Chapter 282 281. Angie's Collapse

Since winning nine consecutive games and becoming the only undefeated team in the league, the Bobcats have become the focus of everyone's attention.

Looking at the entire NBA history, there are very few teams that can win 10 games in a row at the start.

When the Bobcats successfully won 10 consecutive games, who can end the Bobcats has become the hottest topic in the basketball world.

The 76ers and the Timberwolves are considered candidates for "Operation Cat Hunting". Although their records are mediocre, they have defeated the top four teams in the East and West this season. They are young, talented, and motivated... just like the Bobcats and Hornets back then. After playing for almost a month, they have become the young teams that fans are looking forward to.

Both teams had hopes of winning at one point during the "Hunting Cats" game, but they still lost in the end. No one could step up to play the key ball, and they were defeated by Zhang Yang at the critical moment.

With two consecutive games of 40+, Zhang Yang once again demonstrated his scoring talent.

After these two games, Zhang Yang's average points per game increased to 30.4 points, jumping to second place in the scoring list and becoming one of only two players averaging 30+ points per game this season.

On November 11, a new week arrived, and the NBA officially announced the Player of the Week awards for the fourth game week.

张杨上周率队4战全胜，4场比赛场均35.25分5板3.5助攻1.25抢断1盖帽，投篮命中率48%，三分命中率44%，力压詹姆斯拿下东部周最佳球员奖。

詹姆斯上周4场比赛2胜2负，场均38分6板6助攻2抢断1.5盖帽，命中率47%。

In the West, Tony Parker averaged 4 points and 25.5 assists in 6 games, with a shooting percentage of an astonishing 55%, leading the Grizzlies to an outstanding performance of 4 wins and 5 losses. The Grizzlies, who were originally ranked tenth in the West with 5 wins and 4 losses, improved their record to 9 wins and 5 losses after these consecutive wins, and their ranking rose to...eighth in the West, beating Paul to win the Western Conference Player of the Week award.

Paul averaged 4 points, 22.3 assists and 10 steals in the four games last week, with a shooting percentage of 3%, which is better than Parker's. Unfortunately, his record is only 50.7 wins and 2 losses. He failed to be named the best player of the week in a single month or twice like Zhang Yang, and failed to make the final decision in the competition for the Player of the Month award.

As the first match month draws to a close, predictions for the Player of the Month award have become one of the hottest topics of the moment.

In the East, Zhang Yang, who averaged 30+ points per game and had 13 consecutive wins at the start, was considered to have secured the first month's player of the week award. At the very least, a combination of the Bobcats would win the award.

In the West, the competition is fierce. Paul averaged 22 points, 11 assists and 3 steals per game, first in both the assists and steals lists. With 11 wins and 3 losses, he has the best record in the Western Conference, but it is still unstable.

Parker, Anthony, Kobe, Nash, Deron + Boozer, a bunch of strong opponents competing.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, the Bobcats played against the Celtics at home.

After more than two hours of competition, the game came to an end at 8:24 pm.

皮尔斯26投14中，其中三分球5中3，加上10中10的罚球，狂轰41分5板5助攻1抢断2盖帽。

Together with Tony Allen and Jeff Green, they prevented Zhang Yang from making only 31 of 13 shots, and only made 7 of 1 three-pointers. In addition, Zhang Yang only scored 12 points with 10 of 37 free throws.

格伦-戴维斯、杰夫-格林、艾尔-杰弗森对奥卡福的防守做得也很好，奥卡福14投5中加上6中5的罚球，也只拿到15分10板。

张杨和奥卡福在被多人夹击的情况下还大量出手……费尔顿11投3中、迈克-米勒9中2、阿兰-安德森4中0……

隆多成了今晚山猫队第3号得分手，7投4中加上2中2的罚球拿到10分6板3助攻。

After Rondo received the pass from Zhang Yang or Okafor, he did not pass it to the wing, but rushed into the crowd, shooting when he had a chance, and throwing the blame back to Zhang Yang when he didn't. Zhang Yang took the blame and shot nearly ten times...

皮尔斯单场41分，加上艾尔-杰弗森的12分10板、博伊金斯7分6助攻、斯泽比亚克11分、格伦-戴维斯8分8板、杰夫-格林4分7板1助攻2抢断2盖帽……凯尔特人队爆冷击败山猫队，将战绩提升到6胜8负，冲到东部第八。

The Bobcats' winning streak in team history is fixed at 13 games, and their opening winning streak is also fixed at 13 games.

The team with the most consecutive wins at the start in NBA history is the Rockets in the 93-94 season, when Olajuwon led the team to 15 consecutive wins.

