Chapter 195 194. Another small but worthwhile change

Recently, the Magic have been in frequent contact with the Heat. Even after the trade deadline, they are still in contact. Some media predict that Magic head coach Brian Hill is not far from being fired.

Pat Riley had begun publicly trying to sell Stan Van Gundy, and Jordan was in the news when he was rejected.

He removed the student who had followed him for many years from the position of head coach and transferred him to the job of editor. When other teams wanted to invite the former head coach, he refused to let him go and demanded compensation... This behavior is destructive to people's worldview, but when it comes to the fortune teller, people don't find it strange at all.

When Zhang Yang saw the posts about netizens’ discussion, he felt that if his personality was well established, he would have fewer worries.

Charlotte fans who saw the news accused the fortune teller of having fallen in love with someone else and asked the Heat to take Jordan's jersey down from the stadium, saying they were not worthy of retiring Jordan's jersey.

Jordan’s inner thoughts at that time: Thank you!
Brian Hill naturally knows the situation he is in now. He certainly does not want to lose his job, so he is actively trying to make changes.

For example, let Hill start as a fake, then replace Hill after playing for two or three minutes, and take turns with Turkoglu to take on the supporting work.

This is a very good rotation adjustment. The Magic can basically keep an organizing forward who can coordinate in the high post on the court throughout the game.

But apart from this, Brian Hill's other adjustments basically have negative effects.

For example, the offensive tactics deployed against the Bobcats tonight - crazy three-pointers.

The last time the two teams played against each other, the Magic rained three-pointers. It was not Brian Hill's tactic, but the players' own improvisation. If he hadn't intervened and made random calls, the players might have been able to shoot three-pointers again. He took over the command...

When Arroyo led the team to rain three-pointers, it was definitely a waste of shots.

But this Puerto Rican man is world-famous for his ability to shoot three-pointers while holding the ball. He defeated the Dream Team VI in the Athens Olympics. He can shoot three-pointers against the defensive waves and make threatening passes. Brian Hill let Nelson and Redick play like that... very creative!
魔术队开局4个回合出手5次三分，铁了4次、被帽1次，山猫队一开始完全没想到对面会打得这么奇葩，第1个回合没抓住机会打反击，但第2个回合和第4个回合都打出了反击，其中1次还是2+1！

In addition, Zhang Yang used three threatening tactics to single out Redick in the positional battle, and Yan Ye made a shot from close range. The Bobcats started with a 7-0 lead over the Magic!

Brian Hill called a timeout to make substitutions and adjust his playing style.

Whether the substitutions or adjustments in playing style are correct is no longer important at this point.

As a young team, the Magic rely heavily on momentum when playing games when the team's offensive and defensive systems are in chaos. For example, in the last game, they scored 6 three-pointers in a row to show momentum and defeated the Bobcats in one fell swoop.

The Magic had high morale before the game tonight, but they were beaten 7-0 at the start, and their morale plummeted. They continued to play badly after the timeout. No one cared about Brian Hill's tactical adjustments. A group of players gathered outside the three-point line and missed shots. The more they missed, the more they shot...

In the first quarter, the Magic threw 10 three-pointers in a single quarter, making only 10 of the 2 shots, and the team only scored 17 points in the single quarter.

而山猫队24投14中，其中三分球5中2，加上6中4的罚球，单节狂轰34分。

After the first quarter, the game was over!

...

In the second and third quarters, the Bobcats continued to widen the gap, with scores of 28 to 22 and 33 to 18 respectively.

The changes in the Bobcats' scores in the first three quarters are actually the changes in the number of three-point shots taken by the Magic. The more three-pointers the Magic took, the more points the Bobcats scored. Most of the three-pointers were long-range rebounds, so Zhang Yang and Rondo, who came off the bench, had more defensive rebounds and more opportunities for counterattacks.

After three quarters, the Bobcats led the Magic by 95 points, 57 to 38!
张杨三节打了27分钟，15投9中，其中三分球2中2，加上3中3的罚球，拿到23分5板3助攻1抢断2盖帽，打卡下班。

Zhang Yang, Felton, Rondo, Okafor and Perkins were also substituted for rest.

费尔顿打了18分钟，拿到16分6助攻，隆多打了19分钟，3分6板5助攻，奥卡福20分5板……

Jarrett Jack, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace, Millsap and Muhammad played in garbage time, while Derek Anderson and Jumaine Jones rotated.

The offense in the final quarter was mainly for Gerald Wallace to break through with the ball, and his performance was... quite poor. He made 5 of 2 shots and 2 of 1 free throws, scoring only 5 points.

