Chapter 314 313. The Inescapable 'Curse'

Last season, the Spurs averaged 98.5 points per game, slightly above the league average.

Since the Spurs started playing badly to fight for Duncan in the 96-97 season until the 05-06 season, their average points per game had been below the league average for 10 consecutive seasons, and last season was the first time.

Although the Spurs have never been well received by the media, when Zhang Yang was checking the news after the end of last season, he still saw some objective media analyzing the changes in the Spurs last season.

Sports Illustrated did an 'NBA Team Portrait' and when analyzing the Spurs, it commented that Popovich imitated Larry Brown for 10 years, put aside his stubbornness and began to try to embrace offense.

Then he was "slapped in the face" by Popovich. While the league's average points per game continued to rise this season, the Spurs' average points per game declined instead of rising, averaging only 95.5 points, a 3-point drop from last season.

It is only higher than the Clippers, Heat, Timberwolves and Rockets, and its offense ranks fifth from the bottom in the league; its average points allowed per game is 90.5, and its defense ranks first in the league.

This season, only three teams have lost less than 3 points, the other two teams are the Rockets and the Pistons.

The Rockets average 94.9 points per game and allow 92.9 points per game. They only have one option, which is to defend hard, and their lineup is just like that.

The Pistons allow an average of 93.1 points per game, which is also low, but their offense is acceptable, averaging 99.6 points per game, which is th in the league and slightly above the league average.

The offense cannot go further because of the lineup problem. Their boss is out of money and cannot pay taxes. They didn't even use the mid-level exception during the offseason. If they used it, they would be over the line.

In terms of lineup, the Spurs have better offensive conditions than the Pistons. Not to mention how much improvement they have made compared to last season, but they should at least maintain the league-average offense like the Pistons. However, their offensive ranking has plummeted by 10 places to the bottom of the league.

On the defensive end, the Spurs are not only far ahead of the other 27 teams in the league, but even compared with the other two teams with points allowed below 95, the Spurs have also opened up a gap and are in a class of their own.

This point difference seems to be acceptable compared with the heyday of the Iron Blood Era, but if you only look at the rankings and compare the Spurs with other teams in the league, you will find that the Spurs' "ugliness" this season is comparable to the 03-04 season, the peak of the Iron Blood Era.

So even the Christmas game between the Spurs and the Suns had dismal ratings.

Normally, when the champion and runner-up play off each other, as long as the strength of both sides is not too bad, there will be additional broadcasts when the game starts, even if there is no live broadcast before the start of the season. For example, in the game between the Heat and the Mavericks last season, there was an additional broadcast before the game because they knew that one of Wade and O'Neal could play.

But this time it didn't happen. The major TV stations would rather broadcast the game between the Nuggets and the Raptors at home at the same time, hyping up the two matchups between Iverson vs. Ford and Anthony vs. Bosh, rather than broadcast this championship and runner-up battle which would only be a topic of discussion but would inevitably have worrying ratings.

Zhang Yang also remembers that the Spurs began to gradually increase the proportion of offense in the three or four seasons before 10. Although the transformation progress was slow, the path was steady. After accumulating enough tactics, they soared to the top in the 10-11 season and became a super team offensive powerhouse that could be compared with the Showtime Lakers and the Big Five Kings.

But Zhang Yang didn't find Popovich's "reversing" operation strange.

This is consistent with his understanding of Popovich - cautious and stable.

Popovich gradually built an offensive system based on the solid and powerful core of the troika lineup.

Now that Parker, who averaged 20+6 per game, has left, Popovich naturally does not dare to continue to strengthen the offense.

Conley, who was traded for Parker, showed strong defensive skills in college. Gay has both physical conditions and defensive awareness and has very good defensive talent.

It is normal that the cautious Popovich chooses to stabilize the basic defense first.

After a day of preparation, the Bobcats and Spurs entered the stadium one after another at 7:40 p.m.

