Chapter 199 198. Who is not a champion?

Felton, Zhang Yang and Okafor did not play in the final quarter and clocked out after three quarters, but the three core members of the team, Rondo, Gerald Wallace and Perkins, played for a relatively long time. Bosh on the opposite side was replaced, and then all three were replaced.

The score in the final quarter was 23 to 24, leaving the Raptors no chance to launch a counterattack.

103 to 85, the Bobcats held on to the advantage they had gained in the first three quarters, defeating the Raptors and winning their 53rd game of the season!
After returning to the hotel after the game, the boss and a few others gathered in Felton's room to review the game with the Raptors.

Rondo: "Boss, the Cavaliers have won two consecutive games, and their record has improved to 46 wins and 34 losses. The Bulls lost to the Pistons, and their record has dropped to 46 wins and 33 losses."

Millsap, who officially "rebelled", actively showed himself and interrupted: "The Raptors fell to No. 5?"

Rondo: "No, the Raptors are still No. 4."

Millsap: "Why? Aren't the Raptors 45 wins?"

Seeing Rondo kept silent and seemed impatient, Felton laughed to attract Millsap's attention and said, "Paul, you haven't learned about the playoff ranking rules. It's normal that you don't know. The NBA is divided into the East and West. There are three divisions in the East. You know this, right? The first place in each division in the East must be ranked in the top 3 in the East. The Pistons are No. 1 in the Central Division, we are No. 4 in the Southeast Division, and the Raptors are No. 1 in the Atlantic Division. So the Raptors are No. 1 even though their record is worse than that of the Bulls and the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers and the Bulls can only compete for No. 1."

Seeing this, Zhang Yang felt that, apart from other things, the Little Fatty Boss had a personality that was very suitable for being a leader. He was willing to adjust relationships within the team and had the patience to explain things to the newcomers. Mainly, the Little Fatty Boss liked being a leader and liked doing these trivial things.

Look at Coach Long, he is still a rookie himself and he doesn’t even bother to explain the rules to his peers.

As for Zhang San, his patience with newcomers also depends on his talent.

He is more realistic in this regard. If it is a player from the same class, like Alan Anderson, even if he is not very smart and his overall talent is not particularly good, he will still be patient. If the newcomer has average talent and a bad brain, he will at most be slightly better than Rondo and will not show his impatience on his face.

And Little Fatty Boss is really passionate about these things.

Rondo continued: "Although the Bulls are still half a game ahead of the Cavaliers and have a head-to-head advantage against the Cavaliers, it is still possible for the Cavaliers to overtake the Bulls to third place, so the Raptors may still become our opponent in the second round."

Millsap nodded: "The Bulls have an advantage against the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers have an advantage against the Raptors, but the Bulls and Raptors have a record of 2 wins and 2 losses. It's hard to say who will win. We can't exclude the Raptors from the second round of imaginary opponents. We may also encounter the most difficult Bulls."

Rondo glanced at Millsap in surprise.

As a power forward, he is not good at blocking on the wing, so he needs point guard Felton, who is good at this, to teach him.

He couldn't even judge where the ball would land on a defensive rebound and could only block out position, which was not as good as a point guard like him.

Okafor had to teach him how to choose offensive routes. He didn't take the initiative to learn when he was following the crown prince.

And he doesn't even know the basic rules of the NBA.

For a season, Rondo thought Millsap was a pure muscle man with a poor brain, just like Alan Anderson and Jumaine Jones, who had no independent consciousness and had to be commanded for everything. When talking to them, he could not beat around the bush and had to tell them directly what they should do.

Unexpectedly, Millsap actually understood what he meant!
Fortunately, I didn't mock him directly just now. It's not easy to have a smart player in the team.

Now Rondo thinks back that Millsap didn't learn anything after following the crown prince for most of the season. It may not be Millsap's problem. Gerald Wallace only knows how to play with his teammates and has no concept of teaching them how to play.

A kind-hearted boss like Felton is an exception.

The Raptors, Cavaliers, and Bulls are all likely to meet in the second round. There are too many imaginary enemies, and the boss gang began to chatter.

