Chapter 267 266. Too good a public opinion environment is not a good thing

Zhang Yang watched Jarrett Jack and Millsap widen the gap to 40 points...his teammates are so ruthless!

他今晚就打了25分钟，首节9分钟，第二节8分钟，第三节8分钟，12投8中，其中三分球2中1，加上4中4的罚球，拿到21分4板2助攻2抢断1盖帽。

He made a good start in the first quarter, scoring 6 points in a row and beating the Cavaliers 6-0, but the situation got out of control.

Apart from the three goals he scored at the beginning, he only made 3 of 9 shots afterwards. His performance was efficient, but it couldn't be called an explosion.

The score difference continued to widen, and the teammates did not give the visiting team any face at all. Even in garbage time, the opposing players seemed to have given up the game, and the pitcher couldn't even run to shoot, but Jarrett Jack and Millsap still beat the opponent to death.

贾莱特-杰克今晚15投8中，其中三分球5中3，加上5中4的罚球，拿到全队最高的23分外加6助攻。

米尔萨普替补打了26分钟，12投7中，加上5中3的罚球，拿到全队第三高的17分外加8板。

Zhang Yang recalled that before the game, Rondo dissed the Cavaliers, dissed James, and dissed James' fans... Bald Jim Carrey seemed to repeatedly emphasize before the game that we must not be careless tonight?

When playing against the Cavaliers, even someone with Rondo's personality started to criticize the team directly. One can imagine how unhappy the other teammates were with the comments of that small group of extreme James fans and how much they wanted to give them a hard time.

Like Felton and Perkins, they said that they welcome guests, but they were really ruthless when defending James. It seemed that they ignored everything else and focused on targeting James alone...

The Cavaliers came from afar to watch the Bobcats present the championship rings, but they actually beat the opponent by 40 points. Zhang Yang felt a little embarrassed.

But seeing how happy the fans at the scene were... I can only feel sorry for the Cavaliers and KING.

After the game, Zhang Yang and his teammates celebrated their victory with the fans at the scene, and used the launch tube brought by Rufus to launch their signed jerseys into the audience seats.

They signed these jerseys one by one during their afternoon break, preparing them as opening game winning gifts for the fans in advance... What if they lose? They won't give them out until they win next time. It was just a game against the Cavaliers, so they were so confident that no one practiced or discussed how to play in the afternoon. They were all signing jerseys, and they had to pay the staff to work overtime to help compress and package them.

At the visiting team's player tunnel, player No. 23, who did not want to reveal his name, was watching this scene, feeling sad, angry and unwilling.

Looking at the other side, who was rated by ESPN and other media as "the top three talented point guards in the 05 class" Felton and "Duncan's successor" Okafor, he was so envious...

...

After enjoying the carnival on the ring award night, Zhang Yang returned home in the early morning. It was a new day, and he had completely put the matter of winning the championship behind him.

Just because they easily won the game against the Cavaliers doesn’t mean their subsequent games will be smooth sailing.

He was still a little excited and couldn't fall asleep even after taking a shower and lying on the bed. He put his laptop on the bed and surfed the Internet.

He first opened the Cavaliers page on the NBA official website.

The reason why they were able to score 40 points tonight was not only because their teammates wanted to beat the Cavaliers to death and most of the Cavaliers players were quickly beaten and lost their fighting spirit, but also because of another very important condition - the Cavaliers' strength had declined a lot!

Zhang Yang feels that the Cavaliers' decline in strength this season compared to last season may be much more serious than the Bobcats' loss of Gerald Wallace.

Looking at the salary details of the Cavaliers players, Zhang Yang didn't know how to describe it.

In the past two years, the Cavaliers' total salary has been around 7000 million, and they paid more than 500 million US dollars in taxes and more than 300 million US dollars in taxes respectively.

At that time, Zhang Yang's comment on the Cavaliers owner's spending was that the money was wasted.

This season, with the expiration of the rookie contracts of James, Pavlovic and Varejao, the new contracts of the three began to take effect. Even though the Cavaliers had two garbage middle-class contracts expired, the total salary still soared to more than 8200 million, ranking fourth in this season's salary ranking. Only the Mavericks, Knicks and Nuggets are higher than them.

Among them, the combined salary of Hughes, James, and Big Z, three core players with annual salaries of over 3 million, is more than 3500 million. In other words, the combined salary of the Cavaliers' role players is as high as 4700 million!
But the feeling that the Cavaliers’ role players gave to Zhang Yang in the opening game…is it worth 1700 million in total?

