Chapter 203 202. Comparing Handsomeness: Accidentally Becoming a Legend?
Being stared at by Okafor, Zhang Yang and Felton had to give up the idea of ​​teaching the fans how to harass Kidd. After the physical examination began, the two of them put the matter behind them. They were just having fun.

The last item of this physical examination is the measurement of static body data such as height, arm span and weight. This item is self-filled... After Zhang Yang filled it out and went to submit the physical examination report, he met Okafor.

He glanced at the report sheet Okafor handed in with a strange expression: "Emeka, you are 6 feet 11 inches (211 cm)?"

Okafor's poker face flashed a hint of shyness and dissatisfaction, but he quickly regained his composure and replied, "My wingspan is 7 feet 4 inches (223 cm), and my effective shooting height and blocking height are no worse than a 7-foot center... Then how much do you fill up... How can you be only 6 feet 5 inches? You look taller than Bryant and Jordan, and almost as tall as Carter."

Zhang Yang: "Randy just measured me, 196cm, doesn't that convert to 6 feet 5 inches?"

Okafor's expression flashed with confusion, and then he suddenly realized: "You measured without shoes?"

Zhang Yang: "Can you still wear shoes?"

Okafor: "...I remember that Yao Ming also claimed that he was 226 cm tall, but he was actually the same height as Bradley, who was 229 cm tall. You Chinese are really...too honest."

Okafor thought about it and changed his height to 6 feet 9 inches (206 cm).

Zhang Yang was stunned when he saw it: "Uh, Emeka, aren't you exposing Howard's height by doing this..."

Okafor: Really? Do you want to change it? Change it to 203?

In the afternoon, the Bobcats began preparing for their series against the Nets.

Before the war preparation meeting, Zhang Yang received a stack of tactical analysis and several HD DVDs that seemed to be fully loaded. He was shocked: "Isn't this war preparation a little too thorough?"

Randy Brown: "Haha, who made the Nets the most influential team in the East since the new century? They have played 5 series in the past five years, there are too many games to study, didn't you ask Bernie to prepare more materials? This is already an edited video, otherwise there would be more.

But only you and Rajon have such thorough preparations. Others only have the Nets playoff videos from 05 and 06. You don’t need to watch the 02 series videos from 04 to 10. Bernie said that they are for you to observe and learn how to push forward and counterattack. Kidd is the most capable point guard in history to push forward and counterattack. Jefferson and Martin’s awareness of counterattack is also rare...”

Hearing this, Zhang Yang looked at Rondo, who also got a bunch of information. Coach Rondo is also very studious.

After the preparation meeting began, Zhang Yang once again felt how fully prepared the coaching staff was.

As Randy Brown said, the opponent was Kidd, otherwise how could so much information be collected in less than 48 hours from the time the Nets lost their final game to the Bulls and locked in the eighth place?

After the preparation meeting, the Bobcats began to prepare intensively.

A man's reputation is like a tree's shadow. When the opponent is Kidd, even if the opponent has only 39 wins, the Bobcats players dare not be careless. They are very dedicated in preparation and do not need any supervision or extra motivation.

Two days passed in a flash, and on April 4, the first game day of the 21-2006 season playoffs arrived.

Today, four series will start one after another, including the Bobcats and Nets, the Cavaliers and Raptors, the Spurs and Nuggets, and the Lakers and Suns.

The Bobcats had just finished their morning pre-game meeting and practice when they received a surprise!
The league announced the winners of three awards today.

The Joe Dumars Award for Sportsmanship was won by Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls.

This award is voted on by a candidate system, with one candidate from each of the six major conferences, and more than 440 NBA players voting on the last day of the regular season.

Zhang Yang also participated in the voting. On the morning of the 17th, not long after they arrived at the visiting team training ground at Madison Square Garden, league officials found them to vote. He voted for Grant Hill, a candidate from the same division.

It is admirable that Hill is still standing firm in the NBA court after being ruled out for six consecutive seasons.

