Chapter 194 193. Locking the first place in the division in advance
After playing five consecutive away games, the Bobcats got two days of rest. On the 5th, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team to rest for a day. The coaching staff did not arrange any training on the 16th. Tomorrow's opponent is the Hawks, the fourth time they meet in the regular season this season. Bickerstaff felt it would be better to rest more.

In the morning, Zhang Yang practiced three-pointers and breakthroughs all day. In the afternoon, he, Jordan and Felton drove for an hour to Winston-Salem, the home of Wake Forest University, the alma mater of Duncan and Paul.

Wake Forest University's home court is the 16-seat Veterans Memorial Stadium. Of the 8 teams in the Eastern Conference of this year's NCAA basketball tournament, eight teams will play two rounds here to determine the two sweet sixteen teams.

North Carolina won the Atlantic Division title with an 11-5 record this season, and had an excellent record of 11 wins and 1 loss in the invitational tournament, and was selected as the seeded team in the Eastern Conference.

This afternoon, North Carolina will have its first-round matchup with Eastern Kentucky University at Memorial Stadium. The two teams are so close and it happens to be a rest day, so Jordan, Felton and Zhang Yang will definitely come to help.

The top ten high school students in the United States are the objects of competition among various universities, and North Carolina currently has four of them, Tyler Hansbrough, who was ranked 4th in the United States in the 05 class, Braden Wright, who was ranked 4th in the United States in the 06 class, Ty Lawson, who was ranked 4th, and Wayne Ellington, who was ranked 6th; not to mention the top 9 in the United States, with 12 main players and 3 substitutes, 11 of them are in the top in the United States.

Even if he is not among the top 100 in the United States, he is still a little-known, capable player like Carmelo Tatum.

塔图姆这赛季28场比赛场均5+4+4，是场均11分3板6助攻的泰-劳森、场均12分3板2助攻的韦恩-艾灵顿之后的第三号后卫。

Jordan, Zhang Yang and Felton arrived at the scene, and the North Carolina players were very excited.

Zhang Yang met Tyler Hansbrough from the class of 05 several times when he returned to school last season. He had an impression of this classmate. In 09, Boss Joe refused to select Hansbrough in the lottery and instead chose Gerald Henderson from Duke, and was severely criticized by the pro-North Carolina media and fans.

It turned out that Boss Joe made the right choice. Henderson, whom he selected with the 12th pick, became a starting-level player in his sophomore year and later received an annual salary of 900 million. Hansbrough quickly faded out of the league after his rookie contract ended.

It's a pity that Henderson injured his hamstring during the 17 offseason. The injury was so serious that he could no longer participate in strenuous sports. It was a pity that he retired at the age of 4 after having played 70+ games in the previous four seasons.

Freshman Wright and Zhang Yang happened to have met each other once, but it was the first time for Lawson and Ellington to meet each other.

The student classmates admire Jordan the most, but envy Zhang Yang the most.

When Zhang Yang and others arrived, the younger students ran to the parking lot to watch, but when the NCAA officials came to pick up the three people, they did not dare to step forward to say hello.

The cars driven by Jordan and Felton are relatively ordinary, which is considered to be when they attend public events and are afraid of gossip.

Jordan wasn't afraid before, but now that he's the boss, he thinks more.

After becoming the eldest brother, Felton accepted the advice of his younger brother and bought a car that looked mature and stable.

Zhang Yang is different. When he travels far away, he drives the bright red car he bought before the New Year.

The fat boss once asked the younger brother why he was so arrogant. Zhang San replied, "I am not a good driver. When the road conditions are complicated, I will drive slowly. If I get hit by someone, they will have to pay a lot of money. I feel at a loss if I don't let them pay. Normal people will stay away from me when I drive a car that looks stupid but is obviously expensive."

After hearing this, Felton secretly cursed himself for judging others by his own mean mind. He initially thought that his younger brother didn't let him drive a fancy car but he drove a fancy car himself because he wanted to be the center of attention. He didn't expect that his younger brother had such noble moral principles.

After Tatum greeted his senior Jordan, he found Zhang Yang and joked, "Jack, if you hadn't entered the NBA earlier, you could have competed for the championship with us."

Zhang Yang responded, "If I hadn't entered the NBA earlier and saw you coming to North Carolina, I would have transferred to Duke."

After the two chatted with each other for a while, Tatum returned to the bench and Zhang Yang also sat down to enjoy the performance of his classmates.

