Chapter 188 187. Public Enemy of the North
Back then, Garnett also had such a team. He led the team to first place in the Western Conference and he personally won the MVP. If it weren't for the fierce defense of Artest and Ben Wallace in those two years, he could have competed for DPOY.

That year, he was in high spirits. Even though he lost the Western Conference Finals 2-4, he still felt that his time had come, because Cassell was injured after playing four games in the Western Conference Finals and missed two games. Otherwise, it would be hard to say who would have won or lost.

Moreover, in the 03-04 regular season, the Timberwolves and the Pistons played against each other twice, and the Timberwolves won both times!
In other words, Garnett is just too concerned about his reputation. If it were someone else, he would definitely shout "I'm going to the finals and I'll definitely sweep the Pistons" after the Lakers were eliminated.

Who would have thought that the glory only lasted for one year. In the offseason, Fridge started to make trouble. He wanted Cassell to accept an annual salary of 300-400 million US dollars on the grounds of "injury and age". Then he turned around and licked the madman, making the madman feel that the Timberwolves could not do without him. The new season was full of internal conflicts and the team was in a mess. In the summer of 05, Cassell went to the Clippers and got a contract with an annual average of 700 million. The madman thought that the annual salary of 700 million was too little and refused to renew the contract... Everything disappeared.

Garnett was reminiscing about the past and worrying about the present, while on the other side, the Bobcats players were in a completely different mood and were very happy.

With 36 wins and 18 losses, they are almost bringing their winning rate back to the highest point in team history!
After they narrowly beat the Knicks on the road on December 2006, 12, their record was 31 wins and 21 losses, with a winning rate of 10%. Now the winning rate is 67.7%, which is very close!
Zhang Yang no longer paid attention to Garnett. To him and Felton, what happened to Garnett was just gossip and fun.

Garnett has nothing to do with them. If they want to trade Garnett, they will have to send away either the crown prince or Duncan Jr., as well as a few role players, and probably two or three more draft picks... The team is theirs now, and if they trade Garnett back, it's hard to say who the team will be.

Of course, for the Wolf King, who is at the prime of his life at the age of 30, if such enormous wealth were really given to them, it would not be impossible, but it would be difficult for them to accept it.

Judging from the situation when the league arranged the schedule, the Hawks and Timberwolves were both bottom-ranked teams competing for the No. 1 pick, and were used to help the Bobcats find game rhythm after returning from the All-Star Weekend. However, Garnett unexpectedly refused to accept the team's plan of tanking, and led the team to play at the edge of the Eastern Conference playoffs, causing considerable trouble for the Bobcats.

However, this unexpectedly gave the Bobcats a little more intensity, helping the Bobcats players who returned from a week's rest to improve their condition faster.

After two consecutive home games, the Bobcats started a four-game road trip.

The next day, at noon on the 20th, the Bobcats flew to Toronto. This time, the consecutive away games started from the north and went all the way south.

When we arrived at the hotel in Toronto, it was still freezing cold in the north in March. No one from the boss gang went out to play, and they gathered in the boss' room to discuss tomorrow's opponent, the Raptors.

Previously, there was an Hawks player named Emmanuel Davis. When he was playing away against the Raptors, he ordered takeout and had a hot ice and snow carnival with the delivery lady.

The delivery lady might have gotten used to the weather in the north and had a great time, but Emmanuel Davis was sent to the hospital after the carnival, where she developed a chronic illness and retired from the NBA at the age of 25... He did a great deed by making NBA players no longer dare to enjoy the ice and snow carnival that northerners love to play.

The main reason is that the Raptors have been on a strong rise this year. Their mid-season performance was tied with the Pistons for the best in the Eastern Conference. They have surpassed the Nets to become the team with the best record in the Atlantic Division and are now in the top four in the Eastern Conference.

The last time the Bobcats played the Raptors at home, Zhang Yang scored 37 points, but the Bobcats only won by 7 points.

Of course, they had just entered a period of fatigue, while the Raptors had just passed the early season running-in stage and entered a period of growth. The enemy was strong and we were tired, so we needed Zhang Yang to score such a high score and no one on the opposite side exploded in order to win.

However, this time they are missing Gerald Wallace, which may have a greater impact than being in a state of fatigue. After all, Gerald Wallace only suffered more injuries and less playing time in the middle of the season, and his performance itself was not affected much, so he was able to reverse Okafor and be selected as an All-Star starter. He earned his reputation through his performance.

The 'Big Boss Gang' holds pre-game discussions when playing away games. This is a new team-building activity that Zhang Yang, Felton, Okafor and Rondo decided to add during the All-Star Weekend.

