Chapter 201 200. First in the East!

Sanders' fears came true.

Zhang Yang and others were so excited when they saw the opponent commit two fouls within a minute of the start of the game.

Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace took turns to break through. After the two of them broke through, Felton and Okafor either attacked the basket with pick-and-roll or Okafor went to the low post for one-on-one play.

When Sanders replaced Maxiell with Webber, Bickerstaff also replaced Millsap with Jumaine Jones.

Bickerstaff predicted that Sanders would prioritize offense and would not replace him with McDyess to strengthen defense at this time. He would definitely choose Webber.

This coach has a completely different coaching philosophy from the former Pistons head coach Larry Brown, which is why he was able to refresh the Pistons' best record in team history as soon as he took office and keep the Pistons at the top level after losing Ben Wallace.

So Bickerstaff didn't bring on Perkins or keep Millsap on the court.

Although Webber suffered a serious injury and is now 34 years old, he has been reborn under Sanders. After being bought out and joining the team, his shooting percentage is as high as 49%, which Millsap cannot defend against.

Webber is good at scoring from mid-range and long-range, and it is difficult for Okafora to defend him. It is even more difficult for Perkins to defend Rasheed Wallace.

So Bickerstaff simply replaced Jumaine Jones to create space.

Bickerstaff responded very well this time in an aggressive manner. Zhang Yang and others also understood the coach's intentions very well and executed them very strongly. After 5 minutes of play, the Pistons had already committed 4 fouls under the Bobcats' breakthrough and attacking style of play, and were in a foul crisis.

The Pistons coaches and players knew what the Bobcats wanted to do, but couldn't stop them.

The Bobcats have strong impact. The more the Pistons players worry about fouling, the more likely they are to commit fouls. On defense, they want to defend but are hesitant, which increases the probability of committing fouls.

In this situation, the Suns, Warriors, Wizards, and the Knicks before the assassins caused trouble were better able to deal with it. Those teams didn't care about any foul crisis.

张杨首节官方暂停时被隆多替换下场，6分37秒钟时间拿到9分，5投3中，加上3中3的罚球。

At the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats had almost ruined the game, leading the Pistons by 35 points, 18 to 17!
In the second quarter, Zhang Yang started again, and together with Rondo, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace and Perkins, they scored 15 to 6 in another half quarter, widening the score difference to 26 points and officially ruining the game!
Sanders on the sidelines was very depressed. Not only was the defense poor, but the offense was also terrible. Hamilton played for one and a half quarters and made only 5 of 1 shots. The one shot he made was a layup. His touch was so bad that he wanted to curse.

Hamilton is the most critical link in the Pistons' offense. His 'perpetual motion machine'-like running ability allows him to always be a threat as long as he can make a shot. But he is not good at this. Billups' high-post singles, Tianzun and Webber's mid-range and close-range scoring, and McDyess' low-post face-to-face singles and catch-and-shoot are all greatly affected.

Frustrated as he was, Sanders still had to make the next adjustment. The game had already come to this point, so he changed his goal - letting Hamilton throw the ball and find his touch.

No matter how bad the situation is, we must do what we can to do well.

In the second half of the second quarter, the Bobcats scored 4 to 10 in the first 6 minutes. At the end of the quarter, Hamilton finally found his feeling, made two mid-range shots, and made two free throws after a counterattack, causing Rondo, who was defending him, to foul. He scored 6 to 2 alone. The Pistons tied the Bobcats 12 to 12 in this half quarter, and finally created a competitive situation... but the score difference in the front was too big!
At halftime, Bickerstaff did not include Zhang Yang, Felton and Okafor in the roster for the second half.

After the halftime break, Bickerstaff used Rondo and Jarrett Jack to take turns controlling the ball, Gerald Wallace to attack, Alan Anderson, Jumaine Jones, and Herman to assist, Millsap to attack, and Muhammad and Perkins to protect the rim...

Sanders saw the three core players of the opposing team clock out, but he didn't feel angry about being looked down upon. He had already been angry in the first half.

This game alone will not affect his coaching confidence. Last season, when they won 64 games, they still lost to the Bucks by 20 points and to the Mavericks by 37 points.

At the end of the regular season last season, the media analyzed the reasons why the Pistons did not get 65 wins, and a few particularly unlucky games were cited.

The Bucks made 19 of 11 three-pointers for a 58% three-point shooting percentage. The pitchers were in full bloom, with 8 players scoring in double digits.

When playing against the Mavericks, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace were both sent off with technical fouls, and the Pistons were slaughtered by 37 points.

When playing against the Lakers, Kobe left the game due to injury in the first quarter. After the halftime break, Kobe suddenly returned and scored 34 points in the second half. He scored 28 points in 40 minutes. The Pistons led by 58 points 48 to 10 in the first half, but were reversed 36 to 57 in the second half.