The school team's opponent this time, Eastern Kentucky University, is not the seven-time champion Kentucky, but a second-rate team in the Ohio Valley Conference. They have not appeared in the Big Three as many times as the Kentucky Wildcats have won the championship. The media ranked them second to last in this Big Three and last in the Eastern Conference.

There was really no suspense in the game. North Carolina led by 47 points with 30 to 17 after the first half. This score difference is basically impossible to catch up in college games.

In the end, North Carolina defeated Eastern Kentucky 86-65, with Wayne Ellington scoring a game-high 22 points, which was dazzling.

Tatum also performed well, coming off the bench and playing for 26 minutes, scoring 8 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Although the score may not seem much, it is actually the highest among the substitutes of both teams.

Tatum's talent is much worse than his brother's. He is one year older than most freshmen and will be 20 soon, but he has good athletic ability. Influenced by the three curlers in high school, he worked very hard. Most importantly, he is optimistic and invincible... Zhang Yang is still looking forward to this old teammate to rush to the NBA after graduation. If he makes it, their high school championship team will be amazing, with three NBA players.

...

Zhang Yang went to watch the school team's game as a social event, to help his alma mater, and also to relax. As an NBA player, he almost never has the opportunity to watch a game in person, so it's great to experience it occasionally.

He actually wanted to watch Davidson College's game. In his freshman season, Curry led Davidson College to the top of the Southern Conference with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss, and achieved a record of 12 wins and 3 losses in the invitational tournament, and was selected by the judges into the top 64 list... But unfortunately, the Southern Conference is only a small league, and the top team is not ranked high in the United States. Like Eastern Kentucky University, it is ranked last and was sent to the Midwest Division. Yesterday, it was beaten by the championship seed team University of Maryland in the first round.

I won't get a chance to watch Curry play this season.

When Zhang Yang looked at the data of North Carolina and Davidson College, he felt that it was not without benefits for Curry to play for a minor league team. He would have a lot of shots. Lawson, Ellington and Wright, three of the top ten high school students in the United States, only took 8-9 shots per game, while Curry could throw the ball 15 times in his freshman season.

Curry's playing style requires a weaker confrontation and defensive environment in the early stages, and he needs to take a lot of shots to practice shooting. No matter where he goes to a school in the top six leagues, it will be difficult for him to get the freedom he has at Davis College.

Although it is not ruled out that a coach from a top league university may have a keen eye for talent, the probability is very small given that coaches from top league universities generally attach great importance to team rules and their own authority.

This is only possible unless the coach you meet is a former professional player, whose understanding of basketball is completely different from other college coaches who are mainly academic coaches. However, 99% of the head coaches in the top leagues are academic coaches. In recent years, there is only one professional player who retired and became a head coach in the top leagues, and that is Henry Bibby, the father of the White Devil.

After two days of rest, the Bobcats faced the Hawks for the last time this season on March 3.

It has been 30 days, from February 2th to today. After 15 days of injury, Gerald Wallace finally got permission from the team doctor to return to the game.

Coincidentally, the opponent in the game where Gerald Wallace was injured was also the Hawks.

Although the Hawks show signs of rising, they are just signs. Their lineup structure is terrible, they have no shooters, and their point guard is too weak to pull the front line... They can only cultivate their players' winning mentality like the Grizzlies did.

The Bobcats have an absolute advantage in strength, and Joe Johnson was recently injured and cannot play tonight. Bickerstaff focused tonight's game on Gerald Wallace's comeback.

Zhang Yang, Okafor and Felton all reduced their shots and playing time tonight, freeing up opportunities for Gerald Wallace so that he could find the feeling of the game quickly.

After being absent for a month due to a knee injury, he couldn't even practice shooting, let alone train to maintain his physical fitness. The Crown Prince controlled his diet very well and was very self-disciplined. He gained a full 5 pounds. Even after starting recovery training on the 13th, he has still gained 5 pounds.

Rondo played the longest time among the backcourt players tonight. He kept feeding Gerald Wallace the ball crazily, but he just couldn't get it in.

杰拉德-华莱士打了33分钟23投9中，加上5中3的罚球拿到21分，两次三分全铁、4次近距离出手全铁，得分全靠突破、切入吃饼、反击攻框。

His 16-of-9 shooting performance at the basket seems okay, but the shooting percentage is actually only 56.25%. Zhang Yang's shooting percentage at the basket this season is 57%, and Gerald Wallace's shooting percentage at the basket was 64.3% before his injury, which is above the first-class level for the small forward position.

The shooting percentage when playing against the basket protected by Pachulia and Brayden Wright was only 56%, which was really bad. Some of the shots were made by dunks. Zhang Yang's attacking performance tonight was 4 of 3.