However, Zhang Yang thinks it is normal for Luol Deng to win the award. Deng Yingqiao is keen on charity, his playing style is impeccable and he works hard... If there is any 'weakness', it is that his defense is too clean. When he encounters players who score unreasonably, his interference flow and conventional confrontational defense are often beaten.

Zhang Yang was surprised by the other two awards, as they were both from the Bobcats team!
比克斯塔夫拿到由30支球队的总经理和总裁投出的合计60票中的27票，险胜拿到25票的猛龙队总经理布莱恩-科朗杰洛、拿到6票的马刺队总经理RC-布福德、拿到2票的公牛队总经理约翰-帕克森，拿到最佳经理奖。

比克斯塔夫拿到由北美体育记者投出的100张第一选票中的36票，总得分233分，以25.8%总得票占比，击败拿到30张第一选票的猛龙队主教练萨姆-米切尔、拿到27张第一选票的小牛队主教练艾弗里-约翰逊、拿到4张第一选票的火箭队主教练杰夫-范甘迪、拿到3张第一选票的爵士队主教练杰里-斯隆，拿到最佳教练奖。

After lunch, Zhang Yang bought two bouquets of flowers and two fruit baskets and went to the general manager's office to congratulate Bickerstaff.

Felton, Okafor, Gerald Wallace, etc. also bought flowers and fruit baskets.

They didn't care about this before, and if they wanted to give gifts, they wouldn't give these things. Instead, they would give more expensive things to appear prestigious.

But after Bickerstaff won the best coach award last season, his teammates saw Zhang Yang holding flowers and carrying a fruit basket to congratulate the head coach, and they followed suit.

Rondo, Millsap and other new players saw the big guys buying these, so they also bought flowers and fruit baskets.

After welcoming and seeing off all the guests, Bickerstaff looked at the room full of flowers and fruit baskets, feeling both happy and troubled.

Jordan came to the general manager's office and saw a pile of gifts. He smiled and said, "Wow, Bernie, you are really loved by the players. You received so many gifts. This is for you. Congratulations on winning the best coach and best manager awards."

Bickerstaff took the gift from Jordan... and said MMP in his heart.

A big gold piece!

He accepted the gift, but would he have to return the favor on Jordan's birthday? He was still working for Jordan, so the gift would have to be more expensive than this.

Should I just quit? I've won the best manager award, so my management career is pretty complete... No, I haven't won a championship yet, so I have to bear with it.

Bickerstaff: "These small gifts that Jack has taken the lead in sending are great. I don't have to feel bad about buying expensive gifts in return."

Jordan had several black lines on his forehead. I gave you a big gold Rolex and you are still not happy?
Originally, he hadn't thought about returning the gift. Whether to return the gift depends mainly on whether a person can handle things... Of course, if he didn't return the gift, his broad mind would definitely remember it.

Anyway, he has kept this in mind now. Next time it is his birthday or his son's birthday, he will invite Bickerstaff to the party and get the gift back.

Bickerstaff felt much better when he saw Jordan's expression. He said, "Too many small gifts is a headache. Flowers are okay because my wife likes flowers and she will be very happy if I give them to her. But there are too many fruit baskets. One fruit basket a week is just enough for our family. These 20+ cannot be given away to all the neighbors."

Jordan: "Why not give it to the assistant coaches and trainers? But I didn't expect you to win the best coach award for two consecutive years and also the best manager award at the same time. Winning the best coach award, the best coach award and the best manager award consecutively, is that a record?"

Bickerstaff: "I didn't expect it either. I thought the Raptors would definitely win the award. They went from getting the first overall pick to being first in the Atlantic Division and winning 47 games, which is better than our performance last season. It's a surprise..."

Jordan and Bickerstaff were both surprised and shocked, and so were Zhang Yang, Felton and other players.

They had previously thought that the Raptors would definitely win both awards, as they had replicated their performance last season. The Raptors improved from 26 wins last season to 47 wins this season, a much greater improvement than the Bobcats' 45 wins to 56 wins.

During lunch break, Zhang Yang and Felton went online and saw that the media, netizens... and even the people who voted were surprised.