48-49赛季的华盛顿国会队、57-58赛季的凯尔特人队、02-03赛季的小牛队，都是开局14连胜，并列第二。

山猫队开局13连胜，超越了开局12连胜的96-97赛季公牛队、82-83赛季超音速队，独占开局连胜榜第5名！
...

The winning streak was ended. After the game, the Bobcats players returned to the locker room. Felton rolled around on the floor, howling in pain, and scolded himself for being too tough tonight.

The Bobcats players were in a very low mood, and they couldn't help laughing when they saw this scene.

The fat boss "sacrificed" his personal image to help his teammates adjust their mentality.

Teammates went up to comfort Little Fatty Boss, saying all kinds of encouraging words. While encouraging Little Fatty Boss, they also convinced themselves...

After Hill went to comfort Felton, he suddenly saw Okafor pointing the DV at Felton... Is Duncan Jr. so sinister?

Suddenly Hill felt something was wrong, as if someone was missing... He thought about it, left the locker room and came to training ground No. 3.

This guy is really here.

Hearing the door open, Zhang Yang stopped shooting and looked at the person who came.

Hill: "You shot more than 30 times tonight. You've worked hard. Don't practice more to avoid injuries... This is the advice of a poor guy who has been reimbursed 7 times in 6 seasons."

Zhang Yang: "Thank you. I practiced two sets of step-back shots. I missed several step-back shots tonight."

Hill nodded and didn't stop him, but he didn't leave either. He just supervised him.

Zhang Yang did not try to be too aggressive. After doing two sets of 20 step-backs of two points each, he stopped training.

Hill handed him a towel and said, "I didn't expect it, Jack. I thought you were the most open-minded about the winning streak, but I didn't expect you to be the one in the worst mood. You are really unlike yourself. You were so calm and wise when analyzing various problems for us. I thought you were a person with Tim Duncan's personality... Although it's hard to break the 13-game winning streak, I suddenly don't feel so bad after getting to know you better."

Zhang Yang: "Calm, wise... Do you think there is a possibility that Duncan only looks calm on the surface? Maybe every time he loses a game, he will put on an Afro wig, put on punk clothes, and ride a motorcycle to the highway to rock the streets?"

Hill was stunned and blinked his eyes. A terrible picture appeared in his mind... He laughed and said, "Haha, Jack, I didn't expect you would say bad things about others behind their backs. Well, this is not bad words, just some malicious speculation."

Zhang Yang: “…”

Just don’t believe it, time will reveal the truth!
Seeing that Zhang Yang was relatively stable and could still make jokes, Hill breathed a sigh of relief.

The psychological quality of the third brother is still very strong, but he is too competitive. However, being competitive is not a bad thing. The two players who have won 9 championships in the past ten years are both paranoid with an extremely strong competitive spirit.

Hill did not pull Zhang Yang away from the training ground. Instead, he asked Zhang Yang to sit on a chair beside the training ground. He chatted with Zhang Yang when no one was around and gave him some advice.

In terms of basketball talent, he is not as strong as Zhang Yang, and in terms of game experience... he does not have as much playoff experience as Zhang Yang, and his experience in winning in the playoffs is even less than Zhang Yang.

But his experience of being hit is much richer than Zhang Yang's.

Zhang Yang guessed that Hill wanted to be an 'emotional trash can', so he didn't let Hill continue to worry about how to start, and took the initiative to say: "I have been saying that we should not be proud of the long winning streak, we should calmly accept the inevitable defeat, and we should calmly deal with the pressure brought by the difficult schedule in the future... But in fact, I am also constantly affected by these things. My thoughts these days are very complicated.

I would feel proud if I won more than ten games in a row. But I knew my opponent was weak, so I wanted to be alert. However, I didn’t know what to pay attention to because of the unknown. I wanted to improve myself, but apart from practicing shooting and skills, I didn’t have a clear direction to improve my teamwork. I had won more than ten games in a row, and I didn’t want it to stop. I was afraid that it would stop, so I actually felt uneasy and impatient before each game…”

Hill listened to Zhang Yang quietly and responded, "This is normal. I also have the emotions you mentioned. I think everyone on our team has this series of emotions... You are already the best on our team, much better than me. After you finished speaking, I realized that I have all these emotions, but I can't say what problems I have in my mentality like you do. After listening to you, I realized how complicated my mood has been during this period."

Zhang Yang: "Yes, it's very complicated, so complicated that I forgot not to be arrogant. I scored 76+ points in consecutive games against the 40ers and the Timberwolves. I scored 13+ points 4 times in the first 40 games. I thought I was the best scorer in the world, ah..."

