Chapter 286 285. Little Jack Durant
A new month has arrived. On December 12st, Zhang Yang slept until after 1 o'clock in the morning. He got up, quickly washed up, and went to the gym.

It was almost 11:30 when he finished the game last night. He was competing with McGrady for points. Not counting the free throws that resulted in fouls and the offense that resulted in turnovers, he threw the ball 1 times. He was exhausted. The post-match interview lasted until almost 3 o'clock... He didn't lie down and fall asleep until o'clock in the morning.

He had originally planned to sleep until noon and eat, but he got up so 'early' to go to the stadium because the team's press officer called to tell him that he had won an award, Eastern Conference Player of the Month for the first month!
When he arrived at the stadium, he faced the camera, gave a business-like smile, took the Player of the Month trophy from the league manager, said a few polite words... and that was it.

Zhang Yang was of course happy to win the award, but he was not as surprised as when he won the Player of the Month award for the first time last season.

He had forgotten about it, mainly because of the debate between the media and fans about the Player of the Month award a few days ago, which mainly focused on the Western Conference Player of the Month. There was also discussion about the Eastern Conference Player of the Month, but apart from a few extreme fans, there was no controversy...

After receiving the award, Zhang Yang saw that it was not yet 11 o'clock and it was still early for lunch, so he practiced shooting for a while.

He has become accustomed to the boredom of training, and with the improvement in his performance in the competition, he enjoys this boredom.

But he was training alone this morning and felt lonely. Last night's game was really tough. They fought hard the whole time and they didn't dare to relax until the last ten seconds... There was a man on the opposite side who scored 35 points in 13 seconds.

Zhang Yang also ate lunch alone at noon. He didn't care about his image and went straight to the coffee table in the lounge to eat while browsing the news on his computer.

When browsing domestic basketball portals and forums, he complained about "staying awake late at night".

There is a hot topic among domestic fans right now - who has better scoring ability between Zhang Yang and McGrady.

Although McGrady became a phenomenal superstar thanks to Yao Ming's further rise in domestic fame and popularity, he already had many fans in China before being traded to the Rockets. His consecutive scoring titles during the Iron Blood Era are of great value, mainly because McGrady's style of play at the time was elegant and entertaining, unlike now when he basically just "points" and shoots...

McGrady's fans said: McGrady was clearly ahead of Zhang Yang in the first 35 minutes of the game.

Zhang Yang's fans said: Zhang Yang should score 1 point higher.

Fans of both players argued fiercely with each other from a perspective that was favorable to them.

It was already early morning in China, and the fans of the two were still fighting online...

Zhang Yang watched for a while and focused his attention on the news about Yi Jianlian.

昨晚易建联打了23分钟，10投4中，加上2中1的罚球，拿到9分4板1抢断1盖帽……虽然得分没上双，但得到的评价很高。

A 40% hit rate may seem impressive, but the overall hit rate of both teams last night was less than 40%. Zhang Yang's hit rate was also 40%, and McGrady's was slightly higher, at only 41.3%.

As a rookie power forward who mainly plays pick-and-roll and long-range shots, supplemented by cutting into the paint, Yi Jianlian's performance is indeed good.

Given his status as a Chinese player, it is normal for him to be hyped up in domestic news.

After surfing the Internet for half an hour, Zhang Yang didn't see many news or posts discussing their match last night. Indeed, the match itself was quite ugly, 80-plus vs. 80-plus...

In the United States, the topic of the game between the Bobcats and Rockets last night was not very hot. The game between the Spurs and the Suns was the main game promoted in the United States yesterday. The only popular game in the game between the Bobcats and Rockets was the three-pointer after Zhang Yang used the butterfly step to shake off McGrady.

After the monthly best award was announced, it also caused a lot of discussion and debate among fans.

In the West, many stars competed, and the one who laughed last was Boozer of the Jazz.