Originally, the best manager and best coach awards were not popular awards, otherwise they would not have been announced before the start of the playoffs.

But this year is different. This is the first time in NBA history that he has won the title of best coach for two consecutive years!
The closest ones are the fortune teller Riley and the mad scientist Nelson. Both of them have achieved the great achievement of being the best coach three times in 10 years, and Nelson has won the award twice in three years.

Moreover, Bickerstaff also achieved the historic achievement of winning both the best manager and best coach in the same season!

Before this, no one had accomplished such an achievement, nor anything like it, because he was the first general manager in NBA history to serve as a head coach (Larry Bird became the head coach of the Pacers in 1997 and served as a consultant to the general manager. He had decision-making power but was not officially the general manager. After losing the championship in 00, he shut himself up for a while. In early 02, he returned to the Pacers to continue serving as a consultant to the general manager. He traded back the man who broke Jordan's ribs. In the summer of 03, he officially served as the general manager. The first thing he did after taking office was to fire Isaiah Thomas and invite Rick Carlisle to join...

Popovich is the executive president and head coach, not the general manager, and is not responsible for player affairs. Ginobili, Parker, and Scola were all selected by RC Buford. ).

There have long been rumors that Bickerstaff is actively looking for a successor. The media and fans understand that he is too old and his energy is gradually failing to keep up with the dual duties of general manager and head coach.

The media and fans are also paying close attention to the selection of the next head coach of the Bobcats. The Bobcats with four young players are definitely the dream team of all unemployed coaches... Unexpectedly, Bickerstaff accomplished such an incredible achievement when he was about to retire from the head coach position!
Having been in the industry for more than 30 years, Bickerstaff reached the peak of his coaching career when he was about to step down from the head coaching position. His coaching career, which was originally regarded as "weird", has transformed into a "legendary" career.

He led the 1987-win SuperSonics to the Western Conference Finals in 39, and led the Nuggets to defeat the SuperSonics in 94... and these achievements were once again touted by fans.

Someone in the forum took screenshots of several new blogs posted by journalists who participated in the vote.

CBS reporter Ellie Finney posted: "I voted for Bickerstaff. Everyone is praising the Raptors for their progress this season. They are really great, but in my opinion the Bobcats are better. They were already very surprising last season, winning 45 games. This season they have made great progress on the basis of last season and won first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bickerstaff did a great job in coaching, drafting, and trading. He selected Rondo, further unleashing Zhang and Wallace's counterattack capabilities. He selected Millsap, reducing Okafor's consumption in positioning and helping Wallace share the pressure of offensive rebounding. He traded for Muhammad, providing their young inside talents with valuable experience and critical defensive capabilities. He traded for Jack, sharing the pressure of Felton and Zhang's outside ball-holding singles...

When it came time to vote, I firmly wrote Bickerstaff's name on the first ballot.

I was surprised that so many people made the same choice as me, but it just shows that my idea is right and there are many peers who share the same idea as me. "

The best coach and best manager awards are actually "team honors" and mainly depend on the performance of the players.

Otherwise, in 03, Jerry West traded for three role players, Mike Miller, James Posey and Lorenzen Wright, and competed with Mitch Kupchak for the best manager award by signing Malone and Payton.

Jerry West was able to win because the Grizzlies surged from 28 wins to 50 wins.

Seeing Bickerstaff win the award and receive so much praise, Zhang Yang, Felton and others felt honored and even more excited!

...

At 5:40 in the evening, the two series between the Bobcats and the Nets, and the Cavaliers and the Raptors are about to start. Players have already started entering the Turkish Airlines Arena and the Quicken Loans Arena.

In the United States, the main series tonight are between the Cavaliers and Raptors, and the Suns and Lakers. The former features a showdown between two geniuses of the 03 generation, and the latter features a showdown between two super guards of the 96 generation.

During the time period from 5:40 to 8:, there are many more TV stations in the United States that broadcast the Cavaliers and Raptors live than those that broadcast the Bobcats and Nets live.