It was past two in the morning when the small team's discussion ended. The teammates went back to their rooms to sleep, while Felton, Zhang Yang and Okafor looked at the sky.

The weather is clear tonight, the night sky is full of stars, and the stars are guarding the crescent moon.

Okafor was quiet during the discussion, but now that there are fewer people around, he is talking more: "This time last year we had just made it to the top eight, thinking about how to get to the fifth and avoid the Nets, Pistons, and Heat. Now we are already discussing how to get through the second round and go to the Eastern Conference Finals to play against the Pistons.

Two years ago, I was desperate when I entered the NBA. I had just won the US championship, but I ended up on the worst team in the league. I fought hard but only got 18 wins. It must be hard for you to understand this feeling. "

Felton: “I had just won the U.S. championship when I entered the NBA.”

Okafor: Is that what I'm talking about?

Zhang Yang: "I'm a little bit worse than you. The year before I entered the NBA, I won the California High School Championship at the age of 16."

Okafor:? Do you really think I'm saying this?

Is it amazing to win a state championship as a core player at the age of 16? Well, it is amazing. Looking back at the post-2000 generation, only James, Farmar, and Zhang Yang can do it. Zhang Yang is the only one who has won all the games. Otherwise, he would not have registered for the draft before he was 17 years old, and he could have been expected to be in the late first round or early second round before he even participated in the tryout.

But is this the point!

Seeing Okafor was about to jump up and down, Zhang Yang said with a smile: "Emeka, don't be sentimental too early. This is just the beginning. Our goal is--"

Zhang Yang pointed at the moon in the sky and said, "It's that sea of ​​stars!!"

Okafor listened to Zhang Yang's words and felt a surge of pride in his heart... but then it was broken by Felton.

Felton: "Jack, don't point at the moon, or it'll fly down and cut off your penis."

Zhang Yang: "Is this the style of your feudal superstition?"

Okafor: "I'm going to kill you, little fat man!!"

……

The next day, Zhang Yang returned to Charlotte with the team and practiced three-pointers and layups for an extra afternoon.

There had been no significant improvement in his mid-range shooting for some time. He discussed it with Engelland and also called Tim Grove and Frango Hamblen for advice. After many discussions, the three world-class basketball trainers all felt that it was not a problem of training methods or effort. Instead, his mid-range shooting had reached a very outstanding level, and his performance could not continue to improve because his long-range shooting and attacking the basket were not good enough, which limited his further performance in the mid-range.

He felt that the three experts' analysis was correct. His current mid-range shooting percentage in training was stable at just over 90%. It was impossible to have a qualitative improvement in a short period of time. High-post back-to-the-basket shots, three-threat stances, face-to-face singles, shooting with screens... would also not see any qualitative improvement in a short period of time. His skills needed constant training and polishing, and actual combat testing.

This requires improving the success rate of attacking the basket or layups, strengthening mid-range threats, and combining breakthroughs and shots to form better linkage.

The three experts also mentioned a key point - his age.

He is not even 19 years old yet, and his physical development is not yet fully formed. His long-range shooting is okay, but his attacking the basket is limited by his physical condition, and it is difficult for him to improve further. When Gerald Wallace was injured some time ago, he had a big improvement and truly developed his 89 layup ability, but he also drained the foundation he had laid before.

Therefore, his shooting training now focuses on three-pointers, and his attacking the rim training mainly practices supporting techniques, such as the European step, step-over layup, turn-around attacking the rim, etc. Mid-range shooting remains a regular training.

On April 4, the Bobcats will face the Nets at home.

After the players of both teams entered the field, Zhang Yang looked at the score comparison on the big screen.

The Nets are 39-40, seventh in the Eastern Conference, and the Bobcats are 53-26, second in the Eastern Conference.

If the regular season ended at this moment, the two teams would meet in the first round.

Zhang Yang and his teammates will definitely fight for the first place, but they may also meet in the first round. The Heat, Nets, Wizards and Magic are still fighting for the last three playoff spots.

