Chapter 191 190. I hope the fat boss is lucky enough!
Zhang Yang had a triple-double and Okafor had a double-20, and the two of them came in a row. The Bobcats have become the focus of heated discussion among fans in recent days.

In the morning, the media just said that Okafor was not as good as Rasheed Wallace, and in the evening Okafor slapped them in the face... Isn't this a hot topic?
In response, the media said please continue!
If Okafor had only scored 20 or more points to lead the team to victory, the popularity would obviously not be so high. This is what the media is expecting.

As for being slapped in the face, look at ESPN, they were the most harsh in smearing Zhang Yang. When Zhang Yang broke the record, they hyped it up more than anyone else.

It's just a pity for the Mavericks. They won 3 consecutive games for the third time this season, but the limelight was stolen by the successive performances of Zhang Yang and Okafor.

It may also be that the Mavericks have won too many consecutive games this season and the fans have become accustomed to it.

Look at the Suns. They lost seven games in a row and fell to third in the Western Conference, being overtaken by the Spurs. Isn't that very popular in the news?

It’s definitely not Zhang San and Duncan Jr.’s problem, it’s the Mavericks themselves who are not doing well enough.

The next morning, the Bobcats left Detroit and continued south.

But two players were missing from the trip south - Matt Carroll and Othella Hannington.

On the plane, teammates were talking about the two teammates not going to Atlanta together. Tomorrow is the trade deadline, and under these circumstances, the two will definitely leave.

Zhang Yang understood why Alan Anderson, not Matt Carroll, started when Gerald Wallace was injured.

Bickerstaff chose Alan Anderson as the long-term holder between the two.

At present, there is a clear gap between Alan Anderson's shooting ability and Matt Carroll's.

Matt Carroll has a 44.1% three-point shooting percentage this season, the highest on the team; he averages 2.2 three-pointers per game, the highest on the team and even ranks 13th in the league; he averages 10.8 points per game, the fifth highest on the team, and is the only player on the bench to average double-digit points.

But Matt Carroll has a big flaw - he is very powerful when the wind is in his favor, bullies weak players, is a trap when the wind is against him, and becomes invisible when he is in a bad situation. He is like a poor version of Peja.

His positioning ability is also average, and most of the time he is a spot shooter. That is because Zhang San can assist, Gerald Wallace has strong impact and can compress the defense, and Rondo is good at finding open players, Matt Carroll can average 2+ three-pointers per game.

Alan Anderson averaged 39 three-pointers per game with a 0.9% three-point shooting percentage this season. Such performance in absolutely wide open spaces is indeed quite average, but he is only in his sophomore year and has made great progress in the past two years. The key is that he is not afraid of tough battles, and in addition to his three-point talent, he also has the ability to cut into the basket and can defend from 1 to 3.

In terms of pure shooters, they still have Herman with a 43% three-point shooting percentage and Jumaine Jones with a 39% three-point shooting percentage. In terms of lineup and tactical operation, losing Matt Carroll will not have much impact.

Of course, their overall long-range shooting ability will definitely be affected. In most games, no other pitcher on the team can compare to Matt Carroll.

As for counterattack, Zhang Yang has to worry about who will follow up and shoot the three-pointer... He has to do it by himself? That requires his three-point ability to continue to improve, and Rondo's ability to counterattack with the ball to improve.

There will inevitably be some pain in a trade. When Bickerstaff told him that there would be a trade, he had already prepared himself mentally. Having an extra ball-handling attacker on the back line would be very necessary in the playoffs.

Moreover, Herman and Alan Anderson, two first- and second-year players, also need to be trained. Simply put, they need to be given playing time and shooting opportunities, just like how Perkins was trained.

Zhang Yang saw that the fat boss was sad because his little brother was leaving, but he did not go to comfort him. He had to get used to this kind of thing.

Unless they win the championship and have the need to 'keep the heroes' or 'maintain the championship lineup' in the second year, as long as the team wants to strive for progress, there will definitely be player changes. Even if they win the championship, only a few people will leave.

However, Zhang Yang's calmness only lasted until he arrived at the hotel in Atlanta...

...