And when playing against the last-placed Hawks in the league, Joe Johnson, who was in great form and made 17 of 11 shots, made a buzzer-beater with a three-pointer...

In some of these games, the opponents had a good touch, in some they had a bad touch, and in some he made tactical mistakes... After so many years of coaching, Sanders has been able to deal with such situations calmly.

He did not show any impatience or anger, which gave the players confidence and made them believe that they were just unlucky tonight.

But he still feels uneasy - the Bobcats are growing too fast!
He can see the Bobcats' progress in every matchup!
Compared to the last match in early March, the Bobcats' improvement tonight in terms of player and tactical capabilities is not as great as the improvement between the second and first match, or between the third and second match. The Bobcats' current player potential, technical and tactical potential have been fully tapped in the first and middle stages of the season. It takes time for the players to hone their basic skills, and games to provide the coaching staff with more materials for tactical research in order to accumulate potential again.

But more than a month has passed, and the Bobcats' ability to seize opportunities has improved a lot!

After gaining an advantage, your ability to control the situation will be stronger!

Saunders thought the Bobcats wouldn't be a threat until next season, but tonight he already had a strong sense of unease and urgency.

The recruitment is not good!
After the end of last season, he guessed that Ben Wallace's salary situation would definitely not be negotiated. He knew very well that the boss was out of money and could not pay taxes. He had been planning early on, targeting the two inside players Nesterovic and Muhammad who the Spurs could not keep, but the Spurs did not give them to them and gave them cheaply to the Bobcats and Raptors.

After Bynum grew up, he wanted to trade Kwame Brown from the Lakers, but was rejected. In the end, he only got Melvin Eli and Webber who was bought out by the 76ers. He could only use Rasheed Wallace, McDyess, Webber, Melvin Eli, and Maxiell as the inside rotation. Although he barely maintained the status of a top team, but under the current circumstances, this year may be the last fight!

...

汉密尔顿今晚打的时间很长，首节5中1，第二节前半段2中0、后半段5中3，下半场13中7，出场40分钟，25投11中，加上6中5的罚球，拿到27分4板1助攻2抢断。

His playing style relies on his physical strength to run around wildly and make mid-range shots with the help of screens. The impact of the intensity of defense on him is far less than the impact of his touch.

In the 04 Finals, Kobe played an average of 46.2 minutes per game, and spent more than 20 minutes in each game chasing Hamilton, but he could only limit Hamilton's hit rate to 40%. You must know that it was a series in which the average score was only 90 to 81. This defense was not successful, and Kobe himself was exhausted by Hamilton to the point that his mid-range shots were unstable, with only a 38% hit rate.

It was a good move by Sanders to let Hamilton continue playing in garbage time and not let Hamilton leave the game with a miserable performance of 7 of 1 in a quarter and a half.

At the end of the game, although Hamilton lost the game shamefully, his personal performance did not look that bad, and he successfully regained his game form, which was considered a little preparation for the next game and the games after that.

山猫队这边，张杨打了14分钟，9投5中，其中三分球1中1，加上3中3的罚球，拿到14分3板2助攻1盖帽。

费尔顿打了12分钟，拿到5分1板4助攻；奥卡福打了15分钟拿到10分6板。

杰拉德-华莱士15分3板2助攻1抢断1盖帽、隆多11分7板7助攻、贾莱特-杰克17分3助攻、穆罕穆德10分5板2盖帽、阿兰-安德森9分、朱梅因-琼斯10分、米尔萨普8分4板……

115 to 96, the Bobcats slaughtered the Pistons by 19 points, improving their record to 55 wins and 26 losses, and securing the first place in the Eastern Conference one game ahead of schedule!

The team won the first place in the division in the third season. This situation only happened in the first decade of the NBA. Since the NBA laid the pattern of East Lake in the late 50s, this is the first time in more than 50 years!
The Bobcats had already defeated the Pistons once at the beginning of last month. Unlike last season and the first half of this season, when they were beaten in a fancy way, before this game started, many people thought that the Bobcats could win, and reporters were waiting.

After the final whistle, reporters poured into the court and surrounded the Bobcats players for interviews. After the Bobcats players returned to the locker room, Jordan also opened the locker room for interviews...

During the interview break, Zhang Yang slipped out of the locker room and ran to the rooftop to get some fresh air. He opened his arms, the quietness was so nice!
He loves being interviewed, he loves being in the spotlight, and he loves it even more after winning… but tonight it was too noisy.

Reporters are almost filling up the locker room and training ground!

Felton saw his younger brother slipping away, so he also slipped out. Seeing Zhang Yang looking up with his head and arms open, looking very happy, he asked curiously, "Jack, what are you doing?"

Zhang Yang: "Listen, the wind is blowing!"

Felton felt the heat in the air and asked in confusion, "Where is the wind? I saw the weather forecast said it was going to rain heavily."

