Chapter 209 208. The gap is bigger than last year

No one thought it was wrong that the Bobcats led by 6 points in the first quarter, even the Cavaliers fans in front of the TV thought it was normal.

But the Bobcats played too easily in the first quarter!

Indeed, public opinion generally believes that the Cavaliers cannot beat the Bobcats. Even among the Cavaliers fans, most of them think that the possibility of winning is slim. Only a small group of extremely fanatical fans blindly think that the Cavaliers will definitely be able to beat the Bobcats and can find all kinds of excuses if they lose.

But even Bobcats fans feel that this year will not be as easy as last year, and the Cavaliers will definitely not be completely helpless like they were last season.

Their matchup is the most watched among the four matchups in the second round, with more popularity than the other three matchups combined, and naturally there are the most media and experts analyzing it.

The media cited the following points.

James has a lot of experience against the defensive combination of Felton and Perkins.

James' playing style has changed a lot compared to last season. Unlike last season when there was almost no change compared to the season before, he reduced his ball-holding time, increased the proportion of off-ball offense, and actively defended in the regular season. The Cavaliers' team offensive tactics are obviously richer than before.

The James-Hustle combination reached the playoffs, and they performed exceptionally well against the Raptors in the first round, dominating the Raptors' outside line.

There are still many supporters of "American Son". The media and fans have high expectations for James and the Cavaliers. Of course, they are not expecting them to beat the Bobcats in a series, but they are expecting them to play better than last season.

Since it's a showdown between the reserve GOAT and the new Bad Boys, it shouldn't be a problem to expect one more win every year, right?

But when the Cavaliers actually played against the Bobcats, they played worse than last season.

The Bobcats' defense was more targeted and their offense was better coordinated, and they easily led the Cavaliers by 11 points, 26 to 17, in the first 9 minutes.

During this period, Zhang Yang's performance was outstanding.

Mainly before the game started, when the commentators were making their predictions, they used data as evidence to describe how well the James-Hustle duo did in mid-range defense during the regular season this season. They restricted Zhang Yang's mid-range catch-and-shoot shots more and more with each game. In the playoffs, the confrontation can be improved, and the defense will definitely do better in this regard.

This prediction was not wrong. Except for the mid-range shot at the beginning of the first quarter, Zhang Yang didn't make any mid-range shots afterwards.

Because apart from the first single attack at the beginning of the game, he didn't go to the mid-range except for the mid-range shot he had to take.

Either shoot long two-pointers or three-pointers around the top of the arc, or cut in, or counterattack!
This style of play is very familiar to fans who followed the Cavaliers' first-round games - Jose Calderon's style of play!
After Rondo came on the court, he rushed in with his speed to attract James and Houston's encirclement, and Zhang Yang went around the top arc to receive the ball and shoot. This cooperation was like a copy and paste of Ford and Calderon's cooperation.

Zhang Yang's shooting is not as accurate as Calderon's, but he is much faster. When he runs to the top of the arc, he is in an open space and has a better chance, and the effect is similar.

Moreover, this style of play is very easy for Zhang Yang, and consumes less energy than the previous style.

At the end of the quarter, James and Hughes led the team to a 6-0 counterattack, and Zhang Yang also used a buzzer-beating three-pointer to curb the Cavaliers' counterattack momentum.

Zhang Yang played the full 12 minutes in the first quarter, making 9 of 5 shots, including 3 of 2 three-pointers. He did not take any free throws, but by shooting non-stop, he scored 12 points in a single quarter and led the Bobcats to a 29-point lead over the Cavaliers at 23 to 6!
If it weren't for the tens of seconds of James and Houston's explosive connection, the score difference in a single quarter would definitely be in double digits!
Most of the commentators in "Omgah", "Unbelievable", "Bala Bala"... are also professional.

TNT Sports commentary, Charles Barkley, who usually makes a lot of noise, became professional at this time: "I refuted it when I saw someone say that the Cavaliers will play better against the Bobcats this year than last season.

James seemed to have made a lot of adjustments and changes, which is true for most teams, but for the Bobcats, these changes were almost the same as nothing.

The Cavaliers' playing style is ultimately still the same two routines, James's breakthrough pass, and Hughes's breakthrough pass + James's easy ball. Of course, this is already a big improvement for the Cavaliers last season. The changes in coordination have also increased as James is willing to give up the ball, but the underlying playing logic has not changed.

The Bobcats’ restraint on James is not about the details, but about the fundamental restraint on James’ playing style…”

Kenny Smith on the side sighed, no wonder he became the highest-paid commentator in the United States after just a few years of commentary. When he was professional, he was no worse than Hubie Brown and others.

After sighing in his heart, Kenny Smith immediately entered the working state and began to find faults. Barkley once again returned to the noisy mode and played the clown...