Hill thought for a moment and said, "Your shooting performance tonight was indeed not good enough. You were too confident and forced to shoot many shots. Although you scored 13+ points four times in the first 4 games, your average score was only 40 points per game, which means that your score was not high in many games."

Although he was an "emotional trash can", Hill did not mindlessly comfort or praise others. He pointed out the problems that needed to be pointed out.

This just made Zhang Yang want to continue analyzing: "Yes, I can score 76+ against the 40ers, mainly because Iguodala's defense has seriously declined. His defensive data looks good, and the media praises him as 'offensive and defensive all-rounder', but his steals are mostly gambling-style rushes, and his blocks are often missed by the wing players who shrink to block. It is normal to score high against him;
Only Jaric, Bynum and Madsen on the Timberwolves were good at defense. They did a good job of protecting the rim, but their perimeter defense was terrible. I just happened to restrain their defense. I shot more than 30 times, so it was normal for me to score 40 points.

Facing the defense of Allen, Green, and Pierce tonight, I missed 18 shots, and I realized that I still have a lot of shortcomings in offense. "

Hill: "The Celtics' perimeter defense is really good. Not only you, but all of our perimeter defense was blocked tonight. Moreover, we played too impatiently. After finally getting an open shot opportunity, we shot hastily and couldn't make the shot. The Celtics could shrink to the middle and the basket without any scruples, causing you and Emeka to be severely double-teamed. Most of your shots could only be taken against double-teams. We, the wing players who received the ball and shot and cut into the basket, should bear the main responsibility for the loss tonight."

Zhang Yang looked at Hill and nodded: "You are right."

Hill: "..."

For some reason, he had the urge to draw his sword and kill the dog. Their third brother was such a dog!
However, when Hill heard that Zhang Yang could speak like usual again, he was completely relieved. All his efforts tonight were not wasted. He played the role that a veteran with more than ten years of experience should have played.

Hill believes that he has reached the end of his career. After joining the Bobcats for a few months, he has gradually determined his goal for the end of his career - to assist Zhang Yang in winning the championship.

In fact, he is also fighting for the championship for himself.

It may be a safer choice to have a healthy season this season and then go to the Lakers who are in need of a strong small forward.

However, although he has shed his superstar status, he still wants to save face. He doesn't want to be the pillar of the three brothers of the 96 generation.

Assisting a group of young talents to win the championship, whether it is the value of the championship ring or the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, is better than being the number one or number two favorite to win the championship!
Just as Hill was about to call Zhang Yang back to the lounge for physical therapy, Zhang Yang suddenly said, "We lost tonight, but we may not be the ones who feel the most pain."

Hill: "Huh? We're not the ones who feel the most bad after losing? Then who is?"

Zhang Yang: "The Celtics management, they are probably scolding us now." Hill: "Uh... um... you are right!"

...

Just as Zhang Yang and Hill guessed, over in Boston, after receiving the news of winning, Ainge started smashing things in the living room again.

They won again! Those bastard players actually won again!
Angie: Damn Jordan, you are targeting me, right?

He felt like the whole world was against him.

After defeating the Bobcats, the Celtics' record came to 7 wins and 8 losses, which slightly consolidated their eighth place in the Eastern Conference. They are only one win away from the seventh-placed Raptors with 8 wins and 7 losses.

But this is obviously not the result that Ainge wants. If they had just made it to the playoffs, they would not have played so badly last season. They also had the conditions to make the playoffs last season.

He wants a high draft pick! He wants a new core! He wants the Big Three!

Last season, Ainge prepared two plans.

The first plan was to give up and get the 'modern Russell' Oden, let Pierce lead the new players, and pair them with a bunch of high-quality role players to challenge for the championship... At that time, people thought Oden was a player like Duncan, who would be at the level of the best team when he entered the NBA.

The second plan was to rob the Timberwolves, trading Al Jefferson for Garnett and using an expiring contract for Ray Allen to form a giant combination.

But the team failed to win and the second plan fell through because Garnett promised to renew his contract.

During the offseason, Ainge had a third plan - trading Pierce and Al Jefferson for a young core.

With potential players such as Jeff Green, Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Adam Morrison, Tony Allen, and expiring contracts of All-Star forwards Pierce and Szczerbiak in their prime, the Celtics were initially the most popular team in the free market after the league's dramatic changes.