爵士队16场比赛12胜4负，布泽尔场均24.5分10.7板3助攻，拿下西部月最佳球员奖，击败了场均27分6板5助攻的科比、场均23分12助攻的保罗、场均21分10.7助攻的德隆、场均27分6板6助攻的麦迪、场均18分11助攻的纳什、场均24分7助攻的帕克、场均26分7助攻的艾弗森……

Fans of Kobe, Paul, Parker, Nash, McGrady, Iverson... were all very dissatisfied with Boozer's award. The comments from fans of the stars that Zhang Yang saw were all quarrels.

As the Internet becomes more and more popular and it becomes easier to express opinions, violence is becoming more and more serious.

In comparison, the eastern side is much more harmonious.

In 15 games, Zhang Yang averaged 31.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.33 blocks per game, with a shooting percentage of 47.9%, a three-point shooting percentage of 40.1% and a free throw shooting percentage of 90%. He led the team to a record of 14 wins and 1 loss, and his award was undisputed.

Even fans of other stars who are eligible to win the award only expressed their reluctance.

詹姆斯16场比赛场均34.3分6.2板5.8助攻2抢断1.1盖帽，投篮命中率46%，三分命中率30%，罚球命中率69%，率队取得9胜7负的战绩。

姚明16场比赛，场均25.5分8.8板2助攻2.2盖帽，投篮命中率54%，罚球命中率85%，率队取得11胜5负的战绩。

霍华德16场比赛，场均20.8分15板1.8盖帽，投篮命中率61%，罚球命中率55%，率队取得10胜6负的战绩。

Even ESPN commented that James, Yao, and Howard all performed well, but Jack averaged 30+ points per game, had 14 wins and 1 loss, and was named Player of the Week twice in a single month, dominating November.

Zhang Yang won the award ahead of Yao Ming, James and Howard, making the 06 class the unforgettable.

Because these four are the faces of the 02 to 05 classes, and they have all become the best in the league, while the 06 class currently does not even have a player averaging 20 points per game...

...

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the entire Bobcats team gathered to hold a meeting for the upcoming new game month.

Carlisle's first words were - "We are going to have a tough month ahead."

It is better to experience it yourself than to hear words of encouragement a thousand times.

Last month, Carlisle's "suppressive" coaching had a certain effect, but when he spoke, most of the players had one thought in their minds - we have won XX games in a row, how much better do we have to play?

But after playing against the Celtics and Rockets, they truly realized how weak most of the opponents they encountered during the 13-game winning streak were.

The Rockets are only ninth in the Western Conference, and the Celtics are eighth in the Eastern Conference...and the opponents for the 12 games in December, not to mention the distant ones, are the next five away games. Apart from the sluggish Supersonics, the remaining four opponents are the Trail Blazers, Jazz, Lakers, and Raptors. The weakest Trail Blazers are all teams with a winning rate of more than half in the Western Conference.

Then Carlisle began to review last night’s game: “We played well in the key shots yesterday, Jack, Raymond, Mike, you played very well;
But our overall offensive continuity was not good, and it was obvious that you were not used to the high-intensity confrontation;

Our team offense played very well at the beginning, but as the intensity of the competition increased, our shooting efficiency dropped, and we were unable to make the shooting opportunities created by tactics. In the second half, we returned to our old style of play that relied on Jack.

In last night’s game, if the Rockets hadn’t made an adjustment error after the official timeout in the first quarter, we might have lost two games in a row…”

As usual, Carlisle bluntly pointed out all the problems encountered in the game, but unlike the previous continuous "suppression", after emphasizing the shortcomings, he began to help the players relieve pressure: "But we don't have to doubt ourselves. The Celtics and Rockets can have an advantage in regular time, but they started playing against strong teams earlier than us and have adapted to that kind of game environment. This is not a problem of ability. We can adapt after playing a few more games.

Our team's offensive performance was great, and even a strong defensive team like the Rockets couldn't defend us. We just lacked experience and continuity in coordination, which can be improved through training and competition..."