...

In the first quarter, the Bobcats took the absolute initiative. Before the last shot, Zhang Yang scored 9 points and the team scored 26 points. His personal score accounted for a relatively high proportion, but it was within the normal range. After all, he played the entire first quarter and his number of shots accounted for 40% of the team's total shots. In normal games, the first quarter usually lasts 8-9 minutes.

In the second quarter, the Bobcats continued the style of play from the first quarter, and Zhang Yang also continued the style of play when he came on the court.

During regular time, look for shooting opportunities based on tactics, reduce unnecessary consumption, and keep shooting.

Take the pot when it's time to take it.

When someone is needed to step up and score, he will take the initiative to step up and shoot. Of course, not every ball can be hit at the buzzer like the last attack in the first quarter.

Before the official timeout in the second quarter, the James-Hughes combination launched a counterattack again. Zhang Yang missed two consecutive singles, but the Bobcats' overall style of play was not affected. Sometimes key singles do not necessarily have to be made to be useful. After all, even players like Jordan and Kobe cannot make the key shots every time. On the contrary, they miss most of the time.

At that time, if someone dared to stand up and take on the pressure, take the shots, and continue the offensive rhythm, it would be a very good situation for a team.

Zhang Yang digested the two shots before the official timeout and did not interrupt the team's offensive rhythm. After the official timeout, the Bobcats relied on team offense to widen the 7-point gap that was narrowed by the 2-5 outbreak of the James-Hustle combination before the timeout.

第二节前半段，骑士队15比10缩小了5分分差，后半段山猫队打出了17比11的比分，将被缩小到1分的分差拉开到7分。

At the end of the first half, the Bobcats led the Cavaliers 56-49!
In the second quarter, the Bobcats conceded 26 points to the Cavaliers and only scored 27 points themselves, failing to gain a clear advantage. A very important reason for this was that Okafor did not play in the first half of the quarter and Zhang Yang rested for three minutes before returning to the court.

After the halftime break, the Bobcats replaced their starting lineup and gave the Cavaliers a fierce attack in the first half of the third quarter, scoring 15 to 7 in the half, widening the gap to 15 points and leading 71 to 56!

Entering the official timeout, Mike Brown made adjustments and replaced the lineup with a pure defensive lineup. Instead of playing team offense, he let James and Hughes take turns breaking through the basket and fighting defense.

Mike Brown's defensive skills are indeed very high, and the scale of the playoffs is large. After returning from the timeout, the Bobcats' team offense could not start.

At this time, Zhang Yang stood up again, letting Perkins squat at close range and wait for the ball to be caught, Gerald Wallace rush to steal the ball, and Felton go to the bottom corner to start the offense and wait for the ball to be caught and shot... He and Okafor took turns to play singles!
In the middle of the second quarter, Zhang Yang failed to withstand the connection between Zhan and Xiu, but this time, he held on!
James and Hughes took turns breaking through and causing damage, scoring a total of 5 points in 44 minutes and 10 seconds.

张杨半节时间5投2中，加上一次反击造成犯规两罚全中拿到6分；奥卡福近距离面框单打4投2中拿到4分；加上杰拉德-华莱士抢到进攻篮板球后甩底角，费尔顿接球三分命中……山猫队半节时间拿到13分！
After three quarters, the Bobcats lead the Cavaliers 84 to 66!
The Cavaliers wanted to use strenuous defense to create a chance for a comeback, but not only did they fail, the score difference widened by another 3 points, and the Bobcats' lead expanded to 18 points!
During the intermission, Larry Hughes was showing off his energy drink Tons Tons Tons. He felt tired when he thought about the defensive effect of James on Zhang Yang!
That is to say, the bad boy Jack is only 18 years old. If he is or years old, his physical strength may not be as good as that of Li Keai, but even if he has the physical strength of Ray Allen or Alan Houston, he can still throw the ball into the air in high-post singles.

James is really unstoppable in one-on-one mid-range situations!
Hughes actually recognized the speed of King's defensive improvement. His teammate's style of play that took on so much responsibility had allowed him to train his defense to the point where it would not lag behind in ordinary games in just one year. His talent made him extremely jealous.

But the bad boy Jack has made greater progress on the offensive end!
James' defense on Zhang Yang reminded Hughes of the night of the Rookie Challenge.

When he saw Kobe score 81 points, he dreamed of getting a higher score... and the bad boy Jack turned his dream into reality. Although it was just the Rookie Challenge and the opponent was the weakest rookie class in history, it still made him feel crazy and incredible. He also understood how desperate the bad boy Jack was.

The team defense is even more disastrous. James always stays very tight when he gets to the basket and cannot expand out, so Zhang Yang has the opportunity to shoot by going around.