He wants to see the Nets and the Pistons meet in the first round. The Flounders have always been miserable when they meet Billups in the playoffs. The two have played 11 games in the playoffs so far, and Billups has scored less than double digits in 5 games.

But he also wants to face Kidd in the playoffs.

At the end of February, the Nets' record had dropped to 2 wins and 27 losses, and they were on the verge of falling out of the playoff race, but in March the Nets broke out and achieved a good record of 31 wins and 3 losses.

Although Carter was the one who won the Player of the Month award, the other two stars of the Nets also performed very well.

理查德-杰弗森15场比赛场均22分7板2抢断1盖帽。

In March, when the standards of refereeing began to move closer to the playoffs, Kidd's performance improved significantly. He averaged 3 points, 15 rebounds and 12.2 assists in 9.2 games, almost averaging a triple-double, and the characteristics of a playoff player were fully demonstrated.

Unfortunately, Kidd had double-digit assists in 15 of the 12 games, but his rebounding and scoring lagged behind. Either his rebounds or points were not in double digits, and he only had three triple-doubles in a single month.

By the end of March, the Nets' record improved to 3 wins and 36 losses.

Unfortunately, by April the Nets were no longer able to hold on. The lineup of role players was too poor, and both offense and defense were dependent on the outside trio, who didn't even have a decent substitute. After the breakout period, by April the Nets only had 4 wins and 4 losses and were unable to go any further.

At 7 pm, the Bobcats' home game against the Nets will start.

The Nets started the game with fierce offense and excellent defense, limiting the Bobcats to only 20 points in the first quarter. They entered the second quarter leading the Bobcats by 29 points, 20 to 9.

In the second quarter, the Nets continued to be hot on offense, scoring 27 points in a single quarter, but the defensive decline was obvious to the naked eye. Okafor scored 7 points in a single quarter, Zhang Yang made two three-pointers, and Gerald Wallace scored 6 points... The three of them worked together to lead the team to score 25 points, stopping the trend of the score difference being further widened. At the end of the half, the Bobcats were 45 points behind the Nets at 56 to 11.

Kidd had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists in the first half, and Carter had 20 points in the first half. The Nets had an explosive performance in the first half.

In the third quarter, Zhang Yang came on the court and made a turnaround jump shot against Kidd in the high post. Then Gerald Wallace stole the ball when Carter broke through. Rondo received the ball and passed it to Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang rushed to close range, faked a pass, and made a layup.

Zhang Yang scored two goals in a row, sounding the clarion call for a counterattack!
In the third quarter, when the team needed to withstand pressure and lead the team with scoring, Zhang Yang stepped up.

But Carter, who had outplayed the entire Bobcats team in personal offense in the first half, was wilting at this time.

Richard Jefferson has no other offensive ability with the ball except for scoring directly, so he can't be relied on. Kidd...

In the third quarter, the Bobcats scored 30 to 21, narrowing the score to 75 to 77, trailing the Nets by two points entering the final quarter.

In the final quarter, the Bobcats sent out a double point guard lineup of Rondo and Felton, and Alan Anderson, Millsap and Muhammad in the frontcourt.

Rondo stole the ball from Kidd, rushed into the inside like lightning, and made a layup before Kostic could get into position, tying the score.

It was the Nets' turn to attack. Kidd fed the ball to Kostic. Felton turned around and broke into the inside with the help of a screen and passed the ball to Rondo. Rondo passed the ball to Millsap, who received the ball in the inside and made a layup and caused Kostic to foul. He also made the free throw. The score was 80 to 79. The Bobcats strongly suppressed the Nets!
Bickerstaff predicted that the opponent would use Kostic as center to chase points, so he sent out five players who could attack the frame to besiege Kostic, who had poor defense. This operation worked!

Midway through the fourth quarter, with Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace and Okafor absent, the Bobcats led the Nets by 91 points, 88 to 3!
After the official timeout, the combination of Jarrett Jack, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Jumaine Jones and Okafor came on the court.

Gerald Wallace immediately blocked Carter's shot as he broke into the paint.