But he asked for a lot - Want Pierce? He would trade him for top young talents. He would trade him for talents of Deron and Paul's level. At the very least, he would have to trade him for Roy's level. Want Al Jefferson and Jeff Green? That's fine. He would not mind trading him for All-Stars like Bosh and Anthony. At the very least, he would have to trade him for Gasol...

Although NBA teams are mostly made up of makeshift teams, there is no other epic general manager like Billy King.

The Celtics quickly went from being crowded to being deserted in the free market.

Oden failed to grab the ball, the all-in giant combination fell through, and no fool was found to rob... After the offseason, Ainge had to restart his plan to play badly.

According to reliable sources, next year will be another big year for the draft - Derrick Rose of the University of Memphis, Russell Westbrook of UCLA, James Harden of North Carolina, DeMar DeRozan of Kentucky, OJ Mayo of USC, Michael Beasley of the University of Kansas... this bunch of talented outside players will all participate in the draft next year.

Angie: If they don’t give me the top 2 picks, I can’t get the top 5?
As long as they can get to the last place in the Eastern Conference, the lowest pick they can get is No. 5, so they will definitely be able to get one of these six players!
Pierce, who will be 31 in a few months, is no longer the future of the team in Ainge's mind after the failure of the all-in plan; Jeff Green, Al Jefferson, and Adam Morrison, their talents are far from the standard of the core of the team in his mind. In his mind, Adam Morrison is already water, Jeff Green's talent is not that good, and Al Jefferson will have a hard time making the All-Stars if he is trained to his peak...

Get a top 5 draft pick, trade Pierce for an inside talent, and have a pair of young inside and outside core players to rebuild... Ainge's plan is working again!

Then, he encountered fierce resistance from his teammates.

Ainge did not state his goal explicitly, but the Celtics players could clearly feel from Rivers' game arrangements that the team wanted to tank, which angered Pierce and Al Jefferson.

Last season, Ainge painted a rosy picture for them and talked about friendship with them, but behind the scenes he treated them as commodities to negotiate business with others. And this season he’s doing the same thing!

The two of them, along with their competitive teammates such as Tony Allen, Jordan Farmar, Ryan Gomez, Boykins, Glen Davis, etc., fought hard for victory every night.

Just like the Timberwolves last season, the core players didn't want to play badly, so Ainge could only be furious. He couldn't tell Rivers not to let Pierce and Al Jefferson play, right? If he wanted to sell these two players for a good price, he had to give them enough playing time and shooting rights...

Of course there is another way - sell Pierce and Al Jefferson at a reduced price and act quickly.

After the first two weeks of playing and getting a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, Angie came up with this idea, and then he was "backstabbed" by the two.

Pierce told the media that whether he was traded or stayed with the team, he would not consider renewing his contract in advance and would test the free market in the summer of 08;
艾尔-杰弗森拒绝了凯尔特人队给的5年5000万的续约合同，他要5年7000万或者6年9000万的次顶薪合同才愿意提前续约，否则会选择在08年夏天以受限制自由球员的身份试水自由市场。

After the two revealed their attitudes towards contract renewal, other teams' trading enthusiasm dropped significantly...

After defeating the Bobcats, the Celtics played all 15 games in the first month of the season, achieving a record of 7 wins and 8 losses. With such a start, the probability of getting 35+ wins and hitting the playoffs this season is very high, and the worst is to have more than 30 wins...

Ainge's two plans this season, playing badly to gain those outside talents and trading Pierce and Jefferson for young inside core, have both failed again!
...

Angie's pain will continue for a long time.

Doing nothing is painful, and dumping Pierce and Al Jefferson at low prices is even more painful...

As for Zhang Yang, after waking up from a good sleep, the pain of having his winning streak ended had basically dissipated.

13 consecutive wins, the 5th longest winning streak in history and the 2nd longest winning streak since the new century. We should be happy with such a start.

But there is still a bit of pain because we were only two games away from winning all the games in a month. It would be a pity to miss such an opportunity, and it may be an opportunity that will never come again.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, Zhang Yang came to the Turkish Airlines Arena and saw Afflalo practicing three-pointers.

Afflalo: "Jack, you were so tired from playing last night, and you came to practice so early today!"

Zhang Yang: "Let's practice our skills. The training volume in the morning is not too heavy. I wanted to rest until the afternoon, but I couldn't sit still... I still have to play against opponents with strong defense, so that I can truly understand my own shortcomings. Last night, I played against Allen, Pierce, and Green, and I learned a lot of experience and lessons. I will practice quickly while I remember them deeply."

Afflalo: "You were able to shoot more than 30 times against the three of them. That's amazing."