The main reason is that Howard is still on the court.

Zhang Yang watched Howard continuously attack Muhammad in the low post... He felt that Brian Hill was facing dismissal right after developing young potential stocks. It was really his own fault.

Howard played okay against Muhammad, but it’s not that Howard is good at one-on-ones. He just takes the ball and drives hard, then makes strong shots around the basket.

To put it nicely, it's simple and unpretentious.

The reason he played well was purely because Muhammad wasn't a particularly strong inside player and couldn't hold up.

Muhammad's advantage is that he can play in both positions inside, has first-class physical fitness, has a certain mid-range shot, can defend and pick and roll, is aggressive in rushing for the ball, has strong leadership skills, and has certain on-the-spot command capabilities. Defending inside players like Howard is not his forte.

Howard and Perkins faced off for 20 minutes, and both made only 6 of 2 shots.

Although Howard's strength has improved greatly this season compared to last season, when Zhang Yang studied the Magic team's game videos, he felt that Howard's role in the game was not as strong as last season.

At that time, Howard played with a pure blue-collar style, defending, grabbing rebounds, dribbling the ball, and counterattacking. All of his actions were very correct for a super physical man with no talent for dribbling.

Last season, Howard averaged only 2.6 turnovers per game, which is very low for a center who takes more than 10 shots. Perkins averaged 18 turnovers in 2 minutes per game.

This season, Brian Hill asked Howard to develop his one-on-one shooting and passing abilities, but after a season, Howard became very fond of dribbling the ball, but he had no skills and just head-on collisions. He was okay when playing against opponents who were also jumping men, but he kept missing shots and making mistakes when encountering good defenses.

If Howard didn't make those assists and one-on-one mistakes, the Magic would have won at least five more games this season.

Many of Howard's future flaws may be the seeds planted this season...

Zhang Yang estimated that if Brian Hill didn't have so many ideas this season and allowed the players to play freely, the probability of being fired would be much smaller.

年仅21岁的霍华德垃圾时间敢打敢拼，面对穆罕穆德或米尔萨普的防守，末节打了10分钟，7投4中外加9中5的罚球拿到13分7板，加上前三节的8分13板，数据提升到21分20板，并带队在末节打出31比24的比分，最终魔术队……以88比119惨败山猫队。

When the final whistle sounded, Zhang Yang stood up and celebrated the big victory with his teammates.

Before the game, he never thought that the Magic team, whom they were so afraid of, would play like this. It can only be said that the game is difficult to judge by common sense.

You never know what stupid moves some head coaches will make.

But the game was won, and Zhang Yang was amused to see Okafor, who usually had a poker face, looking extremely grumpy.

The 21-year-old player managed to score double 20 in garbage time. Although Okafor is in the same class as Howard, he is already 24 years old and cannot shamelessly brush up his stats... The air in America is worthy of being called American, so sour!

...

As expected, the Magic suffered a 31-point defeat. According to post-match news, Brian Hill was criticized by major media outlets and calls for his dismissal grew louder.

Zhang Yang thought this was reasonable.

But Howard's double 20 was praised as the "best center"... which is not a big problem. No one else can produce such data.

A loss of just 30 points was still praised like that. The media reporting style of basketball has been corrupted in recent years.

If O'Neal scored double 20 points and the Magic lost by more than 30 points, he would have been criticized.

After playing against the Magic, the Bobcats rested for a day and faced the challenge of the Clippers at home on the 22nd.

Zhang Yang's "60-win ambition" was broken as the Bobcats lost to the Clippers 97-102.

布兰德24分10板、卡塞尔11分6助攻、马盖蒂19分7板5助攻、卡曼8分7板、利文斯顿5分4板7助攻1盖帽、蒂姆-托马斯和莫布里双双拿到14分……快船队今晚打得很出色。

山猫队其实打得也还可以，张杨18投8中，其中三分球6中2，加上6中5的罚球拿到23分4板2助攻1抢断。

费尔顿15分6助攻、杰拉德-华莱士9分9板2助攻2抢断、奥卡福15分9板、帕金斯13分7板2盖帽、隆多7分7板3助攻……但在几个关键球回合处理得没有经验老道的卡塞尔好，败下阵来。

After defeating the Bobcats, the Clippers' record reached 36 wins and 34 losses, and they continued to compete with the Lakers, Nuggets, Warriors and Hornets for a playoff spot.

Zhang Yang was naturally not happy about losing the game, but he recognized the Clippers' performance. If they played a series, apart from the Bobcats and the Pistons, no other team in the East would dare to say they could beat the Clippers... The East was really miserable.

