Chapter 178 177. Why does this slogan look so familiar?

On January 1, the Bobcats had a day off, but the four core players still agreed to go to the gym together in the morning.

Zhang Yang and Felton lived closer and arrived first.

Zhang Yang said to Felton tactfully: "You are so tired from playing games these days, you should rest more in the morning."

Felton: "Don't worry, Jack, I know I can't be selected as an All-Star starter. I came here to see who can be selected and increase my motivation to work hard."

Zhang Yang was surprised and asked, "Boss, do you still need motivation?"

What a sincere recognition! Felton was a little touched. He coughed twice and said, "Of course I also need external stimulation to boost my enthusiasm. Just like your ball-handling attack is getting closer and closer to me, I must work hard not to be surpassed by you..."

After a while, when it was close to the 10 o'clock live broadcast time, Gerald Wallace and Okafor also arrived.

Gerald Wallace sat down and asked, "Jack, Raymond, who do you think will start between me and Emeka?"

Felton: “You’re more popular, maybe it’s you.”

Zhang Yang: "Your selection as a starter will maximize our benefits."

Gerald Wallace couldn't suppress the smile.

Okafor couldn't do anything about popularity, but he was curious about what Zhang Yang meant by maximizing benefits, so he raised the question.

Zhang Yang: "Gerald is selected as the starting lineup, and Emeka can be selected as a substitute, but if you are selected as the starting lineup, Gerald has no chance to be selected as a substitute. This season, among the serious inside players in the Eastern Conference, only you, Howard, and Bosh have played All-Star performances. You three will definitely be selected as All-Stars.

Although Curry has performed like an All-Star in recent times, he played so poorly in the first six weeks that it is difficult for him to be selected; although O'Neal of the Pacers performed well, after they traded Harrington and Jackson for Murphy, their record dropped from fifth in the Eastern Conference to eleventh. His ability to lead the team is highly questionable, and he will most likely not be selected.

There are many players in the same position as Gerrard. Pierce and Carter were both placed at forwards this year, averaging 25 points per game. The Bulls' Deng also performed well. Although Butler of the Wizards and Johnson of the Hawks are mainly shooting guards, they were also placed at forwards. Jamison also plays as a small forward...

Although theoretically there is no distinction between power forwards and small forwards in forward selection, coaches of each team will still try to consider lineup matching when selecting players. ”

Okafor thought what he said made sense and was no longer too concerned about the high probability of not being selected as a starter, mainly because he knew that he would definitely be overtaken by Gerald Wallace in the final 10 days of voting.

Gerard Wallace complained: "Raymond, Jack, you two are too calculating, you have so many schemes!"

Zhang Yang: “…”

Felton: I'm not! I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!

Soon, it was 10 o'clock, and the American cable sports channel live broadcast the All-Star voting results.

As Zhang Yang expected, Gerald Wallace surpassed Okafor in the final round of voting and eventually received 191 million votes, winning the second starting forward position in the Eastern Conference.

Okafor received 179 million votes, started off strong, became weak in the middle, and then suffered a crushing defeat in the late stages. Carter ranked fourth with 145 million votes.

The first forward to start was naturally James, who won the All-Star vote with 263 million votes.

Zhang Yang received 242 million votes, ranking first among Eastern Conference guards, while Wade ranked second with 202 million votes.

Arenas lost with 141 million votes, Felton came in fourth with 91 votes, and Kidd came in fifth with 83 votes.

For the center position, the votes were very scattered, with several votes exceeding one million. O'Neal was elected the starting center with 166 million votes, defeating Howard with 153 million votes.

Zhang Yang estimated that according to this trend, this would be O'Neal's last time to be selected as an All-Star starter. If O'Neal was not traded back by Steve Kerr as he remembered, he would never be selected as an All-Star again. O'Neal had been squeezed dry by Pat Riley.

In the Western Conference, Yao Ming received the most votes, with 236 million votes for the starting center, far ahead of Stoudemire who received 133 million votes.

Forwards, Garnett ranked first with 189 million votes and Duncan ranked second with 178 million votes. It was still these two.

Guard, Kobe Bryant ranked first with 221 million votes and Iverson ranked second with 197 million votes.

The Rockets' collapse in the Chinese market had little impact on Yao Ming's votes, and he still ranked first in the Western Conference.