It can kill time and reduce the time spent hanging out. People like Felton and Rondo know that they need to conserve their energy before playing away games, but they still want to go out and play. Felton has money and wants to go out and have fun, while Rondo just turned 21 and is very interested in going to bars.

In addition to these four, there are Alan Anderson and Matt Carroll. Originally, I wanted to call Gerald Wallace to join us, but the crown prince is injured and did not come to Toronto with the team. We can only do it next time.

Felton was responsible for asking questions, Okafor and Zhang Yang were responsible for the main discussions, Rondo was responsible for providing ideas, and Anderson and Matt Carroll were the atmosphere group.

The first 'team building' went smoothly. After half an hour of discussion, they felt that the Raptors had no particularly obvious weaknesses and were difficult to play against.

Yes, this is the result of the first "team building" discussion. Zhang Yang said that they will make more preparations next time and keep up the good work.

After the discussion, Felton complained: "The Raptors' summer signings were really good. Every position was strengthened, and Colangelo's trading ability was really strong."

Zhang Yang: "He has a good father. The Spurs were originally going to sell Nesterovic for a good price, and Colangelo made an offer. Popovich gave his father face by giving the Raptors a first-round pick swap right, a second-round pick, and $60 in cash.

Humphries, such a good defensive forward, was given to the Raptors almost for free by the Jazz.

With the addition of these two players, the Raptors' weakness of not being strong enough in the interior has been made up.

Parker played so well in those years in Europe that the Magic heard that the Raptors wanted to sign him and directly gave up his contract renewal rights. He was able to start when he returned to the NBA, averaging 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal per game, with excellent offense and defense and a 44% three-point shooting percentage. He joined the Raptors to make up for the weak shooting guard position after Carter left.

I don’t know whether the Magic regret it or not... They probably don’t regret it, after all, O’Neal and others look down on them.

And Jones, Gabayosa..."

After listening to Zhang Yang's detailed account, his teammates discovered that the Raptors were basically a changed team after the addition of Bryan Colangelo, the son of the Chairman of the Basketball Association of America, the Chairman of the NBA Rules Committee, the Vice Chairman of the Continental Basketball Association... The only core players that remained unchanged were Ford, Calderon, Bosh and others.

It’s really great to have a good dad who saved me from struggling for many years!
When Colangelo Jr. went to the Suns, the team had everything they wanted and he won the best manager award in his first year. But as soon as he left, the Suns began to stumble and make stupid moves in recruiting players.

Felton complained: "I'm afraid Colangelo will win the best manager award again this year. Jack, if he were to be the general manager for Yao Ming and McGrady, would they be able to defeat the Spurs, Suns and Mavericks and win the championship?"

Zhang Yang: "I remember Colangelo's annual salary was 1000 million. Alexander would definitely not be willing to pay him that much. I remember Van Gundy's salary was only 230 million, not even as high as Chip's."

Okafor saw that the topic was about to go off track and stopped it in time: "We don't need to be too afraid of the Raptors. We should keep a normal mind. Although their lineup structure has no obvious loopholes, except for Bosh, no one has outstanding players, and their strength is not strong enough."

The topic was successfully brought back, and several people continued the discussion. They no longer discussed the opponent's lineup and system loopholes, but instead analyzed which positions of the opponent were more likely to be broken.

...

After a night's rest, on February 2, the Bobcats came to the Air Canada Center to challenge the Raptors.

During the pre-game meeting, Bickerstaff was both happy and troubled. Felton and Rondo were particularly active in speaking today and put forward many ideas. The discussion in the pre-game meeting was more in-depth, but the two also raised many unsolvable problems... Retire! He wants to retire!
But the first attempt to find a successor was thwarted...

After the morning preparations were completed, Bickerstaff called Zhang Yang to inform him of the failure in recruiting a coach.

Zhang Yang was surprised after hearing this: "We gave him the first-round pick next year, but Riley refused to give us Van Gundy?"

Bickerstaff nodded helplessly.

During the All-Star Weekend, Jordan got the consent of the Heat owner to meet with Van Gundy. Van Gundy made sufficient preparations for the "interview" and developed a defensive system around Gerald Wallace and Okafor.

Jordan was very satisfied with the result of the meeting and launched a formal recruitment. However, Van Gundy still had a contract with the Heat and Pat Riley refused to terminate the contract. After Jordan personally talked to Pat Riley, Pat Riley was even more unwilling to be traded.