Although the Clippers are currently ranked only ninth in the Western Conference and their record is not as good as last season, as an opponent, Zhang Yang intuitively feels that the Clippers are stronger than last season.

Cassell and Mobley are getting stronger with age, Maggette has rarely stayed healthy and missed less than 10 games, Tim Thomas is becoming more and more accurate in three-pointers, Kaman is making steady progress, and Brand is at his peak... Elgin Baylor's "best manager-level" operation in the summer of 05 allowed the Clippers to have the strength of a first-class team in the next few years, and normally the Clippers would have steadily improved with the progress of Kaman, the talented center of the 03 platinum generation, and Livingston, the talented high school student of the 04 class.

But that "best manager level" only lasted for one year. It was not because the operation was not good enough, but because Baylor was unlucky again.

Kobe continued to improve and was called the 'best player in the world'. Bynum began to realize his talent at the age of 19 and had a bright future.
Yao Ming has become a super center averaging 25+10 per game, and McGrady has remained healthy despite a decline in strength this season;

The Jazz are making great progress, the Nuggets are about to collapse, they robbed the 76ers to get Iverson, and the Hornets are also making rapid progress...

The Clippers' improvement brought about by the growth of Kaman and Livingston is far behind these teams. They are only a first-class team and are almost unable to enter the playoffs in the Western Conference.

After losing to the Clippers, Zhang Yang is even more eager to get first place in the Eastern Conference. At least in this season's Eastern Conference, they only have the Pistons as their rival.

There is one more thing Zhang Yang cares about tonight—Livingston is not injured!
Was it because of his joining that the Bobcats made the playoffs in the second season of the team's establishment and were treated as a strong team in terms of schedule in the third season, making the schedule of all teams in the entire league different from the original time and space, thus allowing Livingston to avoid that accidental injury?

Zhang Yang was surprised but happy about this.

This season, the 21-year-old Livingston averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He has become a qualified second-team organizer. If he continues to grow, he is expected to take over from Cassell and become the new core of the Clippers' back line in the next two years.

Zhang Yang is very curious about what kind of player this second-best high school student in the United States in 04 will become in the future. A taller version of Karen Mok whose athletic ability has not been destroyed... He is an opponent worth looking forward to!
...

The next day, March 3, the Bobcats faced the Kings in a back-to-back home game.

The Bobcats players took this game very seriously.

Because this is their last time playing against a Western Conference team this season. After losing to the Clippers last night, their record against Western Conference teams has become 15 wins and 14 losses. If they lose this game again, they will have no "advantage" against Western Conference teams.

This 'advantage' is actually irrelevant to the Bobcats team.

But Zhang Yang and his teammates care a lot!

The Pistons have an advantage over Western Conference teams, and they must have it too, it's a matter of face.

And the media are also hotly discussing this topic - if the Bobcats lose to the Kings, they will be no different from other teams in the East except the Pistons, and will all be suppressed by Western teams.

The Bobcats players didn’t want to hang out with those teams and played hard tonight!

The Kings players also fought hard!

They have played 70 games with a record of 28 wins and 42 losses, the same as the Timberwolves. They are ranked th in the Western Conference because they lost to the Timberwolves in direct confrontations.

At this stage, they have no hope of making the playoffs or a top three pick, and management doesn’t care anymore, letting the head coach and players play however they want.

The Kings players can only find some random fun to have fun in the midst of suffering.

For example, Artest and Brad Miller played hard to defend Kobe against the Lakers a while ago, ending Kobe's six consecutive 6+ points.

Tonight, the Kings' goal is to end the Bobcats' head-to-head advantage over Western Conference teams.

首节张杨拿到7分、费尔顿5分2助攻、奥卡福10分，三人携手带队单节拿到31分，但国王队那边也拿到了30分！
第二节国王队更是反客为主，打出了31比25的比分，半场以61比56领先山猫队5分。

The back-to-back games had a significant impact on the Bobcats, and they were slow to get into the game on defense.

In the third quarter, the Kings continued to press the Bobcats, scoring 10 to 27 in the first 20 minutes, widening the gap to double digits.

Just when the fans at the scene were about to despair, Coach Long + Bad Boy + Crown Prince exploded!
Rondo and Gerald Wallace completed steals in three consecutive rounds. Zhang Yang counterattacked with a fast break and scored 3 points in a row, making a 6-6 run and narrowing the gap to 0 points.

Then Artest tried to shoot from Gerald Wallace, but the ball went in, and Rondo grabbed the rebound.