Zhang Yang: "This is my only bright spot against their defense. I can shoot the ball... eh?! Right, I can shoot the ball, then it's easy. I just need to practice my technique and shooting until I can shoot the ball in a double team situation. I don't need to worry about not being able to shoot the ball! Aaron, come and help me train!"

Aflaro: Huh?

What's the train of thought like this, my junior?

He shook his head, trying to prevent his way of thinking from being influenced by his junior. If he accidentally became in sync with the 'genius player', he, who was not considered a 'genius player', would be in trouble.

Although he didn't understand his junior's train of thought, Afflalo didn't refuse to practice with the ball. He first helped Zhang Yang warm up, and then helped Zhang Yang practice his skills, which was also a way to train his own one-on-one defense ability...

After 9:, more teammates arrived at the gym.

With the 13-game winning streak coming to an end, Zhang Yang clearly felt that his teammates were very unwilling to accept the result. They trained more actively and proactively than before. At the same time, he could also feel that the pressure on his teammates had decreased. The long winning streak was both an honor and a burden.

During the afternoon preparation meeting, Carlisle did not mention the end of the winning streak at all.

During the previous winning streak, Carlisle would urge his players after every game and point out various shortcomings. However, after this loss, he said nothing.

In preparation for the match, it was normal to only arrange 30 minutes of training sessions for offense and defense.

After the team training, Zhang Yang took a shower, changed his clothes, made a phone call, and went to the parking lot. After a while, Yi Jianlian came and got into Zhang Yang's car. Zhang Yang started the engine and went to a restaurant.

Tomorrow, the Bobcats' last opponent in the first game month will be the Rockets, where Yi Jianlian is.

Arriving at an Italian restaurant, after ordering food, Yi Jianlian couldn't help but said, "Jack, you were right to remind me. Sure enough, as soon as I arrived in Houston, the Rockets management found me and made many difficult requests to me, which were things I could do but didn't want to do."

Zhang Yang: "They are testing your obedience. Brother Yao must have encountered such a test before. Did you accept it?"

Yi Jianlian: "Of course not. I listened to you and refused everything I didn't want to do. My attitude was very tough. They expressed their dissatisfaction with me at first, but soon took the initiative to show me goodwill."

Zhang Yang: "They don't dare to take the initiative to break up with you. If you also want to leave, their domestic market will be completely finished."

Yi Jianlian: "Yes, I also found that they were afraid of this, so they were always tough and self-centered. As you guessed, when they arrived at the training camp, they actively asked for my opinions on the training of my playing style and team tactics. However, I didn't understand these aspects very well. I just expressed that I didn't like to attack in the low post like Yao Ming did. I didn't express any opinions on the team tactics.

Arn said that I made the right choice in this regard. I can be a self-centered player, but I can't be a thorn in the side and interfere in coaching. Otherwise, it will affect my own image and affect commercial endorsements. "

Zhang Yang: "Arn is very perceptive when it comes to money. It's right to listen to him."

Yi Jianlian: "But recently Arn and I had a disagreement. He saw that I was playing well in the Rockets and the team was treating me well, so he wanted me to have a good relationship with the Rockets management and accept some relatively less unacceptable requests... I don't know what to do."

I, Zhang San, have become the confidant third brother again...but Sister Lian is really good at fighting.

The Rockets have played 15 games since the start of the season. Yi Jianlian missed 3 games in the second week due to injury. He played 12 games, averaging 25 minutes per game, scoring 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.5 steals, 1 block, shooting 47%, and 34.3-point shooting %...

Compared with his original development towards the direction of "the next Yao Ming" in the Bucks and playing one-on-one in the low post, Yi Jianlian realized his own shortcomings in confrontation in the summer league and accepted Zhang Yang's advice. He chose to play open cuts, pick-and-roll executors, catch-and-shoot, and counterattacks. Although his performance at the beginning was not amazing, at least he did not become a fake lottery pick.

Zhang Yang was speechless for a moment, then said, "Arn probably has his eyes on the big city of Houston. Your commercial value is mainly in China, and domestic fans have an innate preference for big tech cities like Houston. Arn wants to better develop your commercial value, so he wants you to ease the relationship with Alexander... The Anglo-Saxons still underestimate the Jews. As long as Alexander has the chance, he will continue to drain your value like he sucked Yao Ming's blood before."

Yi Jianlian: "I feel the same way, but I'm worried that rejecting Arn's advice will cause a conflict with him."

Zhang Yang: "Don't worry about that. Arn cares about money, not the Rockets or the city of Houston..."

(End of this chapter)