Zhang Yang looked at the big screen, which showed the statistics of several key players from both teams.

Ginobili averaged 19.6 points, 4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Duncan averaged 18.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2 blocks per game.

盖伊场均16.5分5.8板2.6助攻1.5抢断1盖帽。

Conley averaged 10.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Yaodao is entering the peak of his career this season, playing mainly as the sixth man. He has started only five times in 32 games, but he is the team's leading scorer. These statistics were achieved in an average of 5 minutes per game, and his efficiency is not inferior to those top scorers who average 29 points per game.

Duncan's scoring hit a new low in his career, but unlike the 05-06 season when his playing time declined due to injuries and adjustments in his playing style, this time his playing time was significantly reduced, almost the same as Yao Ming, averaging only 32 minutes per game.

Conley performed steadily, averaging 7 points per game in the first week, averaging 8 points per game after the first month, averaging double digits in mid-December, and then stabilizing at a level of 12+10. He can shoot, pass, play one-on-one, and defend.

Gay failed to double his scoring average in his sophomore year as Zhang Yang remembered, and directly join the ranks of top scorers averaging 20+ points per game.

Zhang Yang didn't find it strange. That Grizzlies team was in a slump, and Gay's average of 20 points per game was achieved by relying on a large number of shots.

After joining the Spurs, Gay's shot attempts increased healthily, from 9 shots per game in his rookie year to 12 shots per game, a standard third scoring point, with a 46% field goal percentage and a 37% three-point shooting percentage, which is quite good for a player who mainly shoots mid-range and long-range singles.

On the defensive side, Gay has also received better training. Zhang Yang saw from the video that Gay is no longer as impulsive and blindly rushing for the ball as he was in his rookie year, and his progress is obvious.

看了一遍几人的数据后，张杨注意力集中到马刺队4位球星和准球星的出场时间上——康利场均28分钟、吉诺比利场均29分钟、邓肯场均32分钟、盖伊场均33分钟……

Popovich's steps to becoming a great coach will not stop with the loss of Parker. Although the offense has "regressed," the "12-man rotation" debuted two years earlier than Zhang Yang remembered. It should have appeared in the 09-10 season. This season, the Spurs have as many as 10 players with an average playing time of more than 11 minutes per game!
In last season's finals, the Spurs lost the championship due to a long battle line and physical crisis among their core players. After learning from the pain, Popovich started doing this in advance?
...

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Bobcats' last game of their four-game road trip in the Southwest Division against the Spurs will begin.

Spurs starting lineup: Conley, Bowen, Gay, Duncan, and Oberto.

Bobcats starting lineup: Felton, Zhang Yang, Mike Miller, Okafor, Muhammad.

Okafor beat Duncan to win the jump ball and the Bobcats took the first attack.

Zhang Yang received the ball at the top of the arc, faced with Guy's defense, broke through alone, used the change of rhythm to successfully shake off Guy and accelerated his advance.

Guy was quick on his feet and caught up quickly without being left behind.

Zhang Yang took a step inside the free throw line, stopped suddenly, received the ball, stepped back to the distance outside the free throw line, and took a mid-range shot... and it went in!
Unlike the previous two games where he passively took more shots in each quarter, Zhang Yang came on and started shooting tonight!
Gay is the player with the best defensive conditions he has encountered in recent games. He is 203 cm tall and has a wingspan of 221 cm. He is more impressive than James Posey, more mobile than Josh Howard, and his jumping speed is comparable to that of McGrady before 05. However, although his defensive fundamentals have improved, they are still poor. Zhang Yang can easily create space for pull-up jump shots.

And Gay has a big flaw in defense - he doesn't like confrontation.

Guy's previous play showed his shortcomings in this aspect. When defending Zhang Yang's breakthrough, he wanted to use lateral movement to intercept, but his footwork basics and experience were insufficient, and he was out of rhythm with Zhang Yang. After being passed by Zhang Yang, he only wanted to use his height, wingspan and jumping advantages to interfere with his shot, but facing Zhang Yang's increasingly excellent rhythm and jump shot, he only jumped in front of Zhang Yang after Zhang Yang threw the ball. Looking active, it was actually useless.