This time the Bobcats did not launch a counterattack. Zhang Yang passed the ball to Rondo on the wing in a high-post single play. Rondo took a step to the close range and the jump shot missed, but Gerald Wallace made a tip-in through Brad Miller and Rahim.

山猫队在第三节末尾两分钟打出一波8比0，将比分追至84比88，分差缩小5分以内！
After the intermission, the trio of Rondo, Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace continued to run wild.

Rondo took advantage of the distraction of Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace and made two consecutive layups with "stealth steps". In addition, he made a three-pointer from Zhang Yang, and Gerald Wallace scored 4 points by breaking into the basket and following up with a counterattack. The three of them beat the Kings 3 to 11 in 5 minutes.

95 to 93, the Bobcats took the lead and the Kings called a timeout!
Bibby took over the offensive leadership from Kevin Martin and Artest, who were both unable to play at critical moments.

Kevin Martin, a junior, averaged 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game this season, which is actually very good, but his playing style is too soft. It seems that 7 free throws per game is a lot, but most of them are fouls caused by taking advantage of the rules. Sometimes he doesn't even get one free throw in a game. When it comes to the critical moment, he is not able to perform well.

Artest is tough, but he can only rush inward at critical moments, and the Bobcats' lineup can restrain players like him.

The White Devil was very tough at the critical moment. He made a single three-pointer after the timeout, helping the Kings to overtake the score 96 to 95.

When it comes to the Bobcats' offense, they want stability, so they have to let Zhang Yang come, and he faces Kevin Martin...

Back-to-the-basket, turn-around and step-back mid-range shot!

Zhang Yang was very excited to confront the White Devil at the critical moment.

The White Devil was also very excited to compete against the bad boy Jack, who is a talented leader of the new generation.

The older you get, the wiser you are. Tonight, Zhang Yang was taught a lesson by Bibby, who then scored 6 points while Zhang Yang only scored 3 points. The White Devil scored 9 to 5 on his own after the timeout, helping the Kings regain a two-point lead with 102 to 100.

But the White Devil has to fight on his own. If he fails, the Kings will be gone at the critical moment. As for Zhang Yang, even if he can’t play C, he still has a boss behind him!

In the last attack of the Bobcats before the official timeout, Felton, who replaced Rondo, scored a three-pointer against Bibby with a step-back.

103 to 102, the Bobcats overtook the Kings by 1 point and entered the official timeout!
From the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Kings were outscored 5 to 19 by Zhang Longjie and his two teammates in just 5 minutes. Their morale was badly demoralized. Just when they saw Bibby's desperate attack about to boost their morale... Felton's three-pointer destroyed the Kings' morale again.

After the official timeout, Bibby C, who had played for more than three minutes and scored nine points, stopped moving. His ability to play key balls ranks among the top five in the league, but he is not really good at scoring points.

The Kings' morale collapsed, and the Bobcats continued their momentum at the start, scoring 5 to 14 in the next five minutes.

At 9:22 pm, the final whistle sounded.

凯文-马丁21分6助攻、阿泰斯特23分7板3助攻3抢断、毕比25分7助攻、拉希姆11分10板3助攻、布拉德-米勒10分7板3助攻……全成了无用功。

On the Bobcats side, Zhang Yang, Okafor, Felton and Rondo all performed well.

张杨上半场拿到11分，中规中矩，但下半场抓住了队友创造出来的机会迎来爆发，第三节拿到10分、第四节拿到11分，全场22投12中、其中三分球6中4、加上4中4的罚球拿到32分。

Okafor had a steady performance throughout the game, scoring 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Felton scored 16 points and 7 assists. These statistics are just the season average, but he took over from Zhang Yang and Bibby at the crucial moment in the final quarter and defended the advantage that his teammates had worked so hard to gain.

Rondo had a well-rounded performance tonight, scoring in double digits, a rare achievement.

但他们最高兴的不是他们自己的表现，而是杰拉德-华莱士复出低迷好几场后，今晚终于再度打出5乘以2的表现，拿到16分7板3助攻4抢断2盖帽！

Before the game, several members of the Boss Gang were still worried that the Crown Prince had not recovered after his comeback, and what they would do when they met Artest tonight.

Unexpectedly, Gerald Wallace stood up tonight when the score difference was widened to double digits and the team was about to collapse. While continuously defending Artest's offense, he also had a big outbreak on the offensive end.

In the 5 minutes from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter, Gerald Wallace scored 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 2 steals, led the team to launch a counterattack and led the team to complete the reversal!

As expected of an Elvis candidate, he is so tough!

(End of this chapter)