The God of Basketball is puzzled. Isn’t the fortune teller his die-hard fan?
Zhang Yang is also very puzzled now. Although there are still many options...but he remembers that the fortune teller traded Van Gundy to the rising Magic team. If he was afraid that the Bobcats would get a coach who could build a complete defensive system, then he was not afraid of the Magic team?
Or does the fortune teller have great confidence in the brains of the Magic management and is sure that the Magic will not pose a real threat in the future?
Bickerstaff continued, "The failure of the Van Gundy trade is not the main purpose of calling you here. There is one more thing. We are going to trade back a guard who can score with the ball before the trade deadline. After internal discussions among the coaching staff and communication with other teams, we have two options. One is Jarrett Jack of the Trail Blazers, and the other is Juan Dixon of the Grizzlies. You..."

Zhang Yang was startled and blurted out: "Dixon! If you want to trade, don't even think about it, Dixon!"

Bickerstaff was surprised by Zhang Yang's reaction and said, "We also prefer Juan Dixon. Jarrett Jack's singles scoring area is too similar to Raymond's. It's hard for him to create more changes for us. He didn't perform well enough as a shooting guard... But Jack, you don't seem to want Jarrett Jack to join?"

Zhang Yang calmed down. His reaction just now was a bit extreme.

He responded: "If Jarrett Jack comes, when you call Jack, I won't know whether you are calling me or him. Since there are other options, choose someone else."

Bickerstaff: "..."

This made-up reason is really ridiculous!
However, Zhang Yang didn't want to continue asking about this matter, so he asked: "Jack, aren't you curious about who we use as a bargaining chip?"

Zhang Yang: "We'll know after the trade. I don't want to know in advance who will be traded and then look reluctant. If a teammate who is really important to me is leaving, you will definitely communicate with me first." Bickerstaff: "It's really a shame to be your colleague..."

Zhang Yang: "What's wrong?"

Bickerstaff: “Boring.”

Zhang Yang: “…”

Change the coach! Where are you, Boss Joe? Come and change the coach! If it doesn't work, come and coach for half a year!
...

At 5:40 in the evening, the visiting Bobcats entered the main court of Air Canada Arena first.

There was a lot of booing at the scene, and it reached its boiling point when Zhang Yang entered the stadium.

Okafor patted Zhang Yang on the shoulder and said with a rare smile: "Jack, your popularity is getting higher and higher."

Zhang Yang rolled his eyes at Okafor and said, "Referee, come and give this guy two technical fouls!"
He responded: "I'll give you this kind of popularity."

Okafor: "It's not like I went to Kobe with a microphone and asked him if he was interested in scoring 83 points against the Raptors."

Zhang Yang: "... Canadian fans are so stingy."

During the roundtable interview on the day of the All-Star Game, he was repeatedly asked about his 82 points in the Rookie Game and topics related to Kobe. He thought it was funny, so he borrowed a microphone and asked Kobe if he was interested in scoring more points against the Raptors. This was caught on camera, and he became a little famous at the time. However, there were so many interviews and reports that day that the attention was soon overshadowed by other news.

Unexpectedly, after they arrived in Toronto, the media brought up the interview clip again.

If the Raptors were still the terrible team they were in the past two years, local fans might not care too much, but it’s a different story now that the Raptors have risen after acquiring Colangelo Jr.

They felt that Zhang Yang looked down on the Raptors and was rubbing salt into their wounds.

Zhang Yang's reputation was not very good to begin with. After the media hype, Raptors fans now dislike Zhang Yang even more than Kobe, who scored 81 points against them.

As for this matter, Zhang Yang has no regrets at all. If he had known that he would become famous, he would have asked more questions.

Anyway, the Raptors fans are not his fans, and he would also like to have a "Dragon Slayer" skin if he has the conditions in the future.

And only the Raptors fans were furious. Zhang Yang saw that other fans' comments were just for fun, and his popularity increased a little because of it.

After the Bobcats entered the court, the Raptors players entered.

When Bosh entered the court, cheers echoed throughout the arena.

Zhang Yang believes that this year's Bosh is indeed worthy of the title of 'Dragon King', averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. After the All-Star Weekend, the media's evaluation of Bosh is - the best power forward in the Eastern Conference.

Although Okafor is the starting power forward and is voted at the forward position in the All-Star voting, the media and fans still regard him as a center. Indeed, he spends more than half of his playing time under the basket. People prefer to compare him with Howard and Eddy Curry rather than Bosh.

Thinking of Bosh's progress in recent years, Zhang Yang looked at the opposing head coach Sam Mitchell.