Popovich was also troubled by Gay's defense this time. It was like this in the summer league, the preseason, and the regular season has been like this for more than two months.

He asked Bowen to teach Gay defense, and Gay also learned the basics and defensive techniques honestly, but Guy was unwilling to do the dirty work such as hand-to-hand combat, close defense, and sticking to opponents.

He could also see that Gay hated Bowen so much that he was unwilling to say a word to Bowen except for the training arranged by the team.

This incident made Popovich very angry. He was so angry that he wanted to trade Bowen... But he couldn't trade Gay, right?
He couldn't bear to let go of her because her physical condition looked similar to that of McGrady.

Not only that, Guy also doesn't like confrontation when attacking...

On the court, Zhang Yang started the '19-year-old third-year junior beating up the 21-year-old young junior' mode, beating Gay badly.

张杨开局4个回合，3投2中，其中三分球1中1，加上2中2的罚球，爆砍7分。

Not only did he perform well on the offensive end, his one-on-one defense at the start was also very impressive.

The Spurs' offense has indeed regressed compared to last season. The offensive coordination is simpler and mainly based on singles and scoring. It really relies purely on the players' singles ability and passing awareness.

Tonight, the Spurs' main attacker at the beginning was Gay. He saw a bunch of people in the inside and Zhang Yang was able to keep up with him. He could only make moves in close combat when he broke through, so all three of his shots were outside the free throw line, including one pull-up jump shot, one step-back shot, and one pull-up three-pointer. Only the pull-up jump shot that was close to his face went in. He made only one of three shots and got two points.

He can perform technical moves thanks to his strong physical fitness, but that doesn't work when it comes to shooting. His basic skills are not enough to support him in performing those technical moves and ensuring the stability of his shooting when facing Zhang Yang's defense.

Taking into account Duncan's single pass to Conley and Conley's 45-degree three-pointer with the help of Oberto's screen, the Spurs still trailed Zhang Yang by two points at the start with a score of 5 to 7!

Gay had a miserable offensive and defensive performance against Zhang Yang, but Popovich did not call a timeout to make adjustments. He continued to let Bowen fight to consume Mike Miller, Conley continued to focus on Felton's shots, and Duncan continued to block Okafor's shots and help Oberto protect the rim.

After the Bobcats and Hornets faced off, their physical strength problems were exposed when they played against the Rockets, and they became more apparent when they played against the Mavericks. Popovich's strategy tonight is to start from this point.

If the Bobcats' pitchers such as Felton and Mike Miller encounter physical problems, they must keep a close eye on them, wear them down with physical combat, and put them into a slump as soon as possible.

The reason why Gay, who has stronger confrontation ability, was not let to consume Mike Miller, and Bowen, who is better at defending Zhang Yang, was not let to defend Zhang Yang...isn't it because Gay doesn't like confrontation?

If Gay goes to consume Mike Miller, it would be a waste of time. In this case, let Gay face off against Zhang Yang, one of the strongest players of the new generation, and feel the cruelty of reality.

Zhang Yang and Carlisle both saw through Popovich's strategy, but it was an open conspiracy and they could only jump in.

Let’s see whether Zhang San is more powerful or the Spurs are more stable!

In the first half of the first quarter, Zhang Yang made 5 of 3 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointers, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 9 points and leading the Bobcats to a 16-11 lead over the Spurs at halftime.

In the second half, he made 4 of 2 shots, including 2 of 1 three-pointers, and 1 of 1 free throws, scoring 6 points and leading the Bobcats to 11 points. Ginobili came on after the halftime break and also led the team to 11 points.

The Bobcats' initial period of strength advantage lasted only half a quarter. In the second half, the Bobcats' wingers and cutting players' positioning performance and catching and shooting efficiency declined significantly.