Sam Vincent feels that his good friend has really changed. When he was with the Pistons and the Pacers, Carlisle would never say these things. If the players played poorly, he would be strict and let them know where they made mistakes. If they played well, he would be even stricter to prevent the players from becoming complacent... Now he will encourage the players.

After Carlisle encouraged his players, he immediately returned to the topic: "Let's discuss the next play now..."

Vincent:"……"

Kabalu, you should at least give the players a break, let them savor and feel the kindness of you as the head coach in their hearts!
Carlisle has changed, but not much yet…

Carlisle: "We're not doing a good job defensively, we're giving up 98.6 points per game, which is just a little bit lower than the league average of 99.1 points.

Based on practical considerations, our next focus will be on offense... This involves many issues, it's not that you are not working hard.

The reason for this decision is mainly because we played very well offensively and we are one of the top four offensive teams in the league..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yang turned to the first page of the team handbook that had been distributed before the meeting and found the league's homepage data table.

The Bobcats averaged exactly 15 points in their first 111 games of the month, which ranked… 4th.

首月场均得分最高的是勇士队，16场比赛场均113.5分；第2高的是掘金队，首月16场比赛场均112.5分；第3高的是太阳队，场均111.5分；第5高的是爵士队，场均106.3分……

Zhang Yang's attention was involuntarily focused on two teams - the Lakers and the Bulls.

The Lakers averaged 104.6 points per game and allowed 95.3 points per game, with a net score of nearly 10 points; the Bulls averaged 103.3 points per game and allowed 95.7 points per game... Although the two teams currently do not have the best records in the East and West, their offensive and defensive stability is amazing.

Zhang Yang shook his head, shook off the pressure from these two teams, and focused his attention on the top four scoring teams.

He looked at the scoring trend chart of their Bobcats team. Their average points per game was once ranked first, reached its peak after playing against the Suns, and then gradually declined to fourth... However, compared with the top three teams, they are very different.

Carlisle also said this at this time: "Our current score is lower than the Warriors, Nuggets, and Suns. Our defense is not as good as the Pistons, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers, and Bulls, but we have our advantages. We have the conditions to become the best offensive team and still guarantee a good defense..."

Carlisle pressed the remote control and the data of the eight teams he mentioned and their own data were displayed on the projector screen.

The Bobcats are 4th in the league in offense and 14th in defense, and the gap between their offense and the top 3 is very small. Among the teams with the best offensive or defensive performance in the first month, they really look like the most special one.

The Warriors, Nuggets, and Suns all lost more than 107 points, with the Nuggets having the lowest score of 107.5 points. The three teams ranked in the bottom three of the defensive list. The Supersonics, who were determined to play badly, had a slightly better defense, losing an average of 106.6 points per game.

Carlisle: "Our next system will focus on offense, but we will not give up defense. We just need to adjust the focus on defense. Based on our actual situation, the focus of defense will be on single defense..."

After Carlisle finished speaking, Randy Brown came to the main seat and began to explain the first wave of adjustments on both offense and defense.

Zhang Yang concentrated on listening to the explanation.

He was not surprised about the changes in the team system. In the past week, Carlisle and Randy Brown had communicated with several key players many times. Although the discussions were not very specific, he could infer the direction of the system changes from their words.

However, the adjustments Randy Brown mentioned surprised Zhang Yang a little...

After the adjustment is explained, you must practice it immediately. The training time is not long. The offensive and defensive training together only takes up one complete training session.

After the team training, most of the players stayed behind to practice more on their own initiative. Zhang Yang also stayed behind to practice catching the ball, turning around and making mid-range and long-range shots.

His turnaround shooting technique is actually pretty good, but facing the increasingly aggressive style of play, it gradually seems to be insufficient.

During Zhang Yang's training break, Carlisle found him and chatted: "Jack, what do you think of this adjustment plan?"