But McGrady was greatly affected and could not beat Iverson. Of course, Iverson's super popularity and fan appeal were the most crucial. After all, he was a super popular superstar who averaged 13 points and 4 assists per game in the last year of his career and was still selected as a starter.

McGrady's own performance decline is also an important reason. Last season, he fell on his back and his back injury, which could not be completely healed, seriously worsened. Not only did he only play more than 40 games last season, but it also had a huge impact on his athletic ability and playing style. This season, it is difficult to see McGrady backing up in the high and low posts like he did in the 04-05 season.

In the past, McGrady's playing style was flexible and varied, but now McGrady is like a skinny guy with a more accurate mid-range shot. He stands in the three-threat stance for a long time and then just shoots.

All-Star coach: Currently the No. 33 team in the Eastern Conference is the Detroit Pistons with 14 wins and losses, but Philip Saunders already served as the Eastern Conference All-Star head coach last season. The rule is that the head coach of the same team cannot be re-elected, so the term was passed to Bickerstaff.

The Suns are currently ranked first in the Western Conference, and D'Antoni was once again elected as the All-Star head coach after a year.

The results are out, some are happy, some are sad, and some are more motivated.

Gerard Wallace was delighted - he could get endorsement bonus again this year!
After being selected as an All-Star starter last season, Gerald Wallace was also signed by Jordan with an average annual salary of US$300 million. Being selected as an All-Star starter can earn him an additional US$100 million, which is equivalent to one-third of the endorsement fee. How can he not be happy?

Although Okafor guessed the result and was comforted by Zhang Yang, he was still a little sad. Fortunately, he didn't often show his emotions, so his three teammates couldn't sense it.

The four chatted about the last four games before the All-Star Weekend, and then went to have lunch together to celebrate Gerald Wallace's selection as an All-Star starter.

Although they belong to two different factions within the team, they are happy for each other when it comes to winning honors.

As for Zhang Yang, who was also selected as a starter and received the second highest number of votes in the league, the other three didn't care too much.

With the precedent of Yao Ming, as long as Zhang Yang is on the voting list and plays well, he will definitely start.

Unless Iverson does not leave the East and James is placed in the back line, there is still a little suspense.

...

February 2st is a new month. Today, the Bobcats will face the 1th regular season game against the Pistons. The All-Stars weekend is approaching, and after such a difficult month, the Bobcats players have a mentality of "getting through this week quickly and taking a break" and are not as focused as before.

Before the pre-game meeting in the morning, Felton actively mobilized his teammates and shouted slogans.

"Don't give up halfway, stand guard till the end!"

"Persistence is victory. Keep the second place and strive for the first place. Don't slack off!"

"If you don't play hard today, you'll have to work hard to find the ball to play tomorrow!"

"..."

"..."

"After the last four games of the first half, our All-Star starters Gerald and Jack invite everyone to Las Vegas!"

The cameraman sent by the imperial TV station to Charlotte to film Zhang Yang's team life for a long time felt so familiar when he heard the slogan led by Felton.
The teammates followed suit and shouted slogans for a long time, but it was not until the last sentence that they really got excited.

The previous ones are too false and empty. Only the last sentence can really motivate them.

Of course, the previous words are not useless. They know what they have to do, and only the two All-Star starters will lead them to play.

This was the idea the Bobcats core 4 came up with to motivate their teammates before lunch yesterday.

Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace will share the money for entertaining teammates equally. If Okafor is successfully selected as an All-Star reserve, he will also receive an endorsement bonus, which will be shared equally by the three of them.

Of course, they will only pay for travel, food, lodging, and entertainment items. If teammates want to get money or something else, they have to pay for it themselves. Everyone understands this.

Last year, some teammates went to Houston to watch the All-Star Game, and Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace also reimbursed their travel, food and accommodation expenses.

At noon, the league announced the new monthly best awards.

No one on the Bobcats had any expectations for the Player of the Month award. They only had 10 wins and 7 losses last month. Their record dropped from 21 wins and 10 losses to 31 wins and 17 losses, which is a big decline. They led the Pistons by half a game on January 1, but are 1 games behind them today.

But the situation was not what the Bobcats players expected...