On February 2007, 2, the Bobcats completed a three-way trade with the Trail Blazers and the Spurs. The Bobcats sent Matt Carroll and Othella Hannington to the Trail Blazers in exchange for Jarrett Jack and Eric Williams from the Spurs.

Eric Williams is purely a bonus, or a 'negative benefit', used to balance the transaction value. The 34-year-old has an expiring contract worth $430 million. He only played 16 games in the early part of the season, averaging 2.6 points per game.

If Eric Williams is not taken, Jarrett Jack cannot be traded for Matt Carroll.

But none of this mattered. Zhang Yang ran to the head coach's room and asked, "Bernie, didn't you say our target is Dixon? Why did it become Jack?"

Little Bickerstaff turned his laptop towards Zhang Yang, and Zhang Yang took a look... Wow! Someone is stealing his business!

"The Raptors used their first-round pick to add Fred Jones. We couldn't match their chips. They wanted us to add our first-round pick as well. After discussing with the boss, I refused. Besides, Jack is stronger than Dixon. Jack, don't be so picky."

Bickerstaff spoke with the air of an old rogue, and his son turned his head away without even looking at him.

Zhang Yang groaned and said angrily, "Change the head coach! I can't stand it anymore! Change it quickly!"

Bickerstaff was thick-skinned, and he said perfunctorily, "Change, change, change, of course, but we have to wait until the end of this season, right?"

Zhang Yang: “…”

Bickerstaff didn't know why Zhang Yang was so resistant to being a teammate with Jack, but seeing that Zhang Yang wasn't really angry and was just complaining and joking with him, it meant that Zhang Yang wasn't really refusing to partner with Jack... then there was no problem.

He said: "Although Jack's playing style is similar to Raymond's, we can't increase the variety of the back line's playing style, but it also reduces the time needed for running-in, which will help us get through the pain of losing Matt more quickly... And this is also your fault. Who made you see the importance of a four-year contract for a first-round rookie? It was from you that the boss and I learned about the 'rookie bonus'."

Zhang Yang once again felt Boss Joe's desire to kill someone, and he said to the little Bickerstaff who was watching the show on the side: "Bernie Jr., do you want to be the head coach? We, the 'Boss Gang', support you to replace him!"

Little Bickerstaff was shocked: I didn't say a word, why did you drag me into this? My dad will beat me, don't you know? It's embarrassing to be beaten by my father when I'm over 40 years old!
He quickly changed the subject: "The Trail Blazers have cleared out all the ball-handling players on the back line. It seems that they are determined to build the team around Roy. Matt and Fred Jones are both pure off-ball players, which is very suitable for Roy."

"I heard that they have already started to sell Randolph during the All-Star Weekend. They must be building the team with Roy and Aldridge as the core..."

Zhang Yang and Bickerstaff Jr. talked about the Trail Blazers.

But even though he complained, he had actually accepted the fact when he learned that the transaction partner had changed.

Putting aside metaphysics, Jack is indeed very strong. He is mediocre as a starter and has held back rookie Roy a lot this year, but it is different as a substitute. Whether he is at the No. 1 or No. 2 position, he is always among the best guards in the league.

Otherwise, Boss Joe would not have agreed to pay Eric Williams a salary of more than 400 million.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Yang asked Bickerstaff, "I remember there is a very old church in Atlanta. Do you know where it is?"

Little Bickerstaff: "Underground Church? The oldest church on the South Coast? I know where it is, I've been there...Aren't you an atheist? Are you going sightseeing?"

Zhang Yang: "My right eyelid keeps twitching. I want to go and pray to the Buddha."

Bickerstaff and Sons: ???

...

After the afternoon's "Boss Gang Team Building" ended, Zhang Yang took Felton to the underground city church to worship the local Bodhisattva.

After praying, Felton wondered, "Jack, why do we come to pray? Neither you nor I are Christians."

Zhang Yang: "I hope he can bless us with a stronger life."

When it comes to metaphysics, it is better to believe in it than not. Anyway, there is no harm in praying.

And if we don’t worship now, we may not be able to worship in 20 years. Jesus will become Hamas.

Felton still didn't understand, but he didn't ask any more questions, because he knew the little brother would definitely not harm him.

At 7 o'clock the next evening, the Bobcats and the Hawks started their third regular season matchup of the season.