James has no problem with his physical fitness and his defensive attitude is also positive, but his main problem is that he lacks awareness. After executing the defense to a certain stage, he doesn't know what to do next.

The team cooperation that limited the Bobcats' delivery of shells to the high post in the second half of the third quarter was mainly due to the presence of Varejao. There was no need for the James-Hughes combination to shrink their defense, as Varejao could help Big Z cover the close distance.

Of course, as a player who has been in many teams for many years, Hughes can understand why James's defensive basic skills and awareness are still so ordinary in his fourth year. The Cavaliers did not assign any defensive tasks to James in the early years, and only let James be responsible for scoring and passing. Otherwise, they would not have spent so much money to sign him back as a first-line defensive leader, nor would they have paid Gooden, Snow and others so much higher than the market price...

It's understandable, but when facing the Bobcats, an opponent who restrained James, Hughes felt really tired!
In the final quarter, Bickerstaff put Felton, Gerald Wallace and Perkins, who played the most tired in the first three quarters, on the bench and did not let them play.

Rondo, Zhang Yang and Okafor played the entire final quarter. Alan Anderson and Herman rotated at the small forward position. When Millsap was on the court, Okafor played center, and when Muhammad was on the court, Okafor played power forward.

Without three crucial players against the Cavaliers, the Bobcats' offensive and defensive performances declined significantly in the final quarter.

詹姆斯末节7投3中加上3中2的罚球拿到8分1助攻、休斯4投2中拿到4分3助攻，率队拿到26分。

The Bobcats only scored 19 points in the final quarter, but it had little impact on the outcome of the game. It allowed the three guys to rest more, and winning by a few points was still a win...

张杨今晚出战43分钟，26投13中，其中三分球9中4，加上4中4的罚球，拿到34分3板2助攻1抢断。

奥卡福23分9板、杰拉德-华莱士12分5板3助攻2抢断2盖帽、隆多13分6板8助攻、费尔顿9分4板4助攻3抢断……103比92，山猫队轻取骑士队，大比分1比0领先！

After the game, Zhang Yang was interviewed by NBC. After the usual questions and answers, the reporter asked Zhang Yang how many games he thought this series would last.

Zhang Yang responded: "We have made sufficient preparations, and my teammates are in good shape. Maybe I am too proud. I don't think we will have a third home game in this series."

The live broadcast signal source for this game came from NBC. The footage of Zhang Yang's post-match interview was transmitted to the commentary booths of major TV stations, and the commentators had different reactions.

Some praised him for his confidence, some said he was arrogant, and some implied that he was pretending to be reserved but was actually high-profile... but no one refuted what he said.

After the live broadcast of the stadium was cut off, major TV stations began to review the game.

Zhang Yang and James' performances will naturally be compared.

The contrast is terrible, Zhang Yang played better in the second round than in the first!
Obviously, James' defense on Zhang Yang is far less effective than that of Richard Jefferson and Kidd, and even worse than that of Carter, who is not good at defense.

Zhang Yang played for a full 43 minutes tonight and shot 26 times, including two of four free throws, that's 4 shots, proving how easy it was for him to play in the team offense tonight.

詹姆斯22投9中、其中三分球6中2、加上8中6的罚球，拿到26分7板4助攻4抢断。

His shooting percentage is over 40%, which is indeed much better than last season's playoffs. His three-point shooting and defense are also better. However, such improvement is far from enough when facing the Bobcats who have a defensive combination targeting him.

This evaluation is made by most commentators who stand from the perspective that James is only 22 years old, such as Hubie Brown, Bill Walton and others.

Barkley's evaluation was much sharper - "James is not a real team player. He doesn't understand the real trade-offs. He wants to do everything well, but he can't lead the team to win by playing like this..."

...

After winning the first game and scoring 34 points, Zhang Yang was still in a very good mood after a good sleep. He was humming "We ordinary people are so happy today" while making breakfast...

The feeling was not so obvious during the regular season, and he felt that there was not much difference from last season. But in the playoffs, when the intensity of the competition increased, he felt how much restraint their frontcourt group plus Felton had on the Cavaliers!
In the first three quarters of last night's game, the Cavaliers had only one way to fight back - defensive counterattack.

The Cavaliers had no way to deal with them in positional warfare, and could only narrow the gap by relying on the superb physical fitness of James and Hughes to seize opportunities for counterattacks.

In terms of defense and counterattack, during the physical therapy after the game last night, the coaching staff talked to several tactically minded players. Zhang Yang estimated that he could do better in the next game.

When he was chatting with Okafor before the game, he praised James a lot, and it was sincere praise at the time, but he was still quite disappointed after the game, mainly because his expectations were too high.

There has been improvement in James' team's play, but not as great as the data makes it seem.