骑士队今晚全队拿到83分，其中詹姆斯30分7板5助攻3抢断2盖帽、休斯10分5板4助攻1抢断、大Z12分9板2盖帽，他们哥仨加起来拿了52分，算是还可以的三核表现。

This means that the Cavaliers' role players, who were paid $4700 million, scored a total of 31 points.

其中表现最好的是06届次轮秀丹尼尔-吉布森，9投4中，其中三分球5中2，加上2中1的罚球，拿到11分。

Gibson's salary is 69 US dollars... That means the remaining 20 points were earned by players with a salary of more than 4600 million.

Gooden and Varejao are both okay and above average, but their annual salary is as high as 650 million, and if the two of them go to test the free market, they can barely make the middle class. It’s just that if the Cavaliers only give them midfielders, they will definitely not be able to keep the two.

The Cavaliers spent 2 million for two years to sign Pavlovic, which is almost double the market price.

The Cavaliers have reused three role players in the past two years. Donyell Marshall has collapsed this season, averaging 3 points per game in the preseason with a shooting percentage of 4%. He only played 25 minutes tonight, and including this season, he has 6 years and 2 million left on his contract; Snow was directly abandoned in the opening game, and has 1300 years and 2 million left; Damon Jones has 1400 years and 2 million left on his contract, and he made 900 of 4 shots in the opening game.

With this group of players, the salary plus luxury tax is almost 100 million...

The Cavaliers owner is willing to spend money because they have James, the 'money printing machine'. From the beginning of the salary cap until the 05-06 season, the Cavaliers' salaries have only fluctuated around the salary cap line and they have never spent money lavishly. But after James' rookie season, the Cavaliers began to soar.

It’s just that this way of spending money…even if you give a premium contract, at least give it to the young ones!

Giving a four-year, $4 million contract to a pitcher in his prime like Matt Carroll is expensive, and no one would complain. For example, not many people criticize the overpaid contracts of Gooden and Varejao. But long-term, big contracts for players like Snow and Donyell Marshall who are about to retire are certain to become junk contracts as soon as they are signed.

Zhang Yang could only sigh that the Cavaliers owner really "cares about the elderly."

After closing the official website, Zhang Yang opened the forum to read netizens' post-match comments.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but smile when he saw that the post-game popularity of the Bobcats and Cavaliers was higher than that of Yao Ming's match against the Los Angeles Big Three.

The Lakers' game against the Bulls was very exciting to watch based on the statistics, and the fans gave it high praise.

Kobe was very efficient in this game. With Kidd, Garnett and Luke Walton passing the ball, he only got 2 assists tonight and scored 25 points on 13 of 40 shots.

加内特10投6中拿到15分8板4助攻1抢断2盖帽；基德6投3中，其中三分球5中2，加上2中2的罚球拿到10分9板7助攻；卢克-沃顿8分3板4助攻；费舍尔替补上场投进两个三分，加上一次突破得分拿到8分。

The Lakers played well overall.

公牛队那边，姚明16投10中，加上12中10的罚球，拿到30分12板；本-华莱士5分10板3盖帽；辛里奇15分9助攻；罗尔-邓20分；诺西奥尼12分……表现也很好。

The Lakers lost the game with a score of 102 to 105. Garnett received a pass from Kobe and made a long shot to tie the score, but Hinrich hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer against Kidd's defense.

There were star confrontations, Kobe Bryant vs. Yao Ming + Deng; there were organized offense duels, Kidd vs. Hinrich; there were confrontations between defensive masters, Garnett vs. Ben Wallace... The score was tense, there were buzzer beaters and counter-buster shots, but the game was not as exciting as the Bobcats vs. Cavaliers.

The 40-point difference ranks fifth among all opening games in NBA history!

87-88赛季揭幕战，掘金队139比93屠了快船队46分，是揭幕战历史最大分差。

最近1次揭幕战40+分差大屠杀，是91-92赛季马刺队以140比99屠杀小牛队41分，时隔15年后，山猫队也干了。

The reason why fans are discussing this massacre so enthusiastically is mainly because it was completely unexpected!
It is generally acknowledged that the Cavaliers cannot beat the Bobcats. Even if the Bobcats are missing Gerald Wallace, not many people think the Cavaliers can win.

Even normal-minded Cavaliers fans and James fans agree with this.

But the 40-point difference... not to mention the fans watching the live broadcast, even the Bobcats fans at the scene were dumbfounded. In their opinion, the Cavaliers can't be that weak, right?
After analyzing the situation, the media and fans came to a similar conclusion as Zhang Yang: the Cavaliers had the fourth-highest salary in the league, but only six players were above average. Apart from the three core players and rookie contracts, the other contracts were either overpriced or junk. So Zhang Yang saw a classic post on the forum: the Cavaliers lost, but King, who scored the highest points of the game, did not lose.