Looking back, Zhang Yang received the ball in the high position, turned around and took a step sideways to avoid Richard Jefferson's defense and made a mid-range shot. The score was 93 to 88, and the Bobcats' lead expanded to 5 points, completely taking control of the initiative!
In the last 5 minutes, the two teams played with a score of 13 to 12, and the Bobcats were suppressing the Nets.

The game ended at 9:22 pm.

张杨上半场打了13分钟拿到9分、第三节打了9分钟拿到10分、第四节打了5分多钟拿到8分，21投10中，其中三分球5中3，加上5中4的罚球拿到27分6板3助攻2抢断。

奥卡福拿到22分10板、杰拉德-华莱士13分7板3助攻3抢断2盖帽、费尔顿12分6助攻、隆多10分7板5助攻……106比100，山猫队今晚表现稳健，大比分落后没慌，稳扎稳打，逆转篮网队，拿下本赛季第54场胜利！
After the final whistle sounded, Zhang Yang looked up at the big screen again.

今晚基德拿到14分8板12助攻、卡特31分6板3助攻、理查德-杰弗森25分7板2助攻2抢断，三人合砍70分17助攻，但篮网队全队只有100分23助攻……

Felton and Jarrett Jack, two point guards who like Kidd, stood on the left and right sides of Zhang Yang, also watching the big screen.

Felton: "Kid is so miserable."

Jarrett Jack: "Yes, except for House and Kostic, they have no other players who can score. Mickey Moore is the starting power forward. I remember he averaged 3 points and 2 rebounds per game last season."

Felton: "When the Nets are no longer the biggest favorite to win the Eastern Conference, role players are unwilling to go to them. Without high-quality role players, even Kidd can't lead the team. High-quality role players are even more reluctant to go when they see the Nets' record decline, forming a vicious cycle. In addition, the combined salaries of the Nets' three stars are almost reaching the salary cap, and only the middle-class exception can be used... Kidd's era is over."

Jarrett Jack: Boss is awesome!
Rondo turned around and left.

Although he has truly acknowledged Felton as the boss, but seeing Felton not blushing at all and taking Zhang Yang's pre-match chat as his own words... It turns out that being a boss requires thick skin... If you don't listen, it means that nothing happened, right!
...

As the regular season draws to a close, the media and fans' attention is focused on a few teams.

Nash hit a near-game-winning three-pointer, leading the Suns to a narrow 112-110 win over the Spurs, improving their record to 60 wins and 20 losses.

The Suns became the second team to win 2 games this season and ended the Spurs' hopes of 60 wins. After the buzzer-beater, the Spurs' record dropped to 60 wins and 57 losses. Even if they win the remaining two games, they will only have 23 wins.

Before the All-Star Weekend, the Suns had a massive 17-game winning streak. At that time, they were aiming for 70+ wins, and Nash was on his way to three consecutive MVPs... Injuries are the players' biggest enemy.

With the Suns defeating the Spurs, the Spurs no longer have even a theoretical chance of overtaking the Suns, and the top seven rankings in the Western Conference have been determined.

The Jazz currently have a record of 50 wins and 30 losses, having already secured the top spot in the Northwest Division and fourth place in the Western Conference.

The Rockets have 51 wins and 29 losses, and as the third in the Southwest Division, they can only finish fifth.

The Nuggets started off in a slump, but after acquiring Iverson in the mid-season, they started to counterattack. In the home and away games at the end of the season, they defeated the Lakers twice. They are currently ranked sixth with 44 wins and 36 losses.

The Lakers relied on Kobe's crazy scoring surge after the All-Star Weekend and are currently ranked seventh with 42 wins and 38 losses.

The Warriors and Clippers are currently both 40-40. Since the Lakers have the advantage against both teams this season, the Lakers have secured seventh place in the Western Conference, while the Warriors and Clippers are still competing for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Hornets didn’t keep up with those four teams in April, and they lost four games in a row. They are currently 4-4, locking in tenth place in the Western Conference…

In the East, the Bobcats defeated the Raptors and Nets in succession, improving their record to 54 wins and 26 losses, overtaking the Pistons with 53 wins and 27 losses, and topped the Eastern Conference at the last moment.