Zhang Yang: "The adjustment is much smaller than I expected. It's good to be conservative, but it's a bit too conservative."

Just now, Randy Brown explained the offensive and defensive adjustments. On the offensive side, it was just a summary of last night's team offense. The basic coordination adjustments were very small, and the good coordination that the players played last night was increased. On the defensive side, the adjustments were slightly larger, but they were all subtractions to make it easier for the players to defend. Carlisle: "Jack, don't worry. I'm not scared because of the turmoil in the preseason. The small adjustments are because we have been playing for a month, and there are less than 4 weeks before we enter the mid-season. Being too anxious will affect our health. In addition, we don't have many game samples to refer to, so we need more actual combat to find problems."

Zhang Yang: "So that's how it is. I understand."

Did the topic change so quickly? It felt like I was being used and discarded... Ka Tu saw Zhang San's eyes, expression, and body movements as if to say "Do you have anything else to do? If not, go away, I need to train."

A little bit stingy, Carlisle asked: "So Jack, do you have any ideas for adjusting your playing style?"

Zhang Yang thought for a moment and said, "I have a few tactical ideas, but I wonder if they will work."

No way, I just said that, and you really did... Carlisle complained in his heart, then he became serious and said, "Let me hear you, and we can discuss it together."

Zhang Yang nodded, spread his hands towards the chair beside the training ground, and sat down on the chair with Carlisle who understood and chatted.

Vincent, who was watching the players train, also came over when he saw this.

Zhang Yang didn't waste any words and said directly: "I have some immature tactical ideas. I don't know if you can implement them, Rick. This is it..."

Carlisle: "Double point guards to speed up? This is possible. We have a wide variety of point guards, including traditional point guards, speed point guards, and combo point guards. Last season, Bernie occasionally played with double point guards. This is not a big problem..."

Zhang Yang: "This way and that..."

Carlisle: "Arc top support? Is this a tactic designed for Rajon? His three-point shooting is not good enough now, and he may not be able to attract defense... No, your idea does not really require him to shoot three-pointers. If the opponent lets him go, he can just drive through the middle. Maybe it will work..."

Zhang Yang: "So and so..."

Carlisle: "Interspersed running, two-way screens, creating mismatched singles opportunities... Isn't this Princeton? This is a bit difficult. We don't have a real inside support point. Paul can only do some simple support work. You are simply treating Paul as the team's first offensive organizer..."

Zhang Yang: "So and so..."

Carlisle: "What kind of tactic is this? We need to send out five shooters? Let Paul go to the No. 5 position? He doesn't have a three-pointer. Even if he has one, will it work..."

Vincent: Fuck you!
He was just curious about what Zhang San and Ka Tu were talking about, but he didn't expect to hear Zhang Yang mention several tactics, and they were all tactics that he thought could be used to build an offensive system around!

Are all players of this level of tactics these days? No, it should be that only the star player of their team is such a freak genius!

Zhang Yang said dissatisfiedly: "Rick, why do you keep finding faults? Aren't these tactics good?"

Carlisle: "Your tactical ideas are good, but we really can't play many of them. Don't you have any tactical adjustments?"

Zhang Yang: "Lineup issues and tactical adaptability adjustments are not something I should consider. That's your job. I'm just expressing my thoughts."

Vincent: Listen, is this human language?

Carlisle was silent for a moment: "You are right, Sam, did you write down what Jack said?"

Vincent: “…I remember.”

Shit! Kabalu actually used me as a recorder! No wonder he was so focused on refuting and asking questions. He was bullying me because I have a good memory, right?
Vincent was very angry about the behavior of his best friend Kabal... At the same time, he looked at Zhang Yang with a hint of admiration. This was not the look a coach should have when looking at his players, but in his eyes, Zhang Yang was indeed not an ordinary player... Wait, does this mean I have to work overtime again?
The admiring look was instantly retracted, the bad boy Jack is indeed a devil!
...