Popovich's consumption strategy worked!

After the first quarter, Zhang Yang scored 15 points in the quarter, leading the Bobcats to a 27-point lead over the Spurs with a score of 22 to 5.

In the second quarter, the Spurs beat the Bobcats 3-4 in the first 0 minutes, narrowing the gap to 1 point!
The Spurs' scoring performance during this period was actually very bad, but the Bobcats were even worse. Not only did they not score a single goal in running games, but Rondo also missed both free throws after being fouled during a breakthrough.

Carlisle called a timeout and substituted Zhang Yang, who had rested for 3 minutes.

Zhang Yang faced Ginobili's triple threat and hit a three-pointer, widening the gap to 4 points.

Popovich predicted that Zhang Yang would be at the meeting, and made arrangements during the timeout, continuing the war of attrition and letting Ginobili and Zhang Yang compete against each other.

第二节剩下8分多钟时间，山猫队在张杨率领下拿到17分，马刺队那边只拿到15分，张杨9分钟时间7投4中，其中三分球1中1，加上2中2的罚球狂飙11分，压了打满第二节拿到8分的吉诺比利一头。

单节20比19，半场打完，山猫队47比41领先马刺队6分！
After the halftime break, the tragedy happened. The Bobcats had 8 players on the court in this quarter, 7 of them made only 9 of 1 shots and scored only two points!
Zhang Yang played the entire third quarter, making 10 of 4 shots, including 2 of 0 three-pointers, no free throws, and only scored 8 points. The Bobcats team as a whole only scored 10 points!
The Spurs' scoring continued to decline in the third quarter, but was still much higher than the Bobcats, with 17 points in a single quarter.

Conley hit a long two-pointer against Rondo in the final moments of the third quarter, 58 to 57, and the Spurs overtook the Bobcats by 1 point entering the final quarter!
In the final quarter, Carlisle chose to let Zhang Yang, who had played for 33 minutes and scored 34 points in the first three quarters, rest. Felton, Okafor, Mike Miller and Hill also did not play, and let Rondo, Afflalo, Alan Anderson, Millsap and Perkins play.

Rondo played quite well, making 4 of 2 shots in half a quarter, plus 2 of 2 free throws, scoring 6 points.

The four young players at positions 1 to 4 also played very well in one-on-one defense. Conley, Gay, Finley who rotated in, and Jacqui Vaughn all failed. However, Ginobili made 6 of 4 shots in the first half and scored 9 points. With Bonner's three-pointer, when the official timeout came in the final quarter, the Spurs led the Bobcats by 70 points, 63 to 7!
Zhang Yang came back after a half-quarter break and scored 5 points in the remaining 8 minutes, leading the Bobcats to 12 points, but the Spurs also scored 10 points, implementing the word "stable" to the end.

出战38分钟，32投16中，其中三分球7投3中，加上8中7的罚球，张杨拿到42分7板3助攻2抢断。

But his teammates took 40 shots in total and only scored 31 points. Apart from him, the only teammate who scored in double digits was Rondo, who made 8 of 4 shots and 5 of 3 free throws for 11 points.

吉诺比利19投10中拿到26分3助攻，盖伊15投6中，加上2中2的罚球拿到14分，邓肯稳稳拿到18分12板5助攻3盖帽，康利8分4助攻……

Three Spurs players scored in double figures and defeated the Bobcats 3-80, turning the Bobcats' Southwest Division journey into a 75-1 record, demonstrating with strength what "the strongest division in the league" means!
...

The Southwest Division trip ended, and at noon on January 1, the Bobcats set out on their return journey to Summer Village.

On the plane, Zhang Yang leaned against the bed, looking at the white clouds, and muttered: "It's better to be a cloud, floating in the sky, without worries." Okafor said: "Clouds may turn into rain at any time due to the intersection of positive and negative charges."