This coach played for the Timberwolves for more than 10 years. After retiring in 02, he became a trainer for the Suns. Having played under Philip Saunders for several years and witnessed Garnett's growth, he has a lot of experience in developing inside players. After becoming the head coach of the Raptors in 04, he formulated a clear training plan for Bosh, whose playing style was chaotic in his rookie year.

In just two years, Bosh has gone from a rookie who played without any rules in his rookie year to a top power forward who can average 50 points per game with a 22% shooting percentage, is sharp in rebounding and can grab 11 rebounds per game, and has certain supporting and scoring capabilities.

Bosh's shooting range is even wider than Garnett's, extending from the basket to outside the three-point line. This season, he has a 34% three-point shooting percentage, 34 shots in total, and 12 goals. Although it's not much, if he is completely left open, he can really shoot and make it.

Zhang Yang thinks the Raptors management is amazing. If you say they are bad, every time people think the Raptors have gone to the worst, they can suddenly come up with some beautiful moves. But if you say they are good, they can come up with outrageous moves that you can't imagine and ruin the team.

...

At 6 p.m., the Bobcats' away game against the Raptors began as Bosh beat Okafor in a jump ball.

Raptors starting lineup: Calderon, Anthony Parker, Maurice Peterson, Bosh, Nesterovic.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Millsap, Okafor.

Calderon received the serve and advanced.

The Raptors usually starter is Ford, who is indeed much stronger than Calderon, averaging 30 points and 14 assists in 8 minutes per game. But when facing some specific opponents, Ford will serve as a substitute - the Warriors, Jazz, and Bobcats.

The common feature of these three teams is that their starting point guards are strong and can both break through and shoot.

With Calderon in charge, the Raptors' rhythm can be described in one word: slow!

With only 10 seconds left on the offensive clock, Calderon and Bosh started a pick-and-roll attack.

After taking a step into the three-point line with the help of a screen, Calderon saw that Millsap did not press forward to defend, so he grabbed the ball and took a long two-point shot one step inside the three-point line... and it hit!
Felton wanted to curse, but Calderon's two-point shot after the pick-and-roll was compared with Nash. Wasn't it mentioned during the team building yesterday... Oh, by the way, Millsap did not participate in the team building.

The task of unifying the entire team is imminent!

Felton patted Millsap on the back and said, "Go ahead and leave the back to your teammates."

In the offense-defense transition, Felton advanced to the frontcourt for a single shot, then broke through to a close-range jump shot… The shooting distance was a little farther than he wanted, but there was no condition to pass it, so he tried to throw it, but it missed.

Calderon's one-on-one defense was just average, but his team defense coordination was excellent. He worked with Bosh and Maurice Peterson on the front line to block Felton in an uncomfortable shooting position.

When it was the Raptors' turn to attack, Millsap pressed forward to defend the pick-and-roll, and Calderon successfully broke into the inside, attracted the defense and passed the ball to Nesterovic, who received the ball half a step outside the left sideline of the three-second zone, pressed forward one step and made a layup... "Beep beep beep"...

The referee blew a sharp whistle and made a boxing gesture.

Nesterovic dribbled the ball and hit the opponent! Offensive foul!
After Calderon broke through deep and Millsap was in position to intercept Calderon's high pass, Felton ran straight to the three-second zone and bravely blocked in front of Nesterovic!
Millsap went up to pull up Felton who was knocked over, and he was quite shocked.

Just now when Felton told him to trust his teammates behind him, he thought, 'Gerrard is not here, how can I have teammates behind me?' But the other leader of the team said so, so he followed it.

I didn't expect that when Felton said 'believe in the teammates behind you', he was actually talking about himself!
Watching Felton gnashing his teeth as he picked up the ball and passed it to Zhang Yang, Millsap felt like he was about to be poached...

Zhang Yang received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt. Felton stopped attacking and ran to the bottom corner, leaving the top arc area empty.

The last time they played against the Raptors, Felton didn't play very well against the Raptors' team defense. He tried it tonight and it was still difficult to play. In that case, let's give the ball to the little brother and let him do the defense.

Facing Anthony Parker's close defense, Zhang Yang glanced at the opponent's position, focusing on preventing him from breaking through and making a jump shot... He did not hesitate, and after Felton reached the right corner and Alan Anderson started an off-ball pick-and-roll with Okafor on the left, he pulled the ball with his left hand, turned left to bypass Anthony Parker, and broke through on the right!
Morris Peterson rushed forward to defend the quick stop jump shot, but Zhang Yang did not stop and went straight into the three-second zone. Facing Bosh who had retreated back, he used the basic European step, jumped to the right rear of Bosh, and made a layup...and it went in!
The Dragon King is not as good as the Wolf King in protecting the rim!

(End of this chapter)