Zhang Yang also doesn’t know whether the extreme fans who made these remarks really expect James to get better.

Back then, if someone had said something like this after Jordan, O'Neal, or Kobe lost a game, they would have been scolded to death.

Even if Zhang San loses the game with good statistics, he will still be scolded.

But when it comes to James, the public opinion environment is a little better. It feels like... being spoiled by a group of mom fans? Almost like a shorty.

Zhang Yang recalled his first match against James in the regular season last season. That time was really amazing!
Compared with the 05-06 season playoffs, Zhang Yang played against James for the first time in the 06-07 season. It felt like the opponent was about to transform. He obviously practiced long-range shooting during the offseason, played smarter, cooperated better with teammates, and changed his defensive habits a lot... But this time against James, it felt that James, in addition to using his body better than last season and playing smarter, stagnated in terms of technology and basic skills...

...

The next day, a new month arrived.

Zhang Yang had little playing time in the opening game, so he came to the gym at 10 a.m. this morning to practice shooting.

At this stage, he has two goals in his personal training - to improve his mid-range shooting to 90 and to accumulate 2007 shooting points before the end of 12 to improve his talent.

In the afternoon, he participated in the team's training in preparation for tomorrow's game against the Bucks.

After the training, the four young men sat together and chatted.

Felton: "I was worried that my teammates would get proud after we won by 40 points last night. Today's training was really impetuous."

Zhang Yang: "The defending champions, who defeated the Cavaliers, one of the top four favorites in the Eastern Conference, by 40 points in the opening game, it is normal for such a situation to occur. Do you want to urge them?"

Felton: "No need. We were also very impatient after our winning streak last year. I tried it, but it didn't work. I knew it after the loss. It's just that the four of us who are the core have to work hard to play well and hold up the situation."

Rondo nodded quickly when he heard this, and Okafor nodded slightly to show that he understood.

Another day has passed, and on November 11, the Bobcats' second game day of the new season has arrived, and they will face the challenge of the Bucks at home.

The attention paid to this game... not many fans of other teams paid attention to it. Even in the Carolina area, only the local TV stations in Charlotte and surrounding towns broadcast it live.

The Bucks' new season looks doomed again.

The season has just begun, and the three core players Reed, Mo Williams and Bogut are all together, and none of them are injured at the start, which is very rare.

But all the high-quality role players that the Bucks have accumulated over the past few years have run away this summer.

What a weird way to lose a quality role player.

Boykins, the shortest player in the league who averaged 14 points and 4 assists per game last season, asked for only the minimum salary for his contract renewal, but the Bucks were hesitant. Boykins made up his mind and ran to the Celtics to help them get out of trouble. Suddenly, there was no substitute.

Reuben Patterson, this player made Jordan very angry during the offseason.

People remember clearly how the Big Dog, the Stick, and the Little Assassin refused big contracts and eventually became paid the minimum salary or even left the league. In fact, such situations are not uncommon in the NBA.

Reuben Patterson, who calls himself the 'Kobe Terminator', took advantage of Reed's constant injuries and played the best performance of his career, averaging a career-high 14.7 points per game, and his 54.8% shooting percentage was also a career-high. His defense was also very good. Among ordinary starters, he was able to be considered an all-rounder in offense and defense.

Before the free market opened this summer, the Bucks offered a three-year, $32 million contract extension to Reuben Patterson, who was about to turn 3, but he rejected it, saying he wanted to test the free market.

In September, Jordan saw that Reuben Patterson was still on the free market, so he quickly made an offer. If 9 million for 3 years wasn't enough, he would round it up to 900 million for 3 years...but it was rejected. The 'Kobe Terminator' said that his salary could not be lower than Cardinal's, so Jordan withdrew his offer with a curse.

The 'Kobe Terminator' who was demanding a five to six million-year contract ended up having no one interested, and just before the start of the season, he got a one-year non-guaranteed minimum salary from the Clippers.

When Zhang Yang saw what happened to Reuben Patterson, he felt that the minds of most black people were really... They wanted to rely on their outstanding performance last season to get a big contract at the end of their career, which is understandable, but at least they should be more polite!
From those leaked news, Zhang Yang saw that this guy never discussed what he wanted properly. When faced with unsatisfactory offers, he would act arrogantly and say, "My salary is higher than that of so-and-so in your team." This is not just arrogance.

But the departure of these two brothers is not the most bizarre way for the Bucks to lose high-quality role players.