The Bobcats had two days off this time. On the second morning, the Bobcats conducted two training sessions, one complete offense and one defense.

The offensive training picked up the previous rotation lineup double point guard play, Felton, Rondo, and Jarrett Jack were paired up in pairs and practiced.

In the afternoon, the Bobcats left Charlotte and traveled almost across America to the "super rich area" of Miramar Island northwest of the "rich city" Seattle.

Seattle's wealth can be seen from the skin color ratio of the population. The proportion of blacks in Seattle is 6%, Asians account for 15%, of which Chinese account for 5%, and Jews account for 9%. Except for black slums and multi-ethnic areas, most areas in America are very safe.

Among them, Mercer Island is the safest residential area. The proportion of blacks here is much higher than in other areas..., about 10%, but they are all wealthy blacks. They pay more attention to safety and quality of life than whites, Chinese, and Hispanics, and try their best to prove that they are different from other blacks.

Jordan is one of them. He owns three properties on Mercer Island, two of which are large villas and the other is a membership-based fitness club.

When Jordan came to Seattle to play the game last season, he did not bring his players to live in his vacation villa, but since they had won the championship, his mood had been good for nearly half a year, and he tried his best to make the stay for his players more comfortable... He wanted to prove that he was not stingy!

A certain team member always thinks that he is stingy, which makes him very unhappy, but he can't just say "I'm not stingy" because that would be too much. He can only prove it with actual actions.

After a night's rest, on December 12, the Bobcats came to KeyArena to challenge the SuperSonics away.

In the morning preparation stage, Felton saw the Sonics' roster and salaries and was surprised: "The Sonics' salaries are too low, lower than ours! I remember they are the third highest paid team in the NBA, right?"

Zhang Yang: "That was several years ago. Since they traded Payton away, they haven't paid the luxury tax. Salary input has been lower and lower every year, and the record has been getting worse and worse. Their boss is no longer the coffee seller. They just changed their boss this summer, and he is from Oklahoma City."

Felton: "People from Oklahoma City? I heard that Oklahoma City has been trying to bring in teams from the four major leagues. Our team almost settled in Oklahoma City. Jack, do you think it is possible for the owner of the SuperSonics to move the team there?"

Zhang Yang: "Uh... it's not impossible..."

Zhang San decided that if he plays Werewolf with his teammates in the future, he will kill the fat boss first!

It was 6:40 in the evening, and the visiting Bobcats entered the main court of Key Stadium first.

Zhang Yang was the last one to run out of the player tunnel, and was greeted with a barrage of boos.

Feeling the strong basketball atmosphere at the scene, Zhang Yang felt sorry for the Seattle fans.

The SuperSonics have played 16 games so far, with a record of 3 wins and 13 losses, second from the bottom in the Western Conference. Only the Clippers with 2 wins and 15 losses are worse than them, but local fans are very supportive of the SuperSonics.

Zhang Yang looked towards the home team's player tunnel. The first player to appear on the home team was rookie No. 2 pick Kevin Durant.

The main reason why Seattle fans can still support the SuperSonics so much this season is because of this genius.

首月杜兰特16场比赛全勤，场均17.8分4板2助攻1抢断1盖帽，展现出了非凡的篮球天赋，虽然41%的投篮命中率、25%的三分球命中率、场均3次失误有些辣眼睛，但瑕不掩瑜。

He is taller than most teams' inside players, but has the speed of a guard, can control the ball, and was able to adapt to the confrontation of the NBA in his rookie year... The media's evaluation of Durant is "a tall version of Jack". With such talent, how can Seattle fans not be excited?
But this team and this genius will soon no longer belong to Seattle.

I guess the new owner of the SuperSonics will submit his relocation application during the owners' meeting after Christmas?

