Chapter 172 171. The mid-season of wild waves

31投15中，其中三分球8中3，加上4中4的罚球，张杨拿到37分6板2助攻1抢断1盖帽，率领山猫队以104比97击败猛龙队，将战绩提升到24胜12负！
Bickerstaff knew he was a wild man, and now he found himself dealing with someone even wilder.

At noon, when he and his colleagues in the coaching staff and the boss were analyzing what adjustments Zhang Yang would make next, he felt that Zhang Yang would counterattack like Kidd when the rotation lineup was in place, Jordan said that Zhang Yang might increase his back-to-the-basket offense, and Engelland felt that Zhang Yang would play more pick-and-roll like Nash... Although everyone had their own opinions, they all agreed on one thing: everyone believed that Zhang Yang would go the all-around route and increase his passing.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yang's way of responding was to increase his shots... The team's defense has been average recently due to physical strength, and the offense has also been affected by physical strength and tactical adjustments. In this game, Zhang Yang threw more than 30 shots and digested 48.3/3 of the team's shots with a hit rate of 8%, which did improve the offensive efficiency. After a few games, their score finally broke .

But if they play like this, their stability may become worse. Zhang Yang's average shooting percentage this season is 45.8%. If there are games where his shooting percentage is higher than this, there will definitely be games where his shooting percentage is lower.

After the game, he found Zhang Yang and asked him tactfully if he had ever considered organizing an attack.

Zhang Yang: "Bernie, do you think I am as good as Raymond in the conventional tactical core? Do I have the talent of Rajon in organizing the offense independently?"

Bickerstaff answered decisively: "No, few people can match Raymond's stability in executing tactics. Rajon... I remember that there are only a few people who have his talent for organizing offense. You are also good, but not as good as them."

Zhang Yang: "I think so too. Even if Raymond is affected by his physical strength, I won't be able to do as well as him as the tactical core. Rajon and I are learning to organize the offense independently, and my progress is probably not as fast as his. It will not only affect their performance and growth, but also my own playing habits. After the All-Star Weekend, when our physical strength improves, it may also affect our original offensive method..."

After the chat, Zhang Yang went for physical therapy, leaving Bickerstaff deep in thought.

Jordan came back from the interview and saw Bickerstaff standing there stupidly. He asked, "How was your conversation with Jack? What did he say?"

Bickerstaff told Jordan what he had talked about with Zhang Yang.

Jordan was stunned for a moment and said, "He is really calm in this regard."

Bickerstaff: "Yes, we fell into a misunderstanding. We gave Jack unlimited firing rights for the sake of other team members; but when we considered how Jack could grow, we ignored other players and the entire team."

Jordan: "Yes, it's our problem, but..."

Bickerstaff: “But what?”

Jordan: "I think he was just making excuses for why he loved shooting."

Bickerstaff: "Boss, you can't assume that everyone is like you."

Jordan: "..."

Change the head coach! Must change!
...

Bickerstaff confirmed Zhang Yang's idea and approved of the young friend's thinking. With the boss's approval, he no longer thought about how to adjust the tactics if Zhang Yang wanted to organize the offense. Instead, he continued to think of ways to adjust the tactics and find a better way to get the ball to Zhang Yang. The coach and the players had completely consistent ideas.

While increasing Zhang Yang's shots, Bickerstaff was also prepared to let Zhang Yang defend the opponent's weakest outside scoring ability, preferably a fixed-point shooter, such as defending Bowen in the bottom corner. In the 06-07 season, Zhang Yang enjoyed the GOAT treatment.

As the days go by, the Bobcats struggle through an incredibly tight midseason schedule.

On the 11th, the Bobcats played against the 76ers at home. Zhang Yang scored 25 points with 14 of 35 shots, and the Bobcats won 110-92. After Iverson left, Iguodala's average points per game soared from 14 points in the first month and a half of the season to 21 points, but his shooting percentage plummeted from 51% to 43%. He was hammered by Zhang Yang tonight.