After the All-Star Weekend, the Hawks' years of reconstruction finally got back on track, they played normally and started winning games.

However, the Hawks still have big problems with their lineup, and the Bobcats are better prepared this time.

Without Gerald Wallace, Zhang Yang and Alan Anderson couldn't defend Joe Johnson, so they double-teamed and shrunk under the basket. The Bobcats took advantage of another weakness of the Hawks' 203-206 cm players - no three-point shooters.

The Hawks average 4.1 three-pointers per game this season, third from the bottom in the league, and their 32.9% three-point shooting percentage ranks last in the league.

Of these 4.1 three-pointers, 2.1 were made by Joe Johnson, 1 was made by Tyronn Lue, 0.5 was made by Josh Smith, and almost no one else made a three-pointer.

Tonight, the Bobcats limited the Hawks' scoring to a very low level, allowing them to only 18 points in the first quarter and only 16 points in the second quarter.

But the Eagles have made great progress compared to two weeks ago - defense.

The unlimited switching of positions 2-4 is really amazing. Without Gerald Wallace's compressed defense, the Bobcats' mid-range and long-range shots in positional battles were very poor.

Fortunately, the Bobcats attacked the basket and counterattacked, and the Hawks couldn't defend against them.

首节21比18、第二节22比17、第三节22比20、末节21比21……山猫队领先优势一直不大，但死死压制老鹰队一头。

张杨14投6中拿到18分6板2助攻、奥卡福15分15板、费尔顿12分4助攻、隆多7分6板5助攻，今晚顶替马特-卡罗尔打第六人的老将德里克-安德森表现不俗，拿到10分……

86 to 76, the Bobcats defeated the Hawks steadily, won 8 consecutive games, and their record reached 39 wins and 18 losses!
The day after playing against the Hawks, the Bobcats continued to head south to Orlando, the city of Disney, rested for an afternoon, and then entered the Amway Arena at 6:40 p.m. to play back-to-back against the Magic.

Before the game, the young players of the Bobcats routinely took photos with Hill.

In the past, Felton, Okafor and others were worried that they would not have the opportunity to play against Hill again, but now they are congratulating Hill on regaining his health.

Hill is really healthy this season! His attendance rate hit a 7-year high!

The Magic have played 58 games so far, and Hill has played 48 of them.

The most surprising thing is Hill's performance. He averaged 14 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game. His statistics were all career lows, but his shooting percentage of 52% was a career high!

Kobe once said: "When I play one-on-one against the best defensive player, I am more accurate than when I play against role players in open positions."

Hill proved this statement correct from another perspective.

When he changed his playing style to mid-range and long two-point off-ball shooters, cutting into the basket, counterattack attack points, and free throw line support points, his shooting and counterattack performances were better than any role players, with a 47% long two-point shooting percentage and a 70% shooting percentage at the basket. He had never performed like this in his peak period.

In addition to Hill, the Magic have many players whose individual performances have improved significantly this year.

Howard's stats are stable at 17 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game. He has made huge progress on the defensive end. From a jumping man who flew away in a flash last season, he has quickly grown into a trustworthy rim protector... Of course, there is still a big gap from the best defensive team. In terms of rim protection alone, the top three in the East are still Tianzun, Duncan Jr. and Big Ben.

Moreover, Howard averages 2 assists and 4 turnovers per game. It would be better to cut this area. He also commits a lot of fouls, which limits his performance on the defensive end. He commits 4 fouls for every two blocks.

Turkoglu has grown into a qualified forward tactical core, and Nelson's singles ability is also improving...

What's weird is that the Magic players have become stronger one by one, but their record is only 26 wins and 32 losses, which is worse than the same period last season.

Their head coach Brian Hill can only train players but not lead the team to victory. The Magic have now reached the stage where they must change their head coach. If they don't find a coach who can lead the team to win, conflicts among the players are likely to break out.

Brian Hill has already started to over-train Howard. After Howard has laid a good foundation in defense, awareness of catching the ball, counterattack, etc., he has begun to train Howard to assist in passing the ball like O'Neal...

At 7 pm, the Bobcats' away game against the Magic will start.

The two teams fought back and forth in the first quarter. With the help of Felton's three-pointer after taking a step back after a screen, the Bobcats overtook the Magic by one point with a score of 27 to 25 at the end of the first quarter and entered the second quarter.