隆多出场31分钟，6投2中，外加4中3的罚球，拿到7分8板14助攻，生涯第7次助攻上双。

张杨打了23分钟，12投7中拿到18分2板，费尔顿打了20分钟拿到13分3助攻，贾莱特-杰克打了18分钟拿到8分2助攻……加上奥卡福的29分17板，山猫队以101比94轻取老鹰队。

After the game, Zhang Yang said to Okafor: "Thank you for your hard work tonight."

Okafor shook his head: "There is no problem playing against the Hawks, but can this really help Gerrard find his form quickly?"

Zhang Yang denied it, "No, this is not the way Gerrard is used to playing. He is more suitable for playing like a blue-collar player. It's just that our head coach has more ideas and he wants to give it a try. Anyway, the opponent is the Eagles and Johnson can't play yet, so let him try."

Okafor nodded: "Okay, but in the next game against the Magic, Bernie wants to continue playing like this, and I will refuse."

Zhang Yang: "You are right."

Bickerstaff on the side: "..." If you have something to say, just say it, please don't be sarcastic!

You clearly saw me coming before you spoke, but you still pretended not to see me. Please don't give me face in this way!
...

On the rest day on the 19th, Zhang Yang, as a representative of the Bobcats, accepted an exclusive interview with the New York Times.

The opportunity for this interview is that the Bobcats' record improved to 45 wins and 22 losses after defeating the Hawks, basically securing the top spot in the Southeast Division. Even if they lose the next 15 games in a row, it will be difficult for them to be surpassed by other teams in the division.

Yes, the Southeast Division is so bad this season. The Heat, second in the division, have played 67 games so far, with 33 wins and 34 losses. The Wizards, third in the division, have played 68 games so far, with 33 wins and 35 losses. They have 15 and 14 games left respectively. Even if they can win 10 of their remaining games, they will not be able to surpass the Bobcats.

The most ridiculous thing is that these two teams are already sixth and seventh in the Eastern Conference.

This season, the Bobcats, Bulls, and Raptors rose strongly and broke into the top four, but the Heat and Nets collapsed. The Pistons also dropped from the historical level of 64 wins last season to the 50-win level due to the loss of Big Ben. It seems that the Eastern Conference has returned to the first few years of the new century, or even worse.

Although the Pistons could get first place in the Eastern Conference with 02 wins in the 03-50 season, the Magic, who were ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, at least had 42 wins and 40 losses, while the eighth in the Western Conference had 44 wins and 38 losses. The strength and record of ordinary playoff teams in the East and the West were not much different, but there was a gap in the strength of the top teams.

Now, after experiencing two years of false prosperity brought about by the "Shaq's Eastward Travel", the Eastern Conference has collapsed even worse than before O'Neal's Eastward Travel, and the strength gap between the East and the West has spread in all directions.

With Yao Ming's return from injury, this season is very likely to see a tragic situation where the first in the Eastern Conference is worse than the fifth in the Western Conference, and the eighth in the Eastern Conference is worse than the tenth in the Western Conference.

Currently, the winning rate of all teams outside the top five in the Eastern Conference is less than 50%.

However, the bleak situation in the East did not affect the new Bad Boys' performance this season, which won them praise.

The Bobcats are bound to set a new record for the fastest speed for a newly established team to win a division championship, taking only three seasons!
Moreover, the Bobcats are one of only two teams in the Eastern Conference that have the upper hand against Western Conference teams this season, the other being the Pistons.

The Bobcats have only two games left against Western Conference teams this season. They have 28 wins and 15 losses in the first 13 matches. As long as they can win one of the next two home games against the Kings and Clippers, they can ensure an advantage against Western Conference teams... Although most of the wins were won against weak teams, most Eastern Conference teams find it difficult to even win against weak Western Conference teams.

During an interview, when Zhang Yang was asked about his evaluation of his performance in the sophomore year, he praised his teammates for their help; when asked about his teammates' performance, he praised his coach for his good command; when asked about his coach's performance, he praised his boss for his good vision in choosing a good coach... As always, he did not take credit for himself.

But when asked about his prediction for the team's final record this season, he replied: "The goal is 60 wins."

The New York Times reporter exclaimed: "Oh, this is a great goal. You have to win all the remaining games. 16 consecutive wins. This season, only the Mavericks and the Suns have won more than 10 consecutive games. What do you think is the probability that you can achieve this goal?"

Zhang Yang responded: "Larry Bird once said - when you ask me about my goal, I always choose to set the highest goal because I think I can do the best... He is the kind of player I want to be."