To others, the Sonics' offseason operations were just a desire to continue to play badly and hoard talent, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

But in the eyes of Zhang Yang, who has "opened his eyes", every move made by the Sonics during the offseason reveals the purpose of the new owner of the Sonics wanting to move.

Giving up on Lewis, not to mention matching the contract, even the discussion of a sign-and-trade with the Magic was abandoned.

Selling Ray Allen, just expiring contract, potential rookie, draft pick...

When it comes to selling their star players, the SuperSonics and the Celtics went to two extremes.

Ainge's greed in the process of selling Pierce shocked the management of other teams. Now other teams dare not offer too low a price to the Celtics for fear of being rejected.

As for the SuperSonics, other teams all wanted to rob them. The lower the price the SuperSonics asked for, the more outrageous the offers from other teams became.

But the results of both teams are similar. The star players cannot be sold. The Celtics are greedy, and the Supersonics can't even get a satisfactory offer, so naturally they won't accept the trade. The change of teams of Pierce and Ray Allen, two All-Stars in their prime years, has become a long soap opera that continues to unfold...

The SuperSonics are definitely going to tank, and the fact that Ray Allen has not been sold will inevitably affect their tanking. Their new boss is not like Ainge, who wants to tank while retaining a deep group of role players. If they can't sell Ray Allen, then they will give away all the capable role players, without asking for anything in return, even for a change of air, which will also reduce salaries.

The SuperSonics only kept Durant, Ray Allen, and Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour who passed the ball to them. All the other players who could play were sent away... The salary this season is as low as 4700 million, which is more than 1000 million away from the salary cap, the lowest in the league, and several million lower than the Bobcats.

At 7:58, the referee notified both teams of their starting lineups.

Zhang Yang came to the court with Felton, Hill, Okafor and Perkins. He looked at the starting lineup on the opposite side, Luke Ridnour averaging 10.7 points and 6.8 assists per game, Ray Allen averaging 25.5 points per game, and rookie and second pick Durant averaging 17.8 points per game. The outside trio actually looked pretty good.

But the twin towers in the interior...Robert Swift, who averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game, was not the bust second pick, but the 04th pick in the first round of 12. The other interior player was Francisco Elson, a blue-collar interior player who was given up by the Spurs due to salary issues after the end of last season.

When playing next to Duncan, Elson looked so good that he looked like the core of the second team defense in the playoffs, with a shooting percentage of 60%. But after joining the Supersonics, he averaged 4 points and 5 rebounds per game with a shooting percentage of 39%...

The game started at 8 o'clock in the evening.

Okafor easily defeated Robert Swift to win the jump ball, and the Bobcats attacked first!

Felton advanced to the frontcourt, the first attack was given to the younger brother, and the boss performed basic operations.

Durant stood in front of Zhang Yang, looking very excited and eager to try.

The media called him "Little Jack", so he naturally compared himself with Zhang Yang. Moreover, they were both among the top three high school students in the United States in 06, with Zhang Yang second and him third. He had wanted to compete with Zhang Yang before he entered the NBA.

After Felton moved to the left corner, Zhang Yang started to play one-on-one against Durant... and started with the butterfly step!

The butterfly step and big ball-pulling action looked very sexy and could easily get the opponent excited, and Durant felt a little unhappy.

Seeing Zhang Yang casually pulling the ball, Durant seized the opportunity, pressed forward and reached out to grab the ball... Zhang Yang suddenly increased the speed of dribbling the ball, pulled it sideways, accelerated, and broke through!

Durant was completely passed by!

Zhang Yang rushed straight to the basket. The two inside players of the Supersonics had no intention of defending him. Zhang Yang jumped high and slammed with one hand to get two points.

Durant turned around and chased after him, but could only watch Zhang Yang dunk.

After landing, Zhang Yang turned around and looked up and said, "Come on, rookie, you were just this close to defending me."

As he spoke, Zhang Yang stretched out his arms as wide as he could, stretching them as far as possible...

(End of this chapter)