The Bucks focused on training the talented Turkish forward Ilyasova in the latter part of last season. To this end, they kept reducing the playing time of the eyebrowless hero Villanueva. At the end of the regular season, they even pushed Villanueva to the bench... Then in the offseason, Barcelona poached Ilyasova for 400 million euros over two years.

Of the role players the Bucks had last season, only one managed to stay - backup point guard Charlie Bell, who signed a five-year, $5 million contract extension.

Charlie Bell just turned 28 and is at his peak. He played in all 82 games last season, averaging 13.5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 43% and a three-point shooting percentage of 35%. His annual salary is 360 million, which is a reasonable salary and there is no big problem with a five-year term.

But just after renewing his contract at the end of June and at the beginning of July, Charlie Bell broke his leg. He was able to return this season and there were reports during training camp that he was undergoing rehabilitation...but some media reported that Charlie Bell's injury may affect his athletic ability. In addition to a fractured tibia in his calf, he also injured his knee joint.

Last season, Reed, Mobutu and Bogut had been injured since the beginning of training camp, missing nearly 30 games each. The role players played very well, and it seemed that if they had a superstar, they would soar to the sky. This season, the three core players are healthy, but all the role players are gone!

The key is that except Reed, the other two of these three brothers are not first-line players. It can only be said that each of them has their own characteristics. Bogut has strong ability to shoot from singles, which makes up for Reed's weakness of playing against the wind. Bogut has strong ability to protect the rim and the defense can be built around him. But if the three of them are asked to lead the team to win by relying on their personal abilities, it would be a death sentence for them.

Most of the Bobcats players did not take such an opponent seriously... After the game started at 6 pm, Reed gave the Bobcats a fierce blow in the first quarter.

首节里德7投5中，其中三分球2中2，加上3中3的罚球，单节15分，率队在首节狂飙31分！
The Bucks players felt the contempt of the Bobcats players from the moment they entered the court, which made the Bucks players, led by Reed, extremely angry. They played very aggressively on both offense and defense in the first quarter.

The Bobcats were caught off guard, unable to defend, and their offense was also poor... Zhang Yang took a lot of blame, making 9 of 4 shots, including 2 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 11 points in a single quarter.

奥卡福首节4投2中拿到4分，还有8个篮板球，其中4个是进攻篮板球。

Bogut is very strong in low-post one-on-one defense, while Okafor basically does not play one-on-one in the low post, but purely rushes for the ball, making good offensive choices.

The two tried their best and barely kept the score difference in single digits, and entered the second quarter trailing the Bucks by 22 points at 31 to 9.

This quarter woke up the Bobcats players who were floating in the clouds. Carlisle's adjustments during the intermission were mainly focused on defense.

The Bobcats defended very hard in the second quarter, but the Bucks, led by Reed, had already started shooting. Their scoring performance continued to be excellent in the second quarter, scoring 30 points in a single quarter.

At this time, the Bobcats' characteristics as a strong team were still reflected. Although their defense was not good, they had been working hard to confront, consume and double-team.

And the offensive coordination was better. Zhang Yang only took 6 shots in this quarter, but he made 6 of 4 shots! Among them, there were 3 open three-point opportunities, and he made two goals, plus 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 13 points in a single quarter!
The Bucks played very hard and aggressively on defense tonight, but their team defensive coordination was actually quite poor. The Bobcats played impetuously in the first quarter and did not take advantage of the situation. In this quarter, Rondo, Hill, Millsap and others passed the ball, and Zhang Yang was able to make open shots.

第二节比分25比30，半场打完，山猫队以47比61落后雄鹿队14分。

It seemed that the score gap was getting bigger and bigger, but in fact, the Bobcats' performance improved a lot in the second quarter.

Zhang Yang's score increased to 24 points at the end of the first half, only 25 point away from Reed's 1 points.

After returning from the halftime break, the Bobcats' defensive attrition war in the second quarter took effect, and the Bucks' touch began to decline. Zhang Yang, Felton, Rondo on the wings, Millsap, Okafor and others in the interior also provided greater help to Hill, who was mainly defending Reed.

Reed made only 6 of 2 shots in the third quarter and scored only 4 points and 3 assists. The Bucks' score in the quarter dropped sharply and they only scored 18 points!
On the Bobcats side, Zhang Yang continued to score singles in the high post, making 7 of 4 shots, plus 4 of 4 free throws, scoring 12 points in a single quarter, leading the Bobcats to 31 points in a single quarter!
After three quarters, the Bobcats narrowed the score to 78 to 79, and the difference was reduced to 1 point!
……

……

After much haste, I finally updated 12 words before 5500 o'clock. There was no interruption. Xiaofeng will take a rest today. Good night, my friends~
(End of this chapter)