The Raptors have basically secured fourth place in the Eastern Conference, while the Cavaliers and Bulls are competing for third place.

After Wade and O'Neal returned, the Heat's record improved and they are currently ranked sixth with 41 wins and 39 losses.

The Wizards, Nets and Magic are still competing for the remaining two spots.

At present, the media and fans' attention is focused on four teams - the Mavericks, Bobcats, Pistons, and Cavaliers.

The Mavericks currently have 66 wins and 14 losses. Their last two opponents are the Warriors and the SuperSonics. Everyone thinks they will definitely tie the Celtics' third-best record in history.

The Bobcats and the Pistons are about to face off, and the outcome of the game is likely to directly determine who will be the first in the Eastern Conference.

If the Bobcats can get first place in the division in the third year of the team's establishment, they will make history again.

The Cavaliers...pure popularity.

Teams other than the top two in the Eastern Conference have no competitiveness at all against the top five in the Western Conference. Even if they are in the top two, their competitiveness is limited.

On April 4th, the Bobcats had a rest day. In the afternoon, the Bobcats only conducted 14 minutes of offensive and defensive tactical training. At this time, rest is more important.

Zhang Yang practiced three-point shooting for an entire afternoon. His three-point evaluation value has reached 79, which is a little short of 80. It is difficult to cross that mark, but it is always good to practice more.

At night he stayed in front of the TV to watch the live broadcasts of the Mavericks and Warriors.

The Mavericks have 66 wins, fifth in history. If they win one more game, they will be fourth in history. The last two games were broadcast extra.

Looking at the Mavericks' starting lineup of Jose Barea, Maurice Ainge, Greg Buckner, Devin Brown, and DeSagana Diop... Zhang Yang smacked his lips.

Young General Johnson really has no idea what's going on. Even if he sends out all his main players, he may not be able to win!
Nowitzki, Dampier, Stackhouse, Terry...all wore suits.

However, after a round of "Oh my God", the TV commentator began to analyze the Mavericks' "picking opponents".

The result of the analysis is...the Mavericks are doing the right thing!
If you can beat the Warriors, why go toe to toe with the Clippers?
If Cassell hadn't missed nearly 20 games and the overall strength of the Western Conference hadn't increased this season, the Clippers would definitely have had more than 40 wins. Even with injuries, if they were thrown into the Eastern Conference, they might be the best team outside the top two.

"Kicking the Clippers out of the playoffs" is what the top three teams in the Western Conference want to do.

After listening to the commentator's analysis, Zhang Yang felt that if the third eye was not used, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the operation of the young general Johnson. After all, the difference between the playoffs and the regular season is quite large... But he knew the result...

He turned off the TV and went to the study to read for more than two hours. When he came back, he looked at the result of the game. Eight Warriors players scored in double digits and slaughtered the Mavericks 8-111.

Baron Davis, Ellis, Jason Richardson, Biedrins, Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Michael Pietrus, Matt Barnes, Adonal Foyle, Kelanna Azubuike... these 11 players in rotation are really fierce, and they can put out two lineups: pure run-and-gun and defensive counterattack.

The next morning, after arriving at the stadium, Zhang Yang first burned a stick of incense for Guan Erye and observed a moment of silence for the Silver Horn King in advance.

The Clippers lost to the Timberwolves last night, and the Warriors already have a 1-game advantage.

The Warriors' opponent in the last game is the Trail Blazers. Although the Trail Blazers did not take the initiative to play badly, it is the last moment. If they can drop one place in the ranking, they can move up one place. In the first two games, the Trail Blazers directly let Roy and Randolph go out to treat injuries. As long as old Nelson does not have a brain seizure, the Warriors cannot lose. They have already secured the eighth place. The execution moment of the Silver Horn King is coming soon.

After burning incense, Zhang Yang put away his mentality of watching the show and turned his attention back to them.

We must win tonight’s game against the Pistons!
As long as they win, their winning streak will increase to 55, and they will be able to secure the first place in the Eastern Conference one game in advance!

……

……

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(End of this chapter)