隆多1月份场均打23分钟，17场比赛拿到6.4分5.7板5.9助攻1.1抢断，拿下东部月最佳新秀！

张杨1月份场均打36分钟，17场比赛拿到27.53分4.3板2.7助攻1.3抢断0.7盖帽，拿下东部月最佳球员！
Rondo and Zhang Yang: With this performance of mine (ours), I can actually get the Player of the Month award?
The two looked at each other: You actually won the award!

They ran to the lounge and used the computer to check the performance of other stars.

Well...they are both the best in their respective tracks!

Adam Morrison, the best performing rookie in the Eastern Conference in November and December, played 11 games in January. Not only did he suffer injuries, but his form also plummeted, averaging only 12 points and 1 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of only 13%, which was more than half of his averages of 8.7 points, 3.3% shooting percentage, and 30% three-point shooting percentage in the previous two months!

No. 7.5 pick Bargnani averaged points per game, and his rookie season seems to have been a flop.

Apart from Bargnani and Adam Morrison, no one among the 06 Eastern Conference rookies can compare with Rondo.

Competition for Eastern Conference Player of the Month.

James performed poorly in January, mainly because the Cavaliers lost a lot. They had 1 wins and 15 losses in 7 games, 8 wins and 10 losses in the first 5 games, and a three-game losing streak in the last 5 games of the month, two three-game losing streak in a single month. At the end of December, the record was 5 wins and 12 losses, and now it has dropped to 18 wins and 14 losses.

The Cavaliers' mid-term record has declined significantly, mainly because Big Z and Hughes were affected by injuries. Big Z missed 4 games and Hughes missed 9 games, and the Cavaliers' defense collapsed.

The Pistons and Bulls had the best mid-season performances among all the teams in the Eastern Conference, but neither team had any outstanding individual players. Although their records were the best, the gap between them and other Western teams was not as big as the top three in the Western Conference.

The Nets and Wizards have some individual stars who performed well, but their winning percentage in January was less than 1%.

Wade was troubled by injuries in January...

The Raptors are the third best performing team in the Eastern Conference, with 10 wins and 5 losses in a single month. Bosh's personal performance is also good, averaging 25.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2 assists per game. He is Zhang Yang's only competitor.

Zhang Yang narrowly defeated Bosh by 3 votes to win the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award.

Over there in the west.

Roy won the Rookie of the Month award, played in 12 games, averaging 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal per game, with a shooting percentage of 44% and a three-point shooting percentage of 38%. He is a very mature rookie when entering the NBA.

Nash won the Player of the Month award, playing in 16 games, with 15 wins and 1 loss, averaging 18 points, 3.5 rebounds and 13 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 55.4%, a three-point shooting percentage of 45.7% and a free throw shooting percentage of 84%.

The opponents they defeated were Kobe, who led the team well this month, Nowitzki, who was second in the league, the golden duo whose record was rising the fastest in the Western Conference, and Duncan, who was third in the league and had a 60% shooting percentage for the first time in his career.

Nash's performance left Zhang Yang astonished.

Nadal really wants to compete with his old teammates for the MVP! He plays too hard. He is almost 33 years old. He averages 40 minutes per game in a single month. It is the first time in his career that he has played such a long time. This is a run-and-gun game!

Nash's free throw performance this month was slightly 'poor', but the three hit rates added together were still far over 180, which was amazing.

The Suns not only performed well in January, but also lost only one game since Christmas. From December 1th to January 1th, they won 12 consecutive games. The Mavericks had a great record this season, but were still far behind the Suns.

Unfortunately, in the back-to-back game against the Timberwolves on the 28th, the Suns were defeated by Garnett, who scored 44 points and 11 rebounds, and failed to achieve their 18th consecutive victory.

The Mavericks also had a 12-game winning streak after Christmas, but they met the Lakers in mid-January. Kobe didn't play aggressively that night, only shooting 1 times and scoring 20 points, but the entire Mavericks team was staring at him, and the Lakers ended the Mavericks' 26-game winning streak relatively easily.

In the West, Nash, Nowitzki, Kobe, the Golden Twins, and Duncan are competing for the monthly best player award so vigorously. When Zhang Yang looks at his own team... he feels like he's taking advantage of the situation. The competition is not that fierce, so it's easier to win awards and it's more conducive to growth.

...

(End of this chapter)