On the 13th, Zhang Yang scored 26 points with 12 of 30 shots in the home game against the Hornets. The Bobcats lost 98-104. His 46.1% hit rate was actually pretty good. Felton was really disappointed to see Paul throw 20 times and only make 7 shots. Paul scored 12 points and 7 assists with 20 of 10 shots, showing off the Bobcats' double irons. Okafor also sprained his wrist and is expected to miss 2-3 games.

On the 14th, Zhang Yang scored 25 points on 10 of 23 shots in a back-to-back home game against the Bulls. The Bobcats suffered a 85-100 defeat. After entering 2007, the Bulls became stronger and stronger. Although Ben Wallace's performance declined due to his age and system changes, he brought rich game experience to the young talents of the Bulls, and they defeated strong teams many times this season.

On the 16th, Zhang Yang scored 76 points on 28 of 13 shots in an away game against the 34ers. The Bobcats won 88-67. Iguodala was hit again, but Gerald Wallace was injured.

On the 18th, the Bobcats played against the Heat away. Okafor returned, Wade and O'Neal were both absent, Zhang Yang scored 31 points with 17 of 41 shots, and the Bobcats won 113-89.

On the 19th, Zhang Yang played against the Timberwolves in a back-to-back away game. He scored 26 points with 8 of 19 shots, and the Bobcats lost 86-92. It was the first time that he played against the Timberwolves as the main attacking point. He felt the terrifying power of the big man who could cover the entire mid-range, and understood why Kobe was defended like that in the 04 Western Conference Finals.

On the 21st, Zhang Yang played against the Knicks at home. He made 22 of 12 shots and scored 30 points and 6 assists under heavy double-teaming. He performed well, but was defeated by Marbury's 18 points and 10 assists, Crawford's 31 points, and Eddy Curry's 25 points. The Bobcats lost to the Knicks 104-110. The New York media commented that without the buff of the basketball mecca, Bad Boy Jack looked like an ordinary genius, and suggested that Jack consider joining if he couldn't beat them.

On the 22nd, Randolph played against the Trail Blazers at home. He wanted to go wild again tonight, but was surrounded by the returning Gerald Wallace, the angry Okafor, the tough Millsap and Muhammad. He only scored 18 points with 6 of 15 shots. Zhang Yang scored 25 points with 11 of 29 shots. The Bobcats won 94-81...

After defeating the Trail Blazers, Zhang Yang felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation when he finished the physical therapy massage and ice compress.

从12月26号到1月22号这波魔鬼赛程终于过去了，28天时间17场比赛，多达5个背靠背，还有一个5天4战的连续背靠背！
In these 17 games, the Bobcats have achieved a record of 10 wins and 7 losses, with a winning rate of 59%, which is much lower than the winning rate of 18 wins and 9 losses and 67% in the early stage of the season, but he has tried his best to shoot.

During this period, he not only had to deal with his teammates being tired and in poor form, but also had to deal with core teammates being absent due to injuries, as well as his own poor personal condition and the outbursts of his opponents... He finally made it through!
做完理疗后，张杨回到家，上网查了下战绩榜，活塞队目前29胜13负第一、山猫队28胜16负第二、公牛队23胜19负第三、热火队靠着东南赛区头名的身份以22胜22负排在第四、骑士队23胜19负因与公牛队直接交手1胜2负排在第五……

In the middle of the season, other strong teams in the Eastern Conference were not having an easy time either. The league arranged a lot of strong matchups and star showdowns this month. For example, the Bobcats played two games against the 76ers in a short period of time, which were 3VS3 matchups. However, Iverson was traded away, and the 76ers were beaten twice without making any splashes.

活塞队进入赛季中期后15场比赛10胜5负，也就比他们山猫队10胜7负好一丢丢。

The Cavaliers have lost more games and have been overtaken by the Bulls, dropping to fifth in the Eastern Conference.