Zhang Yang: “But new clouds will still appear.”

Okafor: "Even if water vapor condenses into clouds here next time, they won't be the same clouds as last time."

Felton: “Are you discussing philosophy?”

Okafor: "No, it's physics."

Felton: "...Say something I can understand."

Okafor looked at Felton's feet and asked, "How's your ankle?"

Felton: "The team doctor said I have to stop for a few games. I have to go back for an MRI to see if there is any structural injury... No, Emeka, can you say something to make me happy?"

Zhang Yang heard this and looked at Master Jack who was playing cards...

When Felton was double-teaming Ginobili last night, he was knocked to the ground by Ginobili's devilish steps, fell flat on his face, and sprained his foot.

This guy was in so much pain but he still managed to finish the remaining two minutes, which made his injury a little more serious.

If nothing unexpected happens, Felton will have to miss a few games due to injury.

Okafor: "Didn't Jack say that you are the boss, it is your job to comfort your teammates and say things that make them happy."

Felton raised his chin after hearing that, thought for a moment, and said, "You're right. Let me think about how to comfort you... No, you two seem to be in a much better mood than me! Why do you need my comfort? Jack, you scored 42 points and still lost, aren't you angry? This is the first time this season that you scored 40+ and still lost!"

Last night was Zhang Yang's 7th time scoring 40+ this season. He won the first 6 times, but this was the first time in the new season that he failed to score.

Zhang Yang: "In the last game last year, you also scored 1+ and lost."

Felton: “…”

Xiaofei: I just have a bad mouth!
Zhang San: Come on, let’s hurt each other!
Changing the subject, Felton: "We maintained the No. 1 position in the league for so long, but we lost it in the end."

On the night when the Bobcats lost to the Mavericks, the Lakers also lost, and the Bulls also lost the day before. Both teams, like the Hornets, had a record of 25 wins and 7 losses. Therefore, after the Bobcats lost to the Mavericks, they still ranked first with 25 wins and 6 losses, surpassing three teams.

But those three teams won yesterday and the day before yesterday, with a record of 3 wins and 26 losses. After the Bobcats lost to the Mavericks last night, their record dropped to 7 wins and 25 losses, and they suddenly dropped to fourth in the league and second in the Eastern Conference.

The Bobcats have won 4 and lost 1 in 3 consecutive away games in the Southwest Division, making the Southwest Division's reputation as the "strongest division in the NBA" even more famous.

This season, there is a certain probability that all five teams in the Southwest Division will make the playoffs. Led by Parker, Gasol and Gerald Wallace, the Grizzlies currently have a record of 5 wins and 18 losses. Nearly halfway through the regular season, the Grizzlies have not fallen behind in the Western Conference playoff race. Instead, the Rockets and Trail Blazers are tending to fall behind.

This time, before Zhang Yang spoke, Okafor spoke first: "Actually, after losing to the Celtics in November, I knew it would be difficult for us to maintain our first place. Last month's 11-10 performance is more in line with our strength.

10 wins and 4 losses actually exceeded my expectations before the start of the season. I thought our goal this season was to win 50 games, but Jack's scoring ability improved faster than I thought, leading us to play one of the top offenses in the league. We still have hope of winning 60 games."

Felton took out his cell phone after hearing this. Under the confused gazes of Zhang Yang and Okafor, he turned on his computer, clicked on a button and said, "Fuck, we have 25 wins now, and there are 50 games left to play. We are 35 wins away. We have to achieve a 70% winning rate in the remaining games! That's higher than our winning rate last season!"

Zhang Yang and Okafor looked at each other: "..."

Zhang Yang suddenly understood why Okafor was unwilling to talk to most of his teammates. Does this require a calculator?

After returning to Charlotte, Zhang Yang did not practice more. He rested well for the whole afternoon, reading, studying, and writing papers... He lay down on the bed at around 9 o'clock in the evening, fell asleep early, and woke up just after 6 o'clock the next morning.