Zhang Yang: “…”

If I had known earlier, I would have brought Okafor out. A master's student should be able to understand him.

But it’s hard to say. The United States is strong in technology but not very cultured.

We should bring out Hermann, a member of the royal family and from a literary family...

After calming down, Felton's thoughts became clearer. After thinking for a while, he asked his younger brother, "Jack, I think it will be difficult for us to repeat our victory tonight. Should we remind our teammates not to be overconfident because of this victory? No, we need this kind of confidence now. We need to have the confidence that we can win against anyone. You said that although confidence cannot make us stronger, it can enable us to exert our best strength..."

Seeing Felton struggling, Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Boss, you have the final say. I will listen to you."

Felton nodded and thought about it himself. Zhang Yang did not help Felton make a decision. If he were to think about it, he would be confused.

It is a good choice to let the players calmly look at tonight's game against the Pistons, but it is also beneficial to greatly boost their confidence through this game.

But you can't have your cake and eat it too... Then let the fat Boss decide for himself and let him, Zhang San, be a non-stick pan for once.

...

The next day, April 4, the Bobcats dominated the headlines in major sports newspapers and websites.

The big win over the Pistons made them completely popular and they were rated as the most surprising team by the media.

In terms of the shocking degree of the record, the Mavericks are definitely first. They had hoped to surpass the Lakers in the 99-00 season and have the best record in the new century, but they gave up.

But in terms of the degree of surprise, the Bobcats are still more surprising.

小牛队本来就是60胜球队，过去4个赛季有2个赛季60胜、1个赛季58胜，只有03-04赛季库班组建诺维斯基、沃克、贾米森的‘三巨投’时小崩了一下，只拿到52胜+季后赛首轮被4比1暴揍。

After defeating the Pistons to take first place in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago media commented that the Bobcats took away half of the title of "Bad Boys". For the other half, the Bobcats need to defeat the Pistons head-on in the playoffs.

This statement was not refuted even by the Detroit media. Joe Dumars, general manager of the Pistons, said in an interview: "They can make the title of 'Bad Boys' reappear in the NBA. I am happy for them and feel very honored, but we will not let them take this title away easily."

Fans are also discussing the Bobcats' performance. In the second year of the team's establishment, they won 45 games and entered the playoffs. In the third year, they won 55 games and ranked first in the Eastern Conference... They made a leap forward every year, which is crazy.

Domestically, the media are not very fond of the nickname "Bad Boys". They prefer to "centralize" the credit. Zhang Yang, Felton, Gerald Wallace and Okafor are collectively called the "Bobcats Four".

The hottest topic among domestic fans right now - Who is Elvis?
Felton is the recognized leader of the Bobcats. In prep meetings, team practices, public interviews…he is always the first choice.

Zhang Yang is the Bobcats' leading scorer and is recognized as the most talented player on the team.

Okafor is the strongest player of the Bobcats and the only one who can be selected into the All-Star reserve lineup based on his hard power.

Gerald Wallace is the spearhead of the attack and is full of personal charisma.

Domestic fans do not have much "preference" for Zhang Yang in this regard. The support ratio for each of the "Four Young Masters" is almost the same, and the fans are arguing fiercely.

The Bobcats flew to the Big Apple at noon. Tomorrow, they will face their final regular season opponent, the New York Knicks.

In the afternoon, the Bobcats came to Madison Square Garden for an interview, and Felton was asked about "beating the Pistons and becoming the first team in the Eastern Conference overnight."

He replied: "Last night's victory was very important to us. We have confirmed that we have the ability to beat them and beat them by a large margin, but getting the first place in the Eastern Conference is not based on this game. Last night's game was just an ordinary game on our way to getting the first place in the Eastern Conference. The lessons we have learned from every victory and every loss this season are very important. We can become who we are today because of the accumulation of one game after another.

I am proud of my teammates for getting first place in the Eastern Conference, but this is not the end for us, it is just a new beginning."

Zhang San, who was watching on the side, clapped his hands.

After two seasons, the leadership ability of the fat boss has become stronger and stronger, which is cause for celebration!

He can be a better scorer! Shooting is the happiest thing...

Rondo, who was standing by, didn't know why Zhang Yang liked to applaud so much, but he clapped along with him.

He also felt that Felton's words were good, affirming the importance of last night's victory, while emphasizing the "process", and also putting an end to the matter of getting the first place in the Eastern Conference and looking forward to the future...

Two teammates took the lead in clapping, and the others followed suit.

In fact, some teammates were unable to immediately understand the meaning of Felton's words like Rondo, but it doesn't matter. Felton originally said this to the reporters, and there will be reporters to help interpret it.

The next day, the teammates saw the report and understood what Felton meant: We beat the Pistons, it was great, we got first place, we should be proud, the playoffs are about to begin, we should start striving for more honors...