Reporter: "I remember you said you wanted to be a player like Iverson, and not long ago you also said you wanted to be a player like Bryant and Jordan... What kind of player do you want to be?"

Zhang Yang: "There is no conflict. I want to have the courage of the Answer who will not be afraid of any strong enemy and will move forward bravely. I also want to have the scoring ability of the Black Mamba and God who can destroy any opponent. I also want to be a player like Bird who can have unlimited confidence because of his own strength."

The New York Times is the media outlet that has interviewed Zhang Yang the most this season... Yes, even the local Charlotte media outlets are not as enthusiastic about interviewing Zhang Yang as the New York media outlets.

This reporter said that the New York Times had interviewed Zhang Yang no less than a hundred times in the past year, and nearly half of them were interviewed by this reporter. He could clearly feel that Zhang Yang's way of speaking was gradually changing.

At the beginning, he was too low-key, often avoiding interviews, answering only routine questions, and ending the topic when asked controversial questions.

Until now, although he still keeps a low profile most of the time, plays backspin, doesn't respond, and is even perfunctory, he reveals ambition and confidence on certain issues... This reporter feels that this ambition and confidence did not expand because of his own strength or the team's strength, but was originally there and is just beginning to be released...

...

After a day of rest, on March 3, the Bobcats faced the challenge of the Magic.

At 6:40 in the evening, players from both teams entered the stadium.

After greeting Hill, Felton asked Zhang Yang and Okafor in surprise, "Why are they so motivated tonight? They were so timid before the last game."

Zhang Yang: "They just won three games in a row and are now 3-32, surpassing the Knicks and tying the Nets for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They may even catch up with the Wizards or the Heat. They may meet us in the first round. This is our last regular season match against them, so they may want to use this to build their confidence."

Okafor interjected: "They may be looking forward to an upset. We played against them three times before and we won twice. They won last time. They may think that if they win again this time, they can establish a psychological advantage because they won later. We really need to guard against this. We can't lose tonight!"

Felton: "The Knicks have been overtaken?"

Okafor: [_?]
Zhang Yang: "After that incident, the Knicks only won one game and lost all the other games."

Felton: "It's so pitiful for Marbury. The NBA should ban Thomas. People like him shouldn't be on the basketball court. I feel ashamed to be compared with him."

Zhang Yang: "Fortunately, I was compared with Joe Dumars, who has a good reputation."

Felton: “Envy!”

Okafor: “…”

Did the two hear what he said? According to past experience, they should have heard it... Having been a partner with these two brothers for almost two years, he was completely accustomed to the topic suddenly turning to this situation.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, Howard defeated Okafor to win the jump ball and the game started!
Magic starting lineup: Nelson, Redick, Hill, Turkoglu, Howard.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Herman, Jumaine Jones, Okafor.

Tonight, Bickerstaff put Gerald Wallace on the bench, allowing Gerald Wallace to slowly find his form.

After Nelson advanced to the frontcourt, he dribbled the ball continuously between his legs facing Felton's defense, and suddenly he pulled it up and threw it directly!

Felton was hit by a sudden shot... "bang"... the ball hit the right side of the basket.

Okafor was also caught off guard by a shot at the basket. Is the opponent just shooting like this? Are they crazy?
Howard reacted faster and grabbed the rebound.

Okafor came to his senses in time and got in the first place to block Howard's second attack position.

Howard threw the ball toward the top arc, Redick ran to the right side of the top arc to receive the ball, turned around and faced the basket and threw it directly... Zhang Yang, who followed closely to the top arc, jumped up and stretched out his hand at the first moment, slapping the ball that Redick had just pushed out!
Front cover!

After landing, Zhang Yang rushed forward... but failed to grab the ball. The block just now was too strong, and his palm hit the ball right on top. The ball flew over the center line and bounced and rolled to the opposite baseline and went out of bounds.

Zhang Yang felt somewhat regretful and confused.

When the Bobcats held a preparation meeting, the whole team agreed that the Magic would definitely use the three-point tactics tonight and make good use of their army of three-point shooters.

They predicted correctly, and the Magic were ready to open the game with a three-pointer from the start.

But what is this game about? Throwing a three-pointer into the defense? Is this the opponent's three-pointer strategy? What about the breakthrough combination, high-post coordination, and diagonal passes?

Zhang Yang looked at Magic head coach Brian Hill on the bench. The Magic players were so excited and positive tonight. They had such heated discussions before the game and looked so confident, but they ended up playing something like this on the first attack?
……

……

Last two days to ask for monthly tickets! See you tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)