Just when the Bobcats players thought they were gaining momentum, the Magic exploded first... At the beginning of the second quarter, Puerto Rico's "mountain" Carlos Arroyo led the Magic in raining three-pointers.

Arroyo, Nelson, Redick, and Turkoglu made 6 three-pointers in a row. Arroyo made two, one of which was a 2+1, Turkoglu made two, and the other two made one each. In less than 3 minutes, the Bobcats had a 19-2 lead...

The Bobcats players were stunned!

Sai Zhang Yang recalled the three-point rain that drenched the Cavaliers in the 09 Eastern Conference Finals. The Magic averaged 10+ three-pointers per game in that Eastern Conference Finals. It was the first time since the iron-blooded era of the 90s that a team averaged 10+ three-pointers per game in a series.

Not to mention the Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon, even the Light Footsteps can’t beat him.

而且那轮系列赛后面几场大范甘迪还想出了克制KING的办法，首战30投20中、第二战23投13中的詹姆斯，第三场开始就被尼尔森+霍华德的组合防得命中率低于40%……

Tonight, the Bobcats experienced a wave of three-point rain in advance.

In the second quarter, the Magic scored 36 to 18. The Bobcats were really at a loss as to what to do and fell behind by 16 points at halftime.

After the halftime break, the Bobcats regrouped and scored 26 to 23 and 24 to 21 in the two quarters, but they only recovered a 6-point difference.

95比105，山猫队4连客最后1场告负，8连胜终结。

张杨今晚打得还可以，16投7中，其中三分球9中4，加上2中1的罚球，拿到19分7板。

Perkins + Okafor forced Howard to make only 10 of 4 shots and only get 10 points and 10 rebounds, which was not bad.

But the Magic made 24 of 14 three-pointers, which was unstoppable...

Zhang San even went to gamble on his three-point shooting touch, and his shooting was pretty good, but compared to his opponent's 58% three-point shooting percentage, it was a far cry.

It’s so difficult to achieve the first 10-game winning streak in team history!
Look at the Mavericks, they have won 11 games in a row... I'm so envious and jealous!

...

After four consecutive away games, the Bobcats returned to Charlotte at noon on the 4th.

4连客3胜1负，全明星周末后5胜1负，媒体和球迷对山猫队后半程开局表现评价其实很高。

During this period, except for the Mavericks, they have the highest winning rate in the entire league.

The 2 games in February have been played, and the Bobcats, who just finished a back-to-back game, have two days of rest.

However, after Zhang Yang returned home and put down his luggage, he ran to the gym to meet his new teammates.

Yesterday, Eric Williams and Jarrett Jack arrived in Charlotte. This morning, Bickerstaff and Engelland did not return with the team on the chartered plane. Instead, they returned to Charlotte three hours earlier and took the two newcomers to the hospital for examination.

When Zhang Yang arrived at the stadium, Jarrett Jack was undergoing technical testing. He asked England for the physical examination reports of his two new teammates.

As expected of the great God Jack, all his health indicators are at their highest and he is in great health!

Poor Blake. He played so well in the first 50 games last season, averaging 11 points and 6 assists per game, with a 41% three-point shooting percentage. But he was unlucky and slipped without any confrontation, and was injured for a month. After returning from injury in late March, he did not score in double digits in the remaining 3 games, and lost four times. He also lost his status as the main point guard and was sold to the Bucks during the offseason.

Once again, I pray that Little Fatty will have a strong life!
Jarrett Jack noticed that Zhang Yang was coming, and after the test was completed, he took the initiative to go to Zhang Yang to say hello. They were friends, as they had participated in the draft together, and their agent was Tellem.

But as soon as he arrived in front of Zhang Yang, he saw Zhang Yang opening his hands towards him, muttering: "Demons and ghosts, please leave..."

Jarrett Jack asked in confusion, "Jack what are you doing?"

Zhang Yang: "Your old place is an ominous place. I will help you to exorcise the evil spirits."

Jarrett Jack made a "uh" sound. A high school kid can exorcise evil spirits?

But when I think about the weird injuries my teammates have suffered in the past two years with the Trail Blazers...it's time to get rid of the bad luck!
(End of this chapter)