It's different in China. Both Chaoting TV and Guangdong TV broadcast the game between the Bobcats and the Nets. Although the time is very weird, starting at 6 a.m., the ratings are quite high. Before the game even started, the ratings are close to breaking 1.

56 wins, first in the Eastern Conference, the best record and highest ranking achieved with Chinese players as the core.

Although Wang Zhizhi won 57 games with the Mavericks, 59 games with the Heat, and Battelle won 60 games with the Spurs, they are both role players or even marginal players, and the results have little to do with them.

Zhang Yang is different. He is the team's top scorer and the first shot point at critical moments!
Domestic fans were extremely enthusiastic. Not to mention 6 a.m., they stayed in front of the TV to watch the game even at 12 midnight.

At the Turkish Airlines Arena, after the players of both teams entered the court, Kidd was troubled when he saw the high-spirited players of the opposing Bobcats.

Originally, their only advantage in this series was their rich game experience. The gap in role player lineup and overall strength was too large. They defeated the Bobcats once at the beginning of this season, but were beaten twice in the middle and late stages of the season.

Now that the other side’s morale is still so high, it’s even more difficult to deal with them.

When Kidd saw the news this morning that the Bobcats head coach won both the Best Coach and Best Manager awards, he felt something was not good. There was a group of young players under the age of 25 on the opposite side, and once they got motivated, it was completely impossible to suppress them!
What’s even worse is that their main inside scorer had a knee injury. After more than half a year, conservative treatment failed to heal the injury, and instead ruptured the cruciate ligament, and he was out for the season…

However, he has played in the NBA for more than ten years, and such a hellish situation could not defeat Kidd. He tried hard to think of ways to suppress the opponent's morale after the game started... He could no longer count on head coach Lawrence Frank, and the more powerful coach had been driven away by him.

On the other side, Zhang Yang looked at the comparison of the two teams' regular season statistics on the big screen.

在基德推动下，卡特打出了自00-01赛季过后最佳表现，生涯第3次场均25+，拿到25.2分6板4.8助攻；理查德-杰弗森场均19.5分6.8板。

篮网队场均投进7.4个三分，排在联盟第4，只有场均9.6个三分的太阳队、场均8.6个三分的火箭队、场均8.5个三分的勇士队比他们高。

The Bobcats average 7 three-pointers per game, which is quite a lot, but they are still inferior to the Nets, ranking 7th in the league. It is worth mentioning that the 5th place is the Spurs with an average of 7.4 three-pointers per game, and the 6th place is the Mavericks with an average of 7.1 three-pointers per game.

Texas teams are far ahead of other division teams in the three-point list.

不过除了三分，其他方面都是山猫队占优势，场均104分比篮网队的场均97.6分高得多，场均失分98.1分还低于篮网队的场均98.3分；场均篮板44比40.3、场均抢断7.1比6.1、场均盖帽5.6比3.3……就连场均助攻都是山猫队更多。

但张杨还是能感受到压力——基德常规赛场均13分8.2板9.2助攻1.6抢断，以36%的三分命中率场均投进1.6个三分……有点凶！

The pre-match preparation time passed quickly, and at 5:58, the referee notified the players of both teams to go on the court.

When Zhang Yang went to the technical table to apply magnesium powder, he met Kidd, who encouraged him with a few words.

He was quite puzzled. He didn't have much interaction with Nash, Kidd and Ginobili, but they were all very friendly to him... On the contrary, the person he showed "friendliness" to, No. 24, was not friendly at all and often rolled his eyes at him.

Even that time, he disguised himself as a reporter to interview No. 24, asking him if he was willing to score 83 points against the Raptors, and the other party directly drove him away...

With Mickey Moore defeating Okafor to win the jump ball, the first game of the series between the Bobcats and the Nets begins!
Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Gerald Wallace, Millsap, Okafor.

Nets starting lineup: Kidd, Carter, Richard Jefferson, Mickey Moore, Jason Collins.

Kidd received the ball and advanced to the frontcourt, using Carter's screen... After breaking through, he faced Gerald Wallace who took a step back and focused on Carter, and took a three-point shot... and made it!
(End of this chapter)