张杨看东部战绩的时候，觉得自家球队还行，但看到西部的战绩……太阳队34胜8负联盟第一、小牛队34胜9负联盟第二、马刺队31胜11负联盟第三、爵士队28胜14负西部第四联盟第五、火箭队28胜16负西部第五因直接交手输给了山猫队排在联盟第七……

He had only one question - how would the Eastern Conference teams play against the Western Conference teams in the finals?
To put it another way, which team can avoid being swept when facing the Suns, Mavericks, or Spurs?
Before the middle of the season, although the gap in records between the East and West was already quite obvious, it was still acceptable.

After entering the middle of the season, the gap in records has widened to an unbearable level!
The Suns have not lost since the 26th and have won 15 games in a row. The last time they lost was before Christmas on the 23rd.

The Mavericks are equally outrageous, with 15 wins and 14 loss in the past 1 games, and one winning streak after another.

The Spurs also have a record of 13 wins and 2 losses.

Looking at their Eastern Conference, the Pistons and Bulls with 10 wins and 5 losses are already the best performing teams... He closed the official website and stopped looking at the standings. The record of the top three teams in the Western Conference made him jealous.

The computer is already turned on, so just check the news.

Not only did he feel that their team had finally gotten through the most difficult period in the mid-season, but after their game against the Trail Blazers, many media outlets were discussing their team's performance in 4 games over the past four weeks.

When the league released the new season schedule in September, the media noticed that the Rockets and Bobcats had particularly difficult schedules in the middle of the season.

The media's attention at the time was focused on the Rockets with Yao and McGrady. No one expected the Bobcats to play so well at the beginning of the new season, not even the Bobcats' own coaching staff and players.

So after Christmas, the Bobcats also became the focus of media attention.

Although Zhang Yang didn't watch the news much during the past period, Felton would occasionally tell him about the media's comments, such as the fact that he was attacked by some media for taking too many shots.

Now, he saw the summary of his shooting during this period... He did shoot a bit too much...

Especially in the last 9 games, he threw the ball at least 8 times in 25 games, and only shot 22 times when he was double-teamed against the Knicks. In total, he shot 9 times in 239 games, averaging 26.5 shots per game.

Some media have compiled a set of data comparisons. Among the active players, only one player can be compared with him in the number of shots in a certain period during his rookie contract - Allen Iverson!
新秀赛季最后10场比赛场均投26次，也就是艾弗森新秀赛季尾声连续5场40+的那一波；以及艾弗森二年级赛季的2月份，9场比赛场均投25次。

But even Iverson, during his explosive shooting phase in his first and second years, didn't shoot as hard as Zhang Yang.

He averaged 9 shots per game and scored 26.5 points in 30.8 games, and had a record of only 9 wins and 5 losses in these 4 games. He was attacked by many media, but there were also those who spoke fairly.

The Los Angeles media analyzed the Bobcats players' individual performances, injuries, and other aspects.

Okafor played in 17 of the 15 games after entering the mid-season, averaging 28 minutes per game, scoring 14.2 points and 8.8 rebounds, giving more playing time to Perkins and Millsap.

Perkins, a pure tank center, can only do so much; Millsap is more comprehensive and can do more, but he also fell into the rookie wall in the middle of the season. The opponents know him better. He has never played such a dense schedule. In the early stage of the season, there were 27 games in less than two months, which is almost the same as the games he played in a season in college. His performance during this period can only be said to be not too bad for a rookie inside player. The decline is not as exaggerated as Morrison's decline from 19 points per game to 9 points per game. Okafor's playing time has not only decreased, but his shooting percentage and defensive performance have also declined significantly compared to the early stage of the season.

Gerald Wallace played 12 games, averaging 30 minutes per game, scoring 13.5 points, 6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks. His performance did not decline too much, but he had too many injuries and his playing time was reduced.

Matt Carroll, Jumaine Jones, Alan Anderson and others have improved their performance after getting more playing time, but the effect of their improved performance is far less than the impact of the decline in performance of Okafor and Gerald Wallace.

Felton and Rondo's performances have been steadily improving. Felton played in all 17 games, averaging 17 points, slightly higher than the beginning of the season, and averaging 8.1 assists per game; Rondo averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6 assists in these 5.7 games.

