decision. He tried some fancy moves again, suddenly started and broke through!
He broke through from the right side, but as soon as he entered the three-point line, he slammed the ball down, retreated, stepped back and shot... but didn't catch the ball...

After Crawford hit the ball with great force, Zhang Yang reached out for the ball and poked it!
He bet that Crawford would not choose to shoot directly or break through and make a jump shot, so Crawford would only have the fake breakout and step-back shot, because he had the impression that Jamal Crawford, who would be the best sixth man three times in the next seven years, would only have these three moves at critical moments. His bet was right!

After poking the ball away, Zhang Yang rushed forward to grab the ball. Crawford also quickly turned around to grab the ball, but Zhang Yang took the ball first and launched a counterattack!
Crawford fought back and stuck to Zhang Yang after he entered the three-point line... but he couldn't withstand Zhang Yang's advance!

Zhang Yang is not very strong at his age, but Crawford is even weaker. Zhang Yang broke into the inside against Crawford and made a layup. Crawford jumped up and stretched out his hand to block the shot, but failed to stop Zhang Yang from shooting the ball. He even pressed Zhang Yang in the air and was called for a foul!
With the referee's whistle, the ball fell into the frame. Zhang Yang stole the ball and counterattacked to score two points and also got a free throw!

The fans at the scene exclaimed for Zhang Yang's counterattack score, and were wondering whether they should cheer or boo when Zhang Yang took the free throw. Their team played so well tonight and had a chance to win, but the opponent was the super genius bad boy Zhang San... Just as they were hesitating and struggling, the data posted on the big screen above the court...

More than 3 minutes before the final quarter, Zhang Yang scored 2 points with a 1+3. In the double-gun tactical phase, he scored 4 points. In the past two minutes, he scored two points in the counterattack with Felton. After this steal and counterattack, he scored 11 points in the final quarter. Together with 9 points in the first quarter, 14 points in the second quarter, and 15 points in the third quarter, his score tonight has reached 49 points!
Only 50 point away from 1 points, he went to the free throw line... New York fans decisively turned against him again!

……

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Today I will finish today's guaranteed 6000 words, and see if I can write another 3000 words tonight. I updated words less yesterday and the day before yesterday, so I will try my best to make up for it!

(End of this chapter)