After two nights and one day of rest, he shook off the fatigue of the trip to the Southwest Division. At about 8 o'clock in the morning, he came to the Turkish Airlines Arena full of energy and held a small meeting with the members of the "Big Boss Gang" to review and discuss the poor performances in the four consecutive away games and the areas that can be improved.

The human heart is a magical thing. During the four consecutive away games, Zhang Yang was desperate after losing. But after the four consecutive away games, he felt that this series of consecutive away games had come to an end and he should look forward. After resting for a day, he communicated with his teammates calmly and objectively.

After the meeting, Felton told Zhang Yang about his injury. After returning to Charlotte yesterday, he went directly to the hospital with the team doctor for an MRI. He was relieved to confirm that he had no structural injuries. However, after a detailed examination, his sprain was more serious than the team doctor expected and he would be out for 2-4 weeks.

For his age, two weeks is normal, and four weeks is just to be on the safe side.

This is very bad news for the Bobcats, who just lost the top spot in the league.

After Felton scored 40+ points against the Hornets, his average points per game increased to 17.6 points. He performed poorly in the next three games, but after the Southwest Division trip, he still had 3 points, ranking second on the Bobcats, higher than Okafor who averaged 17.1 points per game.

The team's second-leading scorer will be out for at least half a month, which will have a great impact on the Bobcats.

Zhang Yang had no choice but to accept this; injuries were an inevitable part of the game.

Zhang San patted the fat little boss on the shoulder and said, "Boss, have you not been offering incense to Lord Guan Er recently?"

Felton: "Ah?! Yes, I haven't been to the God of Wealth for a few weeks. No wonder I keep losing money playing cards recently! I was even robbed on the road!"

Zhang Yang: “…”

After the meeting, there was a short break. At 9 o'clock, the Bobcats held a pre-game preparation meeting.

Carlisle announced Felton's injury and designated Jarrett Jack as a temporary starting replacement.

Zhang San: As expected, you are Master Jack!

Zhang Yang remembers that Felton had the lowest attendance rate in the early season of his career, with 75 appearances, and basically around 80 games. It was not until he was 80 or years old and his athletic ability declined and he returned to the Knicks to play run-and-gun with D'Antoni that he began to have health problems. But later, after going to the Mavericks to play slow-paced offense and defense with Nowitzki, he was another iron man who played consecutive games.

But after playing as the starter of the great Jack for almost a year, the fat little boss couldn't escape the fate of being defeated!

...

At 6 pm, the Bobcats will face the Nets at home.

The Nets have played 33 games so far, with 13 wins and 20 losses. The record is quite poor, but it is not a bad team. The trio of Carter, Richard Jefferson and Odom can fight against any team.

For the first time in his career, Carter averaged 5+ assists per game, played in 30 games, and averaged 25.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.2 steals. With the assistance of Odom and Richard Jefferson, he had the best season of his career. In terms of adaptability, the supporting inside Odom + 3D forward Jefferson is definitely more suitable for him than Kidd + Jefferson.

理查德-杰弗森场均22.6分7板2助攻1.1抢断0.9盖帽。

奥多姆场均17.6分8.6板5.3助攻1.1抢断1.1盖帽。

The performance of these three players ranks among the best among all three-person groups in the league.

But apart from these three, the Nets have no one else. They can fight against anyone, but they rarely win against strong teams.

The game ended at 8:24 pm.

卡特18投8中，其中三分球5中2，加上8中7的罚球，稳稳拿到25分6板6助攻。

理查德-杰弗森21分5板、奥多姆20分9板4助攻，两人表现也极好，篮网队3人得分上20……但只有3人得分上双。

On the Bobcats side, although Jarrett Jack started, he only played for 23 minutes tonight, and for a few minutes he rotated as a shooting guard.

Rondo, who came on as a substitute, played for 35 minutes!