Summary given by Los Angeles media:

Advantages: When the performance of the two main scorers in the frontcourt declined and the performance of his point guard teammates improved, Jack, as the team's top shooter and top scorer, increasing his shots is not a bad choice. In 9 games, he averaged 26.5 of 12.4 shots per game, and his shooting percentage of 46.8% is already excellent. He absorbed a large number of shots, attracted more defense, and created better opportunities for role players who cut in and respond from the outside.

Disadvantages: His three-point performance is not stable enough, his mid-range and long-range shots account for too high a proportion, his shots from the inside account for less than 30%, and he is not lethal enough in the inside. He only scores 26.5 points with 30.8 shots per game because he gets too few free throws.

Zhang Yang saw the comments from the Los Angeles media and felt that they were quite objective, pointing out both the good and bad aspects of his performance.

Seeing Felton's performance... When he first entered the NBA, he would never have thought that his most stable teammate in the future would be the fat guy!

When seeing Rondo's statistics, Zhang Yang complained - were all the rebounds taken away by Coach Rondo due to Duncan's declining performance?
However, Rondo's points are higher than his rebounds and assists, which is cause for celebration.

As for the Los Angeles media saying that his 9% hit rate in the past 46.8 games was the hardest he threw, he felt that this was "whitewashing" Brother Blacksmith, whose hit rate was 46%.

Zhang Yang also saw that some regional media were mindlessly praising his performance, which made him feel exhausted - from New York.

During this period, he gained a lot. For example, he raised his physical strength assessment value from 88 to 89, which is only one step away from 90.

Although he missed a lot of three-point shots, he also made some progress, from 77 to 78.

The number of shots increased significantly, and the number of singles naturally increased, and his skills were also pushed to improve...

...

After playing 5 games in 4 days, the Bobcats once again hurriedly left Charlotte early in the morning on the 23rd to start a three-game road trip in the Western Conference.

But this time, the Bobcats players are in a good mood!
After beating the Trail Blazers last night, Bickerstaff told them that they would not have any back-to-backs until the All-Star Weekend!

Zhang Yang looked at his teammates' relaxed expressions and didn't foolishly let the fat Boss spoil their fun.

There are no back-to-back games, but starting tomorrow there will be 15 games in 8 days, with a game every other day, which is actually not much better.

But some things are better left unsaid so as to make you feel better, which is definitely better than playing the game with the thought that "the schedule is difficult".

After resting for a night in a hotel in San Francisco, the Bobcats went to the Oracle Arena in Oakland early the next morning to prepare for the game.

The Warriors changed their head coach this season. Legendary college coach Montgomery suffered a setback in the NBA and fled back to college. After the mad scientist Nelson fell out with Cuban, he came to the Warriors and asked for the same job as Bickerstaff as general manager and head coach.

It is worth mentioning that Bickerstaff is the first executive in NBA history to serve as both general manager and head coach.

After Nelson took over, the Warriors' record has improved a lot, but overall it is still mediocre, with 21 wins and 21 losses, just over % winning rate. It is still difficult to enter the playoffs in the wild Western Conference. Currently, they are fighting with the Lakers, Hornets and Clippers for a playoff spot. Behind them are the Nuggets, who have quickly improved their record after robbing Iverson and Anthony's comeback and have already rushed to tenth in the Western Conference.

However, the Warriors are a team that is very troublesome for opponents. Their role in the wild West is roughly equivalent to that of the Wizards in the East, and they are stronger than the Wizards with 20 wins and 23 losses.

The Warriors are also a scoring team, especially after they acquired Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson from the Pacers for free at the beginning of the month. Their scoring has been wild, with an average score of 106.6 points per game this season, which is higher than the Wizards' 106 points per game. However, they also concede more points than the Wizards, averaging 107 points per game. Their main strategy is "If you can't kill me, I'll kill you."