...

At 2007 p.m. on April 4, 17, the Bobcats' away game against the Knicks kicked off at Madison Square Garden.

Tonight, Zhang Yang did not score a lot of points, and Felton, Gerald Wallace, and Okafor did not attack actively, giving opportunities to role players and allowing them to show off in the holy land of basketball.

The main reason was that the game was too unpredictable and failed to arouse their interest.

马布里谢幕战撂挑子了，最近18场比赛，他场均仅9.5分4.4助攻，4月份前面7场比赛分别拿到8分、8分、18分、3分、2分、0分、7分，今晚直接没来。

After the team collapsed, Eddy Curry lost his aggressiveness again. He was still active when playing one-on-one, but was reluctant to rush for offensive rebounds when he couldn't get the ball. His average points per game, which once soared to 21.9 points, dropped to 19.8 points after more than a month, and his body shape was rounder than in early March.

Francis and Crawford are the starting guards. Francis has had a bad season. After being suspended for the fight in December, he was abandoned for a while. He got a chance to play again after the Knicks collapsed in March. Before tonight, he played 12 games, averaging 3 points, 30 rebounds and 10 assists per game, with a career-low shooting percentage of 3%.

Crawford looked down on Francis and refused to cooperate.

David Lee, Frye, Big Q, Nate Robinson, Malik Rose... they all just take the ball and do what they can to get some stats.

Zhang Yang clocked out at halftime again. Rondo, Jarrett Jack, Alan Anderson, Muhammad, Herman, Millsap, Jumaine Jones... even Perkins, all played well tonight.

Perkins can catch the ball at the baseline and score a layup...you can imagine how active Eddy Curry is in defense.

In the second half, Zhang Yang and Felton sat on the sidelines chatting.

Felton sighed, "I remember the last time we played against them, they were 27-31, right? Now they are 32-49. The collapse was too sudden. At that time, I was still worried about how difficult it would be to play against them in the first round. I didn't expect them to be like this."

Zhang Yang replied: "Their best time was 29 wins and 31 losses and they made it into the top eight. They went from 5 wins and 17 losses to 29 wins and 31 losses, 38 wins and 24 losses in 14 games. During that time, their record was better than ours and the Pistons, second only to the Raptors in the East. Marbury averaged 22 points and 9 assists per game during that time. It's a pity that Thomas really has a problem with his brain.

It should have been thought of long ago. Before Thomas went to the Pacers, the Pacers had just played in the finals. After he went to the Pacers, they almost didn't make the playoffs. In the first year after he left the Pacers, the Pacers won 61 games under Carlisle's leadership.
Before he joined the Knicks, the team had just made the playoffs. After his moves, the Knicks failed to make the playoffs again in the 04-05 season. Last season, he replaced the head coach with Larry Brown and the team finished last. This season, the team rose due to some coincidences, but he ruined the team again.”

Felton: "Isn't Thomas supposed to be fired? Marbury said if Thomas doesn't get fired, he'll be traded."

Zhang Yang: "Marbury is expected to be sent away or cut."

Felton: "No way? The Knicks owner is crazy?"

Zhang Yang: "Although Dolan also cares about results, otherwise he wouldn't spend so much money to bring in players and give Larry Brown an annual salary of 10 million, but he cares more about his authority. Ewing said he would trade him if he didn't renew his big contract, and he was traded.

And we can empathize with Marbury because we are ordinary people, and Dolan is a capitalist. In his eyes, Marbury is a bad employee who is unwilling to work properly when he gets emotional, and he is a time bomb. "

Felton: "...Jack, don't tell me such cruel and realistic things next time."

Zhang Yang: “…”

Wow, I didn’t expect that the fat little boss has this side.

At 11:22 pm, the final whistle sounded.

贾莱特-杰克19投9中、其中三分球4中2、加上2中2的罚球，拿到22分3板6助攻，隆多8投4中，加上6中4的罚球，拿到12分8板6助攻1抢断、米尔萨普19分7板2助攻2盖帽……

加上杰拉德-华莱士8分、张杨11分、费尔顿7分、奥卡福9分、阿兰-安德森11分……山猫队以116比99轻松击败尼克斯队。

The Bobcats won the first place in the Eastern Conference in the 56-26 regular season with a record of 2006 wins and 2007 losses!

Two and a half hours later, at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Yao Ming made 20 of 14 shots, plus 6 of 6 free throws, for 34 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks. He single-handedly destroyed the Suns' frontcourt and led the team to a 120-117 victory over the Suns, improving the record to 52 wins and 30 losses, and maintaining the home advantage in the first round against the Jazz.

With the end of two games that the league had specially arranged to be held at different times and that attracted the attention of Chinese fans, the 2006-2007 regular season officially came to an end!
(End of this chapter)