10投4中，其中三分球3中1，加上3中2的罚球，隆多拿到11分11板11助攻！

加上希尔的16分7板7助攻、米尔萨普的10分7板3助攻……山猫队今晚助攻数高达31次。

When playing against the Spurs and Rockets, the team's offense couldn't be fully utilized, but when playing against the Nets, they used everything.

张杨在队友们出色的传球表现下，得分很轻松，20投13中，其中三分球1中1，加上7中7的罚球，高效拿到34分4板2助攻2盖帽的表现。

115 to 99, after the Bobcats came back from a nightmare road trip, they encountered a weak team and hit hard, winning by 16 points!
Zhang Yang knew how the Mavericks players felt when they beat them. It felt so good to vent...

But relaxing and happy times always pass quickly. After a day of rest, on January 1th, the Bobcats' home game against the Pistons arrived.

The Bobcats, from the players to the coaching staff to the owner, attach great importance to this game.

The Pistons and the Bulls, the Bobcats will meet at least one of these two teams in the playoffs. If they fail to beat the Bulls for the first place in the Eastern Conference, the Bobcats' goal will be to play against both teams.

Although the Bobcats suffered setbacks in consecutive away games in the Western Conference, losing to the second, fifth, and eighth teams in the Western Conference, they have not lost their confidence. Except for the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the other teams are just paying lip service.

The Bobcats attach particular importance to the Pistons as an opponent... Mainly because the head coach and the owner attach particular importance to them, as both of them have grudges against the Pistons.

Given Jordan's personality, revenge once in the playoffs is obviously not enough, he will continue to retaliate if he has the chance.

Although Carlisle began serving as a consultant in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, he has never officially led his team to defeat the Pistons, and his hatred has not dissipated at all.

In the morning, the league announced the votes for the first phase of the All-Star voting. From December 12 to January 26, cumulatively for two weeks, Zhang Yang ranked first with 1 million votes. Currently, there are only two players with more than one million votes, and he is the leading one.

The youngest FMVP in history, 13 consecutive wins at the start, and maintaining the No. position in the league for more than two months... The media commented that this is the season in which Zhang Yang is heading towards becoming a super popular superstar.

Wade ranked second among Eastern Conference guards with 67 votes, beating Carter with 59 votes, while Felton ranked fourth with 56 votes.

There is fierce competition for another starting guard position in the Eastern Conference. After Christmas, the topic of "Who is better, Carter or Wade?" has become lively again, and the fans of the two players are arguing non-stop.

For the forward position, James ranked first with 91 votes, Okafor ranked second with 83 votes, and Ben Wallace ranked third with 60 votes.

At the center position, Yao Ming received 89 votes, leading Howard with 67 votes by a large margin, and O'Neal ranked third with 44 votes.

In the Western Conference, Garnett ranked first in the West and second in the league with 101 million votes.

Garnett's super popularity exploded after coming to the City of Angels, making him the most popular player in the Western Conference this season. If one counts his popularity in the United States alone, he would be number one.

The second place among Western Conference forwards is Anthony, with 65 votes; the third place is Nowitzki, with 58 votes; the fourth place is Yi Jianlian, with 45 votes...

Among guards, Kobe Bryant ranked first with 95 votes, just like Garnett, he was also leading by a large margin. Iverson ranked second with 63 votes, McGrady ranked third with 55 votes, Nash ranked fourth with 51 votes, and Kidd ranked fifth with 49 votes...

At the center position, Duncan ranked first with 87 votes, beating out Stoudemire with 76 votes.

Zhang Yang felt a little proud when he saw the number of votes in the first period, but he knew that if he wanted to keep the first place, he had to continue to perform well. Garnett's popularity this year was a bit exaggerated.

Yao Ming is still No. 1 in the Eastern Conference. It's really pitiful for the former and future No. 1 center in the league.

Duncan is the best center... Zhang Yang remembered that before Christmas, Duncan admitted in an interview that he was a center... He cares!

(End of this chapter)