Halfway through the season, the Warriors' most impressive performance in the first 43 games was winning both games against the Mavericks, one by 117-100 and the other by 107-104. Monta Ellis scored a 103+104 against Josh Howard to end the game when trailing 3-1 in the final moments, which was rated as the most domineering buzzer beater.

Also, the Hornets won all three of their first three encounters. Baron Davis was so impressive when playing against Paul, averaging 3 points and 3 assists in three games.

Facing such an opponent, the Bobcats dare not be careless.

After a day of preparation, at 7:40 p.m., players from both teams entered the Oracle Arena.

As soon as the lights dimmed and the spotlights were turned on the visiting team's players' tunnel, the fans began to shout "Jack", "badboy", and some who could speak Chinese directly shouted "Zhang Yang".

Zhang Yang felt how popular he was in California!

No wonder every time there is a quarrel between fans and him, you can always see the fans of California IP speaking up for him and cursing at the other side.

He liked these shouts very much, except for one - who the hell called him Yang Yang?

He is used to this nickname when his parents or relatives call him by it, but when others call him by it, he feels ashamed as if he were wearing a royal robe.

After DJ called out the names of the Bobcats' starting players in a deep voice, Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Jumaine Jones and Okafor entered the court one after another.

On the other side, in the home team's player tunnel, the Warriors players were very unhappy when they heard the fans cheering for Zhang Yang.

Of course they know that Zhang Yang is very popular in California. After all, he is the "Most Powerful Basketball Player in California."

Staying in the local area, they heard more legendary stories about Zhang Yang! Even wilder!

For example: In the summer of 2003, when 15-year-old Zhang Yang played basketball for the first time, he was provoked by a group of people who said that he was so tall that he couldn't even play basketball. Without ever touching a basketball, he went on the court and beat the "Little Iverson" who dropped out of Santa Barbara High School. From then on, he fell in love with basketball and chose the jersey number 3 that the "Little Iverson" wore. After that, he began to dominate the California high school basketball world. From the first time he touched a basketball to stepping onto the NBA court in the winter of 2005 to kill the little giant Yao Ming, it only took two and a half years...

The Warriors players had long guessed that when the Bobcats came as a guest, the fans would definitely cheer for Zhang Yang, but when they actually heard those cheers, they were still very angry and unhappy.

The most unhappy ones were Monta Ellis from the same class and Al Harrington, who had always been envious and jealous of Zhang Yang.

After the entrance ceremony, Zhang Yang and Ellis, as high school players from the same class, were invited by Chaoting TV to take a photo together.

Normally, when facing the camera, no matter what the relationship is, one would always give the camera a face and smile, but Ellis didn't! His expression was sour, as if he was forced to do business.

Because at this stage, the opponent he most wants to defeat is Zhang Yang!

Ellis is the most surprising player of the Warriors this season. Before picking up Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson for free, he averaged 19.1 points per game, replacing dunk king Richardson as the team's second-leading scorer, second only to Baron Davis.

After the big trade, Ellis was placed on the bench more often by Nelson Sr., and his scoring has dropped a lot. He currently averages 17.6 points per game, and it is still declining, but his shooting percentage has increased significantly. Before the trade, his shooting percentage was only 42%, and now his shooting percentage this season has increased to 44.9%, and it is still rising.

He averaged 6.8 points per game in his rookie year, and this season his highest average soared to 19.1 points per game, making Ellis's already confident personality even more arrogant, and also making him more jealous of Zhang Yang.

In his opinion, Zhang Yang can average 25.7 points per game this season only because Zhang Yang is more valued by the team and has received more training. If he goes to the Bobcats, he can play better!

The other party didn't give face and had a sullen face. When Zhang Yang took the photo, he also put away his smile and had a blank expression on his face. He left as soon as the photo was taken.

It seems like everyone knows how to change the opponent's mentality and affect his mood.

Zhang Yang didn't know whether Ellis was trying to mess with his mentality and was deliberately giving him a hard time, but he gave an equal response anyway.

Just as he expected...

Ellis: I gave him face by taking a photo with the media from his country, but he didn't even say hello. I'm going to kill him tonight! Definitely!
(End of this chapter)