骑士队昨晚表现最好的肯定不是詹姆斯，也不是20投9中拿到22分4板7助攻的拉里-休斯。

而是6投3中、其中三分球4中2、外加3中2的罚球拿到10分的丹尼尔-吉布森，和进了两个三分球和1个长两分拿到8分的唐耶尔-马绍尔。

When these two play well, James and Hughes can lead the team to 49 points in the first half.

However, the points scored by these two players were mainly concentrated in the first half. After the two players played well in the third quarter, the offense of the entire Cavaliers team also slowed down. They only scored 7 points in the half and were forced to play defense.

The playing style of the James-Hustle combination has many similarities with the James-Wade combination. For example, they both rely heavily on pitchers. Compared with the pitching group built by Riley, the pitching group built by the Cavaliers is inferior in every way except for the higher salary.

After breakfast, Zhang Yang went to the study to surf the Internet. The game ended at nearly 11: last night. After finishing the interview, physical therapy, and communication with the coaching staff, it was almost two o'clock. He went home and fell asleep immediately. He had no time to read the news.

If you want to have fun, you must go to ESPN...(●￣()￣●)
what's the situation?
Headline News - "Jordan: I will seriously consider the issue of mascots"

Zhang Yang stared at the title for more than ten seconds and clicked on the news.

The content is roughly as follows: After the game last night, Cavaliers fans once again blamed the Bobcats mascot Rufus for the loss.

Fans of the Cavaliers posted messages on various major forums, demanding that the Bobcats change their mascot. After one night, the number of posts reached tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, and even millions.

This is not the point. The point is that in the post, most of the netizens who replied are from North Carolina and South Carolina!

So, early this morning, reporters from major media gathered in Charlotte ran to Jordan's house to request an interview. After Jordan learned of this situation, he said that sentence.

After reading ESPN's headlines, Zhang Yang opened the official websites of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and several other popular media outlets and took a look. The headlines were pretty much the same.

This is also the hottest topic in sports forums.

After Zhang Yang went through a lot of waves on the Internet, he couldn't calm down for a long time.

Is their game against the Cavaliers really that uninteresting? Is it less attractive than this weird news?
He knew that the owner of their team was unreliable when it came to this kind of thing.

Forget about all these, it's not important, what's important is whether their Rufus is that ugly? Some people also said that their children were scared by Rufus. If they are so easily scared, they should go to the pediatric department to make an appointment!

After complaining in his heart, he felt as if an invisible big hand was pushing something.

In fact, he did see replies with similar confusion as his, but they were drowned out by the sea of ​​replies.

Forget it, I won’t read the news about my own series. I originally wanted to watch LeBron James’ fun, but ended up eating the melon on my own head.

Let's just watch the news from the West.

When it comes to the news about the Suns and Spurs series, the tone becomes much clearer.

The Suns lost their home-court advantage, and the Spurs narrowly beat the Suns 111-106 on the road.

Zhang Yang clicked on the battle report and when he saw Nash's data at the top, he guessed the reason why the Suns lost at home.

纳什18投12中、其中三分球4中2、加上7中7的罚球拿到与邓肯并列全场最高的33分，但助攻只有7次。

It is unlikely that Nash took the initiative to score points.

张杨看完太阳队全队数据，果然……小霸王19投6中、巴博萨17投7中，太阳队全队出手次数超过5次的球员，只有纳什和12投7中拿到16分的马里昂命中率超过45%。

Nash has high points and low assists because the team's offense is not open and he can only score points.

纳什命中率67%，马里昂命中率58%，队友们58投21中命中率只有36.2%，全队87投40中，命中率只有45%。

On the Spurs side, Duncan scored 33 points and single-handedly withstood Nash's personal offense. Duncan also had a French sports car running fast with the wind by his side, who scored 30 points. The Spurs team made 82 of 41 shots, with a hit rate of 50%.

Zhang Yang looked at it from a different angle. Although the Suns' team offense did not start, they only lost by 5 points. This series is actually more worth looking forward to.

It is unlikely that the Spurs can block the Suns' team offense in every game like they did last night. Based on the offensive performance of Nash, Stoudemire and Marion this season, the Spurs may not be able to outsmart the Suns' team offense once it blossoms.

Zhang Yang sent a work email to the team's editor, asking for the video of the first game between the Spurs and the Suns. He said he didn't have time to watch it now, but could study it later. He could try to play against the Suns to see if he could learn the Spurs' defensive strategy of forcing Nash to score in singles.

After sending the email, Zhang Yang re-read the battle report, logged into his secondary account and replied - Nash is to blame for the Suns losing their home-court advantage. Although he played well, he still had flaws. He missed two three-pointers. If he had made both, wouldn't the Suns have won?